Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – Indication or control of braking – acceleration – or deceleration
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-29
2001-12-18
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
C701S096000, C340S903000, C340S435000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332108
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to vehicular run controlling apparatus and method for an automotive vehicle which detect a vehicular running environment surrounding the vehicle, for example, detect a preceding vehicle which is running ahead of the vehicle or a white line on a road surface on which the vehicle is running to perform a vehicular run control.
2. Description of the related art
A Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. Heisei 7-47862 published on Feb. 21, 1995 exemplifies a previously proposed vehicular run controlling apparatus.
In the previously proposed vehicular run controlling apparatus, when a vehicular driver pushes a set switch during a vehicular run, even with an accelerator pedal released, the vehicle falls in a, so-called, following control state such that the vehicle is running, maintaining an appropriate inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to such a preceding vehicle as described above if the preceding is present, and the vehicle is cruising maintaining a previously set vehicular velocity if no preceding vehicle is present.
In addition, this following control state is released when the vehicular driver manipulates a brake pedal or the accelerator pedal or changes a present gear range position to another range of a vehicular automatic transmission.
Furthermore, when the vehicular velocity of the vehicle falls out of a predetermined controllable range of the vehicular velocity within which the vehicular velocity can be controlled during the following control described above, the following control is automatically released without intervention of the vehicular driver's manipulation for the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
However, in the above-described previously proposed vehicular run controlling apparatus, for example, a wholly different function of releasing the control is provided in a brake which is, in nature, a deceleration function. Hence, although the following control is released in response to a vehicular driver's light depression of the brake pedal due to a narrowing of the inter-vehicle distance from the vehicle to the preceding vehicle during the following control of the vehicle, the vehicular driver does not often recognize (or often has no consciousness) that the following control has been released.
In addition, although the following control is automatically released in a case where the vehicular velocity is remarkably decreased and exceeds a vehicular deceleration controllable vehicular velocity range due to a traffic congestion, the vehicular driver does not often recognize that this control is released automatically since no vehicular driver's manipulation for the vehicle is involved.
As described above, such a state transition (hereinafter, also referred to as a mode transition) from one control state (mode) to another control state (mode) that the vehicular driver does not often recognize sometimes makes a mismatch to the vehicular driver's sense of vehicular driving.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide vehicular run controlling apparatus and method for an automotive vehicle which can positively inform the vehicular driver of such a state transition from one control state to another control state that would be deemed not to be recognized by the vehicular driver when the above-described state transition occurs.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular run controlling apparatus for an automotive vehicle, comprising: a vehicular velocity detector to detect a vehicular velocity of the vehicle; a vehicular running environment detector to detect a running environment surrounding the vehicle; an informing device; and a vehicular run controller to perform a vehicular run control on the basis of the vehicular velocity detected by the vehicular velocity detector and the running environment detected by the vehicular running environment detector, the vehicular run controller having at least two control modes of a control wait mode and a vehicular run mode and including: a vehicular run control setter to set whether the vehicular run control should be started; and a mode transition instructor to instruct a mode transition from one control mode to another control mode in the vehicular run controller according to a vehicular driver's will, the vehicular run controller falling in a state of the vehicular run control when a start of the vehicular run control by means of the vehicular run controller is set through the vehicular run control setter, falling in a halt state of the vehicular run control when a release of the vehicular run control is set through the vehicular run control setter, carrying out the mode transition from one control mode to the other control mode when the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode is instructed through the mode transition instructor and when a predetermined condition is established during the vehicular run control irrespective of the vehicular driver's will, and informing the vehicular driver through the informing device of an occurrence of the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode when the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode occurs.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular run controlling method for an automotive vehicle comprising: detecting a vehicular velocity of the vehicle; detecting a running environment surrounding the vehicle; providing an informing device; and providing a vehicular run controller to perform a vehicular run control on the basis of the detected vehicular velocity and the detected running environment, the vehicular run controller having at least two control modes of a control wait mode and a vehicular run mode and including: a vehicular run control setter to set whether the vehicular run control should be started; and a mode transition instructor to instruct a mode transition from one control mode to another control mode in the vehicular run controller according to a vehicular driver's will, the vehicular run controller falling in a state of the vehicular run control when a start of the vehicular run control by means of the vehicular run controller is set through the vehicular run control setter, falling in a halt state of the vehicular run control when a release of the vehicular run control is set through the vehicular run control setter, carrying out the mode transition from one control mode to the other control mode when the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode is instructed through the mode transition instructor and when a predetermined condition is established during the vehicular run control irrespective of the vehicular driver's will, and informing the vehicular driver through the informing device of an occurrence of the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode when the mode transition from the one control mode to the other control mode occurs.
This summary of the invention does not necessarily describe all necessary features so that the invention may also be a sub-combination of these described features.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5959572 (1999-09-01), Higashimata et al.
patent: 6185499 (2001-02-01), Kinoshita et al.
patent: 7-47862 (1995-02-01), None
patent: 10-151964 (1998-06-01), None
patent: 10-198893 (1998-07-01), None
Foley & Lardner
Nguyen Tan
Nissan Motor Co,. Ltd.
Tran Dalena
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