Patent Publication Number: US-8996199-B2

Title: Vehicle accident history recorder

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/154,476 filed on Jan. 14, 2014. The present application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Applications No. 2013-6383 filed on Jan. 17, 2013, disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a vehicle accident history recorder for recording a collision accident of a vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND 
     According to a vehicular accident situation recorder of Patent Document 1, when an acceleration sensor and a yaw rate sensor output signals exceeding thresholds, the vehicular accident situation recorder determines that a collision accident causing a yaw rate of the vehicle has occurred. When the above determination is made, the vehicular accident situation recorder transfers a video data representing a vehicle outside situation and records the video data in a storage device. Additionally, the vehicular accident situation recorder records detection data of the acceleration sensor, the yaw rate sensor and other devices in the storage device.
     Patent Document 1: JP-H9-257495A   

     However, the above-described recorder does not identify a damaged portion (collided portion) of the vehicle in the collision accident. The inventor of the present application believes that if the damaged portion were identified to some extents, a vehicle dealer would easily trade the vehicle and assess a purchasing price and accurately and quickly perform the assessment. While an accident history and a repair history should be investigated for service improvement, the dealer who overlooks the accident history and unsuccessfully performs proper assessment would lose his credit. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure is made in view of the foregoing. It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a vehicle accident history recorder that can determine a damaged portion of a vehicle in a collision and that can store a determination result in a readable form. 
     According to one example of embodiments, a vehicle accident history recorder is provided. The vehicle accident history recorder comprises: a collision detection sensor for detecting a collision of a vehicle; a collision determination section for determining an occurrence of the collision based on a detection result of the collision detection sensor; a yaw rate sensor for detecting a yaw rate of the vehicle; a damaged portion determination section for determining a damaged portion of the vehicle in the collision based on the detection result of the collision detection sensor and a detection result of the yaw rate sensor when the collision determination section determines the occurrence of the collision; and a storage device for storing a determination result of the damaged portion determination section in a readable form. 
     According the above configuration, by taking into account behavior of the vehicle after the collision, the vehicle accident history recorder can narrow down and identify the damaged portion in the collision based on a combination of a detection result of the acceleration sensor and a detection result of the yaw rate sensor. Additionally, information on the identified damaged portion is stored in the readable storage device. Because of this, a vehicle dealer can easily trade the vehicle and assess a purchasing price. The vehicle dealer can accurately and quickly perform the assessment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a vehicle accident history recorder in a vehicle of a first embodiment; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle accident history recorder of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating determination criteria of a damaged portion determination section of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a determination manner of the damaged portion determination section of the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a vehicle behavior after a collision; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a vehicle accident history recorder in a vehicle of a second embodiment; and 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the vehicle accident history recorder of the second embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. In the below embodiments, like references are used to refer to like parts. It is noted that the drawings are conceptual diagrams. 
     First Embodiment 
     A vehicle accident history recorder of the first embodiment includes an airbag ECU  1  and a storage device  2 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The airbag ECU  1  is an electronic control unit for controlling deployment of an airbag  200 C, which is an occupant protection device. The airbag ECU  1  is disposed at a position that is not exposed to a boarding space in a vehicle compartment  200 A. For example, the airbag ECU  1  may be disposed in a space below an air conditioner operation panel. The airbag ECU  1  may be disposed in a center portion of the vehicle. Another in-vehicle ECU may be used in place of the airbag ECU  1 . 
     The airbag ECU  1  includes a microcomputer  10 , an acceleration sensor  11  (corresponding to an example of collision detection sensor), and a gyro sensor  12  (corresponding to an example of yaw rate sensor). The microcomputer  10  may include an electronic circuit, a memory and the like. 
     The acceleration sensor  11  is a G sensor for detecting acceleration in a vehicle front-back direction (i.e., vehicle front or back direction) and a vehicle left-right direction (i.e., vehicle left or right direction). A detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  is used for the control of deployment of the airbag  200 C and the like. The microcomputer  10  controls the deployment of the airbag  200 C and the like based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11 . The gyro sensor  12  detects a yaw rate (angular velocity around a yaw axis), a roll rate (angular velocity around a roll axis), and a pitch rate (angular velocity around a pitch axis). That is, the gyro sensor  12  includes a yaw rate sensor. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the airbag ECU  1  includes a collision determination section  101  and a damaged portion determination section  102  in addition to a section for airbag control. These sections may be functional blocks implemented by the microcomputer  10 . The collision determination section  101  determines whether the collision has occurred, based on a detection result of the acceleration sensor  11 . Specifically, the collision determination section  101  stores a predetermined threshold (a collision threshold). When an absolute value of the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  exceeds the threshold, the collision determination section  101  determines an occurrence of the collision. 
     When the collision determination section  101  determines the occurrence of the collision, the damaged portion determination section  102  determines a damaged portion of the vehicle in the collision based on the detection results of the acceleration sensor  11  and the gyro sensor  12 . Specifically, the damaged portion determination section  102  includes a first damage determination section  102 A and a second damage determination section  102 B. 
     Based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11 , the first damage determination section  102 A identifies which of a front face, a back face, a left face and a right face of the vehicle is a damaged face of the vehicle. When the acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction exceeds the collision threshold, the first damage determination section  102 A identifies whether the collision has occurred in the front face or the back face of the vehicle. This identification is made based on a polarity (plus or minus) of change in the acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction. When the acceleration in the vehicle left-right direction exceeds the collision threshold, the first damage determination section  102 A identifies whether the collision has occurred in the right face or the left face of the vehicle. This identification is made based on a polarity (plus or minus) of change in the acceleration in the vehicle right-to-left direction. In this way, the first damage determination section  102 A determines a first damage information and records the first damage information (determination result) in the storage device  2 , so that the first damage information identifies one of the front face, the back face, the left face and the right face of the vehicle as a damaged face. 
     Based on the first damage information and information on the yaw rate of the gyro sensor  12 , the second damage determination section  102 B identifies the damaged portion in more detail from the damaged face (collided surface) identified in the first damage information. Specifically, the second damage determination section  102 B determines whether the collision rotates the vehicle clockwise, rotates the vehicle counterclockwise or does not rotate the vehicle. This determination is made based on the yaw rate detected within a predetermined time period from the occurrence of the collision determined by the collision determination section  101 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , based on the damaged face (the first damage information) and the rotation information (the yaw rate), the second damage determination section  102 B identifies which of the following portions is the damaged portion: a right portion of the front face; a left portion of the front face; a center portion of the front face (or a whole front face); a right portion of the back face; a left portion of the back face; a center portion of the back face (or whole back face); a front portion of the right face; a back portion of the right face; a center portion of the right face (a whole right face); a front portion of the left face; a back portion of the left face; and a center portion of the left face (or a whole left face). 
     Specifically, when the front face or the back face of the vehicle is identified as the damaged face in the first damage information, the second damage determination section  102 B determines a second damage information, so that the second damage information identifies one of a left portion, a right portion and a center portion of the damaged face as the damaged portion. When the left face or the right face of the vehicle is identified as the damaged face in the first damage information, the second damage determination section  102 B determines the second damage information, so that the second damage information identifies one a front portion, a back portion and a center portion of the damaged face is the damaged portion. The second damage determination section  102 B records the second damage information (determination result) in the storage device  2 . It is noted that when the center portion is identified as the damaged portion, information (the second damage information) indicating the center portion or a whole face as the damaged portion may be stored in the storage device  2 . 
     More specifically, when the front face or the back face is identified as the damaged face in the first damage information, the second damage information specifies one of multiple portions of the damaged face as the damaged portion by dividing the damaged face in the multiple portions in the vehicle left-right direction (the right portion, the left portion and the center portion in the present embodiment). When the left face or the right face is identified as the damaged face in the first damage information, the second damage information specifies one of multiple portions of the damaged face as the damaged portion by dividing the damaged face into the multiple portions in the vehicle front-back direction (the front portion, the back portion and the center portion in the present embodiment). It is noted that the multiple portions of the damaged face may be two portions which are right and left portions or front or back portions. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates an example of the determination of the damaged portion determination section  102 . As shown in  FIG. 4 , when the acceleration sensor  11  detects the acceleration in the vehicle back direction exceeding the collision threshold and the gyro sensor  12  detects the counterclockwise rotation within the predetermined time period, the first damage determination section  102 A determines that the front face is the damaged face and the second damage determination section  102 B determines that the damaged portion is the left portion. That is, the second damage determination section  102 B identifies the left portion of the front face as the damaged portion. 
       FIG. 5  illustrates an example of the behavior of the vehicle after the collision. As shown in  FIG. 5 , when the vehicle traveling forward collides with a forward object, the vehicle decelerates because of an increase in acceleration in the vehicle back direction, and thereafter, the vehicle rotates counterclockwise because of a forward movement of the right portion of the vehicle. In another example, when the yaw rate is not detected with the gyro sensor  12  or when the yaw rate greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold (see the one-dotted dashed line in  FIG. 4 ) is not detected with the gyro sensor  12 , it can be estimated that the vehicle after the collision does not rotate and that the collided portion is a center portion of the damaged face or a whole damaged face. In the first embodiment, the behavior of the vehicle after the collision is prospectively estimated for each face (damaged face). This estimated behavior is compared with a combination of a detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and a detection result of the gyro sensor  12 . Thereby, the damaged portion is identified. 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , in the present embodiment, when the acceleration in the vehicle back direction increases, the damaged portion determination section  102  determines that the front face has the damaged portion. Thereafter, based on the rotation of the vehicle detected within the predetermined time period, the damaged portion is determined. Specifically, when the counterclockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the left portion. When the clockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the right portion. When the rotation greater than or equal to the threshold is not detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the center portion. 
     When the acceleration in the vehicle front direction increases, the damaged portion determination section  102  determines that the back face has the damaged portion. Thereafter, based on the rotation of the vehicle detected within the predetermined time period, the damaged portion is determined. Specifically, when the counterclockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the right portion. When the clockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the left portion. When the rotation greater than or equal to the threshold is not detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the center portion. 
     When the acceleration in the vehicle left direction increases, the damaged portion determination section  102  determines that the right face has the damaged portion. Thereafter, based on the rotation of the vehicle detected within the predetermined time period, the damaged portion is determined. Specifically, when the counterclockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the front portion. When the clockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the back portion. When the rotation greater than or equal to the threshold is not detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the center portion. 
     When the acceleration in the vehicle right direction increases, the damaged portion determination section  102  determines that the left face has the damaged portion. Thereafter, based on the rotation of the vehicle detected within the predetermined time period, the damaged portion is determined. Specifically, when the counterclockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the back portion. When the clockwise rotation is detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the front portion. When the rotation greater than or equal to the threshold is not detected, the damaged portion is determined to be the center portion. 
     The storage device  2  includes a non-volatile memory. The storage device  2  is communicably connected with the airbag ECU  1 . The storage device  2  is arranged around the airbag ECU  1 . The information on the damaged portion (the first damage information and the second damage information) transmitted from the airbag ECU  1  is recorded in the storage device  2 , so that the recorded data is stored in a readable form. The information stored in the storage device  2  can be read and displayed with a computer terminal (e.g., personal computer, tablet) via a detachable storage device such as a USB memory or the like or via a wire such as a USB cable or the like. The storage device  2  stores the recorded data together with, for example, day-time information. It may be preferable that the recorded data in a storage device of the storage device  2  be inerasable and non-modifiable. For example, the storage device may include a ROM. 
     According to the first embodiment, by taking into account the behavior of the vehicle after the collision, the vehicle accident history recorder can narrow down and identify the damaged portion in the collision based on a combination of the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and the detection result of the yaw rate of the gyro sensor  12 . Additionally, according to the first embodiment, the damaged face (one of the four faces) is identified with the acceleration sensor  11  in relatively a rough way. Then, one of the right portion, the left portion and the center portion of the damaged face, or, one of the front portion, the back portion and the center portion of the damaged face is identified as the damaged portion by using the gyro sensor  12 . In this way, it is possible to identify a damaged site in detail. 
     According to the first embodiment, the first damage information specifying the damaged face and the second damage information specifying the damaged portion of the damaged face are accumulated and stored in the storage device  2 . Therefore, as to the vehicle equipped with the vehicle accident history recorder, one can read the data from the storage device  2  and access an accident history of the vehicle (damaged portion identified in past). Because of this, the vehicle dealer can easily trade the vehicle and assess a purchasing price. The vehicle dealer can accurately and quickly perform the assessment. 
     Second Embodiment 
     A vehicle accident history recorder of the second embodiment will be illustrated with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Like parts between the first and second embodiments are referred to by like references. Additionally, explanations on like parts already given above may be omitted. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the vehicle accident history recorder of the second embodiment includes an airbag ECU  1 , a storage device  2  and acceleration sensors  31  to  36 . The acceleration sensors  31  to  36  are communicably connected to the airbag ECU  1 . 
     The acceleration sensor  31  is disposed at a right portion of the front region of the vehicle and detects acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction and the vehicle left-right direction. The acceleration sensor  32  is disposed at a left portion of the front region of the vehicle and detects the acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction and the vehicle left-right direction. The acceleration sensor  33  is disposed at a right portion of a center region of the vehicle and detects the acceleration in the vehicle left-right direction. The acceleration sensor  34  is disposed at a left portion of the center region of the vehicle and detects the acceleration in the vehicle left-right direction. The acceleration sensor  35  is disposed at a right portion of a back region of the vehicle and detects the acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction and the vehicle left-right direction. The acceleration sensor  36  is disposed at a left portion of the back region of the vehicle and detects the acceleration in the vehicle front-back direction and the vehicle left-right direction. 
     The collision determination section  101  determines whether the collision has occurred, based on at least one of acceleration results of the acceleration sensor  31  to  36  and the acceleration sensor  11 . In the second embodiment, the acceleration sensors  31  to  36  are used as satellite sensors for control of deployment of the airbag  200 C. When the detection result of at least one of the acceleration sensor  31  to  36  exceeds the collision threshold and the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  exceeds the collision threshold, the collision determination section  101  determines that the collision has occurred. 
     Like the first embodiment, when the collision determination section  101  determines that the collision has occurred, the damaged portion determination section  102  specifies the first damage information based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and specifies the second damage information based on the detection result of the gyro sensor  12 . Thus, the second embodiment can provide the same advantages as the first embodiment. Additionally, in the second embodiment, since the damaged portion is identified when the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and the detection result of at least one of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36  exceed the collision thresholds and represent the same direction, the second embodiment improves reliability of information indicating the occurrence of the collision and the damaged portion. 
     (Modifications) 
     The above-illustrated embodiments do not limit embodiments of the present disclosure. Examples of other embodiments and modifications will be illustrated. 
     For example, an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration in a vehicle front-back direction and a vehicle left-right direction may be a single acceleration sensor or multiple acceleration sensors, or may be a combination of an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration in a vehicle front-back direction and an acceleration sensor for detection acceleration in a vehicle left-right direction. A yaw rate sensor may be provided to the airbag ECU  1  in place of the gyro sensor  12 . 
     The damaged portion determination section  102  may generate a damage information indicating a damaged face and a damaged portion by combining the first damage information indicating the damaged face and the second damage information indicating the damaged portion. In other words, it may be suffice that the damage information recorded in the storage device  2  include the first damage information and the second damage information. The damaged portion determination section  102  may pre-store a map data (database or the like) representing a relation between vehicle behaviors and damaged portions. The damaged portion determination section  102  may determine the damaged portion by comparing the detection results of the sensors  11 ,  12  with the map data. 
     In another embodiment, a pressure sensor may be adopted as the collision detection sensor. In this case, for example, the collision detection sensor may include at least one of: a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in a chamber arranged in a bumper of a vehicle front; a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in a chamber arranged in a bumper of a vehicle back; a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in a door of a vehicle right; and a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure in a door of a vehicle left. In this regard, the pressure sensor of the door may detect not all of side collisions. 
     In one embodiment, the acceleration sensor  11  may be an acceleration sensor for detecting only acceleration in a vehicle front-back direction. In this case, the damaged portion determination section  102  may identify one of the front face and the back face as the damaged face based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and further identify one of a right portion, left portion and a center portion (or a whole of the damaged face) of the damaged face as the damaged portion based on the detection result of the gyro sensor  12 . Likewise, the acceleration sensor  11  may be an acceleration sensor for detecting only acceleration in a vehicle left-right direction. In this case, the damaged portion determination section  102  may identify one of the right face and the left face as the damaged face based on the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and further identify one of a front portion, back portion and a center portion (or a whole of the damaged face) of the damaged face (the left or right face) as the damaged portion based on the detection result of the gyro sensor  12 . Thus, when the acceleration sensor  11  can detect acceleration in at least one of a vehicle front-back direction and a vehicle left-right direction, the damaged portion in the collision in the at least one of a vehicle front-back direction and a vehicle left-right direction can be identified. 
     In a modification of the second embodiment, the damaged portion determination section  102  may identify the damaged portion based on the detection result of the gyro sensor  12  and the detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36  instead the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11 . Since the acceleration sensors  31  to  36  are arranged near the four faces (which would become a damaged face), the collision can be detected with high sensitivity, and additionally, the magnitudes of the detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36  can be used to identify the damaged portion. For example, when the acceleration sensor  31  detects a largest acceleration change among the acceleration sensors  31  to  36 , it can be determined that an attachment position (right portion of the vehicle front) of the acceleration sensor  31  is highly likely the damaged portion, and additionally, it can further determined from a direction of the changed acceleration whether the damaged portion is in the front face or the right face of the vehicle. By combining this result with the rotation information of the yaw rate, a more accurate determination of the damaged portion can be made. Furthermore, by taking into account the detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36 , the damaged portion determination section  102  may identify the damaged portion based on three detection results. That is, a first detection result is a detection result of the acceleration sensor  11 , a second detection result is detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36 , and a third detection result is a detection result of the gyro sensor  12 . 
     It is assumed that a collision occurs in a situation where the vehicle is spinning (i.e., a yaw rate is detected). In this case, the collision determination section  101  determines whether or not the collision has occurred, and the damaged portion determination section  102  determines whether or not a change in yaw rate detected with the gyro sensor  12  is greater than or equal to a threshold. When the change in yaw rate is greater than or equal to the threshold, the damaged portion determination section  102  identifies the damaged portion based on a direction of the change and the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  and/or the detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36 . In this way, based on the detection result of the gyro sensor  12  and the detection result of the acceleration sensor  11  (and/or the detection results of the acceleration sensors  31  to  36 ), the vehicle accident history recorder can identify and record the damaged portion. 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited the above embodiments and modifications. That is, the above embodiments and modifications thereof may be modified or combined in various ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.