JPS5945527B2 - Device for determining abnormal mental and physical conditions for vehicle drivers - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a device for determining an abnormal state of mind and body for a vehicle driver, and particularly relates to a device for determining an abnormal state of mind and body for a vehicle driver that is low in manufacturing cost and easy to operate.

When driving a vehicle such as a car, a driver is always required to maintain good mental and physical stability.

There are many factors that cause the driver's driving ability to deteriorate, but one of the most important factors is alcohol consumption, and other factors include the driver's physical condition due to overwork, falling asleep, or illness.

It is a well-known fact that it is extremely dangerous to drive a vehicle in an abnormal state of mind and body where the driving operation function has deteriorated due to the several factors mentioned above, and that many unfortunate traffic accidents occur due to these factors.

Since conventional vehicles are not equipped with a device to check whether a driver is mentally or physically abnormal, they have actually been allowed to operate a vehicle by a driver who is in an abnormal state.

In contrast, the present applicant previously filed a patent application filed in 1983-1383.
No. 78 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-62936) discloses [a display in the driver's seat that displays the output of a detection unit that is installed in the driver's seat and has an unspecified adjustment value and electrically detects the applied pedal force. A device for determining a mental and physical abnormal state of a vehicle driver, including a processing circuit that compares the output of the detection section with a predetermined reference value and controls an engine lock circuit.

, ] was proposed, but if it is desired to manually change the detection unit, a new operation unit must be installed in the driver's seat, which poses a problem in terms of cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a device for determining an abnormal state of a vehicle driver, which solves the above-mentioned problems by using a pull/button switch such as a light control switch without providing a new operating section.

The present invention is provided in a push-pull switch such as a light control switch attached to a driver's seat, and has a resistance element whose resistance value changes according to a force acting in the rotational direction of the push-pull switch, and the resistance value of the resistance element The operating force detection device detects the operating force in the rotational direction applied to the operating section of the push-pull switch due to a change in the operating force, and displays the detected output in the driver's seat together with an unspecified operating force adjustment value. A processing circuit that compares a detection output with a predetermined reference value to control a vehicle driving interference device is used to determine the mental and physical abnormal state of a vehicle driver.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

In the mental and physical abnormal state determination device, the operation of the ignition system of the vehicle is controlled by an engine lock circuit.

When the engine is stopped, the engine lock circuit locks the ignition system and prevents the engine from starting.

Before starting the engine, the driver must undergo a mental and physical abnormal state determination test.

If the result of the mental and physical abnormal condition determination test is good, the locking action of the engine lock circuit will be released and the engine will be able to start. However, if it is determined that there is an abnormal condition, the ignition system will continue to be locked and the engine will start. Unable to start.

A mind-body reaction test called resting adjustment is used to determine whether a person is mentally or physically abnormal.

This static coordination task tests the ability to maintain a certain state of tension in a part of the body for a predetermined period of time, and detects abnormal states of the body and mind by utilizing the fact that the ability to maintain tension decreases as the stable state of the mind and body is disrupted. It is something to do.

Numerous experiments have shown that this static adjustment task is extremely effective in detecting abnormal states of mind and body.

In particular, when we asked drinkers to perform a static coordination task and investigated the correlation between blood alcohol concentration, which is considered an objective standard for intoxication, and the reaction results, we were able to detect drinkers at a fairly high rate. , and was recognized to be effective in preventing drunk driving.

The stationary adjustment problem according to the present invention is to maintain the driver's push/pull switch rotation operating force in a constant tension state for a predetermined period of time, and changes in operating force are detected electrically and sent to an indicator installed in the driver's seat. be instructed.

A predetermined adjustment value is displayed on the indicator, and the driver finely adjusts the operating force so that the pointer indicating the change in operating force matches the target adjustment value.

Changes in operating force are converted into electrical quantities by an appropriate processing circuit,
The reaction value after a predetermined period of time is compared with a reference value to determine the mental and physical state.

FIG. 1 shows a stationary adjustment task loop consisting of a test device according to the invention and a driver in the case where the driver's rotational operating force is detected via a bush/pull switch.

The driver inputs the rotational operating force to the pushbutton/pull switch, such as the light control switch, which is the operating section of the test equipment.

This force is electrically detected by the detection device and displayed on the display section via the sensitivity adjustment section.

The display of operating force is visually perceived by the driver as the output of the test device.

The driver corrects the operating force by adjusting the rotational operating force to a predetermined adjustment value through the action of the central nervous system.

The stationary adjustment task is performed by such a loop, and the output of the test device is further compared and judged by a processing circuit (not shown) which will be described later, and the mental and physical state of the driver is determined.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of an operating section and a detection section provided in the test apparatus of FIG. 1.

The operating unit 10 to which the rotational operating force is input is an operating knob for a pull/button switch such as a light control switch 11 provided at the driver's seat.

It is assumed that the light control switch 71 has an operating position in which the operating portion 10 cannot be rotated and the light and the like are not energized.

A pair of strain gauges 13 are attached to the shaft portion 12 of the knob 10.
and 14 are attached so that their longitudinal directions intersect at 45 degrees with the axis l of the shaft portion 12 and are orthogonal to each other.

These strain gauges 13 and 14 are subjected to tensile or compressive strain due to twisting caused by the driver's rotational operating force applied to the operating portion 10, and their respective resistance values change.

Each strain gauge 13, 14 is connected to form a bridge circuit as shown in FIG. 3, with a fixed resistor 19, 20 connected via lead wires 15, 16, iy, is.

A constant voltage is supplied to the bridge circuit from a power source 21 in order to extract electrical changes.

The output of the bridge circuit is sent to an amplifier 22 forming a sensitivity adjustment section.
The signal is amplified and displayed on the DC ammeter 23 forming the display section.

As shown in FIG. 4, the DC ammeter 23 is arranged near the steering wheel 24 and has a structure that allows the driver to easily read the indicated value.

An adjustment value 25 is engraved on the DC ammeter 23, indicating the static adjustment position of the pointer 26.

Further, without installing a separate indicator instrument as described above, it is also possible to use an instrument already installed in the vehicle, such as a speedometer, as a substitute.

The resistance value of each strain gauge is set so that when no force is applied to the operating section 10, the output of the bridge circuit is zero.

In this case, it is preferable to insert a variable adjustment resistor into the bridge circuit in order to obtain a balanced state of the bridge.

When the driver applies a twisting force to the operating section 10, the resistance value of the strain gauge changes, causing an unbalanced current to flow through the bridge circuit, and this output current is indicated by the DC ammeter 23.

The driver adjusts the twisting force so that the pointer 26 of the DC ammeter 23 matches the adjustment value 25 and comes to rest.

The strain gauges 13 and 14 have a small diameter portion 12A in which the shaft diameter of the shaft portion 12 is reduced as shown in FIG.
If the strain gauges are attached to the strain gauges 13 and 14, the deformation of the strain gauges 13 and 14 will be large relative to the rotational operating force to be applied, and the sensitivity will be increased accordingly.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

This example is suitable for pull/light control switches etc.
A potentiometer 2T whose resistance changes with respect to the circuit stroke is connected to the knob 10 of the bushing switch, and a rotational resistance force is applied to the knob 10 by a torsion coil spring 28.

The output end of the potentiometer 27 is connected to the circuit shown in FIG. 3 instead of the bridge circuit, and the resistance value of the potentiometer 27 is changed by rotating the knob 10 against the torsion coil spring 28. .

Since this change in resistance value appears as a change in the ammeter 23, a stationary adjustment task is given so that the pointer 26 matches the adjusted value and comes to a standstill.

If a constant twisting force is always used as the adjustment value, there is a risk that it may be falsified by, for example, applying appropriate plastic deformation or rotating it to a fixed position in advance.

To prevent this, the torsion force value required for adjustment should be changed every time.

To this end, a method of appropriately changing the output sensitivity of the strain gauge can be considered, and as a result, the operating force required for adjustment changes.

It would be even better if this change was made random.

A specific method that applies the operating principle of a vehicle's totalizer is shown in FIG.

The rotation of the speedometer cable is transmitted to the gear 39 by a worm gear mechanism consisting of a worm 37 and a worm wheel 38.

The gear 39 is a driving gear for the totalizer, and rotates a ring 40 fixed coaxially with the gear 39 to sequentially display a predetermined number of kilometers traveled.

Using this principle, the rotation of the speedometer cable is similarly transmitted to the worm gear mechanism consisting of the worm 31 and the worm wheel 41, and the gear 42 is further rotated.

The gear 42 is attached to the rotating shaft of a rotary variable resistor 43, and its resistance changes according to the rotation of the speedometer cable.

The rotary variable resistor 43 is of an endless type, and if its resistance value is used as the resistance value related to the output sensitivity of the circuit shown in Fig. 3, the necessary adjustment torsional force can be determined depending on the resistance value at the time the vehicle stops. It will be decided.

This would require the driver to apply a random twisting force each time, making prediction difficult.

Note that the gear ratio between the worm wheel 41 and the gear 42 is selected as appropriate.

Next, a processing circuit for electrically processing the test device output for the static adjustment task described above to determine the mental and physical state of the driver will be described.

A preferred embodiment of the processing circuit is shown in FIG.

The output of the detection section is obtained as a reaction waveform shown in FIG. 9A.

The waveform in FIG. 9A has time on the horizontal axis and output voltage value on the vertical axis, and represents the change in operating force with respect to the adjustment value '0''.

This output is applied to a frequency measuring circuit 44 that counts the number of times the reaction waveform crosses several levels set in a constant voltage range in the positive and negative directions from the adjusted value.

FIG. 9B shows an example of a reaction waveform corresponding to each level. The range from level '0' to level II 11 is an acceptable level, and waveforms between this range are not subject to frequency measurement.

Level 'I', level II 2 n and level '3' are shown in FIG. 9B, and the settings of the levels can be selected as appropriate.

The frequency measurement is performed within a preset time, and this predetermined time is a fixed time during which the static adjustment task is imposed, and according to experiments, about 10 to 60 seconds is suitable.

The frequency of each level measured within a certain period of time in this way is weighted for each level by the next calculation circuit 45, and the total value is calculated. A value is required.

The weighting coefficients for each level are arbitrarily set, and the coefficients for levels far from the adjustment value are extremely large and are set so that if the level is crossed even once, the reaction value exceeds the appropriate value.

The reaction value, which is the output of the calculation circuit 45, is sent to the judgment circuit 46, and the reference value and reaction value provided in the judgment circuit 46 serve as good guidelines for almost all drivers, and this can be a general-purpose device. .

However, if it is desired to further eliminate individual differences,
The reference value in the determination circuit 46 may be set to a reference value that can only be applied to an individual driver, making this a personal device.

In addition, if it is difficult to set standard values for each person,
It is also possible to experimentally classify and set several levels of reference values.

In the determination circuit 46, if the reaction value is less than the reference value, the output of the determination circuit releases the locking action of the engine lock circuit 47, making it possible to start the engine.

However, if the reaction value is equal to or higher than the reference value, the engine lock circuit 47 is not unlocked and the vehicle engine cannot be started.

FIG. 10 schematically shows another embodiment of the processing circuit according to the present invention, and since it is similar to the embodiment of FIG. 8, detailed explanation will be omitted.

In this embodiment, a waveform of a predetermined voltage value or higher is extracted from the amplified output of the detection section by a clipper circuit 101.

An example of a reaction waveform is shown in FIG. 11, and the portion (hatched portion) in which the broken line exceeds the predetermined voltage value is the clipper circuit 101.
It means that it is taken out by.

The voltage range within the general line corresponds to the tolerance level described for frequency measurements.

The output of the clipper circuit 101 is integrated by an integrating circuit 102, and the output is sent to a determining circuit 103, where it is compared with a reference value similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 8 to determine the mental and physical condition of the driver.

It is also preferable to integrate all outputs from the detection section (hatched section) as shown in FIG. 12B without using a clip circuit.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the resistance value is provided in a push-pull switch such as a light control switch attached to the driver's seat, and the resistance value changes depending on the force acting in the rotational direction of the push-pull switch. It has a resistance element, and detects the operating force in the rotational direction applied to the push-pull switch operating section due to changes in the resistance value of the resistance element, and displays the detected output in the driver's seat along with an unspecified operating force adjustment value. An abnormal state of mind and body of a vehicle driver is determined by a device including an operating force detection device and a processing circuit that compares the detection output of the operating force detection device with a predetermined reference value to control a vehicle driving interference device. Therefore, it has an excellent young fruit in that it can form a manually operated detection section without providing a new operation section.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a stationary adjustment test loop to which the device of the present invention is applied, Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the detection device according to the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a circuit diagram of the same embodiment. , FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a display unit in the driver's seat, FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing other embodiments of the detection unit, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an adjustment value variable device. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a detection value processing circuit of the device of the present invention, FIGS. 9A and 9B are reaction waveform diagrams of FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the processing circuit according to the present invention. Diagrams, Figures 11A and 11B are 10th
FIG. 10...Operation unit, 11...Light control switch, 33...DC ammeter, 46
...Judgment circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Provided in a push-pull switch such as a light control switch attached to the driver's seat. It has a resistance element whose resistance value changes according to the force acting in the rotational direction of the push-pull switch, and detects the operating force in the rotational direction applied to the operating part of the push-pull switch by the change in the resistance value of the resistance element. an operating force detection device that displays the detected output together with an unspecified operating force adjustment value in the driver's seat; and a processing circuit that compares the detected output of the operating force detection device with a predetermined reference value to control a vehicle driving interference device. An apparatus for determining an abnormal state of a vehicle driver, comprising: