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. 27, 2011
Filed:
Aug. 06, 2007
Yuji Okuda, Susono, JP;
Seiji Kawakami, Susono, JP;
Katsuhiko Iwazaki, Nishikamo-gun, JP;
Hiroaki Kataoka, Susono, JP;
Chumsamutr Rattapon, Susono, JP;
Yuji Okuda, Susono, JP;
Seiji Kawakami, Susono, JP;
Katsuhiko Iwazaki, Nishikamo-gun, JP;
Hiroaki Kataoka, Susono, JP;
Chumsamutr Rattapon, Susono, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
The present invention aims at providing a steering assistance apparatus which can accurately detect a curve exit of a running path and perform steering assistance control with an excellent running path following capability. The steering assistance apparatus of the present invention is a steering assistance apparatusfor providing a steering mechanism with a steering torque such that a vehicle runs along a running path according to an image capturing the running path in front of the vehicle, which estimates a curve direction of the running path by processing the image, estimates a steering direction of a driver of the vehicle according to a steering operation of the driver, and determines that the vehicle is running through a curve exit according to a fact that the estimated curve direction and steering direction do not coincide with each other. This makes it possible to determine the curve exit of the running path accurately and perform appropriate steering assistance control.