(19) Japanese
`Patent Office (JP)
`
`( 12) Publication
`of Unexamined
`Japanese Patent
`Application (A)
`
`(11) Disclosure Number:
`Unexamined Japanese Patent
`Application JPH05-067294
`( 43) Publication Date
`19 March 1993
`Theme code (reference):
`
`(51) Int. Cl. 6
`
`GOBG 1/09
`B60R 16/02
`GOBG 1/052
`1/09
`
`Identification FI
`Code
`S 7103-3H
`2105-3D
`7103-3H
`D 7103-3H
`Examination not Requested No. of Claims: 11 (8 pages total)
`(21) Filing Number: Patent Application No. H03-229080
`(22) Date of Application: 9 Sept. 1991
`(71) Patentee: 000003997
`Nissan Motor Company1 2 Takara-cho 1 Kanagawa-KU 1
`Yokohama City, Kanagawa prefecture, Japan
`(72) Inventor: NAGOSHI, Sueo,
`
`54 Title of the Patent Invention
`A Vehicle Speed Limit Warning Device
`
`57 Abstract
`PURPOSE: The object is to make the driver aware of the speed limit
`of the road 1 no matter what road is being driven.
`CONSTITUTION: A navigation system 11 detects the coordinates of
`the present location of the vehicle, the receiver 6 receives the speed
`limit information for each road section which is transmitted from a
`beacon, the memory 7 stores this speed limit information, the
`microcomputer 12 detects the speed limit of the road where the
`driver is driving at present by means of the coordinates information
`of the current vehicle location from the navigation system 11 and
`from the speed limit information for each every road section from
`the memory 7 and the detected speed limit is displayed by the
`display equipment 13.
`
`TomTom000368
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 1
`
`

`

`CLAIMS
`Claim 1
`A vehicle speed limit warning device comprised of an information
`reception means receiving the speed limit information of each
`specific road section which is transmitted from beacons disposed on
`the roads, and an information recording means recording the speed
`limit information acquired by means of this information reception
`means, and a vehicle location computation means computing the
`location coordinates of the current location of the vehicle, and a
`determination means acquiring the current location coordinates of
`the vehicle location from said vehicle location computation means
`and finding the road section of the current vehicle location
`coordinates and determining the speed limit information from the
`information recorded in said information recording means and
`determining the speed limit information of that road section, and a
`notification means notifying the driver of the speed limit information
`determined by means of that determination means.
`
`Detailed Description of the Invention
`[0001]
`Field of Industrial Use
`The present invention relates to a vehicle speed limit warning
`device.
`[0002]
`Conventional Technology
`A block diagram of the circuits of a typical conventional
`vehicle speed limit warning device is represented in FIG. 6, and this
`is explained hereafter in accordance with FIG. 6.
`[0003]
`The velocity conversion device 16 acquires the detected
`signals of the wheel velocity sensor 15 and converts it to the
`running velocity. The running velocity converted by this velocity
`conversion device 16 is displayed on speedometer 17. The warning
`sound generation device 18 acquires the running velocity converted
`by this velocity conversion device 16 and determines whether it is in
`excess of a specific value (e.g. 105 Km/h) in order to generate a
`warning, and a warning is generated over the speaker when it is in
`excess of the specific value.
`[0004]
`Problems to be Solved by the Invention
`In respect of this conventional vehicle speed limit warning
`device, there are times when the specific value is not identical with
`the speed limit of the road being driven because the specific value
`in order to generate the warning is fixed [in the apparatus].
`[0005]
`
`TomTom000369
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 2
`
`

`

`The present invention was conceived of in order to resolve the
`cited issues, and has as its objective making the driver aware of the
`speed limit of the road, irrespective of what roads are driven.
`[0006]
`Summary of the Invention
`In order to achieve said objectives, the invention of claim 1 as
`represented in FIG. 1 corresponding to the claim, said vehicle speed
`limit warning device is configured from an information reception
`means 1 receiving the speed limit information of each specific road
`section which is transmitted from beacons disposed on the roads,
`and an information recording means 2 recording the speed limit
`information acquired by means of this information reception means
`1, and a vehicle location computation means 3 computing the
`location coordinates of the current location of the vehicle, and a
`determination means 4 acquiring the current location coordinates of
`the vehicle location from that vehicle location computation means 3
`and finding the road section corresponding to the current vehicle
`location coordinates and determining the speed limit information
`from the information recorded in said information recording means
`2 and determining the speed limit information of that road section,
`and a notification means 5 notifying the driver of the speed limit
`information determined by means of that determination means 4.
`[0007]
`Effects
`Said vehicle location computation means 3 computes the
`current location coordinates of the vehicle. The speed limit
`information for each specific road section transmitted from the
`beacons is acquired by means of said information reception means 1
`and is recorded by means of said information recording means 2.
`Said determination means 4 acquires the location coordinates of the
`current location of the vehicle from the vehicle location computation
`means 3 and finds the road section where the current location
`coordinates exist from the information recorded in said information
`recording means 2 and determines the speed limit information
`thereof. The determined speed limit information is displayed on said
`display means 5 and notified to the driver.
`[0008]
`Figure 2 is a block diagram of the first embodiment of the
`present invention. Hereafter an explanation is provided based on
`the block diagram of FIG. 2. Firstly, the configuration is explained.
`[0009]
`It is comprised of the geomagnetic sensor 8, in order to
`detect the bearing of the vehicle being driven, and wheel velocity
`sensor 9, in order to detect the running velocity of the vehicle, and
`the CDROM 10 recording the road map, and the navigation system
`11 (In the configuration described above, this is configured by the
`vehicle location computation means according to claim 1), and the
`
`TomTom000370
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 3
`
`

`

`receiver 6 as the information receptor means claimed in claim 1
`receiving data from beacons transmitting the speed limit
`information of each of the road sections, and the memory 7 as the
`information recording means claimed in claim 1 recording the
`received speed limit information, and the microcomputer 12 as the
`determination means claimed in claim 1 performing the overall
`process control, and the display device 13 as the display means
`claimed in claim 1 displaying the speed limit.
`[0010]
`Next, the operations are explained. The earlier described
`navigation system 11 computes the current location, as the
`departure point, from the values output from said geomagnetic
`sensor 8 detecting the bearing of the driven direction of the vehicle
`and the values output from said wheel velocity sensor 9 detecting
`the running velocity of the vehicle, and compares that with the road
`sections in the road map prerecorded in said CDROM 10, to
`determine the road section where the vehicle is currently being
`driven. Said receiver 6 receives the speed limit information
`transmitted from the beacons and records and stores the received
`information in said memory 7.
`[0011]
`Said microcomputer 12 operates in accordance with the flow
`chart represented in FIG. 3. Hereafter, an explanation is provided
`according to FIG. 3.
`[0012]
`In step F300, the information of the road sector currently
`being driven is acquired from said navigation system 11.
`[0013]
`In step F305, that information is sent to said memory 7, and
`the speed limit information of the road currently being driven on is
`output.
`[0014]
`In step F310, the speed limit information which said memory
`7 outputs is acquired. In step F315, the received speed limit
`information is sent to said display apparatus 13. This completes the
`explanations of the operations of said microcomputer 12.
`[0015]
`Said display apparatus 13 displays the speed limit information
`acquired from said microcomputer 12.
`[0016]
`One example of the form of the display is represented in the
`elevated view of the speedometer in FIG. 4. This shows how the
`speed limit information is alphanumerically displayed as part of the
`speedometer, and the driver is informed of the speed limit of the
`road currently being driven by the display green LEDs of the
`velocities below the speed limit on the outer side of the
`speedometer, and the velocities above the speed limit in red.
`
`TomTom000371
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 4
`
`

`

`[0017]
`Another example of a speedometer of the present invention is
`represented in the elevated view in FIG. 5. Vehicle restriction
`information, other than the speed limit information, such as one(cid:173)
`way street or entry prohibited information is acquired from the
`beacons, and information on the prohibition of right or left turns at
`the next intersection are informed to the driver by modification of
`the color of the winker indicator 14 in the upper part of the
`speedometer.
`[0018]
`Now, when the driven speed of the vehicle exceeds the speed
`limit, instead of displaying the speed limit on the speedometer, the
`driver can be informed thereof by the sounding of a warning buzzer,
`and instead of displaying the left or right turn prohibition
`information on the speedometer, when the winker [indicator] is
`operated just before an inoperable left turn, the driver can be
`informed of the prohibition of the left turn by a warning buzzer.
`[0019]
`Moreover, in this embodiment, the vehicle location
`computation means of claim 1 was configured from the
`geomagnetic sensor 8, the wheel velocity sensor 9 and the CDROM
`10, but it is not limited to this in the present invention, and said
`vehicle location computation means may be configured by
`employing GP5 as represented in Japanese laid-open unexamined
`patent specification 562-98214 or in Japanese laid-open
`unexamined patent specification 562-140080.
`[0020]
`Effects of the Invention
`As described above, by means of the present invention, no
`matter what type of road is being driven, there is the derivation of
`the benefit that the driver can be made aware all the time of the
`speed limit.
`
`Brief Description of the Drawings
`Figure 1: The figure corresponding to the invention of claim 1
`A block diagram of the multidisc player where the present invention
`is applied.
`Figure 2: A block diagram of the first embodiment of the present
`invention.
`Figure 3: A flow chart of the functions of the microcomputer.
`Figure 4: One example of the of the speedometer display by means
`of the present invention.
`Figure 5: One example of the of the speedometer display by means
`of the present invention.
`Figure 6: A block diagram of a prior art example.
`
`TomTom000372
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 5
`
`

`

`Reference Numerals
`1 The information reception means
`2 The information recording means
`3 The vehicle location computation means
`4 The determination means
`5 The display means
`6 The signal receiver
`7 The memory
`8 The magnetic sensor
`9 The vehicle velocity sensor
`10 CD-ROM
`11 The navigation system
`12 The microcomputer
`13 The display
`14 The winker indicator
`15 The wheel velocity sensor
`16 The velocity conversion device
`17 The speedometer
`18 The warning sound generation device
`19 The speaker
`
`TomTom000373
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 6
`
`

`

`Figure 1
`
`Information
`reception
`means
`
`r-1
`
`Information
`recording
`means
`
`Vehicle
`location
`computation
`means
`
`Notification
`Determination
`~--------~means
`~----~~
`means
`
`/
`
`5
`
`Figure 2
`8
`
`9 10
`
`M
`a
`g
`n
`e
`t
`
`c
`
`s
`e
`n
`s
`0
`r
`
`lw h
`
`e
`e
`I
`
`v
`e
`I
`0
`c
`i
`t
`y
`
`s
`e
`n
`s
`0
`
`c
`0
`I
`R
`0
`M
`
`1 1
`I
`
`Signal
`receiver r -
`
`G
`
`Memory f---7
`
`72
`/
`
`Navigation system
`
`Microcomputer
`
`13
`(
`
`Display
`
`TomTom000374
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 7
`
`

`

`Figure 3
`
`START
`
`STEP .,F3QQ
`
`ACQUISITION OF THE SPEED LIMIT
`INFORMATION FOR THE ROAD SECTION BEING
`DRIVEN FROM THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM
`
`OUTPUT FROM THE MEMORY OF THE
`SPEED LIMIT INFORMATION FOR THE
`ROAD SECTION BEING DRIVEN
`
`STEP F305
`
`STEP F310
`
`ACQUISITION OF THE SPEED UMIT
`INFORMATION FOR THE ROAD
`SECTION BEING DRIVEN FROM THE
`MEMORY
`
`STEP F315
`
`SEND THE SPEED LIMIT
`INFORMATION TO THE DISPLAY
`APPARATUS
`
`TomTom000375
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 8
`
`

`

`Figure 4
`
`Red
`
`~~\\11111/fii!V$
`~ 80
`100 ~
`~ 60
`120 ~
`§:§
`~
`Km!h
`$40 00007~4
`140 ~
`-
`=
`-
`4J
`160 ~
`~20 [OQOO I
`~0
`~
`~
`180~
`[illKm
`
`~
`
`Figure 5
`
`Green
`
`~~\\lll/1/fl~
`~80100~
`~ 60
`120 ~
`'§
`Km/h
`~
`---
`~
`~
`140 ~
`.::::::5..40
`0000754
`=
`-
`=:::--;;.....
`---
`~ =-..::
`I oo o o I
`...--:
`160
`:;;::::;.
`~
`~20
`~0
`180~
`speed limit [illKm
`'--=-----
`
`TomTom000376
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 9
`
`

`

`Figure 6
`
`IS
`r/
`
`16
`;-J
`..... Velocity conversion
`device
`
`Wheel
`velocity
`sensors
`
`,rVlB
`
`~
`Warning
`sound
`generation
`device
`
`\7
`~\~\1\-Qg
`~ so too ~
`~
`~ 60
`§§
`120 ~
`Km/
`~
`~
`=
`140 ~
`~40 00007
`=
`==
`~
`~ 20
`loooo 1 160 ~
`~
`~
`~0
`180 ~
`~
`
`1g
`
`rf
`
`.... .-
`
`....
`
`~
`
`TomTom000377
`
`Garmin International, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1016 - 10
`
`