US 12,005,836 B2
Vehicle notification apparatus
Kazuya Kozono, Tokyo (JP)
Assigned to SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by SUBARU CORPORATION, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 27, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/443,716.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-126681 (JP), filed on Jul. 27, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0024382 A1, Jan. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. B60Q 9/00 (2006.01); G06V 20/56 (2022.01); G06V 20/58 (2022.01)
CPC B60Q 9/008 (2013.01) [G06V 20/58 (2022.01); G06V 20/588 (2022.01)] 15 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle notification apparatus comprising:
a steering wheel disposed in a vehicle, the steering wheel including a rim, a pad disposed in a region surrounded with the rim, and sporks coupling the pad with the rim, the region including a first region including no sporks, and a second region including the sporks and being adjacent to the first region;
a control device disposed in the vehicle, the control device being configured to determine, on a basis of a predetermined threshold, whether a running status of the vehicle is a status for which a notification is to be made for an occupant of the vehicle;
a display device disposed in the vehicle, the display device including a display screen configured to display a predetermined notification including a text string corresponding to the notification in a case where the control device determines that the running status of the vehicle is the status for which the notification is to be made, the display screen being disposed in or adjacently to a dashboard panel of the vehicle; and
a steering wheel sensor disposed in the vehicle, the steering wheel sensor being configured to detect a rotation angle of the steering wheel of the vehicle while the display screen is displaying the predetermined notification including the text string, wherein
the display screen is disposed at a position forward of the steering wheel where the displayed predetermined notification including the text string is visible through the first region of the steering wheel in a view from rearward of the steering wheel when the rotation angle of the steering wheel is within a first range, and
the control device is further configured to:
perform an operation of extending a display time of the displayed predetermined notification including the text string based on determining that the rotation angle of the steering wheel detected by the steering wheel sensor is within a second range in which the second region of the steering wheel shields, in the view, the displayed predetermined notification including the text string, and
perform an operation of ending the displayed predetermined notification including the text string based on determining that the rotation angle of the steering wheel detected by the steering wheel sensor is within the first range after performing the operation of extending the display time.