Patents by Inventor Koji ANRAKU

Koji ANRAKU 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).

  • Publication number: 20240149940
    Abstract: A steering control device includes a processor configured to execute a reaction force control process. The reaction force control process includes a reaction force torque calculation process of calculating a reaction force torque operation amount. The reaction force torque calculation process includes a deviation compensation calculation process of calculating a deviation-compensating component. The deviation compensation calculation process includes a process of calculating a positional deviation, a process of calculating the deviation-compensating component based on the positional deviation, and a process of switching among a plurality of calculation states for calculating the deviation-compensating component. The process of switching among the calculation states is a process of permitting switching among the calculation states on the condition that a permission condition is met.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 25, 2023
    Publication date: May 9, 2024
    Applicants: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi MATSUDA, Isao NAMIKAWA, Koji ANRAKU, Tomoyuki IIDA, Kenji SHIBATA
  • Publication number: 20230339537
    Abstract: A steering control device is configured to control a steering device that changes a transmission ratio between an operation angle of an operation member and a steering angle of a steerable wheel. The steering control device includes: communication lines for transmitting vehicle speed information; and calculators communicably connected to each other and individually connected to the communication lines. Each calculator calculates the transmission ratio based on the vehicle speed information received via a corresponding one of the communication lines and determines whether the received vehicle speed information is valid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 21, 2023
    Publication date: October 26, 2023
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yosuke YAMASHITA, Masaharu YAMASHITA, Kenji SHIBATA, Koichi NISHIMURA, Takahito ISHINO, Toru TAKASHIMA, Shintaro TAKAYAMA, Yuji FUJITA, Koji ANRAKU, Kenichi ABE
  • Patent number: 11787465
    Abstract: A steering control apparatus is configured to control a steering system having a structure in which a power transmission path between a steering mechanism and a steering operation mechanism including a motor configured to generate a motor torque is separated. The steering control apparatus includes a controller configured to control driving of the motor. The controller detects an abnormality of the steering operation mechanism when a value indicating a variation in the motor torque is a value indicating a state in which a steering operation shaft is presumed to be immovable though the motor torque is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koji Anraku, Isao Namikawa, Takuji Yoshida, Masahide Nitano
  • Patent number: 11702128
    Abstract: A steering device includes: a mechanism configured to turn turning wheels of a vehicle; a motor configured to generate drive force that is applied to the mechanism; and a controller configured to control the motor in accordance with a steering state. The controller includes a determination circuit configured to determine whether or not one of the turning wheels is in contact with an obstacle based on at least a value of electric current that is supplied to the motor and a vehicle speed. The controller is configured to, when one of the turning wheels is in contact with the obstacle, notify a driver that one of the turning wheels is in contact with the obstacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2023
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Isao Namikawa, Koji Anraku, Yusuke Kakimoto, Yoshio Kudo
  • Patent number: 11661107
    Abstract: A steering control device includes control circuitry configured to perform synchronization control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki Uchino, Yusuke Kakimoto, Koji Anraku, Isao Namikawa, Kenji Shibata, Takafumi Sato
  • Patent number: 11608110
    Abstract: A steering system to steer wheels by a movement of a steering shaft, including: the steering shaft; an electric motor; a converter configured to convert a rotational motion of the motor into the movement of the steering shaft; a motor rotation angle obtainer configured to obtain a motor rotation angle from a zero point position; a movement-amount-related-amount obtainer configured to obtain a movement-amount-related amount that is a movement amount of the steering shaft from a neutral position or a physical amount in a one-to-one correspondence with the movement amount; and a controller including a malfunction detector configured to detect a presence or absence of a malfunction of the converter in a mode that differs depending on a temperature state of the steering system, based on the motor rotation angle from the zero point position obtained by the motor rotation angle obtainer and the movement-amount-related amount obtained by the movement-amount-related-amount obtainer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Takuji Yoshida, Masahide Nitano, Isao Namikawa, Koji Anraku
  • Publication number: 20230063519
    Abstract: A steer-by-wire steering system for a vehicle, comprising: an operation member operable by a vehicle driver; an urging device configured to generate an urging force to urge the operation member; a steering device configured to steer a wheel; and a controller configured to control the urging device and the steering device. In a normal operation, the controller enables the wheel to be steered in accordance with an operation of the operation member and causes the urging force to function as an operation reaction force against the operation of the operation member. In an automatic steering operation in which the wheel is steered without depending on the operation of the operation member, the controller enables the operation member to be moved in accordance with steering of the wheel by the urging force and causes at least part of the urging force generated in the normal operation not to be generated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Kosuke AKATSUKA, Yoshio Kudo, Takahito Ishino, Kenji Yoshida, Koji Anraku
  • Publication number: 20230033288
    Abstract: A steering control device includes a base axial force calculator, a limiting axial force calculator, and a final axial force calculator. The limiting axial force calculator includes a steering angle holder, a reference angle calculator, a final difference calculator, and an axial force calculator. The steering angle holder is configured to hold a steering angle at the time of limiting a turning operation of the turning wheels when the turning operation is limited. The reference angle calculator is configured to calculate a reference angle. The final difference calculator is configured to calculate a final difference which is a final difference between the reference angle and the current steering angle. The axial force calculator is configured to calculate a limiting axial force based on a value of the final difference.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2022
    Publication date: February 2, 2023
    Applicants: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi MATSUDA, Isao NAMIKAWA, Koji ANRAKU, Tomoyuki IIDA, Masaharu YAMASHITA, Kenji SHIBATA
  • Publication number: 20220410967
    Abstract: A vehicle control system controls a vehicle of a steer-by-wire type. The vehicle control system is configured to execute: driving assist control that assists driving of the vehicle; and conjunction reaction force control that applies a steering reaction force component to a steering wheel in conjunction with turning of the vehicle caused by the driving assist control. A driving assist direction is a direction of the turning of the vehicle caused by the driving assist control. The conjunction reaction force control includes feedforward reaction force control that moves the steering wheel in a same direction as the driving assist direction without depending on a steering angle of the steering wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2022
    Publication date: December 29, 2022
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke AKATSUKA, Yoshio KUDO, Koji ANRAKU
  • Patent number: 11485404
    Abstract: In a controller for a steering device, the steering device includes a structure where motive power transmission between a steering unit and a turning unit is separated. The controller includes a control circuit configured to control operation of a steering-side motor that is provided in the steering unit to give steering reaction force that is force against the steering input into the steering unit. In a case where turning of the turning wheels to one direction is restricted, the control circuit is configured to calculate restriction reaction force for restricting steering that is to turn the turning wheels to the one direction. The control circuit is configured to calculate the restriction reaction force based on information on the steering unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Koji Anraku, Isao Namikawa, Yusuke Kakimoto, Yoshio Kudo, Tetsuya Morino
  • Publication number: 20220332364
    Abstract: In a reaction torque calculation process, an electronic control unit included in a steer-by-wire steering device is configured to calculate a distributed axial force obtained by distributing an angle axial force and an electric current axial force based on a final distribution ratio. The reaction torque calculation process includes at least one of a first abnormal-time process and a second abnormal-time process. The first abnormal-time process is executed to hold, for calculation of the angle axial force, a vehicle speed signal value immediately before the vehicle speed signal becomes abnormal. The second abnormal-time process is executed to hold, for calculation of a normal-time distribution ratio, a vehicle speed signal value immediately before the vehicle speed signal becomes abnormal or hold a value of the normal-time distribution ratio immediately before the vehicle speed signal becomes abnormal, and then gradually change the final distribution ratio to an abnormal-time distribution ratio.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Amane YAJIMA, Yoshio KUDO, Koji ANRAKU, Isao NAMIKAWA, Kenji YOSHIDA
  • Publication number: 20220332367
    Abstract: A vehicle control system controls a steer-by-wire type vehicle. The vehicle control system executes: reaction force control that applies a steering reaction force to a steering wheel; and driving assist control that assists driving of the vehicle. The reaction force control includes road information transmission control that applies a steering reaction force component corresponding to an oscillation caused by road surface unevenness to the steering wheel. The vehicle control system deactivates the road information transmission control when a deactivation condition is satisfied. The deactivation condition is that the driving assist control is in operation and a steering parameter reflecting a driver's steering intention is less than a threshold. As another example, the deactivation condition is that the driving assist control that vibrates the steering wheel for notifying the driver of a possibility of a lane departure is in operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2022
    Publication date: October 20, 2022
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke AKATSUKA, Yoshio Kudo, Isao Namikawa, Takashi Kodera, Koji Anraku, Junya Miyake
  • Patent number: 11400970
    Abstract: A steering system includes a mechanism configured to turn a steer wheel of a vehicle, a motor configured to generate driving force that is applied to the mechanism, and a controller configured to control the motor according to a steering status. The controller includes a limiting control circuit configured to limit a current that is supplied to the motor to a limiting value, a determining circuit configured to determine whether the steer wheel is in contact with an obstacle by using at least a comparison between a value of the current that is supplied to the motor and a threshold, and a threshold computing circuit configured to compute the threshold that is used by the determining circuit, the threshold computing circuit being configured to compute a value less than the limiting value according to the limiting value as the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2022
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Isao Namikawa, Koji Anraku, Yusuke Kakimoto, Yoshio Kudo
  • Publication number: 20220153346
    Abstract: An abnormality detection device includes a processing circuit configured to perform an abnormality detecting process. The abnormality detecting process includes a first state quantity acquiring process, a second state quantity acquiring process, a difference calculating process of calculating a difference between a first state quantity and a second state quantity, and a determination process of comparing an absolute value of the difference with a difference threshold value. The abnormality detecting process is a process of detecting an abnormality of a turning unit when the absolute value of the difference is greater than the difference threshold value, and the processing circuit is configured not to perform the determination process when an absolute value of an actual current value is greater than a current threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2021
    Publication date: May 19, 2022
    Applicant: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koji ANRAKU, Isao NAMIKAWA, Takuji YOSHIDA
  • Patent number: 11325642
    Abstract: A steering apparatus includes: a mechanism that turns a turning wheel; a first motor that generates a driving force that is given to the mechanism; and a control device. The control device includes: a first computation circuit that computes a first limiting value to which an electric current to be supplied to the first motor is limited in a particular situation; a determination circuit that determines whether the turning wheel is in touch with an obstacle; a second computation circuit that computes a second limiting value to which the electric current to be supplied to the first motor is limited when the determination circuit determines that the turning wheel is in touch with the obstacle; and a third computation circuit that computes the threshold to be used by the determination circuit, based on a smaller limiting value of the first limiting value and the second limiting value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao Namikawa, Koji Anraku, Yusuke Kakimoto
  • Patent number: 11292510
    Abstract: A steering control device includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit controls operation of a steering-side motor so as to apply a steering reaction force that resists a steering operation input to the steering wheel. The electronic control unit computes an obstruction strike reaction force for regulating a steering operation that steers a steered wheel toward an obstruction. The electronic control unit generates determination information indicating that the steered wheel is struck by an obstruction. The determination information includes first determination information indicating that the left side of the steered wheel is struck by an obstruction, and second determination information indicating that the right side of the steered wheel is struck by an obstruction. The electronic control unit sets a direction in which the obstruction strike reaction force is applied based on the generated determination information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignees: JTKEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Koji Anraku, Isao Namikawa, Yusuke Kakimoto, Yoshio Kudo
  • Publication number: 20220081027
    Abstract: A steering system to steer wheels by a movement of a steering shaft, including: the steering shaft; an electric motor; a converter configured to convert a rotational motion of the motor into the movement of the steering shaft; a motor rotation angle obtainer configured to obtain a motor rotation angle from a zero point position; a movement-amount-related-amount obtainer configured to obtain a movement-amount-related amount that is a movement amount of the steering shaft from a neutral position or a physical amount in a one-to-one correspondence with the movement amount; and a controller including a malfunction detector configured to detect a presence or absence of a malfunction of the converter in a mode that differs depending on a temperature state of the steering system, based on the motor rotation angle from the zero point position obtained by the motor rotation angle obtainer and the movement-amount-related amount obtained by the movement-amount-related-amount obtainer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 8, 2021
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Jtekt Corporation
    Inventors: Takuji Yoshida, Masahide Nitano, Isao Namikawa, Koji Anraku
  • Publication number: 20210309290
    Abstract: A steering control device includes control circuitry configured to perform synchronization control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Publication date: October 7, 2021
    Applicant: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshiyuki UCHINO, Yusuke KAKIMOTO, Koji ANRAKU, Isao NAMIKAWA, Kenji SHIBATA, Takafumi SATO
  • Publication number: 20210269086
    Abstract: A steering control apparatus is configured to control a steering system having a structure in which a power transmission path between a steering mechanism and a steering operation mechanism including a motor configured to generate a motor torque is separated. The steering control apparatus includes a controller configured to control driving of the motor. The controller detects an abnormality of the steering operation mechanism when a value indicating a variation in the motor torque is a value indicating a state in which a steering operation shaft is presumed to be immovable though the motor torque is applied.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Applicant: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koji ANRAKU, Isao NAMIKAWA, Takuji YOSHIDA, Masahide NITANO
  • Publication number: 20200361517
    Abstract: A control device is configured to control a reaction motor based on a command value that is computed depending on a steering state. The control device includes a first computation circuit configured to compute a first shaft force, a second computation circuit configured to compute a second shaft force, and a third computation circuit configured to set a limit value that limits a variation range of the first shaft. The third computation circuit is configured to compute a final shaft force using the set limit value, through execution of a limiting process by which the first shaft force is limited, the final shaft force being reflected in the command value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 28, 2020
    Publication date: November 19, 2020
    Applicant: JTEKT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao NAMIKAWA, Koji ANRAKU