Dynamic Sun Shielding System for a Motor Vehicle and Method for Dynamic Sun Shielding Via Seat Adjustment

Abstract

An embodiment method for dynamic sun shielding via seat adjustment in a motor vehicle includes determining if an eye region of a vehicle occupant is currently or foreseeably exposed to glaring light incident through a window of the motor vehicle, and adjusting a vehicle seat occupied by the vehicle occupant such that the glaring light is at least reduced in the eye region of the vehicle occupant, the determining and adjusting being performed without input of the vehicle occupant.

Claims

1. A method for dynamic sun shielding via seat adjustment in a motor vehicle, the method comprising: determining if an eye region of a vehicle occupant is currently or foreseeably exposed to glaring light incident through a window of the motor vehicle; and adjusting a vehicle seat occupied by the vehicle occupant such that the glaring light is at least reduced in the eye region of the vehicle occupant, the determining and adjusting being performed without input of the vehicle occupant.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein adjusting comprises changing a seat height, a seat position, a seat inclination or a seat orientation of the vehicle seat.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining comprises measuring a shadow falling on the eye region of the vehicle occupant by using an interior camera of the motor vehicle.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining comprises assessing vehicle position, vehicle orientation, vehicle inclination, traveling direction, navigation data, environmental data, weather data or sun position.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining comprises continuously monitoring current or imminent exposure of the eye region of the vehicle occupant and wherein adjusting comprises continuously or incrementally adjusting the vehicle seat accordingly.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle seat is adjusted such that an operating distance between a selected body part of the vehicle occupant and an operating element of the motor vehicle stays substantially constant during adjustment.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining comprises monitoring movement of a head of the vehicle occupant and wherein the adjusting comprises delaying for a given delay time to determine whether rapid movements of the head fulfill predefined criteria.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising adjusting a rear or side mirror of the motor vehicle according to the vehicle seat adjustment.

9. A dynamic sun shielding system for a motor vehicle, the system comprising: a processor configured to determine if an eye region of a vehicle occupant is currently or foreseeably exposed to glaring light incident through a window of the motor vehicle; and a seat controller configured to adjust a vehicle seat occupied by the vehicle occupant such that the glaring light is at least reduced in the eye region of the vehicle occupant.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the seat controller is configured to change a seat height, a seat position, a seat inclination or a seat orientation of the vehicle seat.

11. The system according to claim 9, further comprising an interior camera configured to monitor at least the eye region of the vehicle occupant, wherein the processor is configured to measure a shadow falling on the eye region of the vehicle occupant by using camera data of the interior camera.

12. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to assess vehicle position, vehicle orientation, vehicle inclination, traveling direction, navigation data, environmental data, weather data or sun position.

13. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to continuously monitor current or imminent exposure of the eye region of the vehicle occupant, wherein the seat controller is configured to continuously or incrementally adjust the vehicle seat accordingly.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein the seat controller is configured to adjust the vehicle seat such that an operating distance between a selected body part of the vehicle occupant and an operating element of the motor vehicle stays substantially constant during adjustment.

15. The system according to claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to monitor movement of a head of the vehicle occupant, wherein the seat controller is configured to delay adjustment of the vehicle seat for a given delay time when it is determined that rapid movements of the head fulfill predefined criteria.

16. The system according to claim 9, further comprising a mirror controller configured to adjust a rear or side mirror of the motor vehicle according to the vehicle seat adjustment.

17. A vehicle comprising: a vehicle body; a vehicle seat disposed in the vehicle body; a sun visor disposed in an interior of the vehicle and configured to shield an eye region of an occupant of the vehicle; a processor installed in the vehicle body and configured to determine if the eye region of the occupant is currently or foreseeably exposed to glaring light incident through a window of the vehicle; and a seat controller configured to adjust the vehicle seat occupied by the occupant such that the glaring light is at least reduced in the eye region of the occupant.

18. The vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the seat controller is configured to change a seat height, a seat position, a seat inclination or a seat orientation of the vehicle seat.

19. The vehicle according to claim 17, further comprising an interior camera configured to monitor at least the eye region of the occupant, wherein the processor is configured to measure a shadow falling on the eye region of the occupant by using camera data of the interior camera.

20. The vehicle according to claim 17, wherein the processor is configured to assess vehicle position, vehicle orientation, vehicle inclination, traveling direction, navigation data, environmental data, weather data or sun position.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the embodiments of the present invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Other embodiments of the present invention and many of the intended advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily to scale relative to each other. In the figures, like reference numerals denote like or functionally like components, unless indicated otherwise.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a person driving a vehicle and of a shadow wandering over the person's face due to the movement of the sun.

[0034] FIG. 2 shows the situation of FIG. 1 using a method for dynamic sun shielding via seat adjustment according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0035] FIG. 3 shows another driving situation using a method for dynamic sun shielding according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0036] FIG. 4 schematically depicts a motor vehicle with a dynamic sun shielding system according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0037] FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of the method for dynamic sun shielding as used in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0038] Although specific embodiments are illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.

[0039] The following reference elements may be used in connection with the drawings to describe the various embodiments: [0040] 1 dynamic sun shielding system [0041] 2 determination unit [0042] 3 seat control unit [0043] 4 mirror control unit [0044] 5 vehicle seat [0045] 6 mirror [0046] 7 shadow [0047] 8 head [0048] 9 sun [0049] 10 motor vehicle [0050] 11 sun visor [0051] 12 interior camera [0052] 13 operating element [0053] 14 hip-point [0054] 15 light [0055] 16 eye region [0056] M method [0057] M1-M3 method steps

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

[0058] FIG. 1 schematically depicts a side view of a person driving a vehicle and of a shadow 7 wandering over the person's head 8 and eye region 16 due to the movement of the sun 9.

[0059] The driver may be driving for a longer time in the same or similar direction in the evening while the sun 9 goes down and slowly approaches the horizon. As can be seen on the left in FIG. 1, the head 8 of the driver, and in particular the eye region 16, may at first still be covered by a sun visor's 11 shadow 7 from glaring light 15 coming from the sun 9. However, as the sun 9 goes further down on its way to the horizon, the shadow 7 will also move slowly upwards on the head 8 of the driver. Eventually, the eye region 16 of the driver will get exposed to the sunlight 15, as can be seen on the right of FIG. 1. The driver then may need to manually readjust the sun visor 11 to avoid getting blinded by the sun 9. As the sun 9 goes further down, the driver may have to repeatedly readjust the sun visor 11. This may be particularly inconvenient if the vehicle travels on a road with frequent changes in inclination or frequent turns.

[0060] With reference to FIGS. 2 to 5, embodiments of the present invention are described that overcome these drawbacks in a very effective yet simple way. FIG. 2 shows the situation of FIG. 1 using a method M for dynamic sun shielding via seat adjustment according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram of this method M. FIG. 3 depicts another driving situation using such a method M, while FIG. 4 schematically shows a motor vehicle 10 with a dynamic sun shielding system 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0061] The system 1 includes a determination unit 2 configured to determine if the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant is currently and/or foreseeably exposed to glaring light 15 incident through a window of the motor vehicle 10. The determination unit 2 may be part of a computing and processing system of the vehicle and may comprise suitable hardware and software for this purpose.

[0062] In order to assess whether the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant is currently exposed to light or not, the system 1 further comprises an interior camera 12 configured to monitor at least the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant. The determination unit 2 is configured to receive corresponding camera data taken by the interior camera 12 and to measure a shadow 7 falling on the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant by using the camera data of the interior camera 12.

[0063] The determination unit 2 may not only be able to assess a current position, border and/or areal extension of the shadow 7 on the eye region 16 of the occupant but may also be able to determine any movement of the shadow 7. The determination unit 2 may thus be able to estimate, based on the movement of the shadow 7, whether the eye region 16 of the occupant will be exposed in the near future.

[0064] More generally, the determination unit 2 may be configured to continuously monitor current and/or imminent exposure of the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant, e.g., based on the camera data. However, the determination unit 2 is not restricted to the information acquired by the camera 12.

[0065] In addition, the determination unit 2 may be configured to assess various other aspects that may be relevant for the current and/or imminent situation with regards to incident light. Amongst others, the determination unit 2 may be configured to assess vehicle position, vehicle orientation, vehicle inclination, traveling direction, navigation data, environmental data, weather data and/or sun position and so on. To this end, the determination unit 2 may be communicatively coupled to and/or may be part of respective vehicle systems like navigation systems, advanced assisted driving systems, automatic/autonomous driving systems and so on.

[0066] The system 1 further comprises a seat control unit 3 configured to adjust a vehicle seat 5 occupied by the vehicle occupant such that the glaring light 15 is at least reduced in the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant. The vehicle seat 5 may particularly be an electrically actuated seat, the actuators (not shown) being controlled by the seat control unit 3. The seat control unit 3 is thus able to change amongst others a seat height, a seat position, a seat inclination and a seat orientation of the vehicle seat 5. By suitable combined adjustment of some or all of these parameters, the seat control unit 3 can continuously and/or incrementally adjust the vehicle seat 5 in order to keep the eyes of the occupant out of the glaring light 15 as far as possible and with minimal disturbances for the occupant.

[0067] With reference to FIG. 5, the method M correspondingly comprises under M1 determining if the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant is currently and/or foreseeably exposed to glaring light 15, under M2 adjusting the vehicle seat 5 occupied by the vehicle occupant such that the glaring light 15 is at least reduced in the eye region 16 of the vehicle occupant and under M3 adjusting the rear and/or side mirror 6 of the motor vehicle 10 according to the seat adjustment.

[0068] FIG. 2 shows a simple example in this regard, in which the vehicle seat 5 is shifted slightly upwards to move the eye region 16 of the occupant out of the glaring light (or to keep the eye region 16 in the shadow 7). In FIG. 3 on the other hand, a combination of upward and forward movement is used to keep an operating distance between a selected body part of the vehicle occupant and an operating element 13 substantially constant during adjustment. In the shown example, the distance between the hip-point 14 of the vehicle occupant and the operating element 13 (in this case a pedal) is kept constant in order to avoid any uncomfortable situation for the occupant.

[0069] Referring again to FIG. 4, the system 1 further comprises a mirror control unit 4 configured to adjust a rear and/or side mirror 6 of the motor vehicle 10 according to the seat adjustment. Hence, the mirrors 6 might get small automatic adjustments when the seat configuration is changed.

[0070] In order to avoid undesired movements of the vehicle seat 5 in case of sudden or rapid movements of the occupant's head 8, the determination unit 2 may be configured to monitor movement of the head 8 and the seat control unit 3 may be configured to at least delay adjustment of the vehicle seat 5 for a given delay time in case that rapid movements of the head 8 are determined fulfilling predefined criteria.

[0071] Due to the above provisions, the described system is able to increase convenience of the vehicle occupants on long journeys. The system also increases safety during driving as the likelihood for the driver to get distracted and/or blinded by the sun is lowered significantly.

[0072] In the foregoing detailed description, various features are grouped together in one or more examples with the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. It is to be understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. It is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents of the different features and embodiments. Many other examples will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon reviewing the above specification. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.