The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 11, 2001
Filed:
Jun. 30, 2000
Kouichi Akabori, Kanagawa, JP;
Yoshinori Yamamura, Yokohama, JP;
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Yokohama, JP;
Abstract
A preceding vehicle following control apparatus includes a speed sensor for sensing a vehicle speed of a controlled vehicle, a spacing sensor for sensing a spacing or distance from the controlled vehicle to a preceding vehicle, and a following controller. In addition to a following mode for controlling the driving/braking force of the controlled vehicle in accordance with the spacing and the vehicle speed, the following controller has a wait mode, an auto-stop mode and a release mode. The following controller initially sets the control mode to the wait mode, and changes the control mode from the wait mode to one of the auto-stop mode and the following mode depending on whether the controlled vehicle is in a stop state or not. The controller changes the control mode between the auto-stop mode and the following mode in accordance with the spacing and the vehicle speed, changes the control mode to the release mode in response to a driver's operation such as a transmission range changing operation and a braking operation, and returns the control mode from the release mode to the wait mode in response to a driver's accelerating or braking operation.