Denso Corporation

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Toshio Sugimoto

Koji Ishiguro

Kenichi Nishimura

Seiji Morino

Yasutoshi Horii

Yoshitaka Sato

Junichi Hasegawa

Kazuhisa Okumura

Yoshihiro Yoshitani

Takamichi Nakase

Ayako Goto

Satoru Kawamoto

Toshio Nariki

An apparatus controls a swivel angle of on-vehicle headlights, the swivel angle of the lights being changeable in a lateral direction of the vehicle. A target swivel angle of the headlights is determined based on, for example, load map data of the road ahead the vehicle, and a control start point is determined based on the current position information and the road map data. The swivel angle is controlled to the target swivel angle in response to a state where the current position of the vehicle has reached the control start point. Running road shape-related information and a curvature direction of the road ahead are acquired. A control of the swivel angle toward the target swivel angle is prohibited when a direction of the target swivel angle determined is inconsistent with the curvature direction of the road, even in a case where the vehicle has reached the control start point.

Apparatus for controlling swivel angles of on-vehicle headlights

The headlight swivel control apparatus includes a first function of obtaining road map data, current position information of a vehicle, and width-direction-position information for determining a position of the vehicle on a road on which the vehicle is driving in a width direction of the road, a second function of determining a control start point on the road on the basis of the road map data and the current position information, a third function of determining, on the basis of the road map data and the current position information, a width-direction distance representing a distance between a centerline of the road and the vehicle, a fourth function of calculating a target swivel angle depending on road curvature data included in the road map data, and a fifth function configured to start, when the vehicle reaches the control start point, to perform a swivel control.

Headlight swivel control apparatus

A control unit of a vehicular headlamp apparatus can selectively perform steering angle control and navigation-cooperative control. The steering angle control operates a drive mechanism based on a steering angle and a speed of a vehicle to control a headlamp's swivel angle. The navigation-cooperative control operates the drive mechanism using a navigation unit to control the swivel angle. When a current position of the vehicle reaches an entry control start point, the control unit starts navigation-cooperative control at the entry into a curved road. The control unit finds a target swivel angle based on a curvature radius and curved road direction information about the curved road. While the vehicle moves from the entry control start point to a curved road start point, the control unit operates the drive mechanism to gradually change the headlamp's swivel angle to the target swivel angle.

Vehicular headlamp apparatus

An apparatus for automatically adjusting a direction of a headlight of a vehicle includes a steered angle sensor detecting a steered angle of a steering wheel of a vehicle, a vehicle speed sensor detecting a speed of the vehicle, a control unit performing a swivel control by which the direction of the light axis of the headlight is adjusted to a target direction depending on the steered angle and the vehicle speed, and a variance calculating device calculating a variance of the steered angle detected by the steered angle sensor. The control unit halts the swivel control unit when the variance calculated by the variance calculating device exceeds a predetermined threshold.

Apparatus for automatically adjusting direction of light axis of vehicle headlight

In an automatic beam-axis adjustment system, a beam-axis of a headlight is gradually swivel to a position determined based on a steering angle of a steering wheel. The beam-axis returns to the initial position and a swivel control is inhibited when a vehicle is at a stop or slowly moving in an intersection, regardless of the steering angle. The swivel control is restarted after the vehicle starts running straight ahead. In other words, the swivel control is not restarted until the vehicle stats running straight ahead even when the speed of the vehicle exceeds a predetermined value. Therefore, the movement of the headlights does not disturb a driver.

Automatic beam-axis adjustment system for vehicular headlights

The apparatus for automatically adjusting a direction of a light axis of a vehicle headlight of the invention has a configuration in which the swivel control unit determines that the vehicle is making a left or right turn and halts the swivel control on the light axis of a vehicle headlight, if the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold speed and at least one of the conditions that the turn indication signal is in the on state, and that the steering angle is outside a predetermined angular range is satisfied. The swivel control unit resumes the swivel control when the turn indication signal is changed into the off state.

A steering angle detected by a steering angle sensor is filtered to be used for changing a responsiveness of controlling an axis orientation of headlights of a vehicle. Based on the filtered steering angle, the axis orientations of the headlights are thereby controlled for being laterally swiveled. This leads to relieving a driver from being bothered by a feeling of strangeness irrespective of a state where the vehicle is rectilinearly traveling or turning around a curve, resulting in providing preferable swivel control meeting driver's sensibility.

Vehicular headlight axis control device

A high-energy ignition system for an internal combustion engine in which both magnetic and electrical energy stored in an energy storage coil and in a capacitor are supplied to the primary winding of an ignition coil at a predetermined timing. When a first or second switching device is turned off, the capacitor is charged with the energy stored in advance in the energy storage coil, and upon subsequent turning on of the first switching device, energy is stored in the energy storage coil from a DC power supply. At substantially the same time as the turning off of the first switching device at an ignition timing, the second switching device is turned on to supply the primary winding with the energy stored in the energy storage coil and the capacitor. Alternatively, the capacitor is charged with the energy stored in advance in the energy storage coil through the primary winding of the ignition coil and a charging diode at the time of turning off of the second switching device. The first and second switching devices operate similarly to supply the primary winding through a discharging diode with the energy stored in the energy storage coil and the capacitor.

Growing community of inventors

Okazaki, Japan

Toshio Sugimoto