Patents by Inventor Mamoru Sawada

Mamoru Sawada has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7280895
    Abstract: In a state where a driver sees a region near a vehicle, a finally-requested output-shaft torque is set so that a response is hastened in a deceleration and slowed in an acceleration. Thereby, a vehicle takes a forward descending position in which the front end of the vehicle is descending, which gives a driver a sense of deceleration or a sense of turning. Further, this position causes a front wheel load acting on the ground to increase and a rear wheel load acting on the ground to decrease, in comparison to a normal position. This thereby makes it easier for the vehicle to decelerate when practically decelerating or turning, and further enables turning to slightly over-steer. A resultant vehicular kinetic characteristic becomes comparable with a sense that is expected by the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2007
    Assignee: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Mabuchi, Motoaki Kataoka, Hiromichi Tanaka, Mamoru Sawada
  • Patent number: 7241249
    Abstract: In a driving condition control system, a sensing unit is configured to sense a first physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the first rotatable axle assembly and a second physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the second rotatable axle assembly. A correcting unit is configured to correct the torque according to the sensed first and second physical quantities of the rotations of the first and second rotational axle assemblies. This allows the torque to be precisely obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2007
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Patent number: 7169083
    Abstract: In a driving condition control system, a sensing unit senses a first physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the first rotatable axle assembly and a second physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the second rotatable axle assembly. A determining unit compares the first and second physical quantities of the rotations of the first and second rotational axle assemblies and determines whether a driving condition of the vehicle is unstable according to the compared result. As a result, the unstable condition of the vehicle can be rapidly detected without detecting a yaw moment of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2007
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Patent number: 7113863
    Abstract: A vehicle-supervising electronic control unit (VS-ECU) measures driving torque, which is outputted from an engine to a drive shaft through an automatic transmission. The VS-ECU measures road surface transmission torque based on rotation speeds of driving wheels of a vehicle, vehicle body speed and driving wheel torque, which are measured in advance. The VS-ECU compares the driving torque with the road surface transmission torque. If it is determined that the driving torque is greater than the road surface transmission torque, the VS-ECU estimates an opening degree of an air bypass valve for controlling the driving torque so that a difference between the driving torque and the road surface transmission torque is decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2006
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Keiichi Kawakami
  • Patent number: 7079929
    Abstract: In a power steering apparatus employing an EPS (electrical power steering) motor coupled to a steering mechanism, when vibration of the steering mechanism is produced by twisting of tire rubber due to changes in steering angle, resultant pulsation of the drive current of the EPS motor are suppressed by adding to the drive current a current that is of equal frequency and opposite phase to the pulsation. Vibration of the EPS motor shaft, and resultant vibration of the steering wheel and vehicle body, are thereby effectively suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2006
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Patent number: 7059687
    Abstract: A braking force distribution control device is provided in which wheel speeds of respective wheels of a vehicle are detected. On the basis of the detected wheel speeds, slopes of coefficients of friction ? between the wheels and a road surface are estimated as road surface ? slope values of the respective wheels. On the basis of the estimated road surface ? slope values of the respective wheels, braking forces of the respective wheels are controlled such that the braking forces among the respective wheels are adjusted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2006
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Yasui, Tsuyoshi Yoshida, Yutaka Ohnuma, Akira Tanaka, Masaru Sugai, Eiichi Ono, Mamoru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20060061464
    Abstract: A system and method are disclosed for providing a display relating to at least one aspect of vehicle body action. The system includes at least one sensor, to sense information of a vehicle. Further, an estimating part is included to determine at least one aspect of vehicle body action based upon the sensed information. Finally, a display is located within the vehicle, to provide a visual display relating to at least one aspect of the determined vehicle body action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2005
    Publication date: March 23, 2006
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Okada, Kazuyoshi Kato, Masashi Kato, Toshiki Matsumoto, Mamoru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20060052908
    Abstract: A vehicle stability control system includes a base required driving force calculation unit, an estimated driving force estimation unit, and a required driving force correction unit. The base required driving force calculation unit calculates a physical quantity to generate the base required driving force at a driving wheel. The estimated driving force estimation unit estimates a driving force as being generated in the vehicle. The required driving force correction unit obtains a correction to suppress a potential pitching vibration in the vehicle. The physical quantity calculated by the base required driving force calculation unit is corrected on the basis of the correction. The corrected required driving force obtained by the required driving force correction unit is generated at the driving wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2005
    Publication date: March 9, 2006
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiki Matsumoto, Mamoru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20060041353
    Abstract: A vehicle stability control system uses a physical quantity corresponding to a driver accelerator input to control engine power produced by an engine and to controllably drive an engine load device for regulating the engine power to produce a desired drive force. The vehicle stability control system includes a vibration detector and a corrector. The vibration detector determines a vibration that occurs during running of the vehicle to disturb the stability of the vehicle. The corrector drives the engine load device to suppress the vibration in response to the vibration determined by the vibration detector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2005
    Publication date: February 23, 2006
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Takehito Fujii, Tsutomu Tashiro
  • Publication number: 20050267648
    Abstract: In a state where a driver sees a region near a vehicle, a finally-requested output-shaft torque is set so that a response is hastened in a deceleration and slowed in an acceleration. Thereby, a vehicle takes a forward descending position in which the front end of the vehicle is descending, which gives a driver a sense of deceleration or a sense of turning. Further, this position causes a front wheel load acting on the ground to increase and a rear wheel load acting on the ground to decrease, in comparison to a normal position. This thereby makes it easier for the vehicle to decelerate when practically decelerating or turning, and further enables turning to slightly over-steer. A resultant vehicular kinetic characteristic becomes comparable with a sense that is expected by the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2005
    Publication date: December 1, 2005
    Applicant: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Mamoru Mabuchi, Motoaki Kataoka, Hiromichi Tanaka, Mamoru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20050240319
    Abstract: A control information conveyance structure comprises: a cognition-system control platform which recognizes the circumstances of the surroundings of a vehicle and generates a control space; an operation-system control platform which recognizes the circumstances related to the movement of the vehicle body and generates a control space; and a determination-system control platform which generates a determination control space based on information from the cognition-system and operation-system control platforms. The conveyance structure is constituted so that sensors and individual control devices belong to either or both of the control platforms. This control information conveyance structure is adopted. Thus, control platforms of such a control structure that the individual control devices are managed at a higher level can be provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2003
    Publication date: October 27, 2005
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Mamoru Sawada
  • Patent number: 6957138
    Abstract: A vehicle travel control apparatus makes an own vehicle automatically follow a vehicle in front by setting a target acceleration/deceleration G0 using travel data expressing behavior of the vehicle, travel environment, driving operations and others. Here, during vehicle travel based on driver control, multiple travel data are sampled a predetermined number of times to perform multiple regression analysis on that sampled data. Preference data expressing preferences of the driver (multiple regression coefficients) are thereby obtained, and target acceleration/deceleration computation data are updated using these multiple regression coefficients. As a result, it is possible to control the behavior of the vehicle in accordance with preferences of the driver during automatic following control execution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Kondo, Mamoru Sawada, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20050201593
    Abstract: An on-vehicle camera captures an image of an outside visual scene that is outside of a vehicle and outputs image data of the captured image. A wheel speed sensor outputs a measurement signal, which corresponds to a moving speed of the vehicle. An ECU determines a state of the vehicle based on the measurement signal of the wheel speed sensor and an optical flow of a predetermined point of the captured image, which is captured during traveling of the vehicle. The optical flow of the predetermined point is obtained based on the image data of the captured image.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2005
    Publication date: September 15, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto
  • Publication number: 20050200088
    Abstract: A vehicle stability control system includes a basic request driving force computing unit, a front and rear wheel load computing unit, a virtual turning radius estimating unit, a target value computing unit, and a vibration damping correction controlling unit. The basic request driving force computing unit computes a physical quantity so as to generate the basic request driving force requested by a driver. The front and rear wheel load computing unit detect a load applied to the wheels. The virtual turning radius estimating unit estimates a virtual turning radius. The target value computing unit computes a target value of a stability factor. The vibration damping correction controlling unit corrects the physical quantity so as to follow the target value. The system generates the driving force for the driving wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Publication date: September 15, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto
  • Publication number: 20050143896
    Abstract: A vehicle integration control system includes a manager controller and a driving system controller. The manager controller sets a target generation driving force guide value for a driving force outputted from a driving system of a vehicle. The driving system controller controls the driving force on the basis of the target generation driving force guide value. The manager controller includes a driver request value setter and a driving force corrector. The driver request value setter sets a driver request generation driving force value corresponding to the driving force outputted from the driving system on the basis of a driver's input. The driving force corrector corrects the driver request generation driving force value on the basis of a predetermined program to restrain vibration generated in the vehicle when the driving force outputted from the driving system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2004
    Publication date: June 30, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20050119820
    Abstract: A vehicle-supervising electronic control unit (VS-ECU) measures driving torque, which is outputted from an engine to a drive shaft through an automatic transmission. The VS-ECU measures road surface transmission torque based on rotation speeds of driving wheels of a vehicle, vehicle body speed and driving wheel torque, which are measured in advance. The VS-ECU compares the driving torque with the road surface transmission torque. If it is determined that the driving torque is greater than the road surface transmission torque, the VS-ECU estimates an opening degree of an air bypass valve for controlling the driving torque so that a difference between the driving torque and the road surface transmission torque is decreased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2004
    Publication date: June 2, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Keiichi Kawakami
  • Publication number: 20050102087
    Abstract: While a driving torque TD outputted to a driving shaft via an AT from an engine is detected, a road-surface transmitting torque Td_tire is detected based on rotation speeds Vwdr, Vwdl of vehicle driving wheels, a vehicle body speed Vd, and driving torques Tdr, Tdl, all of which are previously detected. The driving torque TD and the road-surface transmitting torque Td_tire are then compared to each other. When TD>Td_tire, the driving torque from an engine is controlled so as to decrease a value of (TD?Td_tire). The vibrations of individual vehicle parts are thereby decreased.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 8, 2004
    Publication date: May 12, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii
  • Publication number: 20050049761
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to execute an optimum control of vibrations due to a driver's operation of an accelerator pedal, steering wheel and brake pedal. The operation instructions are inputted into a vibration calculating means (kinetic model) comprising a vehicle body model, suspension model and tire model. Conventional kinetic model controlled the suspension in order to suppress the vehicle body vibration. However, in the kinetic model of the present invention, the tire vibration due to a change in the engine output is first absorbed by the suspension, whereby a residual vibration which was not be absorbed yet by the suspension is transferred to the vehicle body. The operation inputs are compensated by the three feed-back loops between the outputs of the above-mentioned three portions and input of the tire portion, giving the highest priority on the vehicle body model.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 10, 2003
    Publication date: March 3, 2005
    Inventors: Motoaki Kataoka, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Mamoru Sawada
  • Publication number: 20050027417
    Abstract: In a power steering apparatus employing an EPS (electrical power steering) motor coupled to a steering mechanism, when vibration of the steering mechanism is produced by twisting of tire rubber due to changes in steering angle, resultant pulsation of the drive current of the EPS motor are suppressed by adding to the drive current a current that is of equal frequency and opposite phase to the pulsation. Vibration of the EPS motor shaft, and resultant vibration of the steering wheel and vehicle body, are thereby effectively suppressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2004
    Publication date: February 3, 2005
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka
  • Publication number: 20040262067
    Abstract: In a driving condition control system, a sensing unit senses a first physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the first rotatable axle assembly and a second physical quantity indicative of a rotation of the second rotatable axle assembly. A determining unit compares the first and second physical quantities of the rotations of the first and second rotational axle assemblies and determines whether a driving condition of the vehicle is unstable according to the compared result. As a result, the unstable condition of the vehicle can be rapidly detected without detecting a yaw moment of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Publication date: December 30, 2004
    Inventors: Mamoru Sawada, Toshiki Matsumoto, Tsutomu Tashiro, Mamoru Mabuchi, Takehito Fujii, Motoaki Kataoka