TOYOTA Ex. 1005, page 1
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`

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`
`
`(11) Japanese Unexamined Patent
`Application Publication
`S58-16399
`
`(43) Published: January 31, 1983
`No. of inventions: 1
`Request for evaluation: Not yet requested
`
`(Total of 4 pages)
`
`(19) Japan Patent Office (JP)
`(12) Japanese Unexamined Patent
`Application Publication (A)
`Identification codes
`JPO file numbers
`
`6432-5H
`7913-3K
`6839-3D
`
`
`
`
`
`(51) Int. Cl.5
`G 08 C 1/00
`G 60 Q 9/00
`G 60 R 16/02
`
`
`(54) Apparatus for automatically notifying an automobile accident
`
`(21) Patent Application No.
`(22) Filed:
`(72) Inventor
`
`S56-114006
`July 20, 1981
`Kouichirou Oishi
`
`(71) Applicant
`
`(74) Attorney
`
`Tateishi Denki (currently Omron Corporation)
`10 Tsuchidou-cho, Hanazono, Ukyou-ku, Kyoto
`Tateishi Denki (currently Omron Corporation)
`10 Tsuchidou-cho, Hanazono, Ukyou-ku, Kyoto
`Patent Attorney Nobuyoshi Okamoto and 1 other
`
`
`
`SPECIFICATION
`
`
`1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION
`Apparatus for automatically notifying an automobile
`accident
`
`
`2. CLAIMS
`(1) An apparatus for automatically notifying an
`automobile accident comprising: an accident detection
`sensor for detecting an accident in response to an impact
`force; storage means for storing vehicle speeds given by
`a speedometer of a vehicle before and after an accident,
`vehicle weight, and a predetermined reference level of
`the impact force; an arithmetic processing means for
`calculating the impact force based on a change of a
`kinetic momentum when an output is obtained from the
`accident detection sensor, and generating an output
`when the calculated value is the reference level or
`above; and a transmission means for generating a radio
`wave when output is obtained from the arithmetic
`processing means.
`(2) The apparatus for automatically notifying an
`automobile accident according to claim 1, wherein the
`accident detection sensor includes a spring having one
`end to which a weight is connected, and detects the
`accident based on contraction of the spring induced by
`the impact force.
`(3) The apparatus for automatically notifying an
`automobile accident according to claim 1 or claim 2,
`wherein the vehicle speed stored in the storage means
`
`includes a vehicle speed obtained from the speedometer
`and updated at every predetermined time, and stored
`after an accident when the accident detection sensor has
`sent output.
`(4) The apparatus for automatically notifying an
`automobile accident according to any of claims 1 to 3,
`wherein the apparatus further includes an A/D converter
`for converting the speed signal obtained from the
`speedometer of the vehicle into a digital quantity and
`for transmitting the digital quantity to the arithmetic
`processing means.
`
`3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF
`INVENTION
`The present invention relates to an apparatus for
`automatically notifying an automobile accident.
`When an automobile accident occurs, a person
`concerned with the accident or a witness directly
`notifies the police of the accident by using a telephone
`or the like. Accordingly, the notification of the
`accident always entails a delay attributed to a human
`factor. Particularly, when an accident occurs at night,
`there may be a case where the notification is difficult so
`that the accident is not found until next morning
`whereby the treatment of an injured person is delayed.
`If the accident is rapidly notified, the handling of the
`accident and the treatment of injured persons can be
`effectively carried out. Further, it is also possible to
`inform other vehicles of the accident, which can reduce
`traffic jams.
`
`THE
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`- 633 -
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`TOYOTA Ex. 1005, page 2
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`

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`Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication S58-16399 (2)
`
`The present invention has been made from the above
`perspective, and it is an object of the present invention
`to provide an apparatus which can automatically notify
`an automobile accident after obtaining the impact force
`of the accident based upon an impulse which can be
`measured by a change of kinetic momentum.
`is
`The constitution of
`the present
`invention
`explained by using an embodiment with reference to the
`drawings. Fig. 1 is a view showing the principle of an
`accident detection sensor 1 which detects an accident.
`In the accident detection sensor 1 shown in the drawing,
`a spring 3 having a steel ball 2 on an end portion thereof
`is fixed to one end of the inside of a cylindrical vessel 4,
`and a negative electrode terminal 5a is connected to the
`other end of the cylindrical vessel 4. The fixed end of
`the spring 3 is connected to a positive electrode terminal
`5b via a resistance R, and is also connected to an output
`terminal 1a of the accident detection sensor 1. Fig. 2 is
`a block diagram showing one embodiment of a
`notification apparatus mounted on an automobile. In
`the drawings, as input sources, the accident detection
`sensor 1 and an A/D converter 7, which is connected to
`a speedometer 6 and converts a speed signal into a
`digital quantity, are connected
`to an arithmetic
`calculation part via a bus line 8. The arithmetic
`calculation part includes an arithmetic processing device
`9 which determines the presence or non-presence of an
`accident in accordance with steps described later, a
`programmable read-only memory (hereinafter referred
`to as P-ROM) 10 which stores the arithmetic processing
`steps of the arithmetic processing device 9, and a
`random access memory (hereinafter referred to as
`RAM) 11. The RAM 11, as shown in the drawing, is
`provided with a region in which speeds V1, V2 of a
`vehicle before and after an accident are stored
`respectively, a region in which a weight M of the
`vehicle is stored, and a region in which a predetermined
`level K for determining that an impact means an
`accident is stored.
`When the arithmetic calculation part detects an
`automobile accident, an output of
`the arithmetic
`calculation part is given to a radio transmitter 12 via the
`bus line 8. The radio transmitter 12 generates a signal
`based on the input signal and sends an accident
`detection signal to a nearby signal receiving facility.
`Fig. 3 is a view showing a situation in the vicinity of
`an intersection provided with a traffic signal. A signal
`control terminal device 14 which controls an operation
`of the traffic light 13 is mounted on a signal mounting
`pole on which the traffic light 13 is mounted. A
`receiver 15 for receiving a signal of the automatic
`notification apparatus according to this application is
`also mounted on the signal mounting pole.
` In
`consideration of
`the output power of
`the radio
`transmitter 12 and sensitivity of the receiver 15, signal
`receiving facilities are provided at various places by
`mainly focusing on places where an accident is liable to
`occur such as an intersection, a corner of a road, an
`entrance and an exit of a tunnel. When the signal
`control terminal devices 14 are under centralized
`monitoring at a traffic control center of the police or the
`like, the outputs of the receivers 15 may be provided
`
`through transmission lines so that an accident detection
`signal is transmitted to the traffic control center.
`Further, the outputs of the receivers 15 used here which
`are provided at various places may be transmitted to the
`traffic control center using proprietary transmission
`lines.
`Next, the operation of the automatic notification
`apparatus is explained with a reference to flowchart
`shown in Fig. 4. Numerals indicated using lead lines
`are symbols indicating respective steps. Firstly, when
`the operation is started, the content of the RAM 11 is
`initialized (step 20). Then, it checks whether or not the
`accident detection sensor 1 has detected an accident
`(step 21). In the accident detection sensor 1, although
`the spring 3 slightly expands and contracts during
`normal driving, the steel ball 2 does not reach the
`negative electrode terminal 5a and hence, the output
`terminal 1a is at a voltage substantially equal to a power
`source voltage. However, when there is a vigorous
`impact or vibrations, the steel ball 2 bumps into the
`negative electrode terminal 5a so that the voltage of the
`output terminal 1a momentarily becomes substantially
`equal to a ground potential. When there is no accident,
`the presence or non-presence of timer interruption is
`checked every 0.5 seconds, for example (step 22).
`Data obtained from the speedometer 6 is converted into
`a digital quantity by the A/D converter 7 and a speed V1
`is written to the predetermined region of the RAM 11.
`Thereafter, when there is no timer interruption, an
`output of the accident detection sensor 1 is checked
`immediately.
`
`In
`this manner,
`the presence or
`non-presence of an accident is always checked in steps
`21 to 23, and a new speed signal V1 is written to the
`RAM 11 every 0.5 seconds. Next, when an accident
`has occurred, a speed signal at such point of time is
`written in the region of the speed V2 in the RAM 11
`(step 24). Then, a weight M of the vehicle is set, based
`on a type of automobile, which is preliminarily set by a
`dip switch or the like installed in the inside of the
`automobile,
`and
`the
`number
`of
`occupants.
`Subsequently, an impulse Ft which is an impact force
`generated by the accident is calculated based on a
`change of kinetic momentum using the following
`formula (step 26).
`Ft = M (V1 – V2) … (1)
`When the impact force reaches or exceeds a
`predetermined value K , it is determined that an accident
`has occurred (step 27), and a signal is generated by the
`radio transmitter 12 (step 28). When the impact force
`is small, the processing returns to step 21 and output of
`the accident detection sensor 1 is checked again. In
`this manner, the presence or the non-presence of the
`accident
`is notified by
`the accident notification
`apparatus mounted on the vehicle, and is immediately
`transmitted to a traffic control center of the police by the
`receiver installed in the vicinity of an accident site.
`As described above, according to the present
`invention, since the accident is automatically notified
`without a manual operation at an occurrence of an
`accident, the treatment of persons injured in the accident
`can be effectively carried out. Further, the accident
`information can be also rapidly transmitted to other
`vehicles, which can reduce traffic jams.
`
`- 634 -
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`TOYOTA Ex. 1005, page 3
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`

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`Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication S58-16399 (3)
`
`Agent: Nobuyoshi Okamoto and 1 other
`[stamp]
`
`
`4. Brief Description of Drawings
`Fig. 1 is a view showing the principle of an accident
`detection sensor used in the present invention, Fig. 2 is a
`block diagram showing one embodiment of an accident
`notification apparatus mounted on a vehicle, Fig. 3 is a
`schematic view showing the vicinity of an intersection,
`and Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the
`embodiment.
`1: accident detection sensor, 6: speedometer, 7: A/D
`converter, 9: arithmetic processing device, 11: random
`access memory, 12: radio transmitter: 15: receiver
`
`
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`FIG. 3
`
`
`
`RADIO
`TRANSMITTER
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`- 635 -
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`FIG. 1
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`FIG. 2
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`ARITHMETIC
`PROCESSING
`DEVICE
`
`INPUT SPEED
`
`ACCIDENT
`DETECTION
`
`SENSOR
`
`A/D
`CONVERTER
`
`SPEEDOMETER
`
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`TOYOTA Ex. 1005, page 4
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`

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`Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication S58-16399 (4)
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`FIG. 4
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`START
`
`INITIALIZE
`
`ACCIDENT
`DETEECTED?
`
`INPUT SPEED
`
`SET M
`
`CALCULATE
`IMPACT FORCE
`
`TRANSMIT SIGNAL
`BY RADIO
`TRANSMITTER
`
`END
`
`TIMER
`INTERRUPTION
`
`INPUT SPEED
`
`
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`- 636 -
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`TOYOTA Ex. 1005, page 5