Patent ID: 7332830
Filing Date: 2008-02-19
Classification: B60Q,B60S

Abstract:
1. A rainfall determination apparatus used for performing automatic lighting control for a vehicle, the apparatus comprises: an illumination measuring device for measuring illumination outside the vehicle; a rainfall determination device for determining rainfall based on data relating to a wiping operation of a wiper of the vehicle, wherein the rainfall determination device includes a detection device for detecting the wiping operation every time this operation is performed, a timer for starting to clock a predetermined period of time for each wiping operation, and a counter for counting the number of times of the wiping operation before the predetermined period of time has elapsed; and a lighting control device for lighting a headlight provided at the vehicle when the illumination measured by the illumination measuring device is less than a threshold value, wherein the threshold value changes based on an accumulated time that is calculated when the counted number of times measured by the counter reaches a predetermined value.