Patents by Inventor Koichi NAKADATE

Koichi NAKADATE 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: 8847492
    Abstract: A lighting control device for a headlamp of a vehicle includes a light-blocking range setting unit that sets a light-blocking range in a light distribution pattern in accordance with a position of a target vehicle that is present ahead of the vehicle, based on an image acquired by capturing a front view from the vehicle by a camera, and a moving direction detection unit that detects a moving direction of the target vehicle in a horizontal direction based on the image. In addition, a light-blocking range correction unit corrects the light-blocking range based on the moving direction detected by the moving direction detection unit, wherein the light-blocking range correction unit corrects the light-blocking range so that at least a moving direction side of the light-blocking range is expanded, and a headlamp control unit that drives the headlamp based on the light-blocking range corrected by the light-blocking range correction unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: Stanley Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Koichi Nakadate
  • Patent number: 8498779
    Abstract: In controlling a vehicle headlight that has the ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) function, low beams and high beams are appropriately controlled even when a vehicle ahead is making a turn. A vehicle headlight control device detects a turning motion in accordance with a change in an open angle of the vehicle ahead that can be obtained by monitoring lights of the vehicle ahead, and controls the headlight such that, before switched to high beams, the headlights continue a low-beam illumination for a prescribed delay time with respect to an area where the turning motion was detected immediately before the vehicle ahead went to a non-detected state. The vehicle headlight control device may be configured to determine the delay time based on an own vehicle speed and an open angle immediately before occurrence of the non-detected state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2013
    Assignee: Stanley Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Koichi Nakadate
  • Publication number: 20130049587
    Abstract: To avoid glaring a front vehicle that appears in a curved road ahead of a subject vehicle. A lighting control device for a headlamp of a vehicle includes: a lamp determining unit determining whether there is one light emitted from a lamp of a target vehicle, based on an image acquired by capturing the front of the vehicle by a camera; a light-blocking range setting unit setting a light-blocking range in accordance with the positions of the lamp based on the image; a curved road detection unit detecting a direction of a curved road, in cases where the curved road is present ahead of the vehicle; a light-blocking range correction unit providing an amount of correction to the light-blocking range according to the detected direction of the curved road; and a headlamp control unit driving the headlamp based on the corrected light-blocking range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2012
    Publication date: February 28, 2013
    Applicant: STANLEY ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Koichi NAKADATE
  • Publication number: 20120226412
    Abstract: In controlling a vehicle headlight that has the ADB (Adaptive Driving Beam) function, low beams and high beams are appropriately controlled even when a vehicle ahead is making a turn. A vehicle headlight control device detects a turning motion in accordance with a change in an open angle of the vehicle ahead that can be obtained by monitoring lights of the vehicle ahead, and controls the headlight such that, before switched to high beams, the headlights continue a low-beam illumination for a prescribed delay time with respect to an area where the turning motion was detected immediately before the vehicle ahead went to a non-detected state. The vehicle headlight control device may be configured to determine the delay time based on an own vehicle speed and an open angle immediately before occurrence of the non-detected state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Publication date: September 6, 2012
    Applicant: STANLEY ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Koichi NAKADATE