Sumitomo Electric Industries, Limited

Sumitomo (sei) Brake Systems, Inc.

Advics Co., Ltd.

Kyowa Kabushiki Kaisha

Masato Yoshino

Keita Nakano

Makoto Nishikimi

Koichi Hashida

Koji Takata

Hideaki Higashimura

Yoshio Katayama

Yoichi Miyawaki

Fumio Kageyama

Shunsuke Kawasaki

Shinji Umehira

Hirohisa Tanaka

Hiroaki Niino

Motoshi Suzuki

Saiji Nozaki

Toshihiro Tanaka

Kazuo Oyama

Sukeo Tamura

Yoshikazu Ishikawa

Takahito Okubo

A brake system and a brake device for use with automobiles is provided in which braking energy stored in an auxiliary pressure source can be effectively used for braking, even if an electrical system fails. The vehicle brake system includes a proportional pressure control valve for generating braking liquid pressure by adjusting the braking energy stored in the auxiliary pressure source. A passage transmits the liquid pressure generated by a brake pedal stroke, a switching valve opens the passage in the powered condition and closes the passage in the off-powered condition, and an auxiliary control portion activates the proportional pressure control valve. Even in the off-powered condition, the high pressure accumulated in the auxiliary pressure source can be used to adjust the required braking liquid pressure at the proportional pressure control valve.

Brake system and brake device for use with automobiles

A brake torque control device obtains inertia torque Tine based upon an equation of motion (Tine=Tw&#x2212;Ft&#xb7;Rt) about the rotation of a tire based upon a wheel torque Tw according to a brake torque exerted on the tire, road friction force Ft and a radius Rt of the tire. When the inertia torque Tine exceeds a predetermined reference value, road friction force Ft at this time is set as estimated maximum road friction force Fmax. The instructed brake torque is calculated under the condition that the value that is obtained by adding the predetermined value corresponding to the inertia torque Tine to the torque Fmax&#xb7;Rt based upon this estimated maximum road friction force Fmax is set as an upper limit value of the instructed brake torque. This allows to clearly set, as one value, the target value of the instructed brake torque upon an ABS control, thereby being capable of more accurately executing the pressure-increasing control and pressure-reducing control of the brake fluid pressure.

Maximum road friction force estimating device and brake torque control device

Braking system

A mixed air amount alarm device is provided which determines the amount of air present in a hydraulic circuit between a hydraulic pressure source and an instrument driven by hydraulic pressure, and produces an alarm if the air amount is excessive, a situation is prevented in which an alarm is produced or not produced according to change of the air amount (volume) resulting from temperature change, and it is possible to stop an alarm if potential danger disappears and a safe state is recovered due to spontaneous release of air out of the hydraulic circuit. If the air amount is determined excessive, this is stored in a nonvolatile memory, and even if air amount excessiveness determination is not made at the next activation of the hydraulic device, the content of the nonvolatile memory is checked and an alarm is produced if air amount excessiveness determination has not been made before. It is preferable to add a function of erasing the air amount excessiveness determination history when specific conditions are met, for example, if the fluid temperature of hydraulic fluid or its inferred value is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, and in this state, the air amount is determined to be at a permissible level.

Mixed air amount alarm device

This invention is to provide a brake system and a brake device for use of automobiles, in which a braking energy stored in an auxiliary pressure source can be exploited effectively for a braking purpose, even if an electrical system fails. In particular, the vehicle brake system includes a proportional pressure control valve for generating braking liquid pressure by adjusting the braking energy stored in the auxiliary pressure source . Also the vehicle brake system comprises a passage transmitting the liquid pressure generated by a stroke of a brake pedal , a switching valve opening the passage in the powered condition and closing the same in the off-powered condition, and an auxiliary control portion activating the proportional pressure control valve . Even in the off-powered condition, the high pressure accumulated in the auxiliary pressure source can be used to adjust the required braking liquid pressure at the proportional pressure control valve . The switching valve cane be replaces with a relief valve and a return valve for activating the proportional pressure control valve so as to effectively utilize the high pressure of the auxiliary pressure source even in the on-powered condition.

Vehicle braking system and vehicle braking device

A hydraulic pressure control device is provided in which a proportional pressure control valve is actuated by operating the brake pedal to adjust the hydraulic pressure supplied from a pressure source to the wheel brakes to a value corresponding to the pedal operating amount. Also, a brake device for a vehicle using it is provided. The proportional pressure control valve is integrated with a hydraulic pressure generator to transmit the input from the brake pedal to a spool valve in the control valve through a first piston, first spring, second piston and second spring of the hydraulic pressure generator. If the pressure source or the wheel brakes in a first line fail, after the second piston has made a full stroke, brake fluid in a fluid chamber is pressurized, so that the hydraulic pressure generated is supplied to wheel brakes in a second line through a copy valve which is open.

Hydraulic pressure control device and vehicle brake device using the same

A coordinated regenerative brake system controls total brake torque to brake a vehicle in accordance with brake pedal operation and achieve deceleration intended by the driver's operation of the brakes when the accelerator is not depressed. In a vehicle speed range below specific speed V , engine brake equivalent torque Ta is set to decrease gradually to zero in accordance with vehicle speed V. When brake operation starts at a vehicle speed exceeding V , the desired total brake torque Tq working on the vehicle is the sum of brake torque Tb corresponding to brake operation, and engine brake equivalent torque Ta, until vehicle speed reaches specific speed V . When vehicle speed is V or less, brake torque is controlled using as desired total brake torque Tq the sum of brake torque Tb corresponding to brake operation, and first engine brake equivalent torque Ta , if brake operation amount Sb is greater than or equal to a first brake operation amount Sb

Control method for a coordinated regenerative brake system

A brake system control method is provided which makes it possible to carry out ABS control depending on actual road surface conditions in carrying out ABS control while automatic braking is being activated. The control mode of an ABS controller carried out while automatic braking is being activated set at select-low control for both front and rear wheels so that braking forces will act such that slips right and left wheels produced due to actual road surface conditions will be the same. Thus, it is possible to prevent yawing and prevent the steering wheel from getting out of control and to ensure maximum braking force according to the actual road surface conditions.

Method for controlling brake system

Automotive hydraulic pressure brake system

A net includes a bag body, an endless suspension rope, and a top closing rope. The bag body prevents scour of an underwater structure, and is formed into a mesh by a knitted fabric. The endless suspension rope is inserted through the mesh adjacent to an opening portion of the bag body. The top closing rope closes the opening of the bag body, and is inserted through a mesh adjacent to the mesh through which the suspension rope is inserted.

Material and construction method of prevention of scour for the underwater structure

A control apparatus is provided for a fluid pressure circuit in a motor vehicle. The control apparatus may include a first fluid pressure detector that detects a fluid pressure in an accumulator, and that switches between two states when the detected fluid pressure reaches a first fluid pressure setting P1. A second fluid pressure detector may also be provided that switches between two states when the detected fluid pressure reaches a second fluid pressure setting P2 that is lower than the first fluid pressure setting P1. The control apparatus may also include a timer that counts the period during which the fluid pressure detected by the second fluid pressure detector is less than the second fluid pressure setting P2, and a trouble evaluation system that evaluates whether there is a problem in the first or second fluid pressure detector by determining whether the first and second fluid pressure detectors are indicating different states, and whether the period detected by the timer is also equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

Control apparatus for detecting malfunctioning of pressure sensors in an

A fluid pressure control device comprising: an inlet valve which is provided in a supply path for connecting a fluid pressure apparatus and a fluid pressure source and is opened so as to increase fluid pressure of the fluid pressure apparatus; and an outlet valve which is provided in a discharge path for discharging working fluid from the fluid pressure apparatus and is opened so as to reduce the fluid pressure of the fluid pressure apparatus; wherein the inlet valve is formed by a solenoid selector valve effecting only a fully open operation and a fully closed operation; wherein the outlet valve is formed by a flow control valve in which one-to-one correspondence exists between quantity of drive current applied thereto and flow rate of the working fluid flowing therethrough.

Fluid pressure control device

A flow control valve having a housing having a first port and a second port and a spool mounted in the housing. A first fluid chamber and a second fluid chamber which impart a fluid pressure to both ends of the spool communicate with each other through a fluid passage formed with an orifice. As the spool moves, thrust to the spool produced by a difference in pressure at both ends of a spool balances with a biasing force produced by the biasing mechanism. The flow control valve is provided with an annular seal made of an elastic material together with a seal member. When the edge of the land portion on the outer periphery of the spool is brought into contact with the annular seal, the first port is completely shut off from the second fluid chamber. Thus, leakage will become zero when the valve portion is closed.

Flow control valve

An apparatus for calculating an estimated vehicle speed. The estimated vehicle speed is based upon the wheel speed of a wheel associated with a brake of the vehicle that has been applied, in order to obtain an estimated vehicle speed that closely approximates the true vehicle speed. The present invention is especially applicable to vehicles having an antilock control system, in that the antilock brake control can be more accurately controlled to be operated when the wheel speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined amount less than the true vehicle speed.

Estimated vehicle speed calculation apparatus

An electronic brake pedal adjustment apparatus has an apparatus for setting braking characteristics by which the driver can enter the relationship between the desired brake fluid pressure with respect to a given brake pedal effort, a detector for detecting an actual brake pedal pressure; and a computer for calculating a desired brake fluid pressure based on the set braking characteristics for the detected brake pedal effort. A brake fluid pressure control device is also provided so as to make the actual brake fluid pressure commensurate with the calculated brake fluid pressure. The relationship between the desired brake fluid pressure and the given brake pedal effort is shown on a display.

Growing community of inventors

Itami, Japan

Masato Yoshino