Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kunio Nanno

Makoto Sato

Hayato Kikuchi

Yoshikazu Tsuchiya

Toshiaki Arai

Yasuhiko Fujita

Atsushi Mori

Akinori Sugimoto

Shinji Takayanagi

Hirotake Takahashi

Kazuhiro Iwai

Hiroshi Kasai

Yoshitaka Kato

Osamu Yasunaga

Ryozo Yamamoto

Osamu Takeuchi

A brake pedal operated manually by the driver, a driving arm connected to a brake cable, and a ratchet wheel driven by a motor are rotatably supported on a pedal shaft. A ratchet member, mounted on the driving arm, is meshed with the ratchet wheel. When the brake pedal is depressed in a direction A, the brake pedal and the driving arm are coupled to each other through a limiting device and the driving arm, with a locking recess 35.sub.1 urged by a locking pin, is turned in the direction A to operate a brake. When the driving arm is otherwise turned in the direction A, only the arm is turned in the direction A, with the brake pedal separated by the limiting device being left at the brake operating position and prevents the operating foot from being caught between the pedal and vehicle body while such driving arm is otherwise turned and such brake is applied.

Parking brake system

A ratchet wheel, connected to a motor through a worm gear and a worm wheel, is supported on a pedal shaft which pivotally supports a brake pedal. The ratchet wheel engages a ratchet member mounted on the brake pedal. When the brake pedal is depressed, the ratchet member rotates on the pedal shaft so that the brake pedal is turned with the ratchet wheel remaining stationary. When the motor is driven, the ratchet member is brought into engagement, so that the brake pedal is turned along with the ratchet wheel. When the ratchet member is operated by a release arm, the brake pedal is released from the ratchet wheel and returned to an original position.

A collision judging system for a vehicle comprises a subject vehicle position estimating means for estimating the position of the subject vehicle after a lapse of a preset time from a certain braking start time, on the assumption that the braking is starting at such braking start time, an obstacle position estimating means for estimating the position of an objective obstacle after the lapse of the preset time, and the judging means for judging whether or not the position of the subject vehicle estimated by the subject vehicle position estimating means and the position of the obstacle estimated by the obstacle position estimating means coincide with each other. Thus, the judgment of collision can be performed with the avoidance of the collision by the driver's operation being taken into consideration, leading to an improved feeling of driving operation.

Vehicle collision judging system for controlling brake actuation

In estimating the relative speed between a vehicle and an objective obstacle, a plurality of objective obstacle data are labeled, and an objective obstacle data preestimated on the basis of the past objective data is compared with an objective obstacle newly provided, thereby judging whether or not there is the same obstacle for every label. With regard to the objective obstacle data decided as being the same, the amount of variation in distance is determined for every label by comparison of the last data and the now data and divided by a sampling time to provide a relative speed. Thus, noise data can be eliminated to reliably provide a relative speed between a subject vehicle and an existent objective obstacle.

Method for estimating relative speed between vehicle and objective

In a vehicle equipped with a distance measuring unit capable of measuring a distance between the subject vehicle and an objective obstacle, the objective obstacle is detected along a widthwise direction of the vehicle by the distance measuring unit. Detection data detected by the distance measuring unit are developed on X and Y coordinates in which the widthwise direction of the subject vehicle is represented by an X axis; the longitudinal direction of the subject vehicle is represented by a Y axis, and the position of the subject vehicle is defined as an origin. Each of obstacle data is labeled in such a manner that the same labels are affixed to obstacle data which are in proximity to one another on the coordinates. The amount and direction of movement are calculated for every label on the basis of the last data and the current data, and a relative speed for every label relative to the subject vehicle is calculated by dividing the amount of movement by a sampling time. The position of the objective obstacle after a lapse of a predetermined time is estimated on the basis of a relative speed vector determined from the relative speed and the direction of movement. Thus, the accuracy of estimating of the position of the objective obstacle is improved.

Method for estimating position of objective obstacle for vehicle

Apparatus for supporting a swing frame on a body of a vehicle in which rear wheels are rotatably mounted on the swing frame carried on the rear portion of the vehicle body so that the swing frame is swingable up and down with respect to the body, the rear wheels being driven by a shaft drive transmission mechanism accommodated within the swing frame. The swing frame comprises left and right rear arms disposed in a laterally spaced relation and extending longitudinally of the vehicle body and axle cases connecting the rear arms together and carrying the rear wheels, the left and right rear arms having left and right short pivot shafts, respectively, which are secured to the insides of the front portions of the left and right rear arms, these pivot shafts supporting the swing frame rotatably on the rear portion of the vehicle body for vertical swinging motion around the pivot shafts.

Apparatus for supporting a swing frame in a vehicle

A rear suspension system for motor vehicles. Both leg ends of a gate-shaped swing arm which at its free end supports the central part of a rear axle are pivotably secured to a vehicle body frame, a tension rod is provided between the lower end of a downwardly extending swing link mounted near the free end of the swing arm and a portion of the vehicle body frame near and below the above pivoted point of the swing arm, and one end of a damper disposed between both legs of the swing arm in a position above the tension rod is mounted near and above the pivoted point of the swing arm, while the other end thereof is attached to the swing link. The rear suspension system can be mounted in a relatively narrow space, and even with devices of relatively large capacities mounted thereabout, it can exhibit its damping characteristics satisfactorily.

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Wako, Japan

Kunio Nanno