Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Alps Electric Co., Ltd.

Tsuneo Takahashi

Katsutoshi Tagami

Shinichiro Yasui

Masao Sugimura

Akira Ichikawa

Yukinobu Nakamura

Takahiro Gunji

Tomoyuki Nishio

Masayuki Ikegami

Fumitaka Takahashi

Toru Yagi

Masayuki Nishiguchi

Yoshiyuki Matsumoto

Akira Iihoshi

Katsusuke Komuro

Nobuhiko Suzuki

Akira Iiboshi

Toshio Sasaki

Tadashi Mukai

Teruo Mimori

Hirofumi Otsuka

Kenji Takahashi

Kenshirou Hashimoto

Itaru Hatano

Mikio Kanda

Shigeru Hirosawa

Yasuzi Kitasei

Akira Hidaka

Toshiyuki Nozaka

An automatic travel guiding device is a combination of a navigation control unit and automatic travel control unit that judges the position of a vehicle on a travelling road on the basis of sensed circumstances of the road extending ahead of the vehicle and correcting a current position of the vehicle to a corresponding position on the road map. The device includes means for correcting road circumstances on the basis of road data read from map-information storage medium according to the current position of the vehicle to correlatively increase both the current position accuracy and the travel control accuracy according to travel guiding instruction for following a target course preset on a road map by sensing actual road conditions and to realize automatic travel control at an increased accuracy.

Automatic travel guiding device for vehicle

A gas flow type angular velocity sensor comprising two semiconductor substrates with all components formed thereon by use of semiconductor technology and IC technology, which are coupled with each other to form therein a pair of heat wires, a gas path and a nozzle hole for injecting a gas flow toward the paired heat wires in the gas path. Two heat wires of the pair change their resistance-temperature characteristics in accordance with a deflection of the gas flow due to the action of angular velocity and a difference between two changed values is picked up and amplified by a resistance bridge circuit and an amplifier circuit formed on the semiconductor substrates to produce an output signal proportional to the angular velocity to be measured. A miniature pump formed on semiconductor substrates and drivable by a piezoelectric element provides a stabilized gas flow in the sensor. As thus constructed the sensor is compact, accurate and suitable for mass-production and free from disadvantages of conventional sensors.

Gas flow type angular velocity sensor

Disclosed is a gas rate sensor system which provides an output signal representing an angular velocity of the gas rate sensor when the gas flows more on one of its thermal sensing elements than on the other due to the effect of the angular velocity on the gas flow. The gas rate sensor system can carry out an arithmetic operation for correction of gas rate sensor output signal by selectively using a preset value representing the change of the gas rate sensor output signal with temperature in the gas rate sensor.

Gas rate sensor system

There is disclosed an apparatus for displaying a current location of a running body in which a constantly changing location of the running body on a two-dimensional coordinates is successively computed, while detecting a running distance of the running body and a running direction of the same, and the current location of said running body is displayed renewally, in accordance with the data thus computed, on a display screen having a map previously displayed thereon. The apparatus comprises means for extracting a linear running portion from current location of the running body obtained by storing data of the current location, means for extracting a linear road portion from adjoining roads on the map which corresponds to the linear running portion extracted from the current location means for effecting matching between the extracted linear running portion and linear road portion, depending on their positional relationship and means for putting the current location, onto the road to which the matching has been effected.

Apparatus for displaying current location

Disclosed is a gas rate sensor system which provides an output signal representing an angular velocity of the gas rate sensor when the gas flows more on one of its thermal sensing elements than on the other due to the effect of the angular velocity on the gas flow. The gas rate sensor system can carry out an arithmetic operation for correction of gas rate sensor output signal by renewing and using an effect value to meet the instantaneous temperature change in the gas rate sensor.

Gas rate sensor

A torque sensor comprising a magnetic member whose magnetostrictive characteristics vary with the amount of torque applied thereto and coils for detecting magnetostrictive variation disposed opposite the magnetic member, and a method of manufacturing the same. The torque sensor is constituted as an independent unit separate from the shaft whose torque is to be measured. The independent unit consists of a cylindrical member having the magnetic member attached thereto and an enclosure member which is provided with the coils and is mounted so as to cover the cylindrical member and be rotatable about the same axis as the cylindrical member. The method of manufacturing the torque member comprises the steps of first copper plating and then solder plating a torque transmission member and a magnetic member destined to be attached to the outer circumference of the torque transmission member, wrapping the magnetic member on the torque transmission member, and solder-bonding the torque transmission member and the magnetic member by heating them while uniform pressure is being applied to the entirety of the wrapped region.

Method of manufacturing a torque sensor

A torque sensor comprising a magnetic member whose magnetostrictive characteristics vary with the amount of torque applied thereto and coils for detecting magnetostrictive variation disposed opposite the magnetic member, and a method of manufacturing the same. The torque sensor is constituted as an independent unit separate from the shaft whose torque is to be measured. The independent unit consists of a cylindrical member having the magnetic member attached thereto and an enclosure member which is provided with the coils and is mounted so as to cover the cylindrical member and be rotatable about the same axis as the cylindrical member. The method of manufacturing the torque member comprises the steps of first copper plating and then solder plating a torque transmission member and a magnetic member destined to be attached to the outer circumference of the torque transmission member, and solder-bonding the torque transmission member and the magnetic member by heating them while uniform pressure is being applied to the entirety of the wrapped region.

Torque sensor

A fixed range indicating system is provided for the vehicle travel path indicating apparatus. The vehicle travel path indicating apparatus includes a locational data source having a pulse generator and producing vehicle locational data, memories for successively storing the vehicle locational data, a data reader for reading the travel path data from the memories, and a display unit for displaying a travel path of the vehicle on a display screen based on the travel path data read out by the data reader. The fixed range indicating system in such apparatus comprises a pulse counter for counting the pulses from the pulse generator, a data extractor for extracting a fraction of the locational data each time the travel distance is increased by a predetermined distance and for delivering the extracted data fraction as stored locational data to the memories to form stored travel path data, and a data restoring circuit for preparing restored travel path data based on the stored travel path data read out by the data reader from the memories and the locational data issued from the locational data source, the display means displaying the travel path of the vehicle on the display screen based on the restored travel path data.

Fixed range indicating system for use in a vehicle travel path

An optical torque detecting apparatus for a rotating shaft of which torsional torque is to be detected comprising a pair of rotary plates disposed to face each other connected to the shaft with a predetermined interval between the positions where each is connected to the shaft, each plate having a radial optical grid thereon so that a Moire fringe pattern may be created in accordance with a change of relative turning between the plates caused by torsion of the shaft and a device detecting a shift of the Moire fringe pattern between radially inner and outer sections of the optical grids.

Optical torque detector

In a course guidance system for use in an automobile, for example, which includes an electronic display, a map, a direction sensor, a speed sensor and the like for deriving the present location of the car and plotting it on the display, the invention provides a course guidance system for a car which causes a linear and/or rotational movement of the driving locus displayed on the display when the map is changed or reset so that the present position can be easily located on the map.

Course guidance system

A travel route indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle, wherein a current travel route of the automotive vehicle in terms of two-dimensional coordinates may be obtained arithmetically by means of signal processing on the basis of the outputs from a travel distance detecting unit adapted to detect a current travel distance of the vehicle, and from a bearing detecting unit adapted to detect a resultant azimuth taken by the vehicle after travelling to a current point of travel, so that the thus obtained locational data on the location of the vehicle varying from time to time may be stored in sequence, and so that the travel path of the vehicle may be continuously visually indicated, as the vehicle travels, on the screen of a display from the thus-obtained travel data leading to the resulting current location of the vehicle. The apparatus comprises, in operative combination, a power supply control circuit adapted to detect the opening status of an ignition key switch and then output a power conducting command for a predetermined period of time and a power supply circuit adapted to self-hold the power conducting status to the signal processing unit upon the receipt of the command when the ignition key switch is opened, while holding the thus-stored data in the signal processing unit for a predetermined period of time even after the ignition key switch is opened.

Apparatus for visually indicating the travel route of an automotive

An improved fixed range or distance indicating system for use in a visual travel route indicating apparatus of a vehicle. The fixed range indicating system minimizes memory capacity by discretely storing locational data obtained from discrete arithmetical calculation made at a suitable predetermined interval to present relatively short vector segments optimized in accordance with the given scale of indication on the display and at the same time provides a relatively high accuracy in approximating a current locational indication of the vehicle. A plurality of basic scales of indication varying with doubled denominators in accordance with a given variety of basic scales of indication are presented, the locational data are picked-up discretely at a rate corresponding to the plurality of basic scales of indication, and the thus picked-up locational data is stored into prescribed memory tables within a given limit of indication by way of an endless store mode. The current indicated path of travel on the display is erased at the interval of a fixed range travelled by the vehicle corresponding to the basic scales of indication, and refreshed points of indication are determined for a new location of the vehicle in accordance with a given scale of indication from the current points of indication for the current location at the time of erasing on the basis of the locational data read out from the memory table.

An apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle for visually indicating the travel route thereof. A current travel route of the vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates for a unit travel distance of the vehicle on the basis of outputs from a travel distance detecting unit and a gas rate sensor. The thus-obtained locational data on the current location of the vehicle, varying from time to time, is stored in sequence, and the current travel path of the vehicle is continuously visually indicated. A timer unit is provided for starting the supply of power to the gas rate sensor a sufficient amount of time prior to starting the vehicle to permit the sensor to reach a stable working temperature in advance.

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle wherein a current location of the vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates by a signal processing unit on the basis of the outputs from a travel distance detecting unit and a bearing detecting unit, and the current location of the vehicle is visually indicated on the screen of a display unit from the thus-obtained data in connection with the current location of the vehicle. The apparatus comprises a first bearing detecting unit comprising a rate type gyroscope as a main unit, and a second detecting unit comprising an earth magnetism sensor. The signal processing unit is adapted to monitor the outputs from the first and second bearing detecting means in comparison with each other to determine whether or not the first bearing detecting unit is under the influence of any disturbances, whereby the output of the first bearing detecting unit can be corrected so as to be free from any substantial disturbances during operation.

Apparatus for visually indicating the current location of an automotive

A current location indicating apparatus for use in an automotive vehicle wherein a current location of the automotive vehicle is arithmetically obtained in terms of two-dimensional coordinates by a signal processing unit on the basis of the outputs from a travel distance detecting unit and a bearing detecting unit, and the current location of the vehicle is visually indicated on the screen of a display from the thus-obtained data in connection with the current location thereof. The apparatus comprises, in operative combination, a first bearing detecting unit employing an earth magnetism sensor as a primary component, a second auxiliary detecting unit employing a rate type gyroscope or the like, and a signal processing unit adapted to monitor the output from the first bearing detecting unit in comparison with the operating state of the second auxiliary bearing detecting unit to determine whether or not the earth magnetism sensor of the first bearing detecting unit is under the influence of any external disturbances for a short period so that the output of the first bearing detecting means can be corrected accordingly.

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Saitama, Japan

Tsuneo Takahashi