INTER-VEHICLE DISTANCE DETECTOR FOR TRACKING LEADING VEHICLE

• Main Author: ASAYAMA, YOSHIAKI
• Format: Patent
• Language: English; Korean
• Published: 09.06.1993
• Edition: 5
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; ARRANGEMENT OF SIGNALLING OR LIGHTING DEVICES, THE MOUNTING ORSUPPORTING THEREOF OR CIRCUITS THEREFOR, FOR VEHICLES INGENERAL; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; NAVIGATION; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; SURVEYING; TESTING; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL

A vehicle-to-vehicle distance detecting apparatus for use in tracing a preceding vehicle is disclosed in which the driver is able to set a vehicle tracing window on a displayed picture image of the preceding vehicle in an easy manner while driving the vehicle. Even if there are a plurality of preceding vehicles, the driver is able to easily identify a particular one of them which his or her vehicle is tracing for measuring the distance therebetween. The apparatus is also able to automatically monitor objects ahead of a vehicle and warn the driver of a possible danger of collision with an obstacle when no instruction is given by the driver for setting an image-tracing window for tracing a preceding vehicle. When an instruction switch is turned on by the driver after the image of the preceding vehicle comes in the image-tracing window formed at a prescribed position, a microcomputer controls, based on the image signals from the image sensors, the image-tracing window so as to trace the picture image of a preceding vehicle on the screen. The microcomputer detects the distance from the specific vehicle to the preceding vehicle or obstacle displayed on the screen in the image-tracing window and the distance from the specific vehicle to the preceding vehicle being image-traced on the screen in the image-tracing window.