Method and function module for starting a preset function in a vehicle

Abstract

The present application relates to a method and a function module for starting a preset function in a vehicle. One pull-out action and one retraction action of a safety belt constitute one operation cycle, and a cycle time threshold value is set for one operation cycle. The method comprises the following steps: detecting the nth pull-out action of the safety belt when a triggering condition is met, wherein n is greater than or equal to 1; timing from the detection of the nth pull-out action, and under the condition that the elapsed time is less than the nth cycle time threshold value, the following steps are executed: detecting the nth pull-out length of the safety belt caused by the nth pull-out action; detecting the nth retraction action of the safety belt and the nth retraction length caused thereby when the nth pull-out length is greater than the nth pull-out length threshold value; increasing the cycle number by one when the nth retraction length is greater than the nth retraction length threshold value; repeating the above steps until the cycle number is greater than the cycle number threshold value; and starting the preset function based on the cycle number being greater than the cycle number threshold value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to the control of preset functions in a vehicle, in particular to a method and a function module designed to activate preset functions in a vehicle. BACKGROUND

[0002] A safety belt for a vehicle is a safety device used to restrain an occupant at the time of a collision and to avoid secondary collisions of the occupant with the steering wheel and the instrument panel, etc. at the time of a collision, or to avoid the occupant from being thrown out of the vehicle at the time of a collision, resulting in death or injury. Such a safety belt is recognized as the most inexpensive and effective safety device, and in many countries it is mandatory to equip the vehicle with a safety belt.

[0003] Since the occupant in the vehicle is restrained by the safety belt, if the occupant wants to perform certain operations, he or she will be inconvenient or even unable to perform these operations due to the restraint of the safety belt. For example, these operations include adjustment of the seat. In particular, the seat installed on the vehicle includes a device for reducing fatigue according to the occupant's posture, i.e., a height adjustment device for adjusting the height of the seat to the height of the occupant. In addition, the inclination angle of the seat back with respect to the seat cushion is very important, which allows the occupant to adjust the seat arbitrarily according to his or her body shape and posture, thereby significantly reducing the fatigue of the occupant, and also significantly affecting safe driving.

[0004] Therefore, a method for activating preset functions in a vehicle in a convenient manner is desired. SUMMARY

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a method for activating preset functions in a vehicle in a convenient manner.

[0006] The present invention provides a method for activating preset functions in a vehicle,

[0007] wherein,

[0008] a primary pull-out action and a primary retraction action of the safety belt constitute a primary operation cycle, and a cycle time threshold for the primary operation cycle is set;

[0009] The method comprises the following steps:

[0010] detecting an nth pull-out action of the safety belt when a triggering condition is met, wherein n is greater than or equal to 1;

[0011] starting timing from the detection of the nth pull-out action, and performing the following steps under the condition that the elapsed time is less than the nth cycle time threshold:

[0012] detecting the nth pull-out length of the safety belt caused by the nth pull-out action;

[0013] detecting an n-th time pulling-out action of the safety belt and an n-th time pulling-out length caused by the n-th time pulling-out action when the n-th time pulling-out length is greater than an n-th time pulling-out length threshold value;

[0014] increasing the cycle number by 1 when the n-th time pulling-in length is greater than an n-th time pulling-in length threshold value;

[0015] repeating the above steps until the cycle number is greater than a cycle number threshold value;

[0016] starting the preset function based on the cycle number being greater than the cycle number threshold value.

[0017] According to an embodiment of the present application, the trigger condition comprises: a time interval between the n-th time pulling-out action and an (n-1)-th time pulling-out action is less than a time interval threshold value, wherein n is greater than or equal to 2.

[0018] According to an embodiment of the present application, one or more of the cycle time threshold value, the pulling-out length threshold value, and the pulling-in length threshold value are set to be different for different operation cycles.

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present application, the method further comprises the step of: clearing the cycle number before determining whether the trigger condition is met.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present application, a reference position of the safety belt is set, and movement of the safety belt in the pulling-out direction or the pulling-in direction is detected based on the reference position to determine the pulling-out action and the pulling-in action of the safety belt.

[0021] According to an embodiment of the present application, the preset function comprises adjustment of a seat back relative to a seat cushion and position adjustment of the seat in a front-rear direction of the vehicle.

[0022] According to an embodiment of the present application, the pulling-out length threshold value is set to be the same for different operation cycles, and is in a range of 0-3000 mm; and / or, the pulling-in length threshold value is set to be the same for different operation cycles, and is in a range of 0-3000 mm.

[0023] According to an embodiment of the present application, the pulling-out length threshold value is set to be 60 mm, and / or, the pulling-in length threshold value is set to be 30 mm.

[0024] According to an embodiment of the present application, the cycle time threshold value is set in a range of 0-300 seconds.

[0025] The present application also provides a function module installed in a vehicle, the function module comprising an operation mechanism for executing a preset function in the function module,

[0026] wherein,

[0027] Also included is a start controller for performing any of the preceding methods to start the operation structure. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0028] Features, advantages, and technical and artistic effects of the exemplary embodiments of this application will be described hereinafter with reference made to the drawings. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the description. In the drawings:

[0029] Figure 1 A flow chart of a method for starting a preset function in a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is schematically shown.

[0030] Figure 2 A function module installed in a vehicle according to the present application is schematically shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] A detailed description of a method for starting a preset function in a vehicle and a function module according to the present application will be described hereinafter with reference to the drawings. The following detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the principles of the application and various embodiments of the present application both singularly and in combination are intended to be covered by the description. The application should not be limited to the preferred embodiments described but should be given the full scope defined by the language of the claims.

[0032] Further, spatially relative terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", and the like, are used for describing the relative position relationship between the elements shown in the drawings. Therefore, the spatially relative terms can be applied to the directions different from the directions shown in the drawings. It is apparent that all these spatially relative terms refer to the directions shown in the drawings for the ease of explanation, but the skilled in the art will understand that the directions can be used in the directions different from the directions shown in the drawings.

[0033] As described previously, since the occupant in the vehicle is restrained by the seat belt, it is inconvenient for the occupant to perform certain operations if the occupant wants to perform the certain operations. The operations include, but are not limited to, adjusting the height of the seat, adjusting the reclining angle of the seat back relative to the seat cushion, playing music, turning on the reading light at the roof position, turning on the control screen at the instrument panel, turning on / off the air conditioner in the vehicle.

[0034] To achieve the convenience of starting the preset functions in the vehicle, the present application provides a method for starting a preset function in a vehicle and a function module installed in a vehicle.

[0035] Figure 2 A function module installed in a vehicle according to the present application is schematically shown. The following description is made with reference to Figure 2 A function module installed in a vehicle according to the present application is schematically shown. The following description is made with reference to Figure 2As shown, the functional module 100 installed in the vehicle comprises, in addition to the operating mechanism 101 for performing the preset function in the functional module, a start controller 102 for performing the method according to the present application (to be described in detail below) to start the operation of the operating mechanism 101. In other words, by providing the start controller in the corresponding functional module, the operating mechanism can start the corresponding preset function, such as seat adjustment, via the start controller. It can be understood that the start controller is similar to a switch of the operating mechanism. Therefore, the method and the functional module of the present application can achieve the effect of starting the preset function in the vehicle in a convenient manner.

[0036] The start controller can include various devices with processing functions, including but not limited to general-purpose processors, special-purpose processors, microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field-programmable logic gate arrays (FPGAs), etc. The control device can include computer executable instructions that are executed to perform the actions described in the present application. The control device can include one or more memories. The memory can be used to store data, instructions, software, code, etc. The memory can include semiconductor memories, such as random access memories (RAMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), dynamic random access memories (DRAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), flash memories, etc. The memory can also include any memory using paper media, magnetic media, and / or optical media, such as paper tapes, hard disks, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, magneto-optical disks (MOs), CDs, DVDs, Blue-rays, etc.

[0037] Figure 1 A flowchart of the method for starting the preset function in the vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is schematically shown. The following describes the method for starting the preset function in the vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application with reference to the flowchart. Figure 1 A flowchart of the method for starting the preset function in the vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application is schematically shown. The following describes the method for starting the preset function in the vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present application with reference to the flowchart.

[0038] It should be noted that in the method of the present application, the following definitions are first made: one pull-out action and one pull-in action of the safety belt constitute one operation cycle. Moreover, a cycle time threshold value for one operation cycle is defined.

[0039] As shown in Figure 1 The method of the present application comprises the following steps:

[0040] A trigger condition is set.

[0041] When the triggering condition is met, S100: a nth pull-out action of the safety belt is detected, where n is greater than or equal to 1. This step can also be understood as detecting whether the safety belt is pulled out.

[0042] If it is detected that the safety belt is pulled out, timing is started from the detection of the nth pull-out action, and the following judgment is made: whether the elapsed time is less than a nth cycle time threshold.

[0043] Under the condition that the elapsed time is less than the nth cycle time threshold, a nth pull-out length of the safety belt caused by the nth pull-out action is detected, and it is judged whether the nth pull-out length is greater than a nth pull-out length threshold. This step can also be understood as under the condition that the elapsed time is less than the cycle time threshold, the pull-out operation of the safety belt is stopped, thereby the pull-out length of the safety belt is determined, in this case the pull-out length of the safety belt is obtained, and the pull-out length is compared with the pull-out length threshold. In other words, it is confirmed whether the pull-out operation is a valid pull-out operation.

[0044] When the nth pull-out length is greater than the nth pull-out length threshold (i.e., it has been confirmed that the nth pull-out operation is a valid pull-out operation), and under the condition that the elapsed time is still less than the nth cycle time threshold, S200: a nth retraction action of the safety belt and a nth retraction length caused thereby are detected. This step can also be understood as when the elapsed time is still less than the cycle time threshold, the retraction operation of the safety belt occurs and stops, thereby the retraction length of the safety belt is determined, in this case the retraction length of the safety belt is obtained, and the retraction length is compared with the retraction length threshold. In other words, it is confirmed whether the retraction operation is a valid retraction operation.

[0045] When the nth retraction length is greater than the nth retraction length threshold (i.e., it has been confirmed that the nth retraction operation is a valid retraction operation), and under the condition that the elapsed time is still less than the nth cycle time threshold, S300: the cycle number is increased by 1.

[0046] After that, it is judged whether the cycle number is greater than a cycle number threshold; if the conclusion is yes, the preset function is directly started; if the conclusion is no, the above steps are repeated until the cycle number is greater than the cycle number threshold, and based on the cycle number being greater than the cycle number threshold, the preset function is started.

[0047] It is to be noted that, in order to ensure that the belt extraction and retraction actions comply with the defined operation cycle, when the method according to the present application is performed, the time elapsed since the last extraction action is continuously detected and it is determined whether the elapsed time is less than the defined cycle time threshold, when a last extraction action is detected. It is understood that, when the extraction action is a valid extraction action and the retraction action is a valid retraction action, a valid operation cycle is determined. Moreover, a valid extraction action satisfies that the extraction length is greater than the extraction length threshold and the extraction action is completed within the cycle time threshold, and a valid retraction action satisfies that the retraction length is greater than the retraction length threshold and the retraction action is completed within the cycle time threshold.

[0048] It is understood that the method according to the present application is based on the number of valid operation cycles. For example, when the cycle number threshold is set to be less than 1 (e.g. 0.5), only one valid operation cycle is required to activate the preset function, i.e. n in the above method is set to be 1. For another example, when the cycle number threshold is set to be greater than (e.g. 1.5) or equal to 1, two valid operation cycles are required to activate the preset function, i.e. n in the above method is set to be 2.

[0049] According to an embodiment of the present application, the triggering condition comprises that the time interval between two adjacent extraction actions is less than a time interval threshold, i.e. the time interval between the nth extraction action and the (n-1)th extraction action is less than the time interval threshold, wherein n is greater than or equal to 2. This is only an example, the triggering condition of the method according to the present application can also be set to detect a pre-extraction action and a pre-retraction action of the safety belt, and the time interval between the pre-extraction action and the first extraction action after the pre-extraction action is less than the time interval threshold. In other words, only the time interval between two adjacent extraction actions is detected. The triggering condition of the method according to the present application can also be set differently according to actual conditions.

[0050] Optionally, according to the embodiment of the present application, one or more of the cycle time threshold, the pull-out length threshold, and the retraction length threshold are set differently for different operation cycles. For example, the cycle time threshold is set in the range of 0-300 seconds, 1.5 seconds in the first operation cycle, 2.5 seconds in the second operation cycle, of course, this is just an example, the cycle time threshold can also be set the same in different operation cycles. The pull-out length threshold is set to 50 mm in the first operation cycle and 40 mm in the second operation cycle. It should be understood that the above description is only an example, the method of the present application is not limited thereto, for example, one or more of the cycle time threshold, the pull-out length threshold, and the retraction length threshold are set the same for different operation cycles. In the embodiment according to the present application, the pull-out length threshold is set the same for different operation cycles, and in the range of 0-3000 mm, for example, both are 60 mm. In the embodiment according to the present application, the retraction length threshold is set the same for different operation cycles, and in the range of 0-3000 mm, for example, both are 30 mm.

[0051] According to the embodiment of the present application, the method further comprises the step of resetting the cycle number before determining whether the trigger condition is met. Alternatively or additionally, the method further comprises resetting the cycle number while starting the preset function. It can be understood that the cycle number in the above-mentioned embodiment is reset to zero to determine whether the trigger condition is met, which is beneficial to accurately performing the determination step of the method.

[0052] According to the embodiment of the present application, the reference position of the safety belt is set, and the movement of the safety belt in the pull-out direction or the retraction direction is detected based on the reference position to determine the pull-out action and the retraction action of the safety belt. This is just an example, the present application can detect the pull-out length and the retraction length of the safety belt in other ways, and the detection is performed by using a Hall sensor.

[0053] According to the embodiment of the present application, the preset function includes adjustment of the seat back relative to the seat cushion and position adjustment of the seat in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. This is just an example, other preset functions mentioned herein are also suitable for being started by the method of the present application.

[0054] As described above, although the exemplary embodiments of the present application have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the description, the present application is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments, and the scope of protection of the present application should be defined by the claims and their equivalent meanings.

Claims

1. A method for initiating a preset function in a vehicle, characterized in that, a single pulling action and a single retraction action of a seat belt constitute a single operation cycle, and a cycle time threshold is set for the single operation cycle; the method comprises the following steps: detecting an nth pulling action of the seat belt when a triggering condition is met, where n is greater than or equal to 1; starting timing from detecting the nth pulling action, and executing the following steps on the condition that the elapsed time is less than an nth cycle time threshold: detecting an nth pulling length of the seat belt caused by the nth pulling action; detecting an nth retraction action of the seat belt and an nth retraction length caused by the nth retraction action when the nth pulling length is greater than an nth pulling length threshold; increasing the cycle number by 1 when the nth retraction length is greater than an nth retraction length threshold; repeating the above steps until the cycle number is greater than a cycle number threshold; initiating the preset function based on the cycle number being greater than the cycle number threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, the triggering condition comprises that a time interval between the nth pulling action and an (n-1)th pulling action is less than a time interval threshold, where n is greater than or equal to 2.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, one or more of the cycle time threshold, the pulling length threshold, and the retraction length threshold are set differently for different operation cycles.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of: zeroing the cycle number before determining whether the triggering condition is met.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, a reference position of the seat belt is set, and movement of the seat belt in a pulling direction or a retraction direction is detected based on the reference position to determine the pulling action and the retraction action of the seat belt.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein, the preset function comprises adjustment of a seat back relative to a seat cushion and position adjustment of the seat in a front-rear direction of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein, the pulling length threshold is set the same for different operation cycles, and is in a range of 0-3000 mm, and / or the retraction length threshold is set the same for different operation cycles, and is in a range of 0-3000 mm.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein, the pulling length threshold is set to 60 mm, and / or the retraction length threshold is set to 30 mm.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, the cycle time threshold is set in a range of 0-300 seconds.

10. A function module (100) installed in a vehicle, the function module (100) comprising an operation mechanism (101) for executing a preset function in the function module (100), characterized in that, further comprising an initiation controller (102) for executing the method according to any one of claims 1-9 to initiate the operation mechanism (101).

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