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. 02, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 13, 2001
Shinsuke Yamamoto, Anjo, JP;
Akira Nagae, Susono, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
A control apparatus and method for a vehicle that has at least one detector that detects a running state of the vehicle, and a controller that receives a result of detection by the detector and controls a predetermined vehicle-installed apparatus. The controller determines whether the detector has failed; restricts a control process by which the controller controls the vehicle running state if it is determined that the detector has failed; detects a collision state of the vehicle; and restricts the determination that the detector has failed, for a predetermined time following detection of the collision state of the vehicle, if the collision state is detected. If the collision state of the vehicle is detected, the controller changes the determining process by which the detector is determined to have failed in such a direction as to restrict the determination that the detector has failed; for example, the controller changes the threshold for failure determination, or prohibits determination that the detector has failed. Therefore, even if an excessively great detection result is temporarily output from the detector due to the effect of an impact caused by a collision or the like, it is possible to avoid an event that it is immediately determined that the detector has failed.