Kabushiki Kaisha Toyota Jidoshokki

Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Satoshi Yamada

Kazunori Shimazaki

Tomio Kimura

Hisashi Kuriya

Kousuke Teramura

Hiroshi Kuno

Koji Hika

Goro Asahi

Isao Suzuki

Kouhei Hori

Masahiko Ando

Masashi Ushino

Kanji Hattori

A battery unit holding device that holds a battery unit in place includes a fixing part, a fixed part, and a positioning part provided between the vehicle body and the battery unit for positioning the battery unit on the vehicle body. The fixed part has a support shaft extending in a first direction that corresponds to one of a longitudinal direction and a width direction of the vehicle body and supports the load acting downwardly on the battery unit. The fixing part is movable along the support shaft while holding the support shaft at a middle position thereof. When a first impact greater than a first preset force is applied to the vehicle body in the first direction, the positioning part permits the fixing part to move in the first direction along the support shaft from the middle position of the support shaft.

Battery unit holding device for vehicle

A steering assist apparatus that assists a driver when backing a vehicle in an S-shaped path or parallel parking. The apparatus displays guidance marking on a monitor screen and the driver refers to the guidance marking, which permits the driver to easily back the vehicle to a desired position. The apparatus includes a camera, a monitor, an angle sensor, obstacle sensors, an image processing unit, a controller and a monitor controller. The image processing unit computes the predicted path of the vehicle at the current wheel angle. The monitor shows an image captured by the camera. The image processing unit generates data representing a guidance marking based on the predicted path and superimposes the marking on the monitor screen. The location of the marking on the screen is determined based on the current wheel angle. The marking represents part of the predicted path. Specifically, the marking matches the width of the vehicle. In the monitor screen, a marking is separated from the rear bumper of the vehicle by a distance corresponding to the wheelbase of the vehicle.

Apparatus for assisting steering of vehicle when backing

When a vehicle advances in parallel with a parking frame to reach an initial stop position, measurement of a distance to a parked vehicle is continuously performed by means of an ultrasonic sensor and a moving distance of the vehicle is simultaneously calculated using a signal from a wheel speed sensor. When actuating an in-line mode switch under a state where the vehicle stops in the initial stop position, a turning angle is calculated so as to enable appropriate in-line parking to the parking frame from an actual initial stop position, based on a deviation of the vehicle from a reference position for the initial stop measured by the ultrasonic sensor. Information on a driving operation that is necessary for back parking is provided to a driver via a speaker based on this turning angle and output from a yaw rate sensor.

Parking assisting device

A parking assisting device provides parking assisting information consisting of a first intermittent sound of a tone (A) indicating that a vehicle is approaching a target stop position, a continuous sound of a tone (B) indicating that a position of a vehicle coincides with a target stop position and a second intermittent sound of a tone (C) indicating that a vehicle has gone beyond a target stop position. An intermittent period of the first intermittent sound changes to be shorter as the vehicle approaches a target stop position closer and an intermittent period of the second intermittent sound changes to be longer as the vehicle goes beyond the target stop position farther.

A parking assisting device is provided with: a yaw rate sensor for detecting a yaw angle of a vehicle; a controller having a navigation function control unit and a parking assisting function control unit; a function selecting switch for determining switching to a parking assisting mode from a navigation mode; a monitor for providing navigation information, as well as for setting the reference position of the yaw angle and selecting a parking mode; and a speaker for providing parking assisting information to a driver in accordance with a vehicle position specified on the basis of the yaw angle.

A controller is provided with a CPU, an EEPROM for storing data that is unique to a vehicle and which is rewritable, and a control ROM for performing parking assistance upon parking in lateral and parking in parallel, based on a minimum turning radius Rc of the data that is unique to the vehicle, which is stored in the EEPROM, and the CPU operates based on the control program stored in the control ROM. The controller calculates a yaw angle of the vehicle from an angular speed of the vehicle inputted from a yaw rate sensor and information about an operation method and operation timing in each step during the drive for parking in lateral and parking in parallel is outputted to a speaker through calculating a turning angle of the vehicle, thereby appropriately assisting a driver with parking.

A steering assist apparatus includes a camera for picking up the rear side of a vehicle, a monitor disposed in a driver's compartment of the vehicle, a steering angle sensor for detecting a steering angle of a steering wheel, and a display controlling unit for displaying on the monitor an image through said camera when the vehicle reverses and for superimposing and displaying on said monitor a guide display for assisting the drive of the vehicle when the vehicle is to be parked. The guide display includes a steering start guide line fixedly displayed in a predetermined position of an image field of the monitor for guiding a steering start position for parking, and a steering amount guide mark moved and displayed along the steering start guide line on the image field of the monitor in correspondence with a steering angle of the steering wheel detected by the steering angle sensor. The driver performs the steering operation of the vehicle while recognizing the position for the opposite turning of the steering wheel and the steering amount and the steering start position for parking on the basis of the image on the rear side of the vehicle and the steering amount guide mark and the steering start guide line.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi-ken, Japan

Satoshi Yamada