The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Nov. 30, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 29, 2002
Applicant:
Inventors:
Ryuji Yamaguchi, Mishima, JP;
Yasuo Hagisato, Susono, JP;
Kunihiko Toyofuku, Toyota, JP;
Shinya Kawamata, Susono, JP;
Assignee:
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G01J 5/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
G01J 5/00 ;
Abstract
A vehicle visibility assist device is started up when a switching operation of a switch for an external vehicle light is detected and when it is determined by a brightness sensor that it is darker outside of the vehicle than a predetermined threshold. The visibility assist device projects infrared light to a region outside the vehicle, captures a reflection of the light, processes an image of the region outside the vehicle, and projects the image onto a surface visible to the vehicle operator.