Patent Publication Number: US-2015085117-A1

Title: Driving assistance apparatus

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present invention claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 102217924, filed on Sep. 25, 2013 and Taiwanese Patent Application No. 103206132, filed on Apr. 9, 2014, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a driving assistance apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a driving assistance apparatus capable of providing rear-view images. 
     2. Descriptions of the Related Art 
     Vehicles have become a very popular means of transportation. However, the increases in number of vehicles have increased the number of traffic accidents. It has been difficult to identify fault in traffic accidents. While driving a vehicle, the driver observes the road conditions at the two sides of and behind the vehicle through using the rear-view mirror disposed inside the vehicle and the side rear-view mirrors disposed at the two sides of the vehicle outside the front window. The driver can check if any vehicle is approaching and to avoid traffic accidents through these mirrors. However, the rear-view mirror and the side rear-view mirrors limit the visibility range depending on the reflection angle, position of the driver seat, height of the driver seat, sitting height of the driver, angle of the mirror, radian of the mirror, or the like. Moreover, when the driver tries to observe the road through the side rear-view mirrors, the person in the shotgun seat usually will block the view of the driver. 
     Accordingly, it is important in the field to provide a driving assistance apparatus suitable for the driving habits of drivers and capable of providing more driving information. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To solve the aforesaid problems, the present invention provides a driving assistance apparatus used with a vehicle. The vehicle defines a forwards direction and a backwards direction and comprises a body shell, a side rear-view mirror, and a driver seat. The side rear-view mirror defines the first visibility range. The driver seat and the side rear-view mirror define the first direction. The first angle is formed between the first direction and facing direction of the driver seat. 
     The driving assistance apparatus comprises a video capturing apparatus and a display apparatus that is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to the video capturing apparatus. The video capturing apparatus comprises an image capturing device and a case. The case is adapted to be disposed in front of the side rear-view mirror and on the body shell so that the lens of the image capturing device faces towards the back and the image capturing device defines the second visibility range, wherein the second visibility is greater than the first visibility range. The image capturing device continuously captures a plurality of first image frames based on the second visibility range when the driving assistance apparatus is on. 
     The display apparatus comprises a base and a display device. The base is adapted to be disposed inside the vehicle and within a predetermined space defined by the side rear-view mirror. The driver seat and the display apparatus define a second direction. A second angle is formed between the second direction and the facing direction of the driver seat. The second angle is smaller than the first angle. The display device is configured to display each of the image frames based on the selection display region when the driving assistance apparatus is on, wherein the dimension of the selection display region is smaller than the dimension of each of the image frames. 
     As can be known from the above descriptions, the video capturing apparatus of the driving assistance apparatus of the present invention is disposed in front of the side rear-view mirror and outside the body shell of the vehicle. The display apparatus thereof is disposed inside the body shell of the vehicle and within the predetermined space defined by the side rear-view mirror. Through the aforesaid arrangement, the second visibility range that is based on a plurality of image frames that are captured by the video capturing apparatus is greater than the first visibility range presented by the side rear-view mirror. Additionally, as compared with observing the side rear-view mirrors, the driver on the driver seat only needs to move his/her head within a smaller range when he/she observes the display apparatus because the second angle is smaller than the first angle. The driver can drive securely with the assistance of the driving assistance apparatus of the present invention because the driving assistance apparatus can provide a relatively large visibility range and the driver can observe the road in the back by moving his/her head only within a relatively small range. 
     The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for the subject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanying the appended drawings for people skilled in this field to well appreciate the features of the claimed invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a schematic view illustrating the framework of a driving assistance apparatus  1  of a first embodiment; 
         FIG. 1B  is a schematic view of a video capturing apparatus  11 ; 
         FIG. 1C  is a schematic view of a display apparatus  13 ; 
         FIG. 1D  is a schematic top view of the driving assistance apparatus  1  used with a vehicle  15 ; 
         FIG. 1E  is a schematic view of each of the image frames and a partial image frame; 
         FIG. 2A  is a schematic view illustrating the framework of a driving assistance apparatus  2  of a second embodiment; 
         FIG. 2B  is a schematic view of a control apparatus  25  of the second embodiment; 
         FIG. 2C  is a schematic view of each of the image frames and a partial image frame; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view illustrating the framework of a driving assistance apparatus  3  of a third embodiment; 
         FIG. 4A  is a schematic view illustrating the framework of a driving assistance apparatus  4  of a fourth embodiment; 
         FIG. 4B  is a schematic view illustrating the method in which the control circuit  45  calculates the speed of an object; 
         FIG. 5A  is a schematic view illustrating the framework of a driving assistance apparatus  5  of a fifth embodiment; 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic view of a video capturing apparatus  51 ; 
         FIG. 5C  is a schematic view of a display apparatus  53 ; and 
         FIG. 5D  is a schematic top view of the driving assistance apparatus  5  used with the vehicle  15 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     In the following description, the present invention will be explained with reference to embodiments thereof. However, these embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the present invention to any environment, applications or implementations described in these embodiments. Therefore, the description of these embodiments is only for the purpose of illustration rather than to limit the present invention. In the following embodiments and attached drawings, elements unrelated to the present invention are omitted from depiction; and dimensional relationships among individual elements in the attached drawings are illustrated only for ease of understanding, but not to limit the actual scale. 
     A first embodiment of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus  1 , a schematic view illustrating the framework thereof is depicted in  FIG. 1A . The driving assistance apparatus  1  comprises a video capturing apparatus  11  and a display apparatus  13  which are electrically wired or wirelessly connected to each other. The video capturing device  11  comprises an image capturing device  111  and a case  113 , as shown in  FIG. 1B . The display apparatus  13  comprises a display device  131  and a base  133 , as shown in  FIG. 1C . 
       FIG. 1D  illustrates a schematic top view of the driving assistance apparatus  1  used with a vehicle  15 . The vehicle  15  comprises a body shell  151 , a side rear-view mirror  153 , and a driver seat  155 . It shall be appreciated that the vehicle  15  also comprises other devices, but these devices are unrelated to this embodiment and thus are omitted from depiction. In this embodiment, the side rear-view mirror  153  is disposed near the passenger seat and outside the body shell  151 , but the side rear-view mirror may also be disposed near the driver seat  155  and outside the body shell  151  in other implementations. The vehicle  15  defines a forwards and backwards direction. The forwards direction refers to the direction that the driver  17  faces when seated in the driver seat  155 , while the backwards direction refers to the direction opposite the forwards direction. 
     Furthermore, when the driving assistance apparatus  1  is used with a vehicle  15 , the case  113  of the video capturing apparatus  11  is disposed in front of the side rear-view mirror  153  and on the body shell  151  (e.g., on the hood of the vehicle  15 ) so that the lens  115  of the image capturing device  111  faces towards the backwards direction of the vehicle  15 . The visibility range  104  is defined, wherein the visibility range  104  is greater than the visibility range  102  provided by the side rear-view mirror  153 . The image capturing device  111  continuously captures a plurality of image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  based on the visibility range  104  via the lens  115  when the driving assistance apparatus  1  is on. Each of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  may be a static image or a frame in a film file. 
     Moreover, the base  133  of the display apparatus  13  is disposed inside the body shell  151  and within a predetermined space (not shown) defined by the side rear-view mirror  153  (e.g., on the instrument panel or the window of the vehicle  15 ). The driver seat  155  and the display apparatus  13  define a direction  12 . An angle  106  is formed between the direction  12  and the facing direction  16  of the driver seat  155 . On the other hand, the driver seat  155  and the side rear-view mirror  153  define a direction  14 , and an angle  108  is formed between the direction  14  and the facing direction  16  of the driver seat  155 . It shall be appreciated that the angle  106  is smaller than the angle  108 . Thus, as compared with observing the side rear-view mirror  153 , the driver  17  on the driver seat  155  only needs to move his/her head within a smaller range when he/she observes the display apparatus  13 . Furthermore, the person in the shotgun seat is less likely to block the view of the driver  17  when the driver  17  observes the display apparatus  13 . 
     The display device  131  is configured to display partial image frames  122   a , . . . ,  124   a  of each of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  based on a selection display region (not shown) when the driving assistance apparatus  1  is on, as shown in  FIG. 1E . It shall be appreciated that a dimension of the selection display region is smaller than a dimension of each of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124 . For example, the selection display region may be 70% of the coverage of each of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  based on the central point of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124 . 
     As can be known from the above descriptions, the angle  106  is smaller than the angle  108 . Therefore, as compared with observing the side rear-view mirror  153 , the driver  17  on the driver seat  155  only needs to move his/her head within a smaller range when he/she observes the display apparatus  13 . Moreover, the visibility range  104  that is based on a plurality of image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  that are captured by the video capturing apparatus  11  is larger than the visibility range  102  presented by the side rear-view mirror  153 , so the driver  17  is provided with a larger visibility range. Accordingly, the driver  17  can drive the vehicle  15  securely with the assistance of the driving assistance apparatus  1 . 
     A second embodiment of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus  2 , and a schematic view illustrating the framework thereof is depicted in  FIG. 2A . The driving assistance apparatus  2  comprises a video capturing apparatus  11 , a display apparatus  13  and a control apparatus  25 . The control apparatus  25  is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to the display apparatus  13 . In the second embodiment, the video capturing apparatus  11  and the display apparatus  13  can also execute the operations and functions set forth in the first embodiment, and thus will not be further described herein. Only the differences between the second embodiment and the first embodiment will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     With reference to  FIG. 2B , the control apparatus  25  of this embodiment comprises six operating units  251 ,  252 ,  253 ,  254 ,  255  and  256 , and a control unit  257 , wherein the operating units  251 ,  252 ,  253 ,  254 ,  255  and  256  are electrically wire or wirelessly connected to the control unit  257 . It shall be appreciated that the number of operating units is not limited in the present invention, so the control apparatus of the driving assistance apparatus in other embodiments may optionally comprise more or fewer operating units. For operational convenience of the driver  17 , the control apparatus  25  may be disposed on the base  133  of the display apparatus  13 , but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, in other implementations, the control apparatus  25  may also be combined with the display apparatus  13 . 
     In this embodiment, the operating units  251 ,  252 ,  253 ,  254 ,  255  and  256  are an up key, a down key, a left key, a right key, a zoom-in key, and a zoom-out key respectively. When any one of the operating units  251 ,  252 ,  253 ,  254 ,  255  and  256  is triggered (e.g., pressed by the driver  17 ), the control unit  257  will generate a control signal  202  in response to the operating unit that is triggered. The control signal  202  will be transmitted to the display apparatus  13  so that the selection display region is changed by the display device  131  of the display apparatus  13 . 
     For example, if the operating unit  251  (i.e., the up key) is triggered, the control unit  257  will generate a control signal  202   a  correspondingly. The display device  131  will move the selection display region upwardly in response to the control signal  202   a . In other words, partial image frames  122   a , . . . ,  124   a  presented by the display device  131  will be as shown in  FIG. 2C . As another example, if the operating unit  256  (i.e., the zoom-out key) is triggered, the control unit  257  will generate a control signal  202   b  correspondingly, and the display device  131  will zoom out the selection display region in response to the control signal  202   b.    
     With the driving assistance apparatus  2  of the second embodiment, the driver  17  can adjust the selection display region, which is set by the display device  131 , via the control apparatus  25  depending on his/her figure (e.g., stature), driving habit (e.g., the position of the driver seat  155 ) and/or driving conditions (e.g., backing up, overtaking, or parking), or the like, so the driver  17  can see different parts of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  in different scales through the display device  131 . As a result, the driver  17  can obtain more beneficial information from the driving assistance apparatus  2  to drive the vehicle  15  more securely. 
     A third embodiment of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus  3 , and a schematic view illustrating the framework thereof is depicted in  FIG. 3 . The driving assistance apparatus  3  comprises a video capturing apparatus  11 , a display apparatus  13  and a control circuit  35 . In the third embodiment, the video capturing apparatus  11  and the display apparatus  13  can also execute the operations and functions set forth in the first embodiment, and thus will not be further described herein. Only differences between the third embodiment and the first embodiment will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     The control circuit  35  is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to a gearshift (not shown) of the vehicle  15  and the display apparatus  13 . The control circuit  35  generates a control signal  302  in response to the gearshift that is moved to reverse gear (not shown). The display device  131  of the display apparatus  13  further changes the selection display region in response to the control signal  302 . More specifically, the display device  131  of the display apparatus  13  moves the selection display region downwardly and the contents represented by the selection display region are zoomed in. 
     With the driving assistance apparatus  3  of the third embodiment, the driver  17  can see clearly the space behind and beside the vehicle  15  through the enlarged image displayed on the display device  131  without the help of others when he/she pulls over and/or backs up. Thereby, the possibility of accidental scratches or collisions can be reduced. 
     A fourth embodiment of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus  4 , and a schematic view illustrating the framework thereof is depicted in  FIG. 4A . The driving assistance apparatus  4  comprises a video capturing apparatus  11 , a display apparatus  13 , a control circuit  45 , and a warning indicator  47 . In the fourth embodiment, the video capturing apparatus  11  and the display apparatus  13  can also execute the operations and functions set forth in the first embodiment, and thus will not be further described herein. Only differences between the fourth embodiment and the first embodiment will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     In this embodiment, the control circuit  45  is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to the video capturing apparatus  11  and the warning indicator  47 . The control circuit  45  calculates the speed of an object (not shown) based on at least two of the image frames  122 , . . . ,  124  captured by the video capturing apparatus  11 . For example, the control circuit  45  calculates the speed of an object  40  according to the image frames  122  and  124  by comparing the relative positions of the object  40  in image frames  122  and  124 , as shown in  FIG. 4B . 
     If the speed of the object calculated by the control circuit  45  is greater than the threshold (not shown), this means that the object may be approaching the vehicle  15  rapidly. Then, the control circuit  45  generates a control signal  402  correspondingly. A warning signal is generated by the warning indicator  47  after receiving the control signal  402 . The form of the warning signal depends on the type of the warning indicator  47 . For example, if the warning indicator  47  is a loudspeaker, the warning signal may be a warning sound. As another example, if the warning indicator  47  is a light emitting diode, the warning signal is a blinking light signal. 
     With the driving assistance apparatus  4  of the fourth embodiment, the control circuit  45  can perceive that an object (e.g., another vehicle) is approaching the vehicle  15  rapidly and inform the driver  17  via the warning indicator  47  so that the driver  17  can respond to an emergency timely to avoid collision with other vehicles. 
     It shall be appreciated that, as will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the explanation of the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment, the arrangements of the aforesaid embodiments can be arbitrarily integrated in other implementations of the present invention to achieve various different driving assistance effects. 
     A fifth embodiment of the present invention is a driving assistance apparatus  5 , and a schematic view illustrating the framework thereof is depicted in  FIG. 5A . The driving assistance apparatus  5  comprises video capturing apparatuses  11  and  51 , display apparatuses  13  and  53 , and control apparatuses  25  and  55 . In the fifth embodiment, the video capturing apparatus  11 , the display apparatus  13  and the control apparatus  25  can also execute the operations and functions set forth in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and thus, will not be further described herein. Only differences between the fifth embodiment and the first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described in detail hereinafter. 
     The operations and functions of the video capturing apparatus  51 , the display apparatus  53  and the control apparatus  55  are substantially the same as those of the video capturing apparatus  11 , the display apparatus  13  and the control apparatus  25 . Specifically, the display apparatus  53  is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to the video capturing apparatus  51  and the control apparatus  55 . Moreover, the video capturing apparatus  51  comprises an image capturing device  511  and a case  513 , as shown in  FIG. 5B ; and the display apparatus  53  comprises a display device  531  and a base  533 , as shown in  FIG. 5C . 
       FIG. 5D  illustrates a schematic top view of the driving assistance apparatus  5  used with a vehicle  15 . The vehicle  15  comprises a body shell  151 , side rear-view mirrors  153  and  154 , and a driver seat  155 . It shall be appreciated that the vehicle  15  also comprises other devices, but these devices are unrelated to this embodiment and thus, are omitted from depiction. In this embodiment, the side rear-view mirror  153  is disposed near the shotgun seat and outside the body shell  151 . The side rear-view mirror  154  is disposed near the driver seat and outside the body shell  151 . Similarly, the vehicle  15  defines a forwards direction and a backwards direction. The forwards direction refers to the direction that the driver  17  faces when seated in the driver seat  155 , while the backwards direction refers to the direction opposite the forwards direction. 
     When the driving assistance apparatus  5  is used with the vehicle  15 , the arrangements, operations, and functions of the video capturing apparatus  11 , the display apparatus  13  and the control apparatus  25  are the same as those set forth in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, and thus, will not be further described herein. On the other hand, the case  513  of the video capturing apparatus  51  is disposed in front of the side rear-view mirror  154  and on the body shell  151  (e.g., on the hood of the vehicle  15 ) so that the lens  515  of the image capturing device  511  faces towards the backwards direction of the vehicle  15 . A visibility range  504  is defined, wherein the visibility range  504  is greater than the visibility range  502  provided by the side rear-view mirror  154 . The image capturing device  511  continuously captures a plurality of image frames  522 , . . . ,  524  based on the visibility range  504  via the lens  515  when the driving assistance apparatus  5  is on. Each of the image frames  522 , . . . ,  524  may be a static image or a frame in a film file. 
     Moreover, the base  533  of the display apparatus  53  is disposed inside the body shell  151  and within a predetermined space (not shown) defined by the side rear-view mirror  154  (e.g., on the instrument panel or the window of the vehicle  15 ). The driver seat  155  and the display apparatus  53  define a direction  52 . An angle  506  is formed between the direction  52  and the facing direction  16  of the driver seat  155 . On the other hand, the driver seat  155  and the side rear-view mirror  154  define a direction  54 . An angle  508  is formed between the direction  54  and the facing direction  16  of the driver seat  155 . It shall be appreciated that the angle  506  is smaller than the angle  508 . Thus, as compared with observing the side rear-view mirror  154 , the driver  17  on the driver seat  155  only needs to move his/her head within a smaller range when he/she observes the display apparatus  53 . 
     The display device  531  is configured to display partial image frames of each of the image frames  522 , . . . ,  524  based on another selection display region (not shown) when the driving assistance apparatus  5  is on. It shall be appreciated that the dimension of the other selection display region is smaller than the dimension of each of the image frames  522 , . . . ,  524 . 
     Like the control apparatus  25 , the control apparatus  55  comprises at least one operating unit (not shown) and a control unit (not shown). The at least one operating unit is electrically wired or wirelessly connected to the control unit. For operational convenience of the driver  17 , the control apparatus  55  may be disposed on the base  533  of the display apparatus  53 , but is not limited thereto. Furthermore, in other implementations, the control apparatus  55  may also be combined with the display apparatus  53 . When any one of the operating units is triggered (e.g., pressed by the driver  17 ), the control unit will generate a control signal (not shown) in response to the operating unit being triggered. The control signal will be transmitted to the display apparatus  53  so that the display device  531  of the display apparatus  53  changes the selection display region. 
     As can be known from the above descriptions, the driving assistance apparatus  5  is disposed at the left side and the right side of the vehicle  15 . Therefore, the driver  17  can be informed of the road conditions at the two sides of and behind the vehicle by the driving assistance apparatus  5  and adjust the selection display region, which is set by the display devices  131  and  531 , via the control apparatuses  25  and  55  depending on practical needs. Thereby, the driver  17  can see different parts of the image frames in different scales on the display devices  131  and  531 . As a result, the driver  17  can obtain more beneficial information from the driving assistance apparatus  5  to drive the vehicle  15  more securely. 
     Furthermore, as can be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art from the explanation of the first embodiment to the fifth embodiment, the arrangements of the aforesaid embodiments can be integrated arbitrarily in other implementations of the present invention to achieve various different driving assistance effects. 
     The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents and inventive features thereof and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. People skilled in this field may proceed with a variety of modifications and replacements based on the disclosures and suggestions of the invention as described without departing from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although such modifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the above descriptions, they have substantially been covered in the following claims as appended.