Patents by Inventor Kazuya Asaoka

Kazuya Asaoka 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: 10239440
    Abstract: An illumination apparatus for a vehicle includes a projector configured to project an image of visible light; an obstacle detection apparatus configured to detect an obstacle; and a processing apparatus configured to predict a travel area of the vehicle after a predetermined time or a predetermined distance of travel, project a first image with the projector in the predicted travel area upon no obstacle in the predicted travel area being detected by the obstacle detection apparatus, and project a second image, which is different from the first image, with the projector in the predicted travel area upon the obstacle in the predicted travel area being detected by the obstacle detection apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuya Asaoka
  • Patent number: 10189396
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp control device includes a headlamp that irradiates an area in front of a vehicle, a camera that captures an image of the area in front of the vehicle, a pedestrian detection portion configured to detect a pedestrian in front of the vehicle from an image captured by the camera, and a control portion configured to control the headlamp and cause the headlamp to irradiate the pedestrian so that a given-shaped part that is not irradiated is formed at a location of an eye of the pedestrian, or a given-shaped part irradiated by dimmed light is formed at the location of the eye of the pedestrian.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuya Asaoka, Shinichi Kojima, Kazunori Higuchi
  • Patent number: 10189402
    Abstract: An illumination apparatus for a vehicle includes a projector configured to project an image of visible light; and a processing apparatus configured to predict a travel area of the vehicle after a predetermined time or a predetermined distance of travel, and project an image in the predicted travel area with the projector for illumination of the travel area, the image being indicative of a travel state of the vehicle or a control state of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuya Asaoka
  • Patent number: 10131270
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp device includes headlamps, which are structured so as to be able to project or irradiate given patterns and given shapes without distortion on a given virtual surface in front of a vehicle from a left headlight and a right headlight, respectively, a camera that captures an image of the area in front of the vehicle, and a state detecting portion configured to detect distortion of the given patterns, which are projected or irradiated on an irradiated surface in front of the vehicle, relative to the given patterns projected or irradiated on the given virtual surface in front of the vehicle, based on the captured image, and also detect a state of the irradiated surface based on the distortion, and a correcting portion configured to correct a relative optical axis deviation between the left headlight and the right headlight.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuya Asaoka, Nobuyuki Shiraki, Shigeyoshi Hiratsuka, Shin-ichi Kojima, Toshihiko Tsukada, Keiichi Shimaoka, Kazunori Higuchi
  • Patent number: 10118534
    Abstract: An irradiation apparatus includes a shielded object detecting unit, an illumination setting unit, an irradiating device, and an illumination controlling unit. The shielded object detecting unit detects a shielded object. Glare is allowable to the shielded object at an upper limit of illumination brightness or less. A driver can visually recognize the shielded object at an lower limit of the illumination brightness or more. The illumination setting unit sets the illumination brightness based on the upper limit and the lower limit of the illumination brightness. The illumination controlling unit controls the irradiating device such that light is emitted in a predetermined irradiation pattern in which a first part of the shielded object is illuminated at the illumination brightness set by the illumination setting unit and a second part of the shielded object is illuminated at a higher illumination brightness than that of the first part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shin-ichi Kojima, Keiichi Shimaoka, Toshihiko Tsukada, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Patent number: 9815400
    Abstract: A headlight control device provided in a vehicle to perform headlight control and to control a distribution of light irradiated from a light source is provided. The headlight control device includes: a determination unit that determines a presence and an absence of an obstacle in front of the vehicle and determines a position of the obstacle; a setting unit that sets up an area covering the obstacle as an intensified illumination area when the determination unit determines the presence of the obstacle, wherein the intensified illumination area is an area to which the light from the light source is irradiated in a manner different than a peripheral area of the intensified illumination area; and a controller that controls the distribution of the light irradiated from the light source so that the intensified illumination area set up by the setting unit has an illuminated zone and a non-illuminated zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahito Nishii, Naohito Kato, Koichi Kato, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Patent number: 9783097
    Abstract: A headlight control device provided in a vehicle to perform headlight control and to control a distribution of light irradiated from a light source is provided. The headlight control device includes: a determination unit that determines a presence and an absence of an obstacle in front of the vehicle and determines a position of the obstacle; a setting unit that sets up an area covering the obstacle as an intensified illumination area when the determination unit determines the presence of the obstacle, wherein the intensified illumination area is an area to which the light from the light source is irradiated in a manner different than a peripheral area of the intensified illumination area; and a controller that controls the distribution of the light irradiated from the light source so that the intensified illumination area set up by the setting unit has an illuminated zone and a non-illuminated zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahito Nishii, Naohito Kato, Koichi Kato, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Patent number: 9744832
    Abstract: A light source detector detects, from a vehicle, a light source that exists outside the vehicle. A light reactive sheet is arranged in a planar form and is located in front of the driver driving the vehicle. The light reactive sheet changes color in response to light having a specific frequency. A light source position calculating unit calculates a light source position on the surface of the light reactive sheet based on output of the light source detector. A light emitter emits light having the specific frequency from the inside of the vehicle to the light reactive sheet based on the calculated light source position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuhiko Nakashima, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Patent number: 9732926
    Abstract: An illumination system includes: a light irradiation unit that projects light toward a predetermined illumination area; an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the illumination area; an object detecting unit that detects a shading object based on image information of the illumination area, acquired by the image acquisition unit; an information generating unit that generates the control information for setting each of the plurality of reflecting mirrors to an on state or an off state such that a plurality of irradiation patterns are alternately irradiated, each of the plurality of irradiation patterns having different arrangement of the dark pixels and the light pixels from each other; and an irradiation control unit that controls the light irradiation unit based on the generated control information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shigeyoshi Hiratsuka, Toshihiko Tsukada, Shin-ichi Kojima, Nobuyuki Shiraki, Keiichi Shimaoka, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Patent number: 9701237
    Abstract: An irradiation system includes: a light position detection unit that detects a light position of an oncoming vehicle from a captured image; a driver position calculation unit that calculates a position upward and shifted in a first direction by a first distance from the light position detected by the light position detection unit, as a driver position; a shaded area generation unit that generates a first area having vertices respectively set at the light position, the driver position and a position shifted in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, by a distance between a pair of lights in the predetermined vehicle from the driver position, as a shaded area; and an irradiation unit that irradiates an area ahead of the host vehicle while shading the shaded area generated by the shaded area generation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shigeyoshi Hiratsuka, Nobuyuki Shiraki, Keiichi Shimaoka, Kazunori Higuchi, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda
  • Publication number: 20170144584
    Abstract: An illumination apparatus for a vehicle includes a projector configured to project an image of visible light; an obstacle detection apparatus configured to detect an obstacle; and a processing apparatus configured to predict a travel area of the vehicle after a predetermined time or a predetermined distance of travel, project a first image with the projector in the predicted travel area upon no obstacle in the predicted travel area being detected by the obstacle detection apparatus, and project a second image, which is different from the first image, with the projector in the predicted travel area upon the obstacle in the predicted travel area being detected by the obstacle detection apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 28, 2015
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuya ASAOKA
  • Publication number: 20170129389
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp device includes headlamps, which are structured so as to be able to project or irradiate given patterns and given shapes without distortion on a given virtual surface in front of a vehicle from a left headlight and a right headlight, respectively, a camera that captures an image of the area in front of the vehicle, and a state detecting portion configured to detect distortion of the given patterns, which are projected or irradiated on an irradiated surface in front of the vehicle, relative to the given patterns projected or irradiated on the given virtual surface in front of the vehicle, based on the captured image, and also detect a state of the irradiated surface based on the distortion, and a correcting portion configured to correct a relative optical axis deviation between the left headlight and the right headlight.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Publication date: May 11, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuya ASAOKA, Nobuyuki SHIRAKI, Shigeyoshi HIRATSUKA, Shin-ichi KOJIMA, Toshihiko TSUKADA, Keiichi SHIMAOKA, Kazunori HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20170120801
    Abstract: A vehicle headlamp control device includes a headlamp that irradiates an area in front of a vehicle, a camera that captures an image of the area in font of the vehicle, a pedestrian detection portion configured to detect a pedestrian in front of the vehicle from an image captured by the camera, and a control portion configured to control the headlamp and cause the headlamp to irradiate the pedestrian so that a given-shaped part that is not irradiated is formed at a location of an eye of the pedestrian, or a given-shaped part irradiated by dimmed light is formed at the location of the eye of the pedestrian.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2015
    Publication date: May 4, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuya ASAOKA, Shinichi KOJIMA, Kazunori HIGUCHI
  • Publication number: 20170113604
    Abstract: An illumination apparatus for a vehicle includes a projector configured to project an image of visible light; and a processing apparatus configured to predict a travel area of the vehicle after a predetermined time or a predetermined distance of travel, and project an image in the predicted travel area with the projector for illumination of the travel area, the image being indicative of a travel state of the vehicle or a control state of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2015
    Publication date: April 27, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuya ASAOKA
  • Patent number: 9580007
    Abstract: A projection system includes: a position detecting section that detects the position of a target object located in front of a host vehicle; and a control section which, on the basis of the position of the target object detected by the position detecting section, controls a headlamp so as to project onto the position of the target object a projection pattern that moves in a direction corresponding to the direction of motion of a background at the position of the target object or a direction corresponding to the opposite direction of the direction of motion of the background.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Shiraki, Shigeyoshi Hiratsuka, Shinichi Kojima, Kazuya Asaoka, Kazuhiko Nakashima
  • Publication number: 20160368413
    Abstract: A headlight control device provided in a vehicle to perform headlight control and to control a distribution of light irradiated from a light source is provided. The headlight control device includes: a determination unit that determines a presence and an absence of an obstacle in front of the vehicle and determines a position of the obstacle; a setting unit that sets up an area covering the obstacle as an intensified illumination area when the determination unit determines the presence of the obstacle, wherein the intensified illumination area is an area to which the light from the light source is irradiated in a manner different than a peripheral area of the intensified illumination area; and a controller that controls the distribution of the light irradiated from the light source so that the intensified illumination area set up by the setting unit has an illuminated zone and a non-illuminated zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2015
    Publication date: December 22, 2016
    Inventors: Takahito NISHII, Naohito KATO, Koichi KATO, Kazuya ASAOKA, Sho MASUDA
  • Publication number: 20160229333
    Abstract: A projection system includes: a position detecting section that detects the position of a target object located in front of a host vehicle; and a control section which, on the basis of the position of the target object detected by the position detecting section, controls a headlamp so as to project onto the position of the target object a projection pattern that moves in a direction corresponding to the direction of motion of a background at the position of the target object or a direction corresponding to the opposite direction of the direction of motion of the background.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Publication date: August 11, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuyuki SHIRAKI, Shigeyoshi HIRATSUKA, Shinichi KOJIMA, Kazuya ASAOKA, Kazuhiko NAKASHIMA
  • Publication number: 20160159206
    Abstract: A light source detector detects, from a vehicle, a light source that exists outside the vehicle. A light reactive sheet is arranged in a planar form and is located in front of the driver driving the vehicle. The light reactive sheet changes color in response to light having a specific frequency. A light source position calculating unit calculates a light source position on the surface of the light reactive sheet based on output of the light source detector. A light emitter emits light having the specific frequency from the inside of the vehicle to the light reactive sheet based on the calculated light source position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Publication date: June 9, 2016
    Inventors: Kazuhiko NAKASHIMA, Kazuya ASAOKA, Sho MASUDA
  • Publication number: 20160090023
    Abstract: An information display device for displaying information that allows an attention target to be visually recognized includes an image generation unit (1724) that identifies an attention target and generates a shadow image with a position of the target as a base point; and a light driving unit (180) that projects the shadow image when a light illuminates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuya ASAOKA
  • Publication number: 20160039331
    Abstract: An irradiation system includes: a light position detection unit that detects a light position of an oncoming vehicle from a captured image; a driver position calculation unit that calculates a position upward and shifted in a first direction by a first distance from the light position detected by the light position detection unit, as a driver position; a shaded area generation unit that generates a first area having vertices respectively set at the light position, the driver position and a position shifted in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, by a distance between a pair of lights in the predetermined vehicle from the driver position, as a shaded area; and an irradiation unit that irradiates an area ahead of the host vehicle while shading the shaded area generated by the shaded area generation unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2015
    Publication date: February 11, 2016
    Inventors: Shigeyoshi Hiratsuka, Nobuyuki Shiraki, Keiichi Shimaoka, Kazunori Higuchi, Kazuya Asaoka, Sho Masuda