Abstract: A drive recorder for recording video information received from an image capturing unit on a recording medium includes an acceleration sensor which outputs acceleration information representing an acceleration applied to a vehicle, and a control unit which, determines that a recording condition holds and records video information captured for a first predetermined period of time before the occurrence of the recording condition and video information captured for a second predetermined period of time after the occurrence of the recording condition on the recording medium when the acceleration information equals or exceeds a threshold, wherein after the recording condition holds, the control unit does not record newly captured video information on the recording medium when the acceleration information again becomes equal to or exceeds the threshold in less than a third predetermined period of time which is shorter than the second predetermined period of time.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a drive recorder that can detect acceleration so that the acceleration exerted on a vehicle traveling around a curve will not be erroneously detected as excessive acceleration, as long as the steering wheel is operated in a usual manner. More particularly, the invention provides a drive recorder that includes an acceleration sensor for detecting a first acceleration along a traveling direction of a vehicle and a second acceleration along a transverse direction of the vehicle, and a control unit which obtains a combined acceleration based on the first acceleration and on a value obtained by subtracting a correction value from the absolute value of the second acceleration, and when the combined acceleration exceeds a threshold value, records video information received from an image capturing unit onto a recording device.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a drive recorder that can check whether the essential components of the drive recorder are functioning properly for recording of video information. More specifically, the invention provides a drive recorder which is connected to an image capturing unit that outputs data, includes an image processing circuit which receives the data and converts the received data into video information, an acceleration sensor which outputs acceleration information representing an acceleration exerted on a vehicle, and a control unit which determines that a recording condition holds when the acceleration information equals or exceeds a threshold, and records the video information onto a recording device, wherein the control unit diagnoses connections to the image processing circuit, the acceleration sensor or the image capturing unit during power-up of the drive recorder.

Abstract: An object of the invention is to provide a drive recorder that can detect acceleration so that the acceleration exerted on a vehicle traveling around a curve will not be erroneously detected as excessive acceleration, as long as the steering wheel is operated in a usual manner. More particularly, the invention provides a drive recorder that includes an acceleration sensor for detecting a first acceleration along a traveling direction of a vehicle and a second acceleration along a transverse direction of the vehicle, and a control unit which obtains a combined acceleration based on the first acceleration and on a value obtained by subtracting a correction value from the absolute value of the second acceleration, and when the combined acceleration exceeds a threshold value, records video information received from an image capturing unit onto a recording device.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a drive recorder that can record all video information required and only what is required.

Abstract: A vehicle information recording apparatus which is capable of recording information to be recorded on a recording medium without fail even in a case where electric power is supplied in a limited quantity is provided. Under the circumstances where a signal indicative of a command to record the information of images taken by a camera is issued and a main power source's power detection portion detects the absence of electric power supply from a vehicle power source, a CPU performs a second recording operation which differs from a first recording operation in a manner that a predetermined part of the image information stored in a second SD-RAM on a frame-by-frame basis can be recorded on a CF card by exploiting the electric power supply from a backup power source section.