Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Indication or control of braking – acceleration – or deceleration
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-30
2001-12-11
Nguyen, Tan (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
Indication or control of braking, acceleration, or deceleration
C701S093000, C701S097000, C340S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330508
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to preceding vehicle following control technique for controlling a vehicle spacing or distance from a controlled vehicle to a preceding vehicle.
A Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. H7(1995)-47862 shows a conventional vehicle following control system.
When set by a driver, a preceding vehicle following control system of earlier technology controls a vehicle spacing or distance to a preceding vehicle at a desirable value in the presence of a preceding vehicle, and controls the vehicle speed at a preset vehicle speed in the absence of a preceding vehicle. The following control is canceled in response to a driver's depression on a brake pedal, a driver's accelerating operation on an accelerator pedal, or a driver's shift operation. A main objective of the following control is to reduce the burden on a driver in high speed operations. There is a further demand for an automatic system for low speed operations and for controlling stop and restart of a vehicle automatically.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In preceding vehicle following control systems of earlier technology, the following control is canceled by a driver's braking operation. Therefore, an operation to start the following control in the stop state is somewhat cumbersome since it requires a first operation of releasing the brake and a second operation for setting the following control. Moreover, a driver might feel uneasy if the vehicle would start moving toward a preceding vehicle on a downhill slope by cancellation of a braking force for automatic stoppage due to driver's cancellation of the following control.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide apparatus and/or method capable of readily setting a following control in a stop state.
Another object is to provide apparatus and/or method capable of canceling a following control smoothly without giving a driver unnatural feeling.
Still another object is to provide apparatus and/or method facilitating adjustment of a preset vehicle speed.
According to the present invention, a preceding vehicle following control apparatus for a controlled vehicle comprises a following controller:
which collects input information on vehicle operating conditions of the controlled vehicle, inclusive of a sensed actual vehicle speed of the controlled vehicle and a sensed actual vehicle-to-vehicle spacing or distance from the controlled vehicle to a preceding vehicle,
which controls a longitudinal (driving/braking) force of the controlled vehicle in accordance with the actual vehicle speed and the actual vehicle spacing in a following mode,
which sets a control mode initially to a wait mode,
which changes the control mode from the wait mode to one of the following mode and an auto-stop mode (which is a mode to hold the controlled vehicle in a stop state by producing a braking force of the controlled vehicle), in accordance with the input information,
which allows the control mode to change among the auto-stop mode, the following mode and a release mode, in accordance with the input information, and
which returns the control mode to the wait mode from the release mode.
A preceding vehicle following control apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention, comprises the following means: means for collecting input information including a sensed actual vehicle speed and a sensed actual vehicle spacing; means for controlling a driving force or a braking force of the controlled vehicle in accordance with the actual vehicle speed and the actual vehicle spacing; means for changing a control mode from a wait mode to an auto-stop mode in response to a wait-to-stop condition signal; means for changing the control mode from the wait mode to the following mode in response to a wait-to-follow condition signal; means for changing the control mode from the auto-stop mode or the following mode, to a release mode in response to a release condition signal; and means for returning the control mode to the wait mode from the release mode in response to a release-to-wait condition signal.
A preceding vehicle following control process according to one aspect of the present invention, comprises: performing a following control in one of a following mode and an auto-stop mode; changing a control mode from a wait mode to the auto-stop mode in response to a wait-to-stop condition signal; changing the control mode from the wait mode to the following mode in response to a wait-to-follow condition signal; changing the control mode from one of the auto-stop mode and the following mode, to a release mode in response to a release condition signal; and returning the control mode to the wait mode from the release mode in response to a release-to-wait condition signal.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5166881 (1992-11-01), Akasu
patent: 5805103 (1998-09-01), Doi et al.
patent: 5959572 (1999-09-01), Higashimata et al.
patent: 6223117 (2001-04-01), Labuhn et al.
patent: 7-047862 (1995-02-01), None
Akabori Kouichi
Yamamura Yoshinori
Foley & Lardner
Nguyen Tan
Nissan Motor Co,. Ltd.
Tran Dalena
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