Nissan Patents Granted

Patents granted to Nissan by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11598279
    Abstract: A control method for a self-driving vehicle provided with an engine as a driving source, comprising: determining whether or not coast stop is executed in accordance with required driving force of the vehicle, the coast stop being for automatically stopping the engine during the vehicle traveling at speed not more than predetermined vehicle speed; setting the required driving force so that an intervehicular distance between the host vehicle and a preceding vehicle becomes closer to a predetermined distance under presence of the preceding vehicle in front of the host vehicle; predicting a behavior of the preceding vehicle from a situation in front of the preceding vehicle under presence of the preceding vehicle; and prohibiting release of the coast stop for the engine during an automatic stop when future deceleration of the preceding vehicle is predicted in response to an expansion of the intervehicular distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Miyagawa
  • Patent number: 11597126
    Abstract: A method for producing carbon fiber reinforced resin molded article of the present invention includes press-molding a mixture-made body including carbon fiber and thermoplastic resin to produce the article that is composed of CFRP. The method further includes perforating pores into the mixture-made body, before press-molding mentioned above. As, in perforating, at least the pores are formed so as to penetrate through a hardened part of a surface of the mixture-made body, the article made of the CFRP that does not have poor appearance, such as whitening or marble pattern, can be produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takashi Oda, Katsumi Morohoshi, Kenichi Horai, Takashi Komiyama
  • Patent number: 11591028
    Abstract: A front end module assembly has a front end module structure of a vehicle, a heat exchanger support and a first heat exchanger unit. The heat exchanger support is supported to the vehicle front end module structure. The heat exchanger support has an opening. The first heat exchanger unit is accommodated in the opening of the heat exchanger support so that the transmission cooler is supported to the vehicle front end module structure via the heat exchanger support.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Alvaro Menez Sánchez
  • Patent number: 11596075
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a vehicle body, a vehicle seat, an inverter and an inverter cover. The vehicle body defines a vehicle interior. The vehicle seat is disposed on a floor of the vehicle interior. The inverter has a housing fixed to the floor of the vehicle interior at a location underneath the vehicle seat. The inverter cover is detachably attached to the inverter housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Roy Defauw, Ronald Morrow, Dale Butterworth
  • Patent number: 11590725
    Abstract: A method produces a high-pressure gas storage container that includes a liner and a reinforcing layer. The liner houses a high-pressure gas. The reinforcing layer is formed by winding a plurality of strip-shaped reinforcing members around an outer perimeter surface of the liner. The method includes irradiating plasma on at least a portion of the reinforcing fibers, and adjusting an irradiation intensity of the plasma such that an irradiation amount of the plasma with respect to the reinforcing fibers becomes constant in accordance with changes in a transport speed of the reinforcing fibers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinichiro Takemoto, Hiroshi Uchida, Kentaro Kono
  • Patent number: 11585426
    Abstract: A power transmission device includes: a gear; a case receiving the gear; and a baffle plate positioned between the gear and the case; the baffle plate including a guide portion arranged to guide an oil scooped up by the gear, into between the baffle plate and the case, and the guide portion being disposed above an oil level within the case, the guide portion being adjacent to an axial side surface of the gear, the guide portion being positioned in the baffle plate on an upstream side in a rotation direction of the gear, and the guide portion including a first bent portion which is positioned on a tip end side, and which is bent in a direction from the case toward the gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tahei Toyoshima, Shingo Yamamoto, Kazuyuki Handa, Masaki Shibuya, Tomohiro Nagata, Masakazu Tamura, Atsuyuki Ide, Yasuyuki Horie, Hideyuki Mamiya, Akira Kakimi
  • Patent number: 11589485
    Abstract: A shield case including a base portion made of a nonmetal material and having a mounting surface on which the electronic component is mounted, a cover portion made of a metal material and covering surroundings of the electronic component and a metal plate abutting with an outer surface of the base portion and having an end portion projecting outward from the base portion. A side-wall end portion of the cover member includes a first end abutting with the mounting surface of the base portion, and a second end extending in a thickness direction of the base portion and abutting with the end portion of the metal plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tsutomu Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 11584388
    Abstract: A driving control method is provided in which a processor configured to control driving of a vehicle acquires detection information around a vehicle on the basis of a detection condition that can be set for each point; extracts events which the vehicle encounters, on the basis of the detection information; creates a driving plan in which a driving action is defined for each of the events on the basis of the detection information acquired in the events; executes a driving control instruction for the vehicle in accordance with the driving plan; and determines the detection condition on the basis of the content of the driving action defined for each of the events.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignees: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Renault S.A.S.
    Inventor: Yoshiro Takamatsu
  • Patent number: 11585289
    Abstract: A sprayed coating for a sliding member of the present invention includes a ferrous alloy containing chromium (Cr). The sprayed coating for the sliding member has the content rate of the chromium of 8 mass % or more, includes a structure that comprises crystal grains contained in the sprayed coating and having an average grain size of 3 ?m or less, has a Vickers hardness of 300 Hv or more, and then is excellent at abrasion resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Higuchi, Akinobu Itou, Hayato Hirayama
  • Patent number: 11584353
    Abstract: A control method for a hybrid vehicle includes a generator and an electric motor, the generator being configured to charge a battery by use of power of an engine, the electric motor being configured to drive driving wheels by electric power of the battery. The control method having driving the engine at a first rotation speed when a charging amount of the battery decreases to a first charging threshold; changing the engine to driving at a second rotation speed larger than the first rotation speed when the engine is driven at the first rotation speed and the charging amount decreases to a second charging threshold smaller than the first charging threshold; and continuing driving of the engine until the charging amount becomes equal to or more than a charging end threshold larger than the first charging threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Tomohiro Ariyoshi, Satomi Eto, Kazuma Sengoku, Junji Miyachi, Tetsuya Shinohara
  • Patent number: 11577721
    Abstract: A method detects a risk of collision between a motor vehicle and a secondary object located in traffic lanes adjacent to the main traffic lane of the vehicle, in the event of a lane change by the vehicle, which involves detecting objects in a predetermined danger zone, and estimating a time-to-collision between the vehicle and a detected object. Detecting objects in a danger zone involves: calculating the actual distance between the vehicle and each object detected by the radar, the actual distance corresponding to the length of an arc between two points; determining a danger zone as a function of lines of the main traffic lane and a width of the main traffic line; and checking, for each object detected by the radar, whether its coordinates are inside the predetermined danger zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignees: Renault s.a.s., NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Alain Haddad, Geoffrey Bruno, Etienne Menanteau
  • Patent number: 11577746
    Abstract: A processor is configured to execute instructions stored in a memory to determine, in response to identifying vehicle operational scenarios of a scene, an action for controlling the AV, where the action is from a selected decision component that determined the action based on level of certainty associated with a state factor; generate an explanation as to why the action was selected, such that the explanation includes respective descriptors of the action, the selected decision component, and the state factor; and display the explanation in a graphical view that includes a first graphical indicator of a world object of the selected decision component, a second graphical indicator describing the state factor, and a third graphical indicator describing the action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignees: Nissan North America, Inc., The University of Massachusetts, United States of America as Represented by the Administrator of NASA, Renault S.A.S.
    Inventors: Kyle Hollins Wray, Omar Bentahar, Astha Vagadia, Laura Cesafsky, Arec Jamgochian, Stefan Witwicki, Najamuddin Mirza Baig, Julius S. Gyorfi, Shlomo Zilberstein, Sparsh Sharma
  • Patent number: 11580798
    Abstract: A vehicle lighting system includes a light assembly and an electronic controller. The light assembly includes one or more lights configured to illuminate an external area that is in a vicinity of the vehicle. The electronic controller is programmed to receive a battery status signal from a battery of the vehicle. The electronic controller is further programmed to control the light assembly to illuminate the one or more lights to display a status of the battery when the vehicle is in a predetermined condition. The predetermined condition is at least one of a condition in which a remote electronic device is within a vicinity of the vehicle, a condition in which the vehicle has transitioned from a locked state to an unlocked state, and a condition in which the vehicle is about to be transitioned from the locked state to the unlocked state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: William J Weber, Matthew Cole
  • Patent number: 11577713
    Abstract: A method for controlling a hybrid vehicle including a battery charged with electric power generated by an engine, including a motor as a drive source, and having multiple running modes that can be selected through a mode operation, the running modes including a normal mode configured to perform charging of the battery according to a running state, and a charge mode configured to perform electric power generation by the engine according to a mode operation, the method comprising: setting a range of charge amount that allows for charging of the battery based on the electric power generated; and setting an upper limit of the range of charge amount in the charge mode to be lower than an upper limit of the range of charge amount in the normal mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Hidekatsu Akiyama, Azusa Kobayashi, Keisuke Kawai
  • Patent number: 11572943
    Abstract: A housing member for a power transmission device connected to a driving source via a torque converter housed in the housing member includes a torque converter side mating face closer to the torque converter. The torque converter side mating face has a single-wall structure and a double-wall structure, wherein two adjacent fastening regions are connected circumferentially by a wall in the single-wall structure, and wherein two adjacent fastening regions are connected circumferentially by each of two walls in the double-wall structure. The torque converter side mating face includes: an upper half region in which the double-wall structure has a greater proportion in area than the single-wall structure; and a lower half region in which the double-wall structure has a less proportion in area than the single-wall structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuya Numata, Yuuki Sakai, Yusuke Ienaka, Kazuhiro Nishimura, Tatsuya Kumagai, Masakazu Tamura
  • Patent number: 11572096
    Abstract: A steering control method including: applying a steering reaction force obtained by adding a first steering reaction force according to a steering angle of a steering wheel and a second steering reaction force according to a steering angular acceleration of the steering wheel to the steering wheel; determining a possibility that an emergency steering operation of the steering wheel by a driver will be performed; and when it is determined that there is the possibility of the emergency steering operation being performed, making the second steering reaction force small compared with when it is not determined that there is the possibility of the emergency steering operation being performed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Taku Suzuki
  • Patent number: 11575300
    Abstract: An inter-phase insulating paper is inserted, using a guide jig, into slots formed in the inner circumferential surface of a stator core. The guide jig is disposed at a predetermined position on one end surface side of the stator core. The inter-phase insulating paper is inserted into the guide jig along the stator core central axis line. The guide jig deforms the inter-phase insulating paper to a predetermined shape when the inter-phase insulating paper passes through the inside of the guide jig. The guide jig inserts both side portions of the inter-phase insulating paper simultaneously into different two slots of the stator core along the stator core central axis line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Shioji, Kunitomo Ishiguro
  • Patent number: 11572020
    Abstract: A passenger compartment storage assembly includes a storage structure, a first storage box and a box retaining structure. The storage structure is fixed to a floor of a passenger compartment of a vehicle and having a storage compartment defined therein. The first storage box has a predetermined overall shape. The box retaining structure is configured and dimensioned to releasably retain the first storage box. The storage compartment is dimensioned and configured to receive the first storage box and the box retaining structure within the storage compartment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: David Smolik, Neil Francus
  • Patent number: 11572011
    Abstract: A vehicle front end assembly includes a front portion of a vehicle frame structure. A bumper fascia is attached to the front portion of the vehicle frame structure. Further, a headlamp structure is attached to both the front portion of the vehicle frame structure and the bumper fascia.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Omar Fernando Carrillo Fernandez, Md Hafizur Rahman, Diego Armando Salinas Ceballos
  • Patent number: 11565603
    Abstract: A sub-battery (33) having an internal resistance lower than that of a main battery (32) is connected to a power supply circuit (31) connected to the main battery (32). In this case, the sub-battery (33) is connected to the power supply circuit (31) after the voltage ECKT of the power supply circuit (31) is adjusted to the voltage ESub of the sub-battery (33) by controlling the power generation voltage EALT of an alternator (24) connected to the power supply circuit (31).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akifumi Koishi, Masahiko Tahara, Atsushi Tezuka, Tomoyuki Koike, Munemitsu Watanabe, Terumasa Tsuchiya
  • Patent number: 11565701
    Abstract: A driving assist method minimizes an incidence of lane changing within a circulatory roadway. In this driving assist method, a recognition assessment processor assesses the travel of a host vehicle, calculates a travel route over which the host vehicle is to travel, and executes a driving assist control based on the travel route. The recognition assessment processor further assesses whether the host vehicle has arrived at a roundabout having a circulatory roadway to which three or more radial roadways are connected. When an assessment has been made that the host vehicle has arrived at the roundabout, a position of a host vehicle entrance and a position of a host vehicle exit are specified. Furthermore, an entrance position is set based on a positional relationship between the host vehicle entrance and the host vehicle exit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignees: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Renault S.A.S.
    Inventors: Yoshiro Takamatsu, Susumu Fujita
  • Patent number: 11560738
    Abstract: A door lock assembly for a vehicle door includes a door panel, a stiffener bracket, a lock assembly, and a door pad. The door panel includes an inner door panel and an outer door panel. A stiffener bracket is connected to the inner door panel. A lock assembly is connected to the inner door panel. A door pad is connected to the stiffener bracket. The door pad is configured to interfere with the lock assembly to prevent the lock assembly from unlocking the vehicle door upon an object impacting the outer door panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Edgar Montes de Oca Contreras, Yosuke Nakai
  • Patent number: 11560715
    Abstract: An FRP panel material includes reinforcing fibers oriented in predetermined orientation directions near the surface. In the surface of the panel material, a plurality of either or both of protrusions and depressions having shapes of congruent regular triangular pyramids are provided. The bases of the regular triangular pyramids are arranged on a virtual reference plane along the surface with no gap or overlap so that each vertex of an equilateral triangle constituting each base is shared by six of the bases as vertices thereof. Each of the orientation directions of the reinforcing fibers is parallel to any lateral edge of each regular triangular pyramid as seen in the thickness direction of the panel material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shohei Kurai
  • Patent number: 11560085
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a light assembly and an electric control module. The light assembly is assembled to an underbody of the vehicle. The light assembly has a light bar and an image projector. The light bar has a plurality of first light sources. The image projector has a housing that is fitted to a longitudinal end of the light bar. The housing has a circuit board and an emitting portion that houses a second light source. The circuit board is electrically connected to the second light source to regulate electric current to the light source. The electric control module is electrically connected to the light bar and the circuit board to provide electrical power to both the light bar and the image projector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: William Weber, Dale Butterworth
  • Patent number: 11557956
    Abstract: A method for controlling a power conversion device for converting power from a power supply by controlling an input to a resonance circuit comprising a resonance coil and a resonance capacitor, with a switching element, the method comprising simultaneously changing a switching frequency and a time ratio of the switching element so that the switching element satisfies a condition of zero-voltage switching when an output power of the power conversion device is changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshihiro Kai, Kousuke Saito, Giorgio Lovison, Keisuke Inoue, Shigeharu Yamagami
  • Patent number: 11557674
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a substrate (10); a semiconductor layer (20) disposed on a main surface of this substrate (10); and a first main electrode (30) and a second main electrode (40), which are disposed on the substrate (10) separately from each other with the semiconductor layer (20) sandwiched therebetween and are individually end portions of a current path of a main current flowing in an on-state. The semiconductor layer (20) includes: a first conductivity-type drift region (21) through which a main current flows; a second conductivity-type column region (22) that is disposed inside the drift region (21) and extends in parallel to a current path; and an electric field relaxation region (23) that is disposed in at least a part between the drift region (21) and the column region (22) and is either a low-concentration region in which an impurity concentration is lower than in the same conductivity-type adjacent region or a non-doped region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignees: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD., RENAULT s.a.s.
    Inventors: Toshiharu Marui, Tetsuya Hayashi, Keiichiro Numakura, Wei Ni, Ryota Tanaka, Keisuke Takemoto
  • Patent number: 11557647
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes: a drift region of a first conductive type including a contact section and extension sections extending along the main surface of a substrate; column regions of a second conductive type which alternate with the extension sections in a perpendicular direction to the extension direction of the extension sections and each includes an end connecting to the contact section; a well region of a second conductive type which connects to the other end of each column region and tips of the extension sections; and electric field relaxing electrodes which are provided above at least some of residual pn junctions with an insulating film interposed therebetween. Herein, the residual pn junctions are pn junctions other than voltage holding pn junctions formed in interfaces between the extension sections and the column regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiharu Marui, Tetsuya Hayashi, Keiichiro Numakura, Wei Ni, Ryota Tanaka, Keisuke Takemoto
  • Patent number: 11554664
    Abstract: A drive force distribution method and a drive force distribution control device is provided for a front and rear wheel drive vehicle provided with a drive force distribution device that controls a distribution of a drive force generated by a drive force source to main drive wheels and auxiliary drive wheels. A present distribution of the drive force to an auxiliary drive wheel side is increased by a first predetermined amount upon determining the rotational speed difference between the rotational speeds of the main drive wheels and the auxiliary drive wheels has been determined to not be smaller than a predetermined rotational speed difference. The present distribution of the drive force to the auxiliary drive wheel side is reduced by a second predetermined amount when the rotational speed difference has been determined to be smaller than the predetermined rotational speed difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Daisuke Hiroi, Hiroshi Nishida
  • Patent number: 11557802
    Abstract: A battery pack has a plurality of battery stacks, a case, and a thermal insulation cover. The case accommodates the plurality of battery stacks. The thermal insulation cover is arranged so as to expose an outer surface of at least one battery stack from among the plurality of battery stacks inside the case, and to cover an outer surface of a battery stack that is adjacent to the exposed battery stack. A difference obtained by subtracting an amount of removed heat from an amount of heat generated during heat generation is greater in the battery stack that is exposed from the thermal insulation cover than in the battery stack that is covered by the thermal insulation cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yosuke Hori, Hiroki Saigusa
  • Patent number: 11554773
    Abstract: The method includes, based on a torque variation of a drive shaft after an engagement timing of an engine clutch 21 and before a release timing of a motor clutch 19 when switching a power transmission path from a first power transmission path 24 to a second power transmission path 25, increasing a slope of a torque increase of a power generation motor 4 in an absolute value with respect to a slope of a torque decrease of a traveling motor 2 in at least a part of a period from a timing T12 to a timing T14, and increasing a slope of a torque decrease of the power generation motor 4 in the absolute value with respect to a slope of a torque increase of the traveling motor 2 in at least a part of a period from the timing T14 to a timing T16.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takayuki Kagaya, Masato Koga
  • Patent number: 11551485
    Abstract: An information output device is provided, which includes a request acquisition unit that acquires a maintenance request for a vehicle; a user information acquisition unit that acquires information regarding each of a plurality of users; a message generator that generates a message associated with the maintenance request acquired by the request acquisition unit; and a message output unit that outputs the message generated by the message generator. The user information acquisition unit acquires maintenance records of the vehicle that are records of maintenance executed for the vehicle by the plurality of users. The message generator selects a presentation destination user to be presented with the message and generates the message based on a maintenance record of the presentation destination user among the maintenance records of the vehicle. The maintenance record of the presentation destination user is a record of the maintenance executed by the presentation destination user.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kusayanagi, Takura Yanagi
  • Patent number: 11548508
    Abstract: A driving assist method is performed by a controller that performs a lane change assist based on a generated target route. A determination is made as to whether or not the lane change has been executed. Next, it determines whether or not the lane change is in a direction toward a preset location due to a driver's operation when the lane change has been executed. Then, a determination is made as to whether or not a position index value from the host vehicle to the preset location is equal to or less than a first threshold value when the lane change is in a direction toward the preset location due to the driver's operation. The lane change assist in a direction away from the preset location is restricted when the position index value is equal to or less than the first threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yohei Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 11548507
    Abstract: A controller includes a control unit which is configured to execute a coast stop control. The coast stop control is configured to perform automatic stopping of the drive source while the vehicle is traveling, when a permitting condition is satisfied, the permitting condition including a condition that a speed ratio R of the variator is lower than a first threshold R1 while the lock-up clutch is in an engaged phase. The control unit is configured to prohibit execution of the coast stop control in a case in which an input-output rotation speed difference of the torque converter is equal to or more than a predetermined value when the lock-up clutch is in the engaged phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jonghwan Lee, Tomohiro Utagawa, Chadol Kim
  • Patent number: 11541892
    Abstract: A vehicle control method as executed includes acquiring surrounding information of the subject vehicle by a sensor includes, specifying an entry position located on a second lane adjacent to a first lane where the subject vehicle travels in accordance with the surrounding information of the subject vehicle, specifying a front vehicle located front the entry position and a rear vehicle located rear the entry position, determining the travel state of each of the front vehicle and the rear vehicle, determining whether there is a space for the subject vehicle to enter at the entry position, predicting whether the front vehicle starts to travel when the front vehicle and the rear vehicle are determined to be stopped and no space is determined at the entry position, and starting to move the subject vehicle to the entry position when the front vehicle is predicted to start traveling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Machiko Hiramatsu, Motonobu Aoki, Takayuki Kondoh, Tsuyoshi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 11541891
    Abstract: A vehicle control method executed by a processor capable of making a subject vehicle change a lane includes: acquiring surrounding information of the subject vehicle by a sensor provided in the subject vehicle; determining whether a distractive factor for a driver of another vehicle is present when the subject vehicle enters the front of the other vehicle traveling on the second lane for changing lanes from a first lane to a second lane adjacent to the first lane; setting a lane change time required for the subject vehicle to change lanes longer than when determining none of the distractive factor to be present when determining distractive the factor to be present; and controlling a traveling position of the subject vehicle on the first lane within the lane change time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignees: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Renault S.A.S.
    Inventors: Motonobu Aoki, Machiko Hiramatsu, Takayuki Kondoh, Tsuyoshi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 11545682
    Abstract: A fuel cell system including: a fuel cell group; a refrigerant distribution passage; a pre-distribution refrigerant flow rate acquiring unit configured to acquire a first outlet temperature flow rate; a first outlet temperature detecting unit that is configured to detect a first outlet temperature; a voltage acquiring unit configured to acquire at least a first voltage that is a voltage of the first fuel cell; a current acquiring unit configured to acquire at least a first current; and a controller that calculates a first individual supply flow rate of the first fuel cell on the basis of the first voltage, the first current, and the first outlet temperature, and calculates a second individual supply flow rate of at least one second fuel cell other than the first fuel cell on the basis of the first individual supply flow rate and the pre-distribution refrigerant flow rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masashi Sato
  • Patent number: 11541819
    Abstract: A vehicle center console assembly includes a vehicle body structure and a center console assembly. The vehicle body structure includes a passenger compartment floor with a front seat assembly installed to the floor and a pair of second row seats installed to the floor rearward of the front seat assembly. The center console assembly is releasably attached to the floor between the pair of second row seats. The center console has a manually operated latch mechanism operable between a locked orientation in which the center console is fixedly attached to the floor in an installed orientation and a release orientation in which the center console is released from attachment to the floor and is movable away from the installed orientation and out of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Jessica Booth, Christian Dubrock, Katie Andersen
  • Patent number: 11541732
    Abstract: A vehicle door assembly includes a door structure, an interior latch handle a panel and an interference member. The interior latch handle is installed to an inboard area of an inner door panel of the door structure. The interior latch handle has a housing and a release lever supported to the housing for pivotal movement. The panel is fixed to the inner door panel. The interference member is fixed to the panel and extends toward the release lever. With the door structure in a non-deformed state the interference member is spaced apart from the release lever. With the door structure in a deformed state in response to an impact event proximate a central area of the door structure, the panel can deformed and moves the interference member toward one end of the release lever preventing movement of the release lever to an door opening orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2023
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: David Kovie, Mahiuddin Ahmed, Christopher Herrala
  • Patent number: 11536365
    Abstract: A malfunction part sensing device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle which is arranged to attain a plurality of shift stages by selectively engaging a plurality of frictional engagement elements, the malfunction part sensing device includes: a shift stage monitoring section configured to monitor the shift stages before and after the shift of the automatic transmission; a malfunction sensing section configured to sense the malfunction mode from a behavior of the vehicle which is generated in accordance with the malfunction; and a malfunction part limiting section configured to limit the one of the frictional engagement elements in which the malfunction is generated, based on the malfunction mode and a shift manner by a combination of the shift stages before and after the shift.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yutaka Tooyama, Fumitaka Nagashima, Takateru Kawaguchi, Hideharu Yamamoto, Masahiro Hamano
  • Patent number: 11535305
    Abstract: A vehicle body structure defines a vehicle longitudinal direction and a vehicle lateral direction perpendicular to the vehicle longitudinal direction and includes a rear sill structure. The rear sill assembly at least partially defines a rear opening of the vehicle body structure. The rear sill assembly extends in the vehicle lateral direction. The rear sill assembly includes a first body panel and a second body panel. The first body panel extends from a first side of the rear opening to a second side of the rear opening. The second body panel overlays a portion of the first body panel. The second body panel has a main section that includes a plurality of recessed rib portions that extend in directions that define an acute angle relative to the vehicle longitudinal direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: NISSAN NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventor: Nicholas Trifonoff
  • Patent number: 11535278
    Abstract: A control method for an autonomous vehicle is used in an autonomous vehicle including an engine, and a controller that controls an operation of the engine. In the control method, required driving force is set in accordance with an intervehicular distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle when there is the preceding vehicle in front of the own vehicle. Also, when there is the preceding vehicle, a behavior of the preceding vehicle is predicted from a situation in front of the preceding vehicle. Further, when there is the preceding vehicle, sailing stop is executed based on the required driving force and the predicted behavior of the preceding vehicle. The sailing stop causes the engine to stop automatically while the own vehicle is traveling at vehicle speed equal to or higher than given vehicle speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tomohiro Miyagawa
  • Patent number: 11535942
    Abstract: When forming valve seat coats at opening portions (16a1 to 16a8) of intake ports (16) provided at a cylinder block mounting surface (12a) of a semimanufactured cylinder head (3), the nozzle of a cold spray apparatus moves along a nozzle movement path for air intake (Inp1) that is set between any two of the plurality of opening portions (16a1 to 16a8), while continuing to spray a raw material powder. When forming valve seat coats at opening portions (17a1 to 17a8) of exhaust ports (17), the nozzle moves along a nozzle movement path for air exhaust (Enp1) that is set between any two of the plurality of opening portions (17a1 to 17a8), while continuing to spray the raw material powder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirohisa Shibayama, Hidenobu Matsuyama, Eiji Shiotani, Yoshitsugu Noshi, Koukichi Kamada, Naoki Okamoto, Masahito Fujikawa, Junichi Hamasaki, Masatoshi Inoguchi
  • Patent number: 11535230
    Abstract: A fuel economy display control method for a hybrid vehicle includes driving electric power supplied to a travel motor from a battery is generated by an electric power generation device that generates electric power by consuming fuel. The fuel economy display control method includes an electric power economy computation step in which instantaneous electric power economy according to an output of the travel motor is computed, a fuel economy computation step in which instantaneous fuel economy corresponding to the above instantaneous electric power economy is computed in accordance with an operating state set for the electric power generation device, and a display step in which the instantaneous fuel economy is displayed on a display device arranged inside a vehicle cabin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Kazuhiko Okino, Ryuzou Noguchi, Junji Miyachi, Tetsuya Shinohara
  • Patent number: 11535229
    Abstract: A controller includes a control unit configured to perform stepwise shift that upshifts a CVT in a stepped manner to accelerate a vehicle. The control unit performs a downshift control configured to downshift the continuously variable transmission in a case in which an accelerator pedal is continuously stepped on from before prohibition of the stepwise shift to after prohibition of the stepwise shift.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignees: JATCO LTD, NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jonghwan Lee, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Nakano, Koutarou Tagami, Yusuke Ushikubo
  • Patent number: 11535249
    Abstract: A method for determining a vehicle action includes: by a controller that acquires travel situation information of a road on which a host vehicle travels and determines a driving action from the travel situation information, setting at least one control determining point on a first route on which the host vehicle travels, the control determining point determining whether to run or stop the host vehicle; and determining whether to run or stop the host vehicle at the control determining point before the host vehicle reaches the point. The controller determines whether or not the host vehicle enters a road on which another vehicle or a pedestrian travels or walks with priority over the host vehicle on the first route; and where it is determined that the host vehicle enters the road on which the other vehicle or pedestrian travels or walks with priority, sets the control determining points more densely.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takato Kurokawa
  • Patent number: 11535141
    Abstract: A universal adapter is disclosed for a cup holder included in the console of a vehicle. The universal adapter includes: a bezel; at least one receptacle extending from the bezel; and an electronic temperature control unit supported by the bezel. The bezel is configured in correspondence with a recess defined by the console such that movement of the universal adapter is inhibited via contact between an outer wall of the bezel and an inner wall of the console defining the recess. The at least one receptacle is receivable by the cup holder and is configured to receive a beverage container. The electronic temperature control unit is in electrical communication with the at least one receptacle such that energy is communicated to the at least one receptacle upon activation of the electronic temperature control unit to thereby vary a temperature of the universal adapter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Nissan North America, Inc.
    Inventor: Manuel Alejandro Vite Cadena
  • Patent number: 11535237
    Abstract: An electric device control method controls an electric device that includes an internal combustion engine, a first electric motor that receives a driving force of the internal combustion engine to carry out power generation, and a second electric motor connected to a drive shaft. The method sets a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine to increase as a vehicle speed of the vehicle increases while the power generation is carried out by the first electric motor. Where the driving force required by the second electric motor becomes zero or negative while the first electric motor is carrying out power generation by the driving force of the internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine is stopped where the vehicle speed is greater than or equal to a first threshold value, and the power generation is continued where the vehicle speed is less than the first threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2022
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hidekatsu Akiyama, Tomoyuki Hanyu
  • Patent number: D977157
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seungchul Boo
  • Patent number: D977158
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seungchul Boo
  • Patent number: D977159
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Seungchul Boo