Patents by Inventor Kazunori Kagawa

Kazunori Kagawa 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: 9150221
    Abstract: An ECU of a vehicle control device selects a system-mounted vehicle traveling ahead of a system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle and controls the inter-vehicle distance between the selected system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle, or the like to control the traffic volume of a road in the vicinity of the system-mounted vehicles, such that traffic jams can be prevented effectively as compared with a case where the system-mounted vehicle performs travel control independently.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoh Sato, Yoshinori Kadowaki, Kazunori Kagawa
  • Patent number: 8958986
    Abstract: A parking assistance apparatus includes a display unit that displays an image of a scene behind a host vehicle. At least when the host vehicle moves forward or when the host vehicle is stopped, the display unit displays an indication including a plurality of kinds of trajectories along which the host vehicle is able to back up from a point at which the host vehicle is currently positioned, in a manner such that the indication is superimposed on the image of the scene behind the host vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Akihisa Yokoyama, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Junichi Wakita, Chika Yoshioka, Yu Hiei, Ryuji Okamura
  • Patent number: 8903567
    Abstract: In a vehicle remote operating system remotely operating a host vehicle VM from a portable terminal 200, a main control unit 112 of an ECU 110 of an in-vehicle device 100 determines an dispatch position of the host vehicle VM on the basis of a parking position of the host vehicle VM and a position of a user U who intends to board the host vehicle VM. Due to this, it becomes possible to dispatch the host vehicle VM according to the parking position of the host vehicle VM and the position of the user U, and convenience is improved in dispatch operation and boarding of the host vehicle VM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Chika Morimoto, Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Akihisa Yokoyama, Junichi Wakita
  • Patent number: 8868255
    Abstract: In a vehicle remote operating system remotely operating a host vehicle VM from a portable terminal 200, a main control unit 112 of an ECU 110 of an in-vehicle device 100 determines an dispatch position of the host vehicle VM on the basis of a parking position of the host vehicle VM and a position of a user U who intends to board the host vehicle VM. Due to this, it becomes possible to dispatch the host vehicle VM according to the parking position of the host vehicle VM and the position of the user U, and convenience is improved in dispatch operation and boarding of the host vehicle VM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Chika Yoshioka, Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Akihisa Yokoyama, Junichi Wakita
  • Patent number: 8781707
    Abstract: The amount of traffic on the road is greatly affected by both an inter-vehicle distance and a vehicle speed. When the amount of traffic increases and is more than a threshold value, an ECU 20 and an ACC 30 control the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed such that the amount of traffic is a predetermined value equal to or more than the threshold value. In this way, it is possible to effectively suppress traffic congestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Masayoshi Hoshino
  • Patent number: 8768597
    Abstract: A navigation system acquired information relating to a point, such as a sag where a decrease in vehicle speed is induced in front of a system-mounted vehicle. When the system-mounted vehicle has reached a predetermined distance from the sag concerning the information acquired by the navigation system or when a predetermined time has come before reaching the sag, an ECU and an ACC controls the traveling of the system-mounted vehicle such that the inter-vehicle distance from an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle increases. Therefore, even when a vehicle control device is not mounted in an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in the speed of the ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, thereby more effectively suppressing congestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazunori Kagawa
  • Patent number: 8725412
    Abstract: A positioning device includes a map data storing unit configured to store map data; autonomous sensors configured to detect behavior information of a moving object; an inertial positioning unit configured to detect an estimated position of the moving object by applying the behavior information detected by the autonomous sensors to positioning results obtained by an electronic navigation positioning unit such as a GPS; a planimetric feature detecting unit configured to detect a planimetric feature located around a road; a planimetric feature position identifying unit configured to identify a position of the planimetric feature; a planimetric feature reference positioning unit configured to estimate a planimetric feature estimated position of the moving object by using the position of the planimetric feature as a reference; and a position estimating unit configured to estimate a position of the moving object by applying the estimated position and the planimetric feature estimated position to a Kalman filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 13, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norimasa Kobori, Kazunori Kagawa
  • Patent number: 8676486
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicular information processing device which performs a predetermined process of a host vehicle on the basis of reference positional information acquired from positional information of another vehicle within a predetermined positional range. When there are a plurality of other vehicles within a predetermined positional range, representative positional information is acquired on the basis of a plurality of pieces of positional information obtained from the plurality of other vehicles, and the predetermined process is performed with the acquired representative positional information as the reference positional information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Kadowaki, Yoh Sato, Kazunori Kagawa
  • Publication number: 20140012480
    Abstract: The amount of traffic on the road is greatly affected by both an inter-vehicle distance and a vehicle speed. When the amount of traffic increases and is more than a threshold value, an ECU 20 and an ACC 30 control the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed such that the amount of traffic is a predetermined value equal to or more than the threshold value. In this way, it is possible to effectively suppress traffic congestion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2013
    Publication date: January 9, 2014
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazunori KAGAWA, Masayoshi Hoshino
  • Patent number: 8593340
    Abstract: The inter-mobile body carrier phase positioning device according to the invention includes: a first observation data acquisition means that acquires observation data concerning a phase accumulation value observed in a first mobile body; a second observation data acquisition means that acquires observation data concerning a phase accumulation value observed in a second mobile body; a satellite pair determination means that determines pairs of satellites used for carrier phase positioning; and a carrier phase positioning means that takes, between each of the pairs of the satellites determined by the satellite pair determination means, a single or double difference between the observation data acquired by the first observation data acquisition means and the observation data acquired by the second observation data acquisition means, and determines relative positional relation between the first mobile body and the second mobile body by carrier phase positioning using the single or double difference of the observat
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Tajima, Kazunori Kagawa, Masafumi Uchihara
  • Publication number: 20130289801
    Abstract: In a vehicle remote operating system remotely operating a host vehicle VM from a portable terminal 200, a main control unit 112 of an ECU 110 of an in-vehicle device 100 determines an dispatch position of the host vehicle VM on the basis of a parking position of the host vehicle VM and a position of a user U who intends to board the host vehicle VM. Due to this, it becomes possible to dispatch the host vehicle VM according to the parking position of the host vehicle VM and the position of the user U, and convenience is improved in dispatch operation and boarding of the host vehicle VM.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Publication date: October 31, 2013
    Applicant: TOYODA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Chika Yoshioka, Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Akihisa Yokoyama, Junichi Wakita
  • Patent number: 8532159
    Abstract: A transmitter has a portion that sets a parameter about the transmitter itself based on a parameter made to correspond to a condition for selecting a receiver with which the transmitter communicate with, a portion that generates a spread code based on the set parameter, and a sending portion that spreads transmit-data to form a spread signal by the generated spread code, and that sends the spread signal. The receiver has a portion that receives the signal transmitted by the transmitter, a portion that sets a parameter about the receiver itself based on the parameter made to correspond to the condition, a portion that generates a despread code based on the set parameter, a portion that performs a correlation computation of the received signal and the generated despread code, and a portion that selects a transmitter with which the receiver communicates, based on a result of the correlation computation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Norimasa Kobori, Yukinori Fujita
  • Patent number: 8510027
    Abstract: A vehicle traveling position judging method of the present invention is a vehicle traveling position judging method for judging the traveling position of a preceding vehicle, and includes: a relative position information acquisition step of acquiring the relative position information of the preceding vehicle and a host vehicle at a predetermined point in time; a host vehicle traveling trajectory information acquisition step of acquiring traveling trajectory information of the host vehicle after the predetermined point in time; and a preceding vehicle position judging step of judging a traveling position of the preceding vehicle on the basis of the relative position information and the traveling trajectory information of the host vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Tajima, Kazunori Kagawa
  • Publication number: 20130173148
    Abstract: A parking assistance apparatus includes a display unit that displays an image of a scene behind a host vehicle. At least when the host vehicle moves forward or when the host vehicle is stopped, the display unit displays an indication including a plurality of kinds of trajectories along which the host vehicle is able to back up from a point at which the host vehicle is currently positioned, in a manner such that the indication is superimposed on the image of the scene behind the host vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2011
    Publication date: July 4, 2013
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Akihisa Yokoyama, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Junichi Wakita, Chika Yoshioka, Yu Hiei, Ryuji Okamura
  • Patent number: 8423289
    Abstract: An inter-moving body interferometric positioning system for carrying out positioning in coordination with three or more moving bodies that can mutually communicate, including: a reference vehicle decision unit for deciding on a single moving body to function as a reference vehicle from among three or more moving bodies, and a positioning unit for interferometrically determining respective relative positions of other moving bodies relative to the reference moving body that is to function as a reference vehicle decided on by the reference moving body decision unit using satellite wave monitoring data monitored in each of the three or more moving bodies. This inter-moving body interferometric positioning system specifies relative positions among the other moving bodies using positioning results of the positioning unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Masafumi Uchihara, Yasuhiro Tajima
  • Publication number: 20130024049
    Abstract: In a vehicle remote operating system remotely operating a host vehicle VM from a portable terminal 200, a main control unit 112 of an ECU 110 of an in-vehicle device 100 determines an dispatch position of the host vehicle VM on the basis of a parking position of the host vehicle VM and a position of a user U who intends to board the host vehicle VM. Due to this, it becomes possible to dispatch the host vehicle VM according to the parking position of the host vehicle VM and the position of the user U, and convenience is improved in dispatch operation and boarding of the host vehicle VM.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2010
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Inventors: Chika Yoshioka, Kazunori Kagawa, Yuka Sobue, Satoru Niwa, Shin Tanaka, Kazuhiro Morimoto, Akihisa Yokoyama, Junichi Wakita
  • Patent number: 8259009
    Abstract: In a case in which three or more movable objects, each of those detecting the relative position with respect to another movable object, are able to communicate with each other: a reference movable object obtains observation data and transmits the observation data to non-reference movable objects; one non-reference movable object calculates the relative position with respect to the reference movable object by performing interferometric positioning using the observation data obtained by the observation data obtaining means and data including observation data received from the reference movable object, and also transmits data including an integer bias calculated as interferometric positioning results to another non-reference movable object and receives reliability determination results regarding the interferometric positioning; and the another non-reference movable object receives data including the integer bias from the one non-reference movable object and determines the reliability of the interferometric posit
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 4, 2012
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Tajima, Kazunori Kagawa, Masafumi Uchihara
  • Patent number: 8244470
    Abstract: A navigation apparatus that detects a position of a movable body includes map data storage means for storing map data; an autonomous sensor that detects information on behavior of the movable body; inertial position determination means for detecting an inertial position-determination position of the movable body, by accumulating the information detected by the autonomous sensor on a result of position determination performed using radio navigation; characteristic position detection means for detecting a characteristic position that is the inertial position-determination position at which the movable body has exhibited a characteristic behavior; correction amount detection means for extracting positional information on a road position corresponding to the characteristic position, by referring to the map data storage means; and position correction means for correcting the characteristic position using a Kalman filter based on a condition that the characteristic position is close to the road position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Norimasa Kobori, Kazunori Kagawa
  • Publication number: 20120123660
    Abstract: The amount of traffic on the road is greatly affected by both an inter-vehicle distance and a vehicle speed. When the amount of traffic increases and is more than a threshold value, an ECU and an ACC control the inter-vehicle distance and the vehicle speed such that the amount of traffic is a predetermined value equal to or more than the threshold value. In this way, it is possible to effectively suppress traffic congestion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazunori Kagawa, Masayoshi Hoshino
  • Publication number: 20120123658
    Abstract: A navigation system acquired information relating to a point, such as a sag where a decrease in vehicle speed is induced in front of a system-mounted vehicle. When the system-mounted vehicle has reached a predetermined distance from the sag concerning the information acquired by the navigation system or when a predetermined time has come before reaching the sag, an ECU and an ACC controls the traveling of the system-mounted vehicle such that the inter-vehicle distance from an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle increases. Therefore, even when a vehicle control device is not mounted in an ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, it becomes possible to prevent a decrease in the speed of the ordinary vehicle behind the system-mounted vehicle, thereby more effectively suppressing congestion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2009
    Publication date: May 17, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazunori Kagawa