Nissan Motor Company Limited

Oki Data Corporation

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Kenichi Egawa

Satoshi Tange

Tetsuya Asada

Akira Higashimata

Takeshi Sugano

Yosuke Kobayashi

Hidenori Ueda

Tetsuya Iijima

Yusuke Kobayashi

Nariaki Etori

Hideki Enomoto

Moriaki Fukao

Kenta Kubota

Shinjiro Hara

Yosimizu Yuasa

A vehicle headway maintenance assist system is configured to perform a haptic notification control of an accelerator to prompt the driver to release the accelerator when the accelerator is being operated and to perform a deceleration control of the vehicle based on headway distance when the accelerator is being operated as long as the headway distance from a preceding vehicle is less than a prescribed headway distance threshold.

Vehicle headway maintenance assist system and method

A vehicle headway maintenance assist system is provided that provides a haptic notification to an accelerator to alert the driver under prescribed conditions. The vehicle headway maintenance assist system includes a preceding vehicle detection section, a reaction force generating section, and a control section. The preceding vehicle detection section is configured to detect a headway distance between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle. The reaction force generating section is configured to generate a reaction force based on the headway distance detected by the preceding vehicle detection section. The control section is configured to control a relationship between a driving force and an accelerator actuation amount by a driver to increase the accelerator actuation amount at a time before the reaction force generating section generates the reaction force.

A vehicle headway maintenance assist system is provided that provides a haptic notification to an accelerator to alert the driver under prescribed conditions. The system changes a drive force/accelerator actuation relationship between an accelerator actuation amount and a target drive force or torque under the prescribed conditions. In particular, system changes a first drive force/accelerator actuation relationship to a second drive force/accelerator actuation relationship based on a vehicle running condition that was detected so that the driver more readily notices the haptic notification (e.g., an accelerator actuation reaction force) when the haptic notification is being applied to the accelerator to alert the driver under the prescribed conditions.

A headway maintenance assist system is provided with a correction section in which a drive force/accelerator actuation relationship between an accelerator actuation amount and a target drive force is changed to a drive force/accelerator relationship that is different than an ordinary drive force/accelerator relationship so that the driver more readily notices the accelerator reaction force when the accelerator reaction force is applied to the accelerator to alert the driver under prescribed conditions.

Headway maintenance system and method

A vehicle headway distance control apparatus is provided with a first deceleration control system for controlling the deceleration of a vehicle according to a distance between the host vehicle and a preceding obstacle, and a second deceleration control system, which is different from the first deceleration control system and which controls the deceleration of a vehicle according to the same distance. A driver operable selection section is configured to allow a driver to arbitrarily turn 'on' and 'off' each of the first and second deceleration control systems, but prohibit simultaneously operation of both of the first and second deceleration control systems.

Vehicle headway distance control apparatus and method

A medium tray () comprises a medium support () connected to a medium feeding section () of an image recording apparatus () and receiving record medium (P), and a medium guide () extending from the medium support () and supporting the record medium (P) such that an angle of a rear portion of the record medium (P) is changed. A lengthy record medium (P) having a length greater than the medium support () is supported by the medium guide () with the rear portion thereof directed at a different angle so that the length record medium (P) is loaded in the medium tray () without enlarging an area projecting from the image recording apparatus ().

Medium tray and image recording apparatus using the same

In adaptive cruise control apparatus and method for an automotive vehicle, a velocity of the vehicle is detected, an inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and a preceding vehicle which is a controlled system of a following run control is detected, a driving force of the vehicle is controlled to maintain the inter-vehicle distance at a target inter-vehicle distance when the inter-vehicle distance between the vehicle and the other vehicle is detected and to maintain the velocity of the vehicle at a set vehicle speed when no other vehicle is detected on the same traffic lane in the forward direction of the vehicle, and an acceleration value at an initial stage of an acceleration is set in such a manner as to be larger than that at a later stage of acceleration when the other vehicle detection state is transferred from the detection state to a non-detection state.

Vehicular adaptive cruise control apparatus and method with preceding vehicle following control function

In apparatus and method for automatically controlling a vehicular velocity of an automotive vehicle maintaining an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle, a follow-up run controller determines whether such a follow-up run control as to control the vehicular velocity should be released or not according to a vehicular motion when a shift lever of an automatic transmission shift mechanism (or of a continuously variable transmission) is operated to shift a drive (D) range to a gear maintaining range (such as a second-speed range or third- speed range). If the shift operation occurs from the drive range to the 2nd-speed range during the follow-up run control, the engine speed N2nd in the second-speed range is estimated. If the engine speed N2nd is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value N , the follow-up run control is continued. If the engine speed N2nd is in excess of the predetermined threshold value N , the follow-up run control is released.

Apparatus and method for automatically controlling vehicular velocity of a vehicle

In a vehicular velocity controlling apparatus for an automotive vehicle, a vehicular velocity detector is provided to detect a vehicular velocity of the vehicle, a vehicular velocity controlling section is provided that controls a vehicular driving force of the vehicle to make a detected value of the vehicular velocity substantially equal to a set vehicular velocity previously set, a plurality of switches are provided which includes a first switch (SET/COAST switch) and a second switch (RESUME/ACCELERATE switch), each switch being enabled to be interlocked with a predetermined operation of at least one switching member at a position such as to match with a general vehicular occupant's sense of vehicular manipulation, and a set vehicular velocity modifying section is provided that modifies the set vehicular velocity in such a manner that the detected value of the vehicular velocity is set to the set vehicular velocity when at least one of the following conditions is established, when a time duration of the predetermined operation of the first switch is equal to or longer than a first predetermined time duration and the detected value of the vehicular velocity is lower than the set vehicular velocity and when the time duration of the predetermined operation of the second switch is equal to or longer than a second predetermined time duration and the detected value of the vehicular velocity is higher than the set vehicular velocity.

Vehicular velocity controlling apparatus for automotive vehicle

When a vehicle-to-vehicle time gap is changed from a first level to a second level with a selector switch, a controller determines a desired time gap so that the desired time gap varies from the first level to the second level at such a gradual rate as to prevent an abrupt change in the vehicle speed. The controller further determines a desired vehicle spacing from the controlled vehicle to a preceding vehicle in accordance with the desired time gap and a sensed vehicle speed, and controls the driving force and braking force of the controlled vehicle so as to bring the actual vehicle spacing closer to the desired vehicle spacing.

Vehicle spacing control system

A preceding-vehicle follow-up control system is arranged to calculate a target vehicle speed based on a vehicle-to-vehicle distance and a controlled-vehicle speed, to calculate a target acceleration based on the target vehicle speed and to control driving force and braking force of the controlled vehicle based on the target acceleration. During this control period, the target acceleration is limited by an acceleration limit and a deceleration limit which are varied according the controlled-vehicle speed, respectively. This arrangement enables a follow-up vehicle speed control to be preferably executed without applying a strange feeling to a driver.

Vehicle follow-up control system

A preceding-vehicle follow-up control system is arranged to calculate a target vehicle speed employed for bringing a detected vehicle-to-vehicle distance closer to a target vehicle-to-distance, to control the controlled-vehicle speed to bring a controlled-vehicle speed closer to the target vehicle speed, to decelerate the controlled-vehicle speed to a set vehicle speed at a rate of a preset deceleration when the controlled-vehicle speed is greater than a control continuation decision value greater than an upper limit of the set vehicle speed and when the accelerating operation is terminated. This arrangement provides a smooth drive feeing to a driver even after an acceleration of the controlled vehicle is executed during a follow-up control and is terminated.

Preceding vehicle follow-up control system

In apparatus and method for automatically controlling a vehicular velocity of an automotive vehicle maintaining an inter-vehicle distance to a preceding vehicle, a release of a follow-up run control (a vehicular run control) to control the vehicular velocity to follow up the preceding vehicle is smoothly carried out when a follow-up run release condition such that when the vehicle is running with a braking control executed on a road surface having a low frictional coefficient such as a wet road or snowy road. For example, when the vehicle is running under a follow-up run control to follow up the preceding vehicle and the release condition of the follow-up run control is established, a controller determines if the vehicle is under the braking control execution. If the vehicle is under the braking control, the follow-up run control is continued. Upon the end of the braking control, a follow-up run release flag FF is set to &ldquo;1&rdquo; and the follow-up run control is released. The release of the follow-up run control may be carried out after a predetermined interval of time has passed from a time at which the braking control is ended or may be carried out after the braking pressure is gradually reduced during the braking control.

Apparatus and method for automatically controlling vehicular velocity of vehicle

In vehicular velocity controlling method and apparatus for an automotive vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to a preceding vehicle which is running ahead of the vehicle is detected, a target vehicular velocity is calculated to make a detected value of the inter-vehicle distance substantially equal to a target inter-vehicle distance, a vehicular velocity of the vehicle is detected, the vehicular velocity of the vehicle is adjustably controlled to make a detected value of the vehicular velocity substantially equal to the target vehicular velocity, a target braking pressure for a vehicular brake system is calculated in accordance with a target deceleration variable calculated on the basis of the target vehicular velocity and the detected value of the vehicular velocity; and a limitation on a rate of increase in the target braking pressure is placed when the target braking pressure is in excess of a predetermined braking pressure threshold value.

Vehicular velocity controlling apparatus and method to follow up a preceding vehicle running ahead of vehicle

In vehicular velocity controlling method and apparatus for an automotive vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to a preceding vehicle which is running ahead of the vehicle is detected, a relative velocity of the vehicle to the preceding vehicle is detected, a vehicular velocity of the vehicle is detected, a target value of the vehicular velocity to make a detected value of the inter-vehicle distance substantially equal to a target value of the inter-vehicle distance is calculated on the basis of the detected value of the inter-vehicle distance and a detected value of the vehicular velocity, the vehicular velocity is controlled to make the detected value of the vehicular velocity substantially equal to the target value of the vehicular velocity, a magnitude of a turning (for example, a lateral acceleration) of the vehicle is detected, a correction coefficient of the magnitude of the turning of the vehicle is calculated in accordance with the detected value of the vehicular velocity, and the target value of the vehicular velocity is corrected on the basis of the turning magnitude correction coefficient by which the detected value of the turning magnitude is corrected.

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Tokyo, Japan

Kenichi Egawa