Patent ID: 8217766

Claim:
A vehicle presence notification apparatus in a vehicle for reporting a presence of the vehicle to an outside of the vehicle, the apparatus comprising: an ultrasonic signal generation section that outputs an ultrasonic signal; a modulation section that uses the ultrasonic signal as a carrier wave and modulates the ultrasonic signal depending on an audible sound; a plurality of speaker-use ultrasonic transducer devices that generate a notice sound by emitting an ultrasonic wave in mid air based on the ultrasonic signal modulated by the modulation section; and at least one sensor-use ultrasonic transducer device that is included in the plurality of speaker-use ultrasonic transducer devices, the sensor-use ultrasonic transducer device being a two-way transducer device that is enabled to perform not only transmission but also reception of an ultrasonic wave, the two-way transducer device having a first function as a speaker to generate a notice sound and a second function as an ultrasonic sensor to measure a distance with an obstacle outside of the vehicle, the second function of the two-way transducer device being operated when a velocity of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.