Back to results
US 12,545,174 B2Granted
Road surface condition viewing apparatus
AssigneeSubaru Corporation
InventorRezowan Ahad Mir
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A road surface condition viewing apparatus includes an illuminator provided on front side of a vehicle. The illuminator is configured to apply dot-shaped pieces of projection light to a road surface in a vehicle traveling direction. The dot-shaped pieces of projection light are arranged at predetermined intervals and visually recognizable by a driver who drives the vehicle.
Claims7
A road surface condition viewing apparatus comprising:
- a first illuminator provided on one side of a front of a vehicle and configured to project first dot-shaped pieces of projection light onto a road surface in a vehicle traveling direction, wherein the first dot-shaped pieces of projection light are arranged at predetermined intervals and visually recognizable by a driver of the vehicle;
- and
- a second illuminator provided on another side of the front of the vehicle and configured to project second dot-shaped pieces of projection light onto the road surface in the vehicle traveling direction, wherein the second dot-shaped pieces of projection light are arranged at the predetermined intervals and visually recognizable by the driver of the vehicle,
- wherein each of the first and second illuminators comprises light-emitting diodes arranged in a straight line along a direction perpendicular to the road surface,
- wherein the first illuminator projects the first dot-shaped pieces of projection within a range in which the first dot-shaped pieces of projection light are formable and are unobtrusive in number to the driver, from a position where fine adjustment of a position of the vehicle is possible, and
- wherein the second illuminator projects the second dot-shaped pieces of projection within the range in which the second dot-shaped pieces of projection light are formable and are unobtrusive in number to the driver, from the position where fine adjustment of the position of the vehicle is possible.
3 more elements
A road surface condition viewing apparatus comprising:
- an illuminator provided on a front side of a vehicle and configured to project dot-shaped pieces of projection light onto a road surface in a vehicle traveling direction, wherein the dot-shaped pieces of projection light are arranged at predetermined intervals and visually recognizable by a driver of the vehicle,
- wherein the illuminator includes light-emitting diodes linearly arranged, and
- wherein the illuminator is disposed on each of both front ends of the vehicle to cause an arrangement direction of the light-emitting diodes to be orthogonal to the road surface,
- wherein the illuminator applies the dot-shaped pieces of projection in a range in which the dot-shaped pieces of projection light are formable and are unobtrusive in number to the driver, from a position where fine adjustment of a position of the vehicle is possible, and
- wherein the road surface condition viewing apparatus further comprises:
- a gradient detector configured to detect a gradient of a road on which the vehicle is traveling;
- and
- a lighting controller configured to:
- detect that the road has a predetermined or greater up gradient or down gradient based on the gradient of the road detected by the gradient detector;
- and
- in response to determining that the road has the predetermined or greater up gradient or down gradient, turn off the illuminator.
8 more elements
A road surface condition viewing apparatus comprising:
- an illuminator provided on a front side of a vehicle and configured to project dot-shaped pieces of projection light onto a road surface in a vehicle traveling direction, wherein the dot-shaped pieces of projection light are arranged at predetermined intervals and visually recognizable by a driver of the vehicle,
- wherein the illuminator includes light-emitting diodes linearly arranged, and
- wherein the illuminator is disposed on each of both front ends of the vehicle to cause an arrangement direction of the light-emitting diodes to be orthogonal to the road surface,
- wherein the illuminator applies the dot-shaped pieces of projection in a range in which the dot-shaped pieces of projection light are formable and are unobtrusive in number to the driver, from a position where fine adjustment of a position of the vehicle is possible, and
- wherein the road surface condition viewing apparatus further comprises:
- a steering angle detector configured to detect a steering angle;
- and
- a lighting controller configured to:
- detect that the vehicle is traveling on a curved section of a road based on the steering angle detected by the steering angle detector;
- and
- in response to determining that the vehicle is traveling on the curved section of the road, turn off the illuminator.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.