Abstract: An occupant transfer apparatus includes: guide rails arranged substantially along an up-down direction between a seat and a door; a slide unit raisable and lowerable along the guide rails; and a transfer board foldably supported by the slide unit. A long elastic member connects a floor panel and the slide unit, and elastic force of the elastic member biases the slide unit upward. By balancing the elastic force of the elastic member with the weight of an assisted person, the assisted person sitting on the transfer board can be raised and lowered with very small force. Moreover, because there is no need for a special drive source, the structure can be realized at low cost, and also be made compact. This prevents the structure from narrowing a vehicle-compartment space and obstructing an able-bodied person getting in and out of a vehicle.

Abstract: A system (e.g., a monitoring device) for monitoring a first battery (e.g., a vehicle battery) provided in a vehicle is provided with a monitoring unit for monitoring the electric state of the first battery (e.g., the vehicle battery) capable of starting a motor of the vehicle; and a power supply unit that is a second battery for supplying electric power to the monitoring unit. The monitoring unit may determine whether or not the motor is stopped, and when the motor is stopped, the monitoring unit may monitor, as the electric state of the first battery, e.g., the voltage of the first battery.

Abstract: A lighting apparatus includes: a light source; a sealed housing accommodating the light source therein; and an aiming screw rotatably supported in a through-hole which extends through the housing. Therefore, an optical axis of light emitted from the light source can be adjusted by rotating the aiming screw. A breathing passage communicating inside and outside of the housing with each other is provided inside the aiming screw, so that it is unnecessary to separately provide a breathing passage, thereby enabling decrease in the number of parts, and simplification of the structure. Accordingly, breathing of the housing of the lighting apparatus is achieved using a simple and compact structure.

Abstract: A fabric includes a fabric body and a backing resin layer laminated on a rear surface of the fabric body. The fabric body includes a fluorine-containing organic compound adhered to at least the surface thereof, and the fluorine-containing organic compound has six carbon atoms and at least one fluorine atom. The backing resin layer contains a resin, a flame retardant, and an organic fluorine based oil repellent in which the carbon number is six.

Abstract: This vehicular transmissive member includes: a first transmissive layer that is provided on a first side in a light passing direction and that has a first luminescent portion, which becomes visually recognizable by specific, light; a second transmissive layer that is provided on a second side in the light passing direction further than the first transmissive layer and that has a second luminescent portion, which becomes visually recognizable by the specific light; and a light blocking layer that is provided between the first transmissive layer and the second transmissive layer and that blocks the specific light from passing through.

Abstract: A vehicle decoration structure for decorating a design surface (25a) in a cabin (11) is such that on the design surface (25a), there is formed a first decoration layer (31) with a first pattern (31a) that is visually recognizable with natural light. In a part of an upper surface of the first decoration layer (31), a light-accumulating material (32) having light-accumulating property and shaped in a second pattern is disposed. On upper surface of the first decoration layer (31) and the light-accumulating material (32), a second decoration layer (33) having a fluorescence pattern (33a) is formed using a fluorescence paint having no light-accumulating property.

Abstract: In a Targa top vehicle, a detachable roof unit is supported between a front roof arch along an upper edge of a front windshield and a rear roof arch along an upper edge of a rear windshield. The roof unit is fixed to the front roof arch and the rear roof arch by engaging an axially movable front fixing pin with a pin hole of the front roof arch and engaging an axially movable rear fixing pin with a pin hole of the rear roof arch, and an opening formed in a central part of the roof unit is opened and closed by a canvas that can be unfolded and folded. Accordingly, it is possible to achieve a balance between an open feel of the Targa top vehicle and convenience of simply opening and closing the opening of a roof.

Abstract: Provided is a speech recognition device that executes a speech recognition method capable of improving speech recognition accuracy. The speech recognition device includes a trigger generation unit for generating a trigger signal on the basis of at least mouth movement and a speech recognition unit which extracts a sound signal on the basis of the trigger signal and starts speech recognition for speech in the extracted sound signal. When the trigger generation unit is generating a trigger signal solely on the basis of opening of the mouth, the trigger generation unit generates the trigger signal so as to precede the opening of the mouth by a predetermined period. Alternatively, when the trigger generation unit is generating a trigger signal on the basis of opening of the mouth and changes in eye orientation, the trigger generation unit generates the trigger signal from the moment any of the above occurs.

Abstract: A structure securely attaches a component to an opening portion in a plate-shaped member without stripping or turning over the member. Each of a pair of mount members includes a first engagement portion engaged with a rear surface of the plate-shaped member and a second engagement portion engaged with the component. The component includes projecting portions to be fitted between the mount members, thus the component can be fixed against coming off by engagement of the second engagement portion and the component. The projecting portions inhibit the mount members engaged with the opening portion from moving, thereby preventing the mount members from coming off the opening portion. Since the fitting member is fitted between the second engagement portions, the fitting member inhibits the second engagement portions from moving to come closer to each other, and from disengagement from the component, thereby more securely preventing the component from coming off.

Abstract: A side support cover for application to a vehicle seat having a backrest part is disclosed. The side support cover includes left and right cover bodies for covering respective left and right side supports, and left and right lace members with one ends attached to the respective cover bodies. The left and right lace members are connected to the left and right cover bodies at a point positioned in the vicinity of boundaries between the lace members and the side supports. The backrest part has through-holes extending through the backrest part in a front-back direction. The lace members are passed through the respective through-holes in a state of being tensioned.

Abstract: In a structure, which securely attaches a component to an opening portion in a plate-shaped member without stripping or turning over the plate-shaped member, each of a pair of mount members includes a first engagement portion engaged with a rear surface side of the plate-shaped member and a second engagement portion engaged with the component. The component includes projecting portions to be fitted between the mount members to enable fixing against coming off by engagement of the second engagement portion and the component. The projecting portions inhibit the mount members from moving so as not to come off the opening portion. Since the second engagement portion is formed from the multiple step portions engageable with the component, engagement with the component may be done even if plate thickness of the plate-shaped member varies, enabling fixing without backlash and improving versatility to the plate-shaped member having different plate thickness.

Abstract: An electrode active material has, as a main component, a mixture of an organic compound containing a rubeanic acid and cyanomethanesulfonylamide. The rubeanic acid is represented by the following general formula: In the formula, n indicates an integer between 1 and 20, and R1-R4 indicate hydrogen atoms, halogen atoms, or a prescribed substituent group such as a hydroxide group, a 1-3C alkyl group, an amino group, a phenyl group, a cyclohexyl group, or a sulfo group.

Abstract: An electrode active material has, as a main component, a mixture of an organic compound containing a rubeanic acid and oxamide. The rubeanic acid is represented by the following general formula: In the formula, n indicates an integer between 1 and 20, and R1-R4 indicate hydrogen atoms, halogen atoms, or a prescribed substituent group such as a hydroxide group, a 1-3C alkyl group, an amino group, a phenyl group, a cyclohexyl group, or a sulfo group.

Abstract: A cushion includes a first cushion portion, a second cushion portion, and a connecting portion interconnecting the first cushion portion and the second cushion portion such that the first cushion portion and the second cushion portion are brought to an open position to unfold the cushion. The first cushion portion and the second cushion are movable to a closed position to fold the cushion along the connecting portion into a generally rectangular parallelepiped. The connecting portion is provided along one corner of the generally rectangular parallelepiped and interconnects one end of a first surface of the first cushion portion and one end of a first surface of the second cushion portion. An inclining surface of the first cushion portion and an inclining surface of the second cushion portion are both planar surfaces.

Abstract: A power generation switch apparatus including multiple switch keys, a power generation apparatus that is driven to perform power generation by an operation force applied to the multiple switch keys, multiple switches being supplied with an electric power generated by the power generation apparatus and performing a switching movement by an operation of the multiple switch keys, and a switch signal transmission circuit being driven by the electric power from the power generation apparatus and outputting multiple switch signals that are different from each other in correspondence with the switching movement of the multiple switches.

Abstract: A driver dangerous driving reporting device (100) is provided with a danger prediction unit (30) and a danger reporting unit (40). The danger predicting unit (30) associates a driver inside a vehicle with a subject outside the vehicle, and on the basis of a single image simultaneously representing the driver (subject outside vehicle), is capable of predicting dangerous driving of the vehicle by the driver. When dangerous driving by the driver is predicted by the danger prediction unit (30), the danger reporting unit (40) is capable of reporting the dangerous driving by the driver to the driver.

Abstract: A DBF antenna unit including one or more transmitting antennas and a plurality of receiving antennas arranged at a predetermined interval in a horizontal scanning direction. Each of the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas includes a waveguide provided with a corner bend and a horn expanding in a pyramid-like shape from one end of the waveguide. The other ends of the waveguides of all the transmitting antennas and the receiving antennas are placed on the same plane.

Abstract: A gesture recognition apparatus capable of recognizing a hand by means of a binary image regardless of direction of light contacting the hand. A binarizing processing section binarizes an input image from a camera to a hand recognizing section to prepare a first binary image by a predetermined method. A rebinarizing processing section only rebinarizes a predetermined area of the input image to prepare a second binary image. A contraction processing section performs a contraction processing on the second binary image. The rebinarizing processing can increase the possibility of recognizing the hand by classifying a portion of the hand that was classified into black in the first binary image into white. The hand is determined to be recognizable if the hand can be recognized in the first binary image and/or in the second binary image.

Abstract: A navigation device 10 comprises: position detecting means 11 for determining the current position of a user from the absolute position in longitude and latitude by using the electric waves coming from a plurality of artificial satellites going around the earth; storage means 14 for storing the coordinates in longitude and latitude of nodes, as obtained by setting a starting point and a final place, on a scheduled route; display means 12 for displaying the current position and the scheduled route; and control means 16 for controlling the display on the display means 12 by converting the angular data of the absolute positions and the coordinates into distance data while making corrections according to the current position, and by calculating an element between the nodes thereby to calculate whether or not the current position is on the scheduled route, in dependence upon whether or not the distance between the element and the current position is within a predetermined range.

Abstract: A garnish for a vehicle includes a vehicle exterior garnish section facing the outside of a vehicle body and a vehicle interior garnish section facing the inside of a passenger compartment, wherein the vehicle interior garnish section has a panel opposing surface (14) opposite to an opening edge of a vehicle external side of an opening section (6) of a vehicle body panel (5) and an interior surface (13) facing the inside of the passenger compartment through the opening section (6), and the vehicle exterior garnish section is installed at the vehicle external side of the vehicle interior garnish section.

Abstract: A portable device includes a reservation setting device which stores an automatic door opening command for automatically opening a door, and in a case where the portable device is moved close to a vehicle and authentication is established between the portable device and a door opening-closing control unit, the door opening-closing control unit automatically opens the door when receiving the automatic door opening command stored in the reservation setting device from the portable device. Accordingly, for example, in a case where a driver leaves the vehicle and then needs to return to the vehicle while holding an unexpectedly large amount of goods, the driver operates the portable device and reserves the automatic door opening command before returning to the vehicle so as to be able to automatically open the door when returning to the vehicle, and convenience is thereby improved.

Abstract: Provided is a system capable of reducing production costs. The system (on-board device) comprises an acquisition unit provided in a vehicle and comprising a camera unit that captures images and/or a microphone unit that captures sound; and an error detection unit that detects vehicle errors. The system sends the acquisition results from the acquisition unit, such as images and sound, to outside the vehicle in conjunction with a mobile information terminal provided in the vehicle, when the error detection unit has detected an error. Ideally, the mobile information terminal has a rechargeable battery unit and the acquisition unit and/or the error detection unit have power supplied thereto from the battery unit in the mobile information terminal, and can operate thereby. Also, the error detection unit ideally changes the error detection mode in accordance with the state of the battery unit in the mobile information terminal.

Abstract: A microphone array arrangement structure in a vehicle cabin is provided with multiple microphones arranged in a convex line. The microphones include a first microphone, and the direction of the axis of the first microphone faces the mouth of the driver. The microphone array arrangement structure is provided with covers housing the microphones and having multiple holes. The front surface of the covers form a convexly curved line, and each of the microphones is fixed inside of a cover to correspond to one of the holes.

Abstract: In a component-securing device, in a state in which a base member is secured to a component by the engagement of an engagement portion of a clip to a to-be-engaged portion of a joining pin, pushing a pair of pressing portions in an outer peripheral portion of the clip in a direction (see arrow A) of approaching each other makes the outer peripheral portion deform and a pair of joining pin insertion portions move in a direction of moving away from each other, and engagement between the engagement portion of the clip and the to-be-engaged portion of the joining pin is released, thereby enabling the clip to be polled out from the joining pin. Merely deforming the outer peripheral portion of the clip inward enables the engagement with the joining pin to be released.

Abstract: A vehicle decoration structure for decorating a design surface (25a) in a cabin (11) is such that on the design surface (25a), there is formed a first decoration layer (1) with a first pattern (31a) that is visually recognizable with natural light. In a part of an upper surface of the first decoration layer (31), a light-accumulating material (32) having light-accumulating property and shaped in a second pattern is disposed. On upper surface of the first decoration layer (31) and the light-accumulating material (32), a second decoration layer (33) having a fluorescence pattern (33a) is formed using a fluorescence paint having no light-accumulating property.

Abstract: A cushion includes a first cushion portion, a second cushion portion, and a connecting portion interconnecting the first cushion portion and the second cushion portion such that the first cushion portion and the second cushion portion are brought to an open position to unfold the cushion. The first cushion portion and the second cushion are movable to a closed position to fold the cushion along the connecting portion into a generally rectangular parallelepiped. The connecting portion is provided along one corner of the generally rectangular parallelepiped and interconnects one end of a first surface of the first cushion portion and one end of a first surface of the second cushion portion. An inclining surface of the first cushion portion and an inclining surface of the second cushion portion are both planar surfaces.

Abstract: An object detecting device includes a signal transmitting and receiving unit configured to generate an intermediate frequency signal based on a transmission signal and a reception signal which is a reflected wave thereof, a processing unit configured to determine that an image of a target peak frequency is a virtual image based on noise when it is determined that a peak frequency of predetermined n times the target peak frequency is not present in information based on the intermediate frequency signal generated by the signal transmitting and receiving unit and to detect an object based on the determination result, where n is an integer of 2 or greater.

Abstract: A vehicle towing apparatus 1 includes a wheel cradle 5 provided on a rear of a automobile 2 serving as a towing vehicle and holds a front wheel 7 serving as a wheel of a vehicle 6 to be towed in the wheel cradle 5, the wheel cradle 5 including two arm members 21, 21 forming a space receiving a width of the front wheel 7 in a lateral direction, the each arm member 21 connecting a first end thereof to the automobile 2 with an attachment body 4 and connecting a second end to each other, thereby forming a closed holding region 24 holding the lower portion of the front wheel 7 to be inserted therein. Therefore, the structure of the wheel cradle 5 can be simplified, and the front wheel 7 can be stably held.

Abstract: A clip for attaching a mounting component to a base component, and the clip comprises: a pin including a head portion for engaging the mounting component, and a shaft portion which is contiguous to the head portion, and a lock pins which extends downward from the head portion; and a grommet including a flange and a shank contiguous to the flange and partially defining an aperture operable to receive the pin in one of a temporary fitted position and a permanent fitted position; and wherein the temporary fitted position, the lock pin abuts a recessed portion in the grommet for maintaining the temporary fitted position, and wherein in the permanent fitted position, the lock pin collapses on the inside, and is contained on the inside of the shank portion of the grommet.

Abstract: Provided is a vehicle floor mat reducing a load on a mat main body. The vehicle floor mat includes at least one fastening device for fastening the mat main body to a vehicle. The fastening device includes a first fastening member fixed to the vehicle and a second fastening member fixed to the mat main body. The first fastening member includes a vertical rotating knob, and the second fastening member includes: an insertion receiving section for the rotating knob to be inserted thereinto and engaged therewith; and upper and lower half bodies sandwiching the mat main body and being connected to each other through a half body connecting portion for the rotating knob to be inserted thereinto and at least one outer connecting portion disposed outside the half body connecting portion provided around the insertion receiving section, thus improving a connecting strength between the upper and lower half bodies.

Abstract: An image recognition device includes an image acquiring unit configured to acquire an image, and an object recognition unit configured to extract feature points from the image acquired by the image acquiring unit, to detect coordinates of the extracted feature points in a three-dimensional spatial coordinate system, and to determine a raster scan region which is used to recognize a target object based on the detection result.

Abstract: Provided is a floor mat fastening structure capable of preventing a circumferential edge portion of a mat main body from rising. This structure is to fasten a mat main body laid on a vehicle floor. A fastening member(s) are provided on a rear circumferential edge of the mat main body. The front end region of this fastening member is provided with an insertion portion having a cutout opening section. The fastening member is sandwiched between the vehicle floor and a foot bracket fixed on the vehicle floor such that the rising of the mat main body due to a long period of use can be restricted, thereby ensuring the quality of the product. Each fastening member is formed into the shape of a sheet, and has a flat upper and lower surfaces. Thus, the fastening member can be easily inserted in between the vehicle floor and the foot bracket.

Abstract: A lighting apparatus includes: a light source; a sealed housing accommodating the light source therein; and an aiming screw rotatably supported in a through-hole which extends through the housing. Therefore, an optical axis of light emitted from the light source can be adjusted by rotating the aiming screw. A breathing passage communicating inside and outside of the housing with each other is provided inside the aiming screw, so that it is unnecessary to separately provide a breathing passage, thereby enabling decrease in the number of parts, and simplification of the structure. Accordingly, breathing of the housing of the lighting apparatus is achieved using a simple and compact structure.

Abstract: A side support cover for application to a vehicle seat having a backrest part is disclosed. The side support cover includes left and right cover bodies for covering respective left and right side supports, and left and right lace members with one ends attached to the respective cover bodies. The left and right lace members are connected to the left and right cover bodies at a point positioned in the vicinity of boundaries between the lace members and the side supports. The backrest part has through-holes extending through the backrest part in a front-back direction. The lace members are passed through the respective through-holes in a state of being tensioned.

Abstract: An in-vehicle battery charging system adaptable to a wide variety of objects to be charged. A charging system 1 includes a battery charger 3 with a built-in primary coil 2 used to charge an object 7 with a secondary coil 5 and a rechargeable battery 6. By allowing the battery charger 3 and the object 7 to come close to each other, the rechargeable battery 6 is charged through an electromagnetic inductive action between the coils. The battery charger 3, provided in a vehicle instrumental panel 4, includes a slider assembly 23 for adjusting a position of the secondary coil 5 of the object 7 with respect to the primary coil 2 of the battery charger 3. This slider assembly 23 enables a positional relationship between the coils to be properly adjusted, enabling a proper charge condition to be maintained for a variety of objects to be charged.

Abstract: An on-board radar apparatus includes a transmission wave generating unit configured to generate a first modulated wave, a second modulated wave, and a third modulated wave which are different from each other, a transmitting antenna configured to transmit a transmission wave based on the first modulated wave, the second modulated wave, and the third modulated wave, a receiving antenna unit configured to receive a reception wave arriving by allowing the transmission wave to be reflected by an object, and an azimuth detecting unit configured to detect a signal based on the first modulated wave, the second modulated wave, and the third modulated wave from the reception, wave and to detect an azimuth of the object based on the detected signal.

Abstract: There is provided a vehicle rear monitor displaying an image suitable for backing a vehicle, without requiring a switching operation. A rear camera mounted on a vehicle captures an image of a rear side of the vehicle, such image being processed to generate a top-down or perspective view displayed on an image output unit. The vehicle rear monitor comprises an image display control unit for setting a displayed image. When a gear detection unit has detected that a back gear is selected through a transmission, an image switching unit allows a predetermined top-down or perspective view to be displayed on the image output unit. When the gear detection unit has detected that the back gear is again selected after being thrown out, the image switching unit allows the image output unit to display the top-down or perspective view displayed before the back gear is thrown out, or a desired view.

Abstract: A vehicle wireless communication apparatus, including: a first portable device; a second portable device; a first receiver; a second receiver; a control apparatus; an in-vehicle communication network; and a relay unit, wherein, on receiving first directive data transmitted from the first portable device, the first receiver transmits first identification data of the first portable device to the relay unit; on receiving second directive data transmitted from the second portable device, the second receiver transmits second identification data of the second portable device to the relay unit; and on receiving the first identification data transmitted from the first portable device or the second identification data transmitted from the second portable device, the relay unit transmits more-recently received data to the control apparatus as identification data continuously at predetermined regular intervals.

Abstract: A system (e.g., a monitoring device) for monitoring a first battery (e.g., a vehicle battery) provided in a vehicle is provided with a monitoring unit for monitoring the electric state of the first battery (e.g., the vehicle battery) capable of starting a motor of the vehicle; and a power supply unit that is a second battery for supplying electric power to the monitoring unit. The monitoring unit may determine whether or not the motor is stopped, and when the motor is stopped, the monitoring unit may monitor, as the electric state of the first battery, e.g., the voltage of the first battery.

Abstract: A driver dangerous driving reporting device (100) is provided with a danger prediction unit (30) and a danger reporting unit (40). The danger predicting unit (30) associates a driver inside a vehicle with a subject outside the vehicle, and on the basis of a single image simultaneously representing the driver (subject outside vehicle), is capable of predicting dangerous driving of the vehicle by the driver. When dangerous driving by the driver is predicted by the danger prediction unit (30), the danger reporting unit (40) is capable of reporting the dangerous driving by the driver to the driver.

Abstract: In a vehicle article holder detachably attached to vehicle equipment having a gripped portion and being installed at a predetermined position inside a vehicle, the holder includes a holder main body having a holding portion capable of detachably holding an article; a fixation body adjacent to and fixed to the main body and having a clamping portion capable of clamping part of the gripped portion of the equipment; and a lever body connected to the fixation body to be able to open and close the clamping portion. The fixation body, lever body, and main body are formed in such shapes that, in a state where an arbitrary part of the gripped portion is clamped by the clamping portion, another part thereof can be manually gripped. Accordingly, even when the holder is fixed to the gripped portion, a grip function of the gripped portion is not impaired.

Abstract: An antenna device includes antennas, each of which includes antenna elements arranged in a longitudinal direction, arranged side by side in a transverse direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, wherein an interval between the antennas arranged side by side in the transverse direction is approximately 2? where ? is a free space wavelength corresponding to an operating frequency, and each of the antenna elements includes a horn formed therein.

Abstract: Provided is a system capable of reducing production costs. The system (on-board device) comprises an acquisition unit provided in a vehicle and comprising a camera unit that captures images and/or a microphone unit that captures sound; and an error detection unit that detects vehicle errors. The system sends the acquisition results from the acquisition unit, such as images and sound, to outside the vehicle in conjunction with a mobile information terminal provided in the vehicle, when the error detection unit has detected an error. Ideally, the mobile information terminal has a rechargeable battery unit and the acquisition unit and/or the error detection unit have power supplied thereto from the battery unit in the mobile information terminal, and can operate thereby. Also, the error detection unit ideally changes the error detection mode in accordance with the state of the battery unit in the mobile information terminal.

Abstract: An obstacle detection apparatus includes a transmission antenna transmitting radio waves, a reception antenna receiving radio waves transmitted to and reflected by an obstacle, an obstacle detection unit configured to detect the obstacle based on the received radio waves, a false detection determination unit configured to determine presence or absence of a false detection characteristic, which is set in advance, with regard to the detected obstacle, a camera capturing an image, and an obstacle existence determination unit configured to determine, based on the image captured by the camera, presence or absence of the obstacle on which it is determined that the false detection characteristic is present.

Abstract: A gradient estimation apparatus includes a feature point extracting unit configured to extract feature points on an image captured by an imaging unit, an object detecting unit configured to detect image regions indicating objects from the image captured by the imaging unit, and a gradient calculating unit configured to calculate a gradient of the road surface on which the objects are located, based on the coordinates of the feature points extracted by the feature point extracting unit in the image regions indicating the objects detected by the object detecting unit and the amounts of movements of the coordinates of the feature points over a predetermined time.