Patents by Inventor Keiichi Tomii

Keiichi Tomii 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: 10713511
    Abstract: A recognition timing estimation device configured to estimate a timing of a driver's recognizing action related to a subsequent travel segment of a plurality of travel segments that constitute a traveling course of a vehicle, is provided. The device includes a processor configured to execute a traveling information acquiring module to acquire information related to a driving operation of a driver or the traveling course, a travel segment estimating module to estimate a pause between the travel segments based on the information acquired by the traveling information acquiring module, an eye detecting module to detect a behavior of a driver's eye, and a recognition timing estimating module to estimate the timing of the driver's recognizing action based on a temporal relationship between the pause between the travel segments estimated by the travel segment estimating module and the behavior of the eye detected by the eye detecting module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Yasutaka Kajiwara, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Patent number: 10676104
    Abstract: A driving assist device is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute an inference module to infer that a timing of a line-of-sight movement or blink detected by a camera near a predicted timing is a timing of a recognizing action of a driver for a subsequent travel segment of a plurality of travel segments that constitute a traveling course of a vehicle, an information providing module to provide the driver with assisting information for the subsequent travel segment before the timing of the recognizing action inferred by the inference module, and a providing timing changing module to change a providing timing of the assisting information according to a quantity of the assisting information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Yasutaka Kajiwara, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Patent number: 10613531
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a control unit configured to perform a drive assistance control based on a balance state between a driver's required driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance which is provided to the driver by the vehicle, and a driver's current driving ability. The control unit includes a processor configured to execute a balance determining module to determine the balance state between the required driving ability and the current driving ability based on a physical quantity related to a driving operation by the driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Patent number: 10562534
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's required driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to perform increase processing in which the required driving ability is increased when the current driving ability is higher than the required driving ability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Patent number: 10558215
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to reduce the required driving ability by performing reduction processing in which comprehension of the traffic environment by the driver is facilitated when the current driving ability is lower than the required driving ability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Patent number: 10343694
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to perform reduction processing in which the required driving ability is reduced when the current driving ability is lower than the required driving ability, the required driving ability being reduced less in a case where the current driving ability is lower than a given threshold compared to a case where the current driving ability is equal to or higher than the given threshold, even when a difference between the required driving ability and the current driving ability is constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20190161093
    Abstract: A driving assist device is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute an inference module to infer that a timing of a line-of-sight movement or blink detected by a camera near a predicted timing is a timing of a recognizing action of a driver for a subsequent travel segment of a plurality of travel segments that constitute a traveling course of a vehicle, an information providing module to provide the driver with assisting information for the subsequent travel segment before the timing of the recognizing action inferred by the inference module, and a providing timing changing module to change a providing timing of the assisting information according to a quantity of the assisting information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 20, 2018
    Publication date: May 30, 2019
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Yasutaka Kajiwara, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20190147276
    Abstract: A recognition timing estimation device configured to estimate a timing of a driver's recognizing action related to a subsequent travel segment of a plurality of travel segments that constitute a traveling course of a vehicle, is provided. The device includes a processor configured to execute a traveling information acquiring module to acquire information related to a driving operation of a driver or the traveling course, a travel segment estimating module to estimate a pause between the travel segments based on the information acquired by the traveling information acquiring module, an eye detecting module to detect a behavior of a driver's eye, and a recognition timing estimating module to estimate the timing of the driver's recognizing action based on a temporal relationship between the pause between the travel segments estimated by the travel segment estimating module and the behavior of the eye detected by the eye detecting module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2018
    Publication date: May 16, 2019
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Yasutaka Kajiwara, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20180281808
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's required driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to perform increase processing in which the required driving ability is increased when the current driving ability is higher than the required driving ability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20180281807
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to perform reduction processing in which the required driving ability is reduced when the current driving ability is lower than the required driving ability, the required driving ability being reduced less in a case where the current driving ability is lower than a given threshold compared to a case where the current driving ability is equal to or higher than the given threshold, even when a difference between the required driving ability and the current driving ability is constant.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20180284766
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a processor configured to execute a required driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance provided to the driver by the vehicle, a current driving ability estimating module to estimate a driver's current driving ability, and a changing module to reduce the required driving ability by performing reduction processing in which comprehension of the traffic environment by the driver is facilitated when the current driving ability is lower than the required driving ability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 13, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka
  • Publication number: 20180284767
    Abstract: A vehicle drive assistance system is provided, which includes a control unit configured to perform a drive assistance control based on a balance state between a driver's required driving ability required for driving a vehicle based on a traffic environment around the vehicle and drive assistance which is provided to the driver by the vehicle, and a driver's current driving ability. The control unit includes a processor configured to execute a balance determining module to determine the balance state between the required driving ability and the current driving ability based on a physical quantity related to a driving operation by the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Publication date: October 4, 2018
    Inventors: Yuka Minegishi, Keiichi Tomii, Takahiro Tochioka