Patents by Inventor Masato Imai

Masato Imai 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: 10845809
    Abstract: Achieving safety and natural automatic driving needs a control platform using intelligence (such as learning function and artificial intelligence), but it is difficult to ensure operations suited for the behavior of a vehicle by the output of intelligence. An automatic driving device according to the present invention includes a control program for inputting outside information and vehicle information, and outputting a target control value for a vehicle. The control program has a first program for generating a first target control amount on the basis of a dynamically changing algorithm (which outputs operations based on learning function or artificial intelligence), and a second program for generating a second target control amount on the basis of a prescribed algorithm (which outputs operations according to traffic rules or driving morals).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2020
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Takao Kojima, Kentaro Yoshimura, Kiyoshi Yorozuya
  • Publication number: 20200346639
    Abstract: When there are a plurality of routes to one parking space, automatic parking cannot be performed on a route with short parking time. A route candidate generation unit 301 changes a reference vehicle speed and a route shape, and searches for a route from a parking start position to a parking target position. The route passage time calculation unit 302 calculates, for each route candidate, the time required to pass through the route based on the reference vehicle speed and the length of the route. A state switching time calculation unit 303 calculates, for each route candidate, the time required for switching between forward and backward movements of a vehicle, and the time required to change steering to a predetermined steering angle in a state where the vehicle is stopped. A route selection processing unit 305 selects a specific route, for example, a route with short parking time, from a generated routes based on route passage time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2019
    Publication date: November 5, 2020
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Naoyuki TASHIRO, Masato IMAI, Takashi TSUTSUI
  • Publication number: 20200189587
    Abstract: The present invention provides a vehicle control device which is capable of controlling a vehicle on the basis of inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to a preceding vehicle and a trailing vehicle. A vehicle control device 10 for controlling a vehicle C1 so as to maintain an inter-vehicle spacing with respect to a preceding vehicle C0 is equipped with: a target inter-vehicle spacing calculation unit 13 which calculates target inter-vehicle spacing information on the basis of inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to the preceding vehicle C0 and inter-vehicle spacing information with respect to a trailing vehicle C2; and a vehicle control unit 14 which controls the speed of the vehicle C1 such that the calculated target inter-vehicle spacing information is maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2018
    Publication date: June 18, 2020
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Takao KOJIMA, Kiyoshi YOROZUYA, Jun KEZUKA
  • Patent number: 10663971
    Abstract: A lane change system that ensures safety is provided. This lane change system changes lanes by controlling steering in accordance with a path moving from a first lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to a second lane different from the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling, wherein the lane changing is stopped when there are any peripheral vehicles at high risk for collision in the second lane during a lane change from the first lane to the second lane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiharu Sugawara, Masato Imai, Kiyoshi Yorozuya
  • Publication number: 20200148263
    Abstract: This vehicle control device is provided with: an environment recognition unit for recognizing the surrounding environment of a vehicle; a parking route generation unit for generating a travel route to a parking position which is determined on the basis of the recognized surrounding environment; a signal input unit to which a parking command signal is input; and a travel control unit for causing the vehicle to travel along the travel route to the parking position on the basis of the input parking command signal. The vehicle control device drives the vehicle to travel to the parking position for automatic parking while behaving differently depending on whether the parking command signal input to the signal input unit is a first parking command signal or a second parking command signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2020
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventor: Masato IMAI
  • Patent number: 10625675
    Abstract: A lane departure judgment apparatus is configured to detect a lane-dividing line based on image information output from an image-capturing device that acquires an image of an area outside a vehicle, and to judge whether or not departure of the vehicle from the lane-dividing line occurs based on a distance between the vehicle and the lane-dividing line, wherein when an angle of the vehicle with respect to the lane-dividing line thus detected is constant, the distance between the vehicle and the lane-dividing line to be used to judge whether or not departure of the vehicle occurs is changed according to whether the vehicle is being driven on a road having a lane-dividing width that is greater than a predetermined width or on a road having a lane-dividing width that is smaller than a predetermined width.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2020
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Masayuki Takemura, Shoji Muramatsu
  • Publication number: 20200055522
    Abstract: According to the invention, in a management part that manages a state of a function module, a control part itself has expandability and diversity in order to guarantee the expandability and diversity of the entire platform.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Publication date: February 20, 2020
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinya KASAI, Masato IMAI, Takashi TSUTSUI
  • Publication number: 20190317499
    Abstract: Achieving safety and natural automatic driving needs a control platform using intelligence (such as learning function and artificial intelligence), but it is difficult to ensure operations suited for the behavior of a vehicle by the output of intelligence. An automatic driving device according to the present invention includes a control program for inputting outside information and vehicle information, and outputting a target control value for a vehicle. The control program has a first program for generating a first target control amount on the basis of a dynamically changing algorithm (which outputs operations based on learning function or artificial intelligence), and a second program for generating a second target control amount on the basis of a prescribed algorithm (which outputs operations according to traffic rules or driving morals).
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Takao KOJIMA, Kentaro YOSHIMURA, Kiyoshi YOROZUYA
  • Publication number: 20190278280
    Abstract: The present invention provides a vehicle control device in which it is possible to modify the travel trajectory of a vehicle in response to the presence of an obstruction in the vehicle perimeter. In the present invention, the vehicle control device 1 recognizes the surroundings of the vehicle, detects a first branching point in a first route that is preset on a road, and in cases in which a prescribed condition is met by the presence of an obstruction detected from the recognized surroundings when the vehicle is to move along a travel trajectory that is based on at least one second route from among a plurality of second routes that branch from the first branching point, generates a virtual route which branches from the first route at a second branching point differing from the first branching point toward the selected second route, and modifies the travel trajectory on the basis of the generated virtual route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2017
    Publication date: September 12, 2019
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Takao KOJIMA, Kentaro YOSHIMURA, Kiyoshi YOROZUYA
  • Publication number: 20180188735
    Abstract: A lane change system that ensures safety is provided. This lane change system changes lanes by controlling steering in accordance with a path moving from a first lane in which the host vehicle is traveling to a second lane different from the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling, wherein the lane changing is stopped when there are any peripheral vehicles at high risk for collision in the second lane during a lane change from the first lane to the second lane.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 5, 2016
    Publication date: July 5, 2018
    Applicant: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiharu SUGAWARA, Masato IMAI, Kiyoshi YOROZUYA
  • Publication number: 20180037262
    Abstract: This vehicle control device is provided with: an environment recognition unit for recognizing the surrounding environment of a vehicle; a parking route generation unit for generating a travel route to a parking position which is determined on the basis of the recognized surrounding environment; a signal input unit to which a parking command signal is input; and a travel control unit for causing the vehicle to travel along the travel route to the parking position on the basis of the input parking command signal. The vehicle control device drives the vehicle to travel to the parking position for automatic parking while behaving differently depending on whether the parking command signal input to the signal input unit is a first parking command signal or a second parking command signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2016
    Publication date: February 8, 2018
    Inventor: Masato IMAI
  • Patent number: 9862416
    Abstract: An automatic parking control device performs steering control and speed control so that a subject vehicle moves along a target path toward a recognized parking space; when an obstacle that is approaching the subject vehicle has been detected, calculates a collision position at which the subject vehicle will collide with the obstacle; on the basis of a margin distance that is set according to the driving behavior of the subject vehicle and the collision position, calculates a stop position upon the target path that is set before the collision position by the margin distance; and performs speed control so that the subject vehicle stops at the stop position that has been calculated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Takashi Okada, Masao Sakata
  • Patent number: 9571821
    Abstract: A stereoscopic image displaying device includes an outer surface that a detection target object approaches; a stereoscopic image generating unit that generates a three-dimensional stereoscopic image based on an input video signal, and a proximity sensor unit that is disposed on a side of the outer surface that is opposite to a side that the detection target object approaches and detects proximity of the detection target object to the outer surface based on a height that is a distance from the outer surface and is set based on parallax information included in the video signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Japan Display, Inc.
    Inventors: Tsuyoshi Ohyama, Tsutomu Tanaka, Masato Imai
  • Patent number: 9500907
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display includes a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer. The first substrate includes a first line, a second line, a switching element, a pixel electrode, a common electrode, and a first alignment film. The second substrate includes a second alignment film. The liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal molecule kept between the first alignment film and the second alignment film. First anchoring strength is provided on the first alignment film which is a photo-alignment film, second anchoring strength is provided on the second alignment film which is a rubbing alignment film, and the first anchoring strength is substantially equal to or greater than the second anchoring strength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Hidemasa Yamaguchi, Masato Imai, Shingo Kataoka, Yusuke Watanabe, Fumihito Shibano
  • Publication number: 20160272244
    Abstract: An automatic parking control device performs steering control and speed control so that a subject vehicle moves along a target path toward a recognized parking space; when an obstacle that is approaching the subject vehicle has been detected, calculates a collision position at which the subject vehicle will collide with the obstacle; on the basis of a margin distance that is set according to the driving behavior of the subject vehicle and the collision position, calculates a stop position upon the target path that is set before the collision position by the margin distance; and performs speed control so that the subject vehicle stops at the stop position that has been calculated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Publication date: September 22, 2016
    Applicant: CLARION CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Takashi OKADA, Masao SAKATA
  • Patent number: 9393966
    Abstract: A vehicle attitude angle calculating device finds a yaw angle of a vehicle with reference to a lane stably without using information on a road vanishing point even in the state where a vehicle pitch angle varies. The vehicle attitude angle calculating device includes: a dividing line detection unit that detects a dividing line from image information received from a vehicle-mounted imaging device, the image information being a captured image of an outside of a vehicle; a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device every predetermined processing period; and a vehicle angle calculation unit that calculates a dividing line angle based on the calculated distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device and a vehicle proceeding distance where the vehicle proceeds during a predetermined processing period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Hiroshi Sakamoto, Masao Sakata
  • Publication number: 20150375755
    Abstract: A vehicle attitude angle calculating device finds a yaw angle of a vehicle with reference to a lane stably without using information on a road vanishing point even in the state where a vehicle pitch angle varies. The vehicle attitude angle calculating device includes: a dividing line detection unit that detects a dividing line from image information received from a vehicle-mounted imaging device, the image information being a captured image of an outside of a vehicle; a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device every predetermined processing period; and a vehicle angle calculation unit that calculates a dividing line angle based on the calculated distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device and a vehicle proceeding distance where the vehicle proceeds during a predetermined processing period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2015
    Publication date: December 31, 2015
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Hiroshi SAKAMOTO, Masao SAKATA
  • Publication number: 20150336510
    Abstract: A lane departure judgment apparatus is configured to detect a lane-dividing line based on image information output from an image-capturing device that acquires an image of an area outside a vehicle, and to judge whether or not departure of the vehicle from the lane-dividing line occurs based on a distance between the vehicle and the lane-dividing line, wherein when an angle of the vehicle with respect to the lane-dividing line thus detected is constant, the distance between the vehicle and the lane-dividing line to be used to judge whether or not departure of the vehicle occurs is changed according to whether the vehicle is being driven on a road having a lane-dividing width that is greater than a predetermined width or on a road having a lane-dividing width that is smaller than a predetermined width.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 17, 2013
    Publication date: November 26, 2015
    Applicant: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato IMAI, Masayuki TAKEMURA, Shoji MURAMATSU
  • Publication number: 20150268494
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, a liquid crystal display includes a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer. The first substrate includes a first line, a second line, a switching element, a pixel electrode, a common electrode, and a first alignment film. The second substrate includes a second alignment film. The liquid crystal layer includes a liquid crystal molecule kept between the first alignment film and the second alignment film. First anchoring strength is provided on the first alignment film which is a photo-alignment film, second anchoring strength is provided on the second alignment film which is a rubbing alignment film, and the first anchoring strength is substantially equal to or greater than the second anchoring strength.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Publication date: September 24, 2015
    Applicant: Japan Display Inc.
    Inventors: Hidemasa YAMAGUCHI, Masato IMAI, Shingo KATAOKA, Yusuke WATANABE, Fumihito SHIBANO
  • Patent number: 9123110
    Abstract: A vehicle attitude angle calculating device finds a yaw angle of a vehicle with reference to a lane stably without using information on a road vanishing point even in the state where a vehicle pitch angle varies. The vehicle attitude angle calculating device includes: a dividing line detection unit that detects a dividing line from image information received from a vehicle-mounted imaging device, the image information being a captured image of an outside of a vehicle; a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device every predetermined processing period; and a vehicle angle calculation unit that calculates a dividing line angle based on the calculated distance between the dividing line and the optical axis of the vehicle-mounted imaging device and a vehicle proceeding distance where the vehicle proceeds during a predetermined processing period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2015
    Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masato Imai, Hiroshi Sakamoto, Masao Sakata