Patents by Inventor Yoshinobu Watanabe
Yoshinobu Watanabe 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).
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Patent number: 11873025Abstract: A vehicle front structure is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a steering gearbox that includes a steering rack with rack teeth being formed thereon, and a pinion that meshes with the rack teeth. A shaft of the pinion protrudes rearward and downward of the vehicle. Thus, the vehicle front structure can reduce damage by the steering gearbox to the vehicle interior in case of a frontal collision of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2022Date of Patent: January 16, 2024Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.Inventor: Yoshinobu Watanabe
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Publication number: 20230286574Abstract: Provided is a steer-by-wire steering system (1) for a vehicle (2) that can appropriately bring the steered angle of the wheels to a prescribed relationship to the steering angle of a steering member (10) even when the steering angle of the steering member was changed while the vehicle was parked. When the steered angle of the wheels deviates from the prescribed relationship with the steering angle of the steering member upon startup (ST2: Yes), the control unit (15) drives at least one of the steering actuator (12) and the reaction force actuator (13) to bring the steered angle (?) of the wheels closer to the prescribed relationship with the steering angle (?) of the steering member (ST12) using a change in the transmission shift position from the park position (P) or the neutral position (N) to the travel position (D or R) as a trigger (ST8: Yes).Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2021Publication date: September 14, 2023Inventors: Yosuke OJIMA, Munetsugu HANJI, Yoshinobu WATANABE, Imre SZEPESSY, Miklos ARANYI
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Publication number: 20230264738Abstract: Provided is a steer-by-wire steering system for a vehicle that can reduce or eliminate the impact noise generated by the rack at the rack end. A control unit of the steering system is configured to determine a target steered angle (?t) according to the steering angle and drive the steering actuator so as to cause the steered angle to coincide with the target steered angle, and to determine a target reaction force (Tt) according to a steered state of the wheels and drive the reaction force actuator so as to cause the reaction force to coincide with the target reaction force. The control unit is further configured to set a maximum limit (?mC) on the target steered angle, the maximum limit being a value smaller than a physical maximum steered angle (?mP) of the wheels imposed by the steering mechanism.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 2, 2021Publication date: August 24, 2023Inventors: Yoshinobu WATANABE, Hayato MIYAKAWA, Munetsugu HANJI, Yosuke OJIMA, Imre SZEPESSY, Levente PASZTOR, Peter KAKAS
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Publication number: 20230234637Abstract: A steering system is provided with a control unit (15) configured to determine a target steered angle (?t) according to a steering angle (?) of a steering shaft (18) which is fitted with a steering wheel (19) and drive a steering actuator so as to cause the steered angle (?) to coincide with the target steered angle, and to determine a target reaction force (Tt) according to a steered state of the wheels and drive a reaction force actuator (13) so as to cause the reaction force to coincide with the target reaction force. The control unit is configured to correct an output of the steering angle sensor in such a manner that a geometric steering center of the steering wheel coincides with a mechanical steering center of the steering shaft upon receiving a prescribed input (S) from a manual input switch (37).Type: ApplicationFiled: March 30, 2021Publication date: July 27, 2023Inventors: Hayato MIYAKAWA, Munetsugu HANJI, Yoshinobu WATANABE, Satoshi NAKAHARA, Ryo KATO, Laszlo DOMBAI, David KULCSAR, Peter KAKAS
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Publication number: 20230091186Abstract: To prevent a driver from feeling uncomfortable when the driver touches a steering member in a state where a driving source is stopped, a vehicle steering system (1) is provided in a vehicle (2) that travels by a driving force generated by a driving source (51). The vehicle steering system (1) includes; a steering member (10) configured to accept a steering operation; and a reaction force actuator (13) configured to apply a reaction force to the steering member (10) in response to the steering operation. In a state where the driving source (51) is stopped, the reaction force actuator (13) is configured to apply the reaction force to the steering member (10) based on a stopped time position that is a position of the steering member (10) at a time when the driving source (51) is stopped.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 9, 2020Publication date: March 23, 2023Inventors: Yoshinobu WATANABE, Hayato MIYAKAWA, Munetsugu HANJI, Takaya YAMAGUCHI, Miklos ARANYI, Adela BERES, Laszlo DOMBAI, Peter KAKAS
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Publication number: 20230037347Abstract: A method to control a steer-by-wire steering system of a road vehicle including a steering wheel coupled to a steering shaft, a road wheel actuator to turn steerable road wheels, a shaft sensor to detect a rotation of the steering shaft and a controller configured or programmed to generate an operation signal for the road wheel actuator from a signal detected by the shaft sensor, includes determining a real steering wheel angle by the shaft sensor, modifying the real steering wheel angle by applying an artificial hysteresis to create an offset between the real steering wheel angle and a modified steering wheel angle to mimic a behavior of an electromechanical power steering mechanism, and generating the motor torque request for the road wheel actuator based on the modified steering wheel angle.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 19, 2022Publication date: February 9, 2023Inventors: Yoshinobu WATANABE, Munetsugu HANJI, Krisztián DÖMÖTÖR, Péter KAKAS, Zoltán SZANDER, Daniel GYÖRGY, Levente PÁSZTOR
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Publication number: 20230041535Abstract: A method for power saving in a steering system of a motor vehicle including a road wheel actuator acting on a rack to turn steerable road wheels and a controller configured or programmed to generate an operation signal for the road wheel actuator, wherein the controller includes a position controller to generate a motor torque request based on an actual and/or a measured position of the rack and a requested rack position, includes detecting a passive mode of the steering system by a passive mode detector of the controller if the motor vehicle is stopped and no steering input is provided, and if a passive mode is detected by the passive mode detector, setting the motor torque request to zero in order to save power.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 19, 2022Publication date: February 9, 2023Inventors: Levente PÁSZTOR, Imre BENYO, Péter KAKAS, Yosuke OJIMA, Munetsugu HANJI, Hayato MIYAKAWA, Yoshinobu WATANABE
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Publication number: 20230038390Abstract: A method to control a steer-by-wire steering system of a road vehicle including a road wheel actuator to turn steerable road wheels and a steering wheel actuator to apply a feedback torque to a steering wheel, includes calculating the feedback torque by modifying a base steering torque as a function of a longitudinal and/or lateral acceleration measured by sensors of the vehicle, and sending the calculated feedback torque to the steering wheel actuator to provide feedback to the driver at the steering wheel.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 19, 2022Publication date: February 9, 2023Inventors: Yoshinobu WATANABE, Munetsugu HANJI, Péter KAKAS, Krisztián DÖMÖTÖR, Zoltán SZANDER, Adam SZABO
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Publication number: 20230044665Abstract: A method to control a steer-by-wire steering system for a road vehicle including a steering device, a road wheel actuator to actuate road wheels, and a controller configured or programmed to generate a motor torque request for the road wheel actuator based on an actual or an estimated position and a position request, which is based on the position of the steering device, includes detecting a road wheel actuator power limit situation, modifying the position request so that it can be followed by the road wheel actuator within power limits, and using the modified position request to generate the motor torque request for the road wheel actuator.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 19, 2022Publication date: February 9, 2023Inventors: Yoshinobu WATANABE, Munetsugu HANJI, Hayato MIYAKAWA, Levente PÁSZTOR, Péter KAKAS, Krisztián DÖMÖTÖR
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Publication number: 20220297744Abstract: The vehicle steering control system includes a control unit configured to control the steering actuator to achieve the steered angle based on at least one of the steering angle and the steering torque. The control unit executes an output restriction control to restrict an output of the steering actuator when a steering torque is equal to or greater than a prescribed threshold value, and cancels the output restriction control when the detection unit has detected a prescribed mode of operation by the operator while the output restriction control is being executed.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 13, 2019Publication date: September 22, 2022Inventors: Yoshinobu Watanabe, Levente Pasztor, Adam Szabo
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Publication number: 20220266912Abstract: A vehicle front structure is mounted on a vehicle, and includes a steering gearbosc that includes a steering rack with rack teeth being formed thereon, and a pinion that meshes with the rack teeth. A shaft of the pinion protrudes rearward and downward of the vehicle. Thus, the vehicle front structure can reduce damage by the steering gearbox to the vehicle interior in case of a frontal collision of the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 22, 2022Publication date: August 25, 2022Inventor: Yoshinobu WATANABE
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Publication number: 20220169301Abstract: In a steer-by-wire steering system of a motor vehicle including a feedback actuator to simulate a steering feel to a steering device and including an electric motor with a motor shaft connected to a steering shaft to transmit a torque, and a steering lock including a latch connected to the steering shaft in a torsion-resistant manner and a lock to engage with the latch at locking positions to block a rotation of the steering shaft, a method for controlling steering locking of the steer-by-wire steering system includes, if an ignition is switched-off and a movement of the steering device is detected, determining a position of the steering shaft and a distance between the lock and a next locking position of the latch in a direction of the movement of the steering device, and if the distance is greater than a predefined value, transmitting a counter-torque to the steering shaft by the feedback-actuator in a direction opposite direction to the movement of the steering device until the locking position reaches theType: ApplicationFiled: February 17, 2022Publication date: June 2, 2022Inventors: Kristof POLMANS, Imre SZEPESSY, Yoshinobu WATANABE, Hayato MIYAKAWA, Yosuke OJIMA, Munetsugu HANJI
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Patent number: 10460451Abstract: In an evaluation information provision system, subject's motion data is stored in association with attributes. When an attribute is assigned, the evaluation information provision system selects feature data from a plurality of the subject's motion data associated with the assigned attribute. The evaluation information provision system calculates a score for the assigned attribute, for the user's motion, using a statistical distance between the selected feature data and the user's motion data. The calculated score is displayed, for example, as a screen.Type: GrantFiled: October 18, 2016Date of Patent: October 29, 2019Assignees: UNIVERSITY OF TSUKUBA, OSAKA UNIVERSITY, MIZUNO CORPORATIONInventors: Shinichi Yamagiwa, Yoshinobu Kawahara, Noriyuki Tabuchi, Yoshinobu Watanabe, Takeshi Naruo, Yuichi Shimizu, Shohei Shibata
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Publication number: 20170372482Abstract: In an evaluation information provision system, subject's motion data is stored in association with attributes. When an attribute is assigned, the evaluation information provision system selects feature data from a plurality of the subject's motion data associated with the assigned attribute. The evaluation information provision system calculates a score for the assigned attribute, for the user's motion, using a statistical distance between the selected feature data and the user's motion data. The calculated score is displayed, for example, as a screen.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 18, 2016Publication date: December 28, 2017Inventors: Shinichi Yamagiwa, Yoshinobu Kawahara, Noriyuki Tabuchi, Yoshinobu Watanabe, Takeshi Naruo, Yuichi Shimizu, Shohei Shibata
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Publication number: 20170363487Abstract: A structure for strain detection is provided with a ceramic main body which is attached to a detection target, in which strain is to be detected, and a stress concentrated section which is formed in the main body and which is fractured at a predetermined strain or greater. Assuming the dimension of the entire main body in one direction is represented by Lm and the dimension of the stress concentrated section in the one direction is represented by Lc, then it holds that Lc<Lm. The stress concentrated section is constituted by a thin-walled portion in the one direction.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 22, 2017Publication date: December 21, 2017Applicant: NGK Insulators, Ltd.Inventors: Kenichi KURIBAYASHI, Toshiyuki Konishi, Masaki Sue, Atsuo Kondo, Keiichiro Watanabe, Shingo Iwasaki, Ryoichi Yamanaka, Yoshinobu Watanabe
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Patent number: 9663681Abstract: An intermediate coating composition used in forming an intermediate coating layer directly overlaid on a surface of an electrodeposition coating layer constructing a vehicle outer panel, the coating composition containing as resin components: (a) 1% to 27% by mass of a polycaprolactonetriol; (b) 20% to 60% by mass of a blocked isocyanate; and (c) 1% to 20% by mass of a melamine resin, each at a percentage content in entire resin components, and the coating composition further containing as a pigment component: (d) 1% to 10% by mass of talc in terms of pigment mass concentration. As the resin component, (e) greater than 0% to 10% by mass of an epoxy resin is preferably contained. A urethane curing catalyst is preferably contained in an amount of greater than 0.01 parts to 2 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the entire resin components.Type: GrantFiled: March 19, 2015Date of Patent: May 30, 2017Assignees: NIPPON PAINT AUTOMOTIVE COATINGS CO., LTD., TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hideki Ichimura, Takashi Irie, Yoshikazu Kasahara, Yoshinobu Watanabe, Masahiko Ishii, Eisaku Okada
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Patent number: 9452341Abstract: A running form diagnosis system capable of automatically scoring a running form of a runner is provided. The running form diagnosis system obtains body motion information as to a test subject running on a treadmill, and calculate a running form score of the test subject by applying obtained characteristics to a given operation expression. The operation expression is generated based on correlation between characteristics of a plurality of test runners and comprehensive evaluation given by an expert with respect to the plurality of test runners.Type: GrantFiled: February 28, 2013Date of Patent: September 27, 2016Assignee: Mizuno CorporationInventors: Yoshinobu Watanabe, Yasuyuki Ohta, Daisuke Kogawa, Yohei Yoshida, Naoki Yoshikawa
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Patent number: 9380994Abstract: An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus according to the present invention includes: a transmitting section, which drives a probe that transmits an ultrasonic wave toward a subject; a receiving section, which receives an ultrasonic echo, produced by getting the ultrasonic wave reflected by the subject, through the probe, thereby generating a received signal; a property value calculating section for calculating property values of the subject based on the received signal over a period of time; a stability estimating section for sequentially estimating the degrees of stability of the property values that have been calculated over the period of time; and a presenting section for presenting the degrees of stability thereon.Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 2005Date of Patent: July 5, 2016Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.Inventors: Takao Seki, Takao Suzuki, Hisashi Hagiwara, Yoshinao Tannaka, Yoshinobu Watanabe, Makoto Kato
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Publication number: 20150275036Abstract: An intermediate coating composition used in forming an intermediate coating layer directly overlaid on the surface of an electrodeposition coating layer constructing a vehicle outer panel, wherein a coating film obtained by curing of the intermediate coating composition alone has following characteristics (1) to (4): (1) a loss tangent (tan ?) at ?20° C. as determined from a measurement of a dynamic viscoelasticity under a condition involving a rate of temperature rise of 2° C./min and a frequency of 8 Hz being 0.01 to 0.5; (2) a dynamic glass transition temperature being ?15° C. to 55° C.; (3) percentage of elongation at ?20° C. being 1% to 250%; and (4) a Young's modulus at ?20° C. being 400 kgf/cm2 to 50,000 kgf/cm2. The coating film obtained from the intermediate coating composition preferably further has the following characteristic (5): a tensile strength at ?20° C. being 200 kgf/cm2 to 1,200 kgf/cm2.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 19, 2015Publication date: October 1, 2015Applicants: NIPPON PAINT CO., LTD., TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hideki ICHIMURA, Takashi Irie, Yoshikazu Kasahara, Yoshinobu Watanabe, Masahiko Ishii, Eisaku Okada
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Publication number: 20150275037Abstract: An intermediate coating composition used in forming an intermediate coating layer directly overlaid on a surface of an electrodeposition coating layer constructing a vehicle outer panel, the coating composition containing as resin components: (a) 1% to 27% by mass of a polycaprolactonetriol; (b) 20% to 60% by mass of a blocked isocyanate; and (c) 1% to 20% by mass of a melamine resin, each at a percentage content in entire resin components, and the coating composition further containing as a pigment component: (d) 1% to 10% by mass of talc in terms of pigment mass concentration. As the resin component, (e) greater than 0% to 10% by mass of an epoxy resin is preferably contained. A urethane curing catalyst is preferably contained in an amount of greater than 0.01 parts to 2 parts by mass with respect to 100 parts by mass of the entire resin components.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 19, 2015Publication date: October 1, 2015Applicants: NIPPON PAINT CO., LTD., TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Hideki ICHIMURA, Takashi IRIE, Yoshikazu KASAHARA, Yoshinobu WATANABE, Masahiko ISHII, Eisaku OKADA