Subaru Corporation

Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Denso Corporation

Isamu Nagasawa

Noriyoshi Baba

Tetsuya Nakase

Yoshihiro Kamata

Satoshi Ikeda

Takao Kondo

Tsukasa Mikuni

Yuya Mukainakano

Noriyoshi Matsuo

Toshiya Furukawa

Hiroshi Yoneyama

Masaaki Kobayashi

Takahiro Sakaguchi

Yoshiyuki Hashimoto

Akihiro Onodera

Hiroshi Suemune

Kazuhiro Kaminaga

Takeru Shoji

Junichi Oorai

Daisuke Ototsuji

Shun Ichikawa

Takeshi Abe

Takahito Suzuki

Koichi Mashiko

Shinya Inoue

Wataru Kato

Masaya Watanabe

Satoru Iwata

Kensuke Suzuki

Takatomo Watamori

Hayato Aiuchi

Makoto Niwa

Takuya Tamura

Tomoyuki Nunome

Isao Itoi

Keiji Asai

Junya Iino

Manami Aikawa

Kousuke Yamada

Minoru Takase

Takaya Kawamata

Akifumi Shii

An airbag apparatus includes an airbag, a collision detector, and a deploying-gas supplier. The airbag is configured to be deployed in front of an occupant sitting in a seat of a vehicle. The collision detector is configured to detect an occurrence or sign of a collision of the vehicle. The deploying-gas supplier is configured to supply deploying gas into the airbag based on an output of the collision detector. The airbag includes first, second, and third bags. The first bag is configured to be deployed to restrain a right knee and a right shoulder of the occupant. The second bag is configured to be deployed to restrain a left knee and a left shoulder of the occupant. The third bag is configured to be deployed at a position closer to the occupant than the first bag and the second bag and to restrain lumbar and abdomen regions of the occupant.

Airbag apparatus

An occupant protection apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes a contact detector, a control processor, and a lifting mechanism. The contact detector detects frontal contact of the vehicle. The control processor includes a contact determination unit determining whether the frontal contact of the vehicle is underride contact based on a result of detecting by the contact detector. The lifting mechanism includes a lifting member and a lifting driver. The lifting member is disposed below a rear end part of a hood in a downward direction of the vehicle. The hood is disposed on a frontal part of the vehicle. The lifting driver transmits a driving force to the lifting member. When the contact determination unit determines that the frontal contact is the underride contact, the rear end part of the hood is lifted by the lifting mechanism.

Occupant protection apparatus

An airbag apparatus includes an airbag, a collision detector, and a deploying-gas supplier. The airbag is configured to be deployed in front of an occupant sitting in a seat of a vehicle. The collision detector includes a sensor and is configured to detect an occurrence or sign of a collision of the vehicle. The deploying-gas supplier is configured to supply deploying gas into the airbag based on an output of the collision detector. The airbag includes a lower-half-restraining bag and upper-half-restraining bags. The lower-half-restraining bag is configured to be deployed in front of knees of the occupant. The upper-half-restraining bags are configured to be deployed between the lower-half-restraining bag and an upper body of the occupant and in a plane that faces the upper body.

A vehicle control apparatus includes a paddle switch, a traveling mode selection unit, and an electronic control unit. The paddle switch is provided on each side of a steering wheel in a vehicle width direction of a vehicle. The paddle switch is configured to allow for a shift change operation or a traveling speed increasing and decreasing operation. The traveling mode selection unit is configured to allow a driver who drives the vehicle to select a desired traveling mode from traveling modes. The electronic control unit is configured to change an operation mode of the paddle switch to the shift change operation or the traveling speed increasing and decreasing operation based on information supplied from the traveling mode selection unit, and is configured to control corresponding one of a shift change and a traveling speed based on an operation performed on the paddle switch.

Vehicle control apparatus

An emotion determination device includes a traveling state detector, an occupant monitoring detector, and an emotion determination processor. The traveling state detector detects a traveling state of a vehicle. The occupant monitoring detector monitors a state of an occupant of the vehicle. The emotion determination processor determines an emotion of the occupant, based on outputs of the traveling state detector and the occupant monitoring detector. When a condition for determination of a second emotional state is satisfied during a first alert period in which output histories of the traveling state detector and the occupant monitoring detector are monitored for a first period to determine a first emotional state, the emotion determination processor starts a second alert period in which the output histories of the traveling state detector and the occupant monitoring detector are monitored for a second period to determine the second emotional state.

Emotion determination device

A driving assistance apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes a traveling state detector, an occupant monitoring detector, an emotion determination processor, an environment recognizer, and a driving assistance processor. The emotion determination processor determines an emotion of an occupant of the vehicle, based on outputs of the traveling state detector and the occupant monitoring detector. The driving assistance processor performs driving assistance control including one or both of information presentation to the occupant and traveling assistance control on the vehicle, in accordance with an output of one or more of the traveling state detector, the emotion determination processor, and the environment recognizer. The emotion determination processor determines multiple kinds of emotions less suitable for driving than a normal emotion. The driving assistance processor varies a control operation included in the driving assistance control, depending on a kind of the emotion determined by the emotion determination processor.

Driving assistance apparatus

A front frame structure for an electric vehicle includes front side frames disposed in extra spaces between left and right side walls in a vehicle width direction of a motor room and side surfaces of a power control unit; a frame-shaped rigid member disposed in an extra space in a front portion of the motor room; left and right impact absorbing members coupled to a front surface of the frame-shaped rigid member at positions directly facing the front side frames; a bumper beam coupling the impact absorbing members; a lower frame disposed in a lower portion of the motor room; and upper reinforcements coupled to upper surfaces of the front side frames. Outer side surfaces in the vehicle width direction of the upper reinforcements gradually protrude outward in the vehicle width direction from front ends toward rear ends of the upper reinforcements in a front-rear direction of a vehicle body.

Front frame structure for electric vehicle

An airbag apparatus includes a far-side airbag and an expansion control processor controlling expansion of the far-side airbag. The far-side airbag is a cylindrical base fabric member, has an annular outer periphery, and has a shoulder protection air chamber, a head protection air chamber, and a non-inflating unit in an inner periphery. The shoulder protection air chamber is expanded into a longitudinal cylindrical shape to protect a shoulder of an occupant seated in a vehicle front seat. The head protection air chamber is expanded into a semicircular shape and falls against the occupant to protect the occupant's head. The non-inflating unit is disposed adjacent to the back shoulder air chamber and includes an inflator covered with a cylinder. The far-side airbag has a gas passage through which high-pressure gas discharged from discharge ports of the cylinder are fed to the shoulder protection air chamber and the head protection air chamber.

In a front frame structure for an electric vehicle, front side frames disposed in extra spaces between side walls of a motor room and side surfaces of a power control unit include a wall-shaped portion in a rear region and an arm-shaped portion in a front portion. A first inclined surface portion is formed in a lower portion of the wall-shaped portion to extend forward from a rear portion. A second inclined surface portion is formed on a bottom surface of the arm-shaped portion to extend forward from an end of the first inclined surface portion. Lower side frames of the lower frame and the front side frames are joined while being reinforced via front reinforcements. Side surfaces of an upper valley line portion joining the inclined surface portions and side surfaces of the lower side frame facing a lower side of the line portion are coupled via rear reinforcements.

A driving assistance apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes a traveling state detector, an emotion determination processor, and a driving assistance processor. The traveling state detector is configured to detect a traveling state of the vehicle. The emotion determination processor is configured to determine an emotion of an occupant of the vehicle. The driving assistance processor is configured to perform driving assistance control including one or both of information presentation to the occupant and traveling assistance control on the vehicle, in accordance with an output of one or both of the traveling state detector and the emotion determination processor. The emotion determination processor is configured to determine a driving unsuitable emotion by comparing, with a predetermined threshold, a difference between a reference value and a current value of a parameter indicating a physical state of the occupant, and to update the reference value at each driving cycle.

An airbag device includes a far-side airbag and a first deployment controller configured to control deployment of the far-side airbag. The far-side airbag is provided in a seat backrest of the seat at a location adjacent to a center console, and includes shoulder and head protection air chambers configured to protect respectively a shoulder and a head, of an occupant. The shoulder protection air chamber includes air chamber elements configured to deploy in a vertical tubular shape. The head protection air chamber is configured to deploy in a semicircular shape. A base fabric of the far-side airbag in a deployed state is longer at a side adjacent to the center console than at a side adjacent to the seat. The shoulder protection air chamber is provided with a restraining tether configured to squeeze the shoulder protection air chamber toward the seat when the shoulder protection air chamber is deployed.

Airbag device

An airbag device to be applied to a vehicle provided with A to C pillars, a door, and a side sill includes an airbag, a collision mode predictor, and a pressure controller. The airbag is deployed from a container to be disposed on a lower side of the side sill to a region on a vehicle-widthwise outside of a side surface of a vehicle body including the door. The airbag includes a first air chamber disposed mainly in front of the B pillar after being deployed and a second air chamber disposed mainly behind the B pillar after being deployed. The collision mode predictor predicts a collision mode of an object with the vehicle. The pressure controller increases or reduces at least either of internal pressures of the first air chamber and the second air chamber independently of the other, based on the predicted collision mode.

A vehicle with an automatic report function includes a transmitter configured to transmit, to a server apparatus for requesting emergency dispatch, emergency information of the vehicle when a collision of the vehicle is detected or forecasted, a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver configured to receive signal waves and generate a location of the vehicle, a storage configured to store the location generated by the GNSS receiver, and a controller configured to collect information from the vehicle and cause the transmitter to transmit the information as the emergency information when the collision of the vehicle is detected or forecasted. When the collision of the vehicle is detected or forecasted, the controller determines whether the location is acquirable from the GNSS receiver and, when the location is not acquirable, collects a previously generated location and causes the transmitter to transmit the previously generated location to the server apparatus.

Vehicle with automatic report function and server apparatus

An airbag apparatus to be applied to a vehicle includes an airbag, a collision determiner, an airbag deployment controller, and a pulling device. The airbag is configured to be deployed forward of a vehicle body front of the vehicle. The collision determiner is configured to establish a pre-crash determination in a case where a collision probability is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold. The airbag deployment controller is configured to give to an inflator a command to supply deployment gas to the airbag and deploy the airbag, in response to the pre-crash determination. The pulling device is configured to pull, rearward of the vehicle, a collision portion with which a collision object is to collide or vicinity of the collision portion on a front surface of the airbag so as to form a recessed portion configured to restrain the collision object.

An emergency reporting device for a vehicle includes an emergency detector and a communicator. The emergency detector is configured to detect or estimate an emergency including a collision of the vehicle. The communicator is configured to, when the emergency of the vehicle is detected or estimated, transmit information related to the emergency to outside so that a succeeding vehicle receives the information related to the emergency. The communicator is configured to, after the information related to the emergency is transmitted, receive acknowledgment information from the succeeding vehicle about reception of the information related to the emergency.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Isamu Nagasawa