Patents Assigned to Koito Manufacturing Co.
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Patent number: 11738720Abstract: This vehicle cleaner unit, for cleaning a to-be-cleaned object mounted on the vehicle, is provided with: a single motor; a single pump comprising a cylinder which extends in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle cleaner unit and into which air is introduced, and a piston which can carry out linear motion in the longitudinal direction inside of the cylinder and which blows air to outside of the vehicle cleaning unit at high pressure; a biasing spring which biases the piston to a first side in the longitudinal direction; and a single worm mechanism which transmits rotary motion of the motor to cause the piston to carry out linear motion to the second side opposite of the first side. The rotation axis of the motor and the longitudinal direction are parallel, and the motor and the pump are positioned on the same side of the worm mechanism in the longitudinal direction.Type: GrantFiled: June 12, 2018Date of Patent: August 29, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Masayuki Kondo, Akinobu Kubota
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Patent number: 11731554Abstract: A vehicle departure notification display device includes a road surface rendering unit which uses light to render a departure notification display having a prescribed shape on a road surface in the direction of travel of a vehicle, and a control unit which determines whether the departure notification display is required when the vehicle departs, controls the road surface rendering unit to render the departure notification display when determined to be required, and again controls the road surface rendering unit to stop the rendered departure notification display upon determining that notification of the departure notification display is to stop, wherein the control unit causes the road surface rendering unit to render the departure notification display upon detecting information indicating that a brake with which the vehicle is provided has switched from ON to OFF, serving as a determination that the departure notification display is required.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2019Date of Patent: August 22, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Kiyotaka Mochizuki, Naoki Tatara, Norihiko Kobayashi
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Patent number: 11731590Abstract: A vehicular cleaner system (1) for cleaning a to-be-cleaned object (100), wherein: the vehicular cleaner system (1) is provided with a tank (11) that accommodates a cleaning liquid, a pump (12) that pressure-feeds the cleaning liquid inside the tank (11), a high-pressure-air generation unit (2) that generates high-pressure air, a first ejection port that sprays the cleaning liquid toward a cleaning surface of the to-be-cleaned object (100), a second ejection port that sprays the high-pressure air toward the cleaning surface, and a controller (4) and vehicle ECU (40) that control the spraying of the cleaning liquid and the spraying of the high-pressure air; and the controller (4) and the vehicle ECU (40) perform control so as to initiate the spraying of the high-pressure air from the second ejection port after spraying of the cleaning liquid from the first ejection port has been initiated.Type: GrantFiled: December 8, 2017Date of Patent: August 22, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Kazuki Kawamura, Masayuki Kondo, Hikaru Nagai, Akinobu Kubota, Yasuhiro Ichikawa
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Publication number: 20230258933Abstract: A head-up display device (10) includes one picture generation unit (20) that emits both first light (L1) and second light (L2) and includes an optical path adjuster (40) disposed in an optical path of at least one of the first light (L1) and the second light (L2) and having light transmission properties and substantially zero optical power. The optical path adjuster (40) gradually separates the first light (L1) and the second light (L2) as compared with a state before at least one of the first light (L1) and the second light (L2) enters the optical path adjuster (40) in such a manner that the first light (L1) creates a first virtual image (V1) in a position closer to an operator and the second light (L2) creates a second virtual image (V2) in a position farther from the operator than the first virtual image (V1).Type: ApplicationFiled: April 18, 2023Publication date: August 17, 2023Applicant: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Inventors: Yuri HAMADA, Kazuomi Murakumi, Takanobu Toyoshima, Hideaki Yamamoto
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Patent number: 11729875Abstract: A scanning light source includes a light source, and scans the output light of the light source ahead of a lamp. A control apparatus controls the lighting on/off state of the semiconductor light source in synchronization with the scanning operation of the scanning light source. The control apparatus judges the presence or absence of an abnormal state with at least one from among (i) a timing immediately before switching from a lighting-on state to a lighting-off state and (ii) a timing immediately before switching from a lighting-off state to a lighting-on state as a judgment timing.Type: GrantFiled: July 10, 2020Date of Patent: August 15, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Satoshi Kikuchi, Kentarou Murakami, Toshiyuki Tsuchiya, Takao Muramatsu, Shohei Yanagizu, Tomoyuki Ichikawa
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Patent number: 11719408Abstract: A vehicle headlamp includes a shade that shields a part of light emitted from a light source. A predetermined end edge of the shade serves as a cut line forming portion that forms a cut line of a light distribution pattern and the shade is provided with a dimming portion positioned behind the cut line forming portion. The cut line forming portion and the dimming portion form a low-brightness portion having a lower brightness than that of other portions in a part of the light distribution pattern. A portion of the shade including the cut line forming portion is provided as a flat plate-shaped functional surface portion and at least the functional surface portion is tilted backward and downward.Type: GrantFiled: December 7, 2020Date of Patent: August 8, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Taishi Honmiya, Yusuke Mochizuki, Akinori Matsumoto
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Patent number: 11708954Abstract: A lamp unit includes a light source including a plurality of light emitting elements provided in a common substrate; a projection lens that projects light emitted from the light source toward a front of the lamp unit to form a required light distribution pattern; and a light-transmitting body disposed between the light source and the projection lens and that forms a projection image by controlling transmission of light emitted from the light source. The light transmitting body includes a plurality of incident portions that causes light emitted from each of the plurality of light emitting elements to be incident, and the light transmitting body and the substrate are supported by a lens holder that supports the projection lens.Type: GrantFiled: September 23, 2021Date of Patent: July 25, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Ryuho Sato, Teppei Muramatsu
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Patent number: 11708956Abstract: A vehicle lamp includes: a light source that emits a light; an optical member including a lens that irradiates the light from the light source to a front of the vehicle lamp and forms a predetermined light distribution pattern including a plurality of regions; and a controller that, when an object outside the vehicle is detected, adjusts the predetermined light distribution pattern so as not to irradiate at least one first region including the object among the plurality of regions with the light. When the vehicle body is in a cornering state, the controller acquires inclination information of the vehicle body, determines whether there is a second region that does not exceed a reference line, based on the inclination information, and when determining that there is the second region, irradiates the second region with the light even when the object is included in the second region.Type: GrantFiled: September 9, 2021Date of Patent: July 25, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventor: Yosuke Menjo
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Publication number: 20230228847Abstract: A vehicle sensor device (1) includes an outer cover (12), a sensor unit (20) that transmits and receives an electromagnetic wave through the outer cover (12) and outputs a signal related to the electromagnetic wave incident on an inner side of the outer cover (12), a heater (30) that is provided in the outer cover (12) and heats a transmission region (AR) of the outer cover (12) through which the electromagnetic wave emitted from the sensor unit (20) passes, and a control unit (CO). The control unit (CO) outputs a detection signal of an object located outside the outer cover (12) based on the signal from the sensor unit (20) in at least a part of a period in which the heater (30) is OFF, and stops outputting of the detection signal in at least a part of a period in which the heater (30) is ON.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 24, 2023Publication date: July 20, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Yuichi WATANO, Osamu KUBOYAMA, Yoshihiro KATSURADA, Daigo YAMAMOTO, Kosei KIKUCHI
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Patent number: 11704910Abstract: A vehicle detecting device includes a region setting unit that sets a plurality of regions of interest having different ranges on image data acquired from an image capturing device that captures an image of a space in front of a host vehicle; and a vehicle determining unit that determines, for each of the regions of interest, presence of a front vehicle based on a luminous point present in the region and that executes a determination at different frequencies in the respective regions of interest.Type: GrantFiled: August 13, 2020Date of Patent: July 18, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Osamu Endo, Mitsuharu Mano, Takanori Namba, Masayasu Ito
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Publication number: 20230219489Abstract: A vehicle detecting device includes: a camera that includes an image sensor and a first filter, the image sensor including a plurality of imaging elements including a first imaging element group and a second imaging element group, the first filter keeping an amount of light entering the first imaging element group lower than an amount of light entering the second imaging element group; an image generating unit that generates a first image based on information obtained from the first imaging element group and a second image based on information obtained from the second imaging element group; and a detecting unit that detects a front vehicle based on the first image and the second image.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 14, 2023Publication date: July 13, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO.,LTD.Inventor: Takehito IRIBA
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Publication number: 20230213160Abstract: A vehicle lamp includes a metal plate having a light source mounted thereon, a lens that light emitted from the light source enters and passes through to exit forward, and a holder that holds the lens. The metal plate and the lens are positioned to the holder.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 13, 2023Publication date: July 6, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventor: Yoshiyuki NAKANISHI
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Publication number: 20230213763Abstract: An image display device (100) includes: a first image projection unit (S1) configured to project a first image; a beam splitter (BS1) configured to reflect a part of light emitted from the first image projection unit (S1) in a first direction and transmit remaining light in a second direction; a retroreflection unit (RR) configured to retroreflect, to the beam splitter (BS1), light traveling from the beam splitter (BS1) in one of the first direction and the second direction; a reflection unit (M) configured to reflect, to the beam splitter (BS1), light traveling from the beam splitter (BS1) in the other of the first direction and the second direction; and an image forming optical unit (DM) configured to form an image of the light reflected by the retroreflection unit (RR) and the reflection unit (M) in a space.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 19, 2021Publication date: July 6, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventor: Yoichi OGATA
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Publication number: 20230202382Abstract: A control unit (CO) in a vehicle headlight (1) controls a light emitting unit (10) such that, when a signal indicating another vehicle (80, 90) is input, a region including a first region (211, 311) in a light distribution pattern (200, 300) becomes a light reduction region (210, 310) in which a total light flux amount of light from the light emitting unit (10) decreases as compared with that before the signal indicating the other vehicle (80, 90) is input, and controls the light emitting unit (10) such that, when a signal indicating a turn sign of the other vehicle (80, 90) is input, at least the first region (211, 311) in the light reduction region (210, 310) expands to a turning direction side indicated by the turn sign as compared with that before the signal indicating the turn sign of the other vehicle (80, 90) is input.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 29, 2021Publication date: June 29, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventor: Yuta MARUYAMA
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Publication number: 20230206579Abstract: An illumination apparatus emits illumination light S1 with an intensity distribution that changes with time. A photodetector measures reflected light from an object. A reconstruction processing unit reconstructs an intermediate image Hi(x, y) of the object for every predetermined number of changes of the intensity distribution using a correlation calculation between detection intensities based on the output of the photodetector and the intensity distributions of the illumination light. A combining processing unit calculates shift amounts ?x and ?y for matching between the current reconstructed image Gi(x, y) obtained by combining the previous intermediate images H(x, y) and the current intermediate image Hi(x, y). Subsequently, the current reconstructed image Gi(x, y) is shifted based on the shift amounts ?x and ?y. The shifted reconstructed image Gi(x??x, y??y) is combined with the latest intermediate image Hi(x, y) to create a new reconstructed image Gi+1(x, y).Type: ApplicationFiled: February 28, 2023Publication date: June 29, 2023Applicant: Koito Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shintaro SUGIMOTO, Teruaki TORII, Yuta HARUSE
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Patent number: 11686447Abstract: A control device for a vehicle lamp controls an adjustment of an optical axis angle of a vehicle lamp provided with a vibration generating source that vibrates at a first frequency, and the control device includes an acceleration sensor provided in the vehicle lamp and configured to sample an acceleration at a second frequency that is a non-integral multiple of the first frequency, a receiving unit that receives a signal indicating an output value from the acceleration sensor, and a controlling unit that executes control of adjusting the optical axis angle of the vehicle lamp on the basis of the output value from the acceleration sensor.Type: GrantFiled: December 7, 2021Date of Patent: June 27, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Masaaki Ishikawa, Kenta Ishigami, Atsushi Ogawa, Naoki Osada
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Patent number: 11681037Abstract: A vehicle lamp includes a lamp chamber, an automatic operation marker lamp unit, and a sensor device. The lamp chamber includes a lamp body and an outer lens, and the automatic operation marker lamp unit and the sensor device are integrated in the lamp chamber. The automatic operation marker lamp unit informs surroundings that a vehicle is being driven automatically, and a sensor device detects information around the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: December 19, 2019Date of Patent: June 20, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Nobutaka Tezuka, Yuichi Watano, Shigeyuki Watanabe
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Patent number: 11679742Abstract: A vehicular system includes a first in-vehicle sensor having a first cleaning target surface which is provided on a design part forming an appearance of a vehicle and arranged so as to face an exterior of the vehicle. The first cleaning target surface is arranged at an inner side of the vehicle than an immediate upper portion of the first cleaning target surface. The immediate upper portion is constituted by a protrusion provided in a rear bumper.Type: GrantFiled: March 8, 2019Date of Patent: June 20, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Masaru Sakai, Masaaki Sato
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Publication number: 20230184902Abstract: A vehicular light source system includes: first and second laser emitters configured to emit first and second lasers; a thermometer configured to measure peripheral temperature; and a light source controller. The strength of the first laser at a temperature lower than a threshold temperature is higher than that of the second laser at that temperature. The strength of the first laser at a temperature higher than the threshold temperature is lower than that of the second laser at that temperature. The light source controller is configured to control the first and the second laser emitters such that: the strength of the first laser becomes higher than that of the second laser if the peripheral temperature is lower than the threshold temperature; and the strength of the second laser becomes higher than that of the first laser if the peripheral temperature is higher than or equal to the threshold temperature.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 30, 2021Publication date: June 15, 2023Applicant: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Yukihiro ONODA, Hidemichi SONE
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Patent number: RE49609Abstract: A vehicle lamp controller, a vehicle lamp system, and a vehicle lamp control method are provided. The vehicle lamp system includes an acceleration sensor, a vehicle lamp, and the vehicle controller. The controller includes a receiver configured to receive an acceleration information detected by the acceleration sensor, a control unit configured to derive a vehicle longitudinal direction acceleration and a vehicle vertical direction acceleration from the acceleration information, and to generate a control signal for instructing an adjustment of an optical axis of the vehicle lamp, based on a variation in a ratio between a temporal change amount of the vehicle longitudinal direction acceleration and a temporal change amount of the vehicle vertical direction acceleration during at least one of an acceleration and a deceleration of a vehicle, and a transmitter configured to transmit the control signal to an optical axis adjusting portion of the vehicle lamp.Type: GrantFiled: February 15, 2019Date of Patent: August 15, 2023Assignee: KOITO MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.Inventors: Yusuke Kasaba, Masashi Yamazaki, Atsushi Toda