Abstract: A driver pre-abnormal detection apparatus includes: sensors to acquire travel environment information of a vehicle; an in-vehicle camera that detects the driver's sightline; and a controller configured to detect a driver's pre-abnormal state based on the travel environment information and the driver's sightline. The controller identifies a visual recognition required point to be visually recognized by the driver based on the travel environment information, determines whether the driver has visually recognized the visual recognition required point based on the driver's sightline, and detects the driver's pre-abnormal state based on a fact that the driver has not visually recognized the visual recognition required point.

Abstract: A switching module 120 includes a positive-side conductor 51 in contact with an input-side electrode 30a provided on each upper arm switching element 30U, a negative-side conductor 52 connected to an output-side electrode 30b of each lower arm switching element 30L, and an electric insulating member 140 in contact with, at its upper surface, each output conductor 53 in contact with the input-side electrode 30a of each lower arm switching element 30L and in contact with, at its lower surface, an electric conductive heat radiation member 42. Each positive-side electric conductive layer 61 connected to the positive-side conductor 51 faces a corresponding one of negative-side electric conductive layers 62 connected to the negative-side conductor 52 via the electric insulating layer 60 such that a storage structure 63 interposed between the positive-side main line 21 and the negative-side main line 22 to store charge is inside the electric insulating member 140.

Abstract: A controller acquires a driving load score based on the travel environment information, acquires a distracted state occurrence score based on the driving load score and an elapsed time with the driving load score, acquires a search behavior score based on the travel environment information and the driver's sightline when the distracted state occurrence score is equal to or higher than a specified value, acquires a distracted state level of the driver based on the search behavior score and an elapsed time with the search behavior score, and determines that the driver is in the distracted state when the distracted state level is equal to or higher than a threshold and the search behavior score is increased in response to an increase in the driving load score.

Abstract: A driver state determination apparatus includes: an in-vehicle camera detecting a driver's sightline and head behavior; and a controller configured to determine the driver's state based on the driver's sightline and head behavior. When the driver is in an abnormal state based on the driver's sightline movement, the controller determines whether or not the driver's abnormal state a visual field impairment based on a change in each of a yaw angle and a pitch angle of the driver's head. When the abnormal state is the visual field impairment, the controller determines that the driver is aware of the visual field impairment when there is a direction in which the driver's sightline is not directed in the driver's field of view, and unaware of the visual field impairment when there is no direction in which the driver's sightline is not directed in the driver's field of view.

Abstract: To provide a vehicle drive device capable of effectively driving a vehicle by using in-wheel motors without falling into the vicious cycle between enhancement of driving via the motors and an increase in vehicle weight. The present invention is a vehicle drive device that uses in-wheel motors to drive a vehicle and includes in-wheel motors (20) that are provided in wheels (2b) of a vehicle (1) and drive the wheels, a body side motor (16) that is provided in a body of the vehicle and drives the wheels of the vehicle, and a battery (18) and a capacitor (22) that supply electric power for driving the in-wheel motors and/or the body side motor, in which a voltage of the battery is applied to the body side motor and a voltage of the battery and the capacitor connected in series is applied to the in-wheel motors.

Abstract: A driving assistance device enables a driver who manually performs an accelerator operation and a steering operation to easily retain an accelerator operation state in a constant state. A driving assistance device includes a manually operable accelerator operation unit in the vicinity of a steering wheel provided in front of a driver seat in a vehicle cabin. The accelerator operation unit is operable in a state where the steering wheel is gripped and an operation reaction force of the accelerator operation unit exhibits an inflection point POI at which the operation reaction force rapidly becomes large in response to an increase in an operation amount of the accelerator operation unit.

Abstract: A blowby gas return apparatus is provided that achieves inhibition of condensation of water vapor in blowby gas in branched return passages. A blowby gas return apparatus that returns blowby gas generated in an engine having a plurality of cylinders to an intake system of the engine includes a distribution portion inside a head cover of the engine, and distributes the blowby gas to intake paths of the cylinders. The distribution portion includes an introduction portion through which the blowby gas is introduced and a plurality of branch passages communicating with the introduction portion, plurality of branch passages branching from the introduction portion to communicate with the intake paths.

Abstract: An electromotive compressor fixed to a front side of an engine includes a live part. A harness connection portion where a hinge-voltage harness is connected is provided in an outer peripheral area of a left side, in a vehicle width direction, of the electromotive compressor. A protecting member comprises a first cover portion which covers an area corresponding to the live part from the front side and a second cover portion which is provided continuously to the first cover portion and covers the harness connection portion from the front side with a specified distance from the harness connection portion. A low rigidity portion which has lower rigidity than the first covet portion and the second cover portion is provided at a continuous portion of the first cover portion and the second cover portion.

Abstract: A front suspension device comprises a suspension arm, one end of which has a front-wheel support portion to support a front wheel of a vehicle and the other end of which is positioned on an inward side, in a vehicle width direction, of the front-wheel support portion and has a vehicle-body attachment portion to be attached to a vehicle-body member of the vehicle and a damper supported at a damper support portion which is provided at a portion of the suspension arm which is positioned in the vicinity of the front-wheel support portion at a lower portion thereof and connected to the vehicle-body member at an upper portion thereof. The damper support portion of the suspension arm has a breakage ease portion to cause breakage of the suspension arm.

Abstract: An exterior panel structure for a vehicle prevents unevenness of an outer surface of an exterior panel material caused by joining of a reinforcing member to the exterior panel. The reinforcing member is joined to the exterior panel material such that rigidity is maintained, thereby keeping dents in the exterior panel material small even when a user presses on the exterior panel material during waxing of the vehicle, or the like. The exterior panel structure includes a door outer panel, a reinforcing member, and a bracket. In the bracket, a joint surface which follows an inner surface of the door outer panel is joined to an outer peripheral edge of the door panel which is separated from the inner surface of the door outer panel in a thickness direction of the door outer panel, and another joint surface is joined to a reinforcing outer peripheral edge of the reinforcing member.

Abstract: There are provided a hinge arm having a lever and a rotational axis to rotate the lever so as to be projected from the door panel, and a driving unit to transmit a drive force to the hinge arm so as to project the lever from the door panel. The driving unit comprises a motor and an output axis connected to the motor and the hinge arm so as to transmit a motor output to the hinge arm in a region from a storage position to an open position, wherein the drive force is transmitted from the motor to the hinge arm via the output axis when the lever is moved from the storage position to a gripping position and the drive force is transmitted from the hinge arm to the motor via the output axis when the lever is moved from the open position to the gripping position.

Abstract: A system and method control an automobile by decelerating the automobile at a first deceleration using a braking mechanism in response to detecting that a parking brake switch is turned on, a second deceleration which is smaller than the first deceleration, in response to not detecting that the parking brake switch is turned on and determining that the driver is incapacitated, and a third deceleration which is smaller than the first deceleration, in response to determining that an SOS switch is turned on, detecting that the parking brake switch is changed from on to off, and not determining that the driver is incapacitated.

Abstract: A method of applying heat shield material to form a heat shield layer on a crown surface of a piston of an engine is provided. The method includes the steps of disposing a dispenser that linearly discharges the heat shield material toward the crown surface, and moving an applied position of the heat shield material with respect to the crown surface in a circumferential direction of the crown surface, while discharging the heat shield material from the dispenser toward the crown surface.

Abstract: An exterior panel structure for a vehicle prevents unevenness caused by distortion of an outer surface of the exterior panel and keeps dents small even when a user presses the exterior panel from the outside. The exterior panel structure includes the exterior panel, and a reinforcing member having joint sections and coupling sections. The joint sections are separated from each other along an inner surface of the exterior panel, and each is joined to the inner surface of the exterior panel. The coupling section follows the inner surface of the exterior panel and couples the adjacent joint sections. The inner surface of the exterior panel and the coupling section abut each other when a pressing force equal to or larger than a specified value is applied inward in a thickness direction of the exterior panel from an outer surface of the exterior panel, and are otherwise separated from each other.

Abstract: To simultaneously avoid contact with a front subframe and secure a connection space for a harness, a front subframe has a right and left pair of side frame sections, each of which is located in front of and below a dashboard. A converter and a vehicle component are provided behind a rear end portion of one of the side frame sections. The converter is arranged along a lower surface of a floor panel, and the vehicle component is arranged adjacent to rear of the converter. The converter is arranged in a vertically inclined state, a front-end portion of the converter is located higher than the rear end portion of the side frame section, and a rear end portion of the converter is located lower than the vehicle component.

Abstract: A trunk structure for a vehicle improves retainment performance of goods to a vehicle body in a cargo net, and improves flexibility of the layout of a trunk board. The trunk structure includes a trunk board, a hook member attached to the trunk board to which a cargo net covering goods can be locked, an interior member which constitutes an inside surface of a trunk, and an engaged portion of the interior member which the hook member can engage, the engaged portion restraining movement of the trunk board in an up-down direction when the engaged portion is engaged with the hook member. The hook member is switchable between an engaged state where the hook member engages the engaged portion and a non-engaged state where the engagement is released, and retains the engaged state by locking the cargo net to the hook member.

Abstract: The object recognition device includes at least one sensor, a data reception unit, and a setting unit. The sensor detects an object present in a detectable range and transmits object data including a plurality of physical quantities indicating a state of the object. The data reception unit receives the object data from the sensor. The setting unit generates prediction data which predicts current object data based on at least a part of past object data received by the data reception unit and a motion model in the object, and sets a association possible region for determining a association between the prediction data and the current object data based on a plurality of physical-quantity delay times each corresponding to each of the plurality of physical quantities included in the prediction data.

Abstract: A front side frame has a first deformation promotion portion to bend and deform a front side frame inwardly in a case where a collision load is applied to a vehicle from a vehicle front side, a front vehicle-body structure further comprises a load transmission portion positioned in front of a suspension housing between the front side frame and an apron reinforcement so as to transmit the collision load to the suspension housing, the load transmission portion being provided to connect the front side frame and the apron reinforcement so as to transmit a tensional load applied in a vehicle width direction between the front side frame and the apron reinforcement, and the load transmission portion has a second deformation promotion portion positioned in the vicinity of the first deformation promotion portion and promoting the bending/deforming of the front side frame.

Abstract: A controller causes a calculation device to perform calculation that determines an operation of a moving object and generates digital signals that define the operations of actuators. The generated digital signals are output to a digital signal transmission path by a signal bus control IC. ICs attached to the actuators obtain digital signals that define the operations of the actuators from the digital signal transmission path and generate control signals for the actuators based on the operations defined by the digital signals.

Abstract: An alighting assistance device D of the present disclosure may be a device moving a driver seat rearward in a case where a determination may be made that an occupant seated on the driver seat of a vehicle alights. The device may include a height changer which changes a height of a steering wheel, a sitting height acquirer which acquires a sitting height of the occupant, and a steering wheel controller 33 as one example of a height controller which controls the height changer such that the height of the steering wheel becomes lower as the sitting height acquired by the sitting height acquirer may be higher in the case where a determination is made that the occupant alights.