Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippondenso Kabushiki Kaisha

Atutoshi Okamoto

Akio Sugiura

Koichi Toyama

Hiroshi Arai

Tadao Nojiri

Takahiro Nogami

Masahiro Hara

Akira Nakamura

Toshiyasu Sakai

Jun Ohta

Koichi Taniguchi

Masahiro Nomura

Hiromitsu Takai

Yoshiaki Nakano

Akira Kojima

Hiroshi Yamamoto

Tadao Oshima

Apparatus for optically reading printed information by radiating light onto printed information to be reflected thereby, receiving the reflected light through an optical system and converting the image of the reflected light into a corresponding electric signal. The light source employs red light emitting diodes which radiate highly bright red light having a wavelength peak at about 660 nm so that the image sensor can receive a highly contrasting reflected light from the information printed in black on a white base. The light source further or alternatively employs infrared light emitting diodes for radiating the light having a peak wavelength at about 925 nm so that the image sensor can also received a highly contrasting reflected light from information printed in black on a blue or green base.

Apparatus for optically reading printed information

A voice warning system for vehicles adapted to give a voice warning of a specified condition detected by one of a plurality of sensors in one of a plurality of items of a vehicle which are to be checked, includes a rank selector switch which classifies the items to be checked into a plurality of ranks of different priorities whereby when a given one of the ranks is selected, the generation of a voice warning is inhibited even if a specified condition is detected in any one of the items belonging to the rank or ranks lower in priority than the selected rank.

Voice warning system for vehicles

A light source, a converging lens and a light responsive image sensor are optically coupled to recognize the code information such as bar codes recorded on an object. The light source supplies the code information with illumination light and the image sensor receives the reflected light through the converging lens to convert it into the image signal. The distance between the lens and the image sensor is adjusted automatically in response to the image signal such that clear reflected light is received by the image sensor, whereby correct information recognizing operation is attained.

Method and apparatus for recognizing code information

A great number of bar codes are recorded in dual directions on a bar code information card. Each bar code is comprised of a plurality of bar symbols juxtaposed in parallel to each other. A plurality of bar codes, constituting one group bar code, are arranged in one direction which is orthogonal to the bar symbol and a plurality of group bar codes are arranged in the other direction in which the bar symbol extends. A great deal of bar-coded information is recognized by transferring the bar code information card in the longitudinal direction of the bar symbol and scanning the bar code orthogonally thereto.

Bar code information card

An improved anti-skid system for a vehicle which effectively utilizes an approximated slip ratio between vehicle or body velocity and wheel velocity to generate a brake release signal for a brake release valve but without actually utilizing a vehicle or body velocity detector. Storage apparatus is used to store a reference signal representing vehicle velocity but actually corresponding to a present or just past maximum value of wheel velocity. Control apparatus is then utilized for removing energy from the storage apparatus at a controlled predetermined rate chosen to approximate the expected vehicle deceleration (but without using an actual vehicle or body deceleration detector) such that the reference signal (capacitor voltage) will continue to accurately represent approximate vehicle velocities even during periods of deceleration. Various exemplary embodiments are described for the control apparatus which may be used to hold the discharge rate constant, to change it from a first low rate to a second high rate during brake release (for compensating inherent time lags in the vehicle brake system) and/or to continuously change the rate in an inverse dependency upon wheel deceleration to even more closely approximate actual vehicle deceleration under variable road conditions. Other features of the improved system may be used to result in rapid oscillatory brake releases as a transition both before and after a more prolonged brake release period to provide for smoother operation of the anti-skid system. Spurious influences of any A.C. ripple components on the detected wheel velocity signal may also be substantially eliminated by using some of the features of this system.

Anti-skid system for a vehicle

An antiskid control device for vehicles, comprising a timer circuit for producing a timing signal in synchronism with the extinction of a release signal for a skid control, apparatus for rapidly increasing the braking pressure applied to the wheel in response to said timing signal coming from the timer circuit, and correcting apparatus for increasing the braking pressure increasing rate when a large amount of friction is present between the wheel and the road surface, said antiskid control device being able to hold the fluctuation of the braking pressure within a narrow range to prevent unnecessary vibrations of the vehicle at the time of braking due to the fact that the braking pressure increasing rate is changed when the braking pressure is reapplied to the wheel, and being able to control the braking operation at all times in a manner best suited to the various road surface conditions encountered so that a skid of the vehicle is prevented from occurring and the braking distance is reduced greatly, due to the fact that the braking pressure increasing rate is adjusted in accordance with the coefficients of friction between the wheel and the road surface.

Antiskid control device for vehicles

An anti-skid control system for preventing skidding of a vehicle caused by the braking of the vehicle while it is in motion in the system when a vehicle speed signal generated from vehicle speed detecting apparatus becomes lower than a predetermined value, discriminating apparatus generates a discrimination signal and the braking pressure applied to the wheel is modulated through limiting apparatus including a logical gate and controlled by the discrimination signal. On the other hand, when the vehicle body speed becomes lower than a predetermined value, the generation of the discrimination signal is prevented by a deceleration sensor, thus suitably controlling the braking pressure in accordance with the surface conditions of the road.

Anti-skid control system for vehicles

An anti-skid control system for vehicles wherein, in view of the fact that while it is desirable for a vehicle anti-skid control system to detect the speed of the vehicle body and the speed of the wheel to positively prevent the skidding of the vehicle, it is very difficult to detect the speed of the vehicle body, a plurality of control patterns for decreasing the wheel speed to prevent the locking of the wheels under an excessively large braking pressure are predetermined, whereby the selection among the control patterns is effected according to the conditions of the road surface detected by a vehicle body deceleration sensor and a reference wheel speed according to the selected control pattern is compared with the actual wheel speed to forcibly reduce the braking pressure when there is a tendency for the wheels to lock, thereby preventing the locking of the vehicle and hence the skidding of the vehicle without detecting the speed of the vehicle body.

Growing community of inventors

Toyohashi, Japan

Atutoshi Okamoto