Patents by Inventor Kazunao Yamada

Kazunao Yamada 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: 10372311
    Abstract: A display control device includes a sift portion that sifts a transition request event stored in a queue. The sift portion monitors the queue. When the queue stores several transition request events corresponding to the same type of screen-image after transition, the sift portion retains the most recent one of the transition request events and discards the other transition request events corresponding to the same type of screen-image after transition. This can decrease transition request events stored in the queue compared to a case of not sifting transition request events and reduce a possibility of generating a delay. The sift portion does not sift a transition request event that transitions to a different type of screen-image. This can display the type of screen-image a user intends to display based on his or her manipulation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Masakazu Itou
  • Publication number: 20160041732
    Abstract: A display control device includes a sift portion that sifts a transition request event stored in a queue. The sift portion monitors the queue. When the queue stores several transition request events corresponding to the same type of screen-image after transition, the sift portion retains the most recent one of the transition request events and discards the other transition request events corresponding to the same type of screen-image after transition. This can decrease transition request events stored in the queue compared to a case of not sifting transition request events and reduce a possibility of generating a delay. The sift portion does not sift a transition request event that transitions to a different type of screen-image. This can display the type of screen-image a user intends to display based on his or her manipulation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2014
    Publication date: February 11, 2016
    Inventors: Kazunao YAMADA, Masakazu ITOU
  • Patent number: 8903594
    Abstract: When an accelerator is put in an OFF state to decelerate a vehicle and perform inertia travel with supply of fuel being cut off, measurement of an accelerator OFF lapse time is started. When a travel speed falls down to be lower than a pre-stop speed, a measured lapse time is stored in a memory, with the measurement of the lapse time being further continued. After finishing a travel of a downward slope, the travel speed is reduced to fall down to the pre-stop speed again, a lapse time continuously measured up to that time is updated in the memory. When the travel speed falls to a stop speed, the measurement of the lapse time is finished and the continuously-measured lapse time is determined as a required stop time of the vehicle. As the required stop time increases, driving is diagnosed as being fuel-efficient.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasushi Sakuma, Yasuyuki Itoh, Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8755961
    Abstract: A drive condition, which is used to determine a SOC management plan, is collected from each of road sections and is cumulatively memorized in a durable memory medium. When a remaining charge amount of a battery reaches a lower limit standard value or an upper limit standard value at a certain location, a candidate control section is defined around and includes such point. The candidate control section is defined to extend a predetermined distance forward and backward from such point. The drive conditions stored for the candidate control section are used to determine the SOC management plan that controls the remaining charge amount of the battery to be controlled within a standard range. When the vehicle enters the candidate control section, the drive control of a power source in the vehicle is performed according to the SOC management plan for the candidate control section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2014
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno, Yasushi Sakuma, Yasuyuki Itoh
  • Patent number: 8725332
    Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes a regenerative charging area detection section, a recovery loss estimation section, and a motor use ratio increase section. The regenerative charging area detection section detects arrival of a regenerative charging possible area in which a regenerative charging from a motor to a battery is possible. The recovery loss estimation section estimates a recovery loss of the regenerative charging based on a regenerative charge amount in the regenerative charging possible area and a current remaining battery amount in response to detection by the regenerative charging area detection section. In response to estimation by the recovery loss estimation section, before the arrival at the regenerative charging possible area, the motor use ratio increase section increases a use ratio of the motor so as to decrease a remaining battery amount while limiting the temperature of the battery to a predetermined temperature range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, Aisin AW Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Takashi Naito, Toshiaki Niwa, Masatoshi Takahara, Fumiharu Ogawa, Hideaki Suganuma, Mamoru Kuraishi
  • Patent number: 8666593
    Abstract: Travel information is categorized into plural time slot categories according to information characteristics of traffic flow information that represents a traffic flow of each of road sections in a database of an information center, and a learn database is built for each of the categories derived from above categorization. The travel information collected by a travel of a self vehicle along the road sections is learned according to the categories of the learn database for accurately managing the travel information according to the characteristics of the traffic flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2014
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Kazunao Yamada
  • Publication number: 20130345897
    Abstract: An information service system for providing facility information includes: a restriction information obtaining device for obtaining restriction information relating to a driving condition or a user behavior; a preference information obtaining device for obtaining preference information of the user; a first information retrieving device for retrieving necessary facility information among multiple facility information items according to the restriction information; a second information retrieving device for retrieving preference facility information suited to the user preference among multiple necessary facility information items according to the preference information when the necessary facility information includes multiple necessary facility information items; and an information output device for outputting the necessary facility information or the preference facility information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Publication date: December 26, 2013
    Inventors: Yasushi SAKUMA, Kazunao YAMADA, Toru NADA
  • Patent number: 8615342
    Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes a road condition acquisition portion (40, 41) that acquires information on an actual road condition; a storage portion (42) where road data is stored; a route setting portion (40) that sets a route to a destination, based on the road data stored in the storage portion (42); a travel pattern setting portion (30) that sets a travel pattern on the route set by the route setting portion (40), based on the road data stored in the storage portion (42); an operation schedule setting portion (30) that sets an operation schedule that is a schedule of operations of the engine and the motor, based on the travel pattern set by the travel pattern setting portion (30); and a control portion (30) that controls the operations of the engine and the motor based on the information on the actual road condition acquired by the road condition acquisition portion (40, 41) and the operation schedule set by the operation schedule setting portion (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2013
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation, Aisin AW Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Suganuma, Mamoru Kuraishi, Kazunao Yamada, Takashi Naitou, Toshiaki Niwa, Masatoshi Takahara, Fumiharu Ogawa
  • Patent number: 8583343
    Abstract: A vehicle drive control apparatus for use in a vehicle collects the number of travels in each of road sections in a traveled route for each of travel directions, extracts road sections having been traveled for more than a threshold number for each of travel directions, and stores extracted road sections as control section data maps in a durable storage medium. If the vehicle travels into the road sections stored as the control section data map, the “stored-as-the-map” road sections are identified as a series of road sections of high-travel-probability. In this manner, a series of road sections can be accurately identified as a high-probability section without having a user input of a travel destination or the like.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno, Yasushi Sakuma, Nobuhiro Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8527514
    Abstract: An apparatus for connecting getting-in and off records of a vehicle includes: a driving information memory unit for storing getting-in and off records having a pair of getting-in and getting-off records, each of which represents a getting-in or off time and place; a grouping unit for grouping the getting-in or off records representing a same getting-in or off time zone and place, so that segmentalized getting-in or off groups are generated; a connecting unit for searching a segmentalized getting-in group connected to one segmentalized getting-off group, and for storing connection information between a searched segmentalized getting-in group and the one segmentalized getting-off group; and an estimating unit for specifying a getting-off time and a getting-off point when the getting-off action of the driver is detected, and estimating a getting-in time for a next driving according to the connection information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yasushi Sakuma, Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8527122
    Abstract: A drive control device is mounted to a hybrid electric vehicle that has an engine and a motor as a running power source, wherein the hybrid electric vehicle runs under a plurality of running modes that is switched in accordance with accelerator operation. The drive control device specifies a present position of the vehicle. The drive control device defines a schedule of the accelerator operation for each of a plurality of sections in a route from an origin to a destination in order to achieve an enhanced fuel efficient running of the vehicle. The drive control device displays a recommended accelerator operation for a present section of the plurality of sections, in which section the vehicle is presently located, in accordance with the schedule of the accelerator operation and the present position of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 3, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno, Tadashi Sakai
  • Patent number: 8521410
    Abstract: A driving assistance apparatus mounted to a vehicle is provided. The driving assistance apparatus includes: an information acquisition component configured to acquire information on at least one of a route condition in a predetermined region of a future travel path of the vehicle, a present vehicle condition, and a past operation condition; a prediction component configured to predict, based on the information acquired by the information acquisition component, whether fuel efficiency of the vehicle is degraded in the future travel path; and a notification component configured to notify an operation for improvement of the fuel efficiency of the vehicle to an occupant of the vehicle in advance in cases where the fuel efficiency of the vehicle is predicted to be degraded in the future travel path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 27, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yusuke Mizuno, Kazunao Yamada, Yasushi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 8452505
    Abstract: A re-generation instruction apparatus has a re-generation instruction computer that receives brake operation information from a re-generation control computer for calculating an energy loss in a total energy from speed reduction by the brake operation of the driver, which is lost by a re-generation brake system. The calculated energy loss is utilized for preparing notification for the driver in various situations such as a pre-travel notification, a during-travel notification and/or an after-travel notification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Yuusuke Mizuno, Kazunao Yamada, Tadashi Sakai
  • Patent number: 8433466
    Abstract: In a drive control apparatus, an information storing unit collects first and second information at predetermined intervals while the vehicle runs and the information storing unit stores the first and second information in a storage device. A schedule effective section extracting unit extracts a schedule effective section from a route from an origin to a destination based on the second information. A control index storage controlling unit defines the schedule of the control index of each of multiple predetermined sections within the schedule effective section based on the first information such that fuel consumption of the engine is reduced in the schedule effective section, wherein the defined schedule of the control index is stored in the storage device. An assist control process unit performs drive control of a motor and an engine based on the schedule of the control index.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2013
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno, Tadashi Sakai, Yasushi Sakuma
  • Patent number: 8428804
    Abstract: A temperature increase of a battery of a vehicle in a schedule effect road range is estimated based on an estimate of energy acquirable by regeneration in the schedule effect road range of the vehicle. A special value of the battery upper limit temperature is designated which is obtained by subtracting the temperature increase from a default value of the battery upper limit temperature. A battery upper limit temperature reduction road range is designated which is located just prior to the schedule effect road range. While the vehicle runs the battery upper limit temperature reduction road range, the battery upper limit temperature is set at the special value by being switched from the default value. When the vehicle completes running the battery upper limit temperature reduction road range and starts running the schedule effect road range, the battery upper limit temperature is returned to the default value from the special value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tadashi Sakai, Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno
  • Patent number: 8405345
    Abstract: A site registering device that registers a site allowing charging where a vehicle battery can be charged, the device including: a position acquisition unit that acquires position information on a charging site where charging of the battery has been conducted; and a registering unit that specifies, on the basis of an actual charging result in the charging site, a category to which the charging site belongs among a plurality of categories, associates the charging site with the specified category and the position information, and registers the thus associated charging site as the site allowing charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2013
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation, Aisin AW Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Suganuma, Mamoru Kuraishi, Kazunao Yamada, Takashi Naitou, Toshiaki Niwa, Fumiharu Ogawa, Masatoshi Takahara
  • Patent number: 8370012
    Abstract: In a hybrid vehicle, an ECU collects data of (i) an amount of acquisition electrical power acquired when regeneratively charging a battery and (ii) an amount of requirement electrical power required for operating a motor, for every road section in association with a travel of the vehicle, and records the collected data in a storage device. Thereafter, when a travel course the vehicle is going to travel includes a road section where the amount of acquisition electrical power is greater than an acquisition-related threshold value or a road section where the amount of requirement electrical power is greater than a requirement-related threshold value, a re-plan of a control schedule for the engine and the motor is executed. In contrast, when the travel course does not include such a road section, a re-plan of the control schedule is prohibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazunao Yamada, Yusuke Mizuno, Tadashi Sakai
  • Patent number: 8370028
    Abstract: A GPS sensor senses a current position of a vehicle. A map database stores map data. A controller obtains road information of a road ahead of the vehicle from the map data based on the sensed current position of the vehicle. Then, the controller measures a distance from the vehicle to a predetermined object, which serves as a sensing subject, on the road when the obtained road information is predetermined road information. Then, the controller outputs the measured distance as control information of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Kazunao Yamada
  • Patent number: 8332138
    Abstract: A road information acquisition device includes: a surface elevation acquisition unit that obtains a surface elevation; a road information acquisition unit that calculates first road information relating to a travel route to be traveled by a host vehicle on the basis of the surface elevation; and a structure determination unit that determines whether or not a structure exists on the travel route, wherein, when the structure determination unit determines that the structure exists on the travel route, the road information acquisition unit obtains second road information, which is different from the first road information, relating to a point at which the structure exists on the travel route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 11, 2012
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation, Aisin AW Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideaki Suganuma, Mamoru Kuraishi, Kazunao Yamada, Takashi Naitou, Toshiaki Niwa, Masatoshi Takahara, Fumiharu Ogawa
  • Patent number: 8290648
    Abstract: After a final estimated route for a hybrid vehicle is specified, a navigation ECU determines a start point of a scheduled path, which a charging schedule is to be created for. The start point corresponds to a position at a travel distance, which is equivalent to a distance traveled from a present position of the hybrid vehicle along the estimated route for a time period required for creating a charging schedule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2012
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Kazunao Yamada