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:
Feb. 04, 2003
Filed:
Feb. 23, 2001
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A cruise control system for an automotive vehicle controls the speed of the vehicle by estimating conditions for not only when the vehicle passes through an intersection but also when a preceding vehicle passes through the intersection, in order to permit travel on an ordinary road with a given following distance. The cruise control system includes a traffic signal characteristics obtaining device for obtaining characteristics of an upcoming traffic signal, a road information obtaining device for obtaining intersection information including a distance to an intersection, an intersection arrival time calculating device for calculating arrival timing of the vehicle and the preceding vehicle on the basis of a distance to the intersection, the vehicle speed and the preceding vehicle traveling conditions, a traffic signal condition estimating device for estimating the condition of the traffic signal on the basis of the traffic signal characteristics and the intersection arrival timing, and a control content modifying device for modifying the content of the cruise control of the vehicle depending upon the estimated traffic signal condition.