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:
Mar. 16, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 17, 2002
Levasseur Tellis, Southfield, MI (US);
Gerald H. Engelman, Plymouth, MI (US);
John Vincent Bond, III, Inkster, MI (US);
John Patrick Joyce, Grosse Pointe Park, MI (US);
Stephen Samuel, Detriot, MI (US);
Jeffrey Dan Rupp, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Gyu Myeong Joh, Bloomfield Hills, MI (US);
M. Nabeel Tarabishy, Walled Lake, MI (US);
Nigel John Clarke, Halesowen, GB;
Timothy Zwicky, Dearborn, MI (US);
Ford Global Technologies, LLC, Dearborn, MI (US);
Abstract
An adaptive cruise control (ACC) system ( ) for a host vehicle ( ) is provided. The ACC system ( ) includes a forward-looking sensor ( ) generating a range signal corresponding to a distance between the host vehicle ( ) and a target vehicle. The forward-looking sensor ( ) also generates a range rate signal corresponding to a rate that the distance between the host vehicle ( ) and the target vehicle is changing. A controller ( ) is electrically coupled to the forward-looking sensor ( ). The controller ( ) maintains a preset headway distance between the host vehicle ( ) and the target vehicle, when the host vehicle velocity is less than about 40 KPH, by adjusting the host vehicle velocity in response to the range signal and the range rate signal. A method for performing the same is also provided.