ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 21 -- United States Patent no. 12,440,137, issued on Oct. 14, was assigned to MAZDA MOTOR Corp. (Hiroshima, Japan).
"Driver state determination apparatus" was invented by Akira Kaino (Hiroshima, Japan), Yoshitaka Fujihara (Hiroshima, Japan) and Yoko Hoshino (Hiroshima, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A driver state determination apparatus detects decline of the physical function of a driver and confirms an abnormal state before the driver becomes unable to drive. A vibration apparatus vibrates a steering wheel; a vibration detector detects vibration of the steering wheel; a steering angle sensor detects a steering angle of the steering wheel; and a controller contro...