Patents by Inventor Masatoshi Noguchi

Masatoshi Noguchi 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: 11364799
    Abstract: Provided is a torque control device for a four-wheel-drive vehicle that can stably output a minimum torque required to start or drive the vehicle to the auxiliary wheel side under a road surface condition that main driving wheels are stuck in the idling state or under a road surface condition equivalent thereto. When front wheels Wf1, Wf2 are judged to be stuck in the idling state, a current rear torque TrCMD is raised step by step. And, when a brake operates in the state in which the four wheels are at stop after raising the command torque TrCMD step by step, the command rear torque TrCMD is released. And, the command rear torque TrCMD is raised step by step when the command rear torque TrCMD continues to be released for a second threshold time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaru Komatsubara, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 10442282
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a left-wheel drive unit having a first motor and a first transmission, a right-wheel drive unit having a second motor and a second transmission, and a motor control unit. Each of the first and second transmissions has a first to third rotational elements. The first motor is connected to the first rotational element of the first transmission. The second motor is connected to the first rotational element of the second transmission. The left wheel is connected to the second rotational element of the first transmission. The right wheel is connected to the second rotational element of the second transmission. The third rotational element of the first transmission and the third rotational element of the second transmission are coupled to each other. Each of the first and second transmissions has a fourth rotational element which is supported to revolve around by the second rotational element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sei Shinohara, Masatoshi Noguchi, Satoshi Andou, Makoto Tsuchihashi
  • Publication number: 20190299779
    Abstract: Provided is a torque control device for a four-wheel-drive vehicle that can stably output a minimum torque required to start or drive the vehicle to the auxiliary wheel side under a road surface condition that main driving wheels are stuck in the idling state or under a road surface condition equivalent thereto. When front wheels Wf1, Wf2 are judged to be stuck in the idling state, a current rear torque TrCMD is raised step by step. And, when a brake operates in the state in which the four wheels are at stop after raising the command torque TrCMD step by step, the command rear torque TrCMD is released. And, the command rear torque TrCMD is raised step by step when the command rear torque TrCMD continues to be released for a second threshold time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 4, 2017
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Masaru Komatsubara, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 10336337
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a slip acquisition unit that acquires occurrence of excessive slip, an addition slip point calculating unit that calculates addition slip points in a time-discrete manner, based on having acquired that the excessive slip has occurred, a cumulative slip point calculating unit that accumulates the addition slip points and calculates a cumulative slip point over time, a drive state switching unit that switches between 2WD and AWD based on cumulative slip points and a drive state switching threshold value, and a cumulative slip point resetting unit triggered by a lateral acceleration correlation value of the vehicle reaching a lateral acceleration threshold value or higher, or a drive force correlation value of the drive wheels reaching a drive force correlation threshold value or higher, to reset the cumulative slip point to a value smaller than the drive state switching threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Masatoshi Noguchi, Satoshi Ando
  • Patent number: 10155522
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system, that can improve drive efficiency while maintaining vehicle stability, includes a step (S3, S105) in which a switch is made from 2WD to AWD on the basis of a cumulative slip point; a step (S12, S303) in which a switch is made from 2WD to AWD on the basis of a calculated lateral G; a step (S13, S109, S111) in which a switch is made from AWD to 2WD after the step (S3 or S105) under a first switching condition; and a step (S13, S306, S308) in which a switch is made from AWD to 2WD after the step (S12 or S303) under a second switching condition. The first switching condition and the second switching condition differ from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi Ando, Masayuki Kikuchi, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 9969400
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a slip acquisition unit that acquires that an excessive slip of front wheels or rear wheels has occurred, an addition slip point calculating unit that calculates addition slip points in a time-discrete manner, based on the slip acquisition unit having acquired that the excessive slip has occurred, a cumulative slip point calculating unit that accumulates the addition slip points and calculates a cumulative slip point over time, a drive state switching unit that, switches between 2WD and AWD based on cumulative slip points, and an increase forbidding determination unit that forbids addition or accumulation of the addition slip points, or increase of the cumulative slip points, in a case where a lateral acceleration correlation value that has correlation with lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a lateral acceleration threshold value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Satoshi Ando, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 9889745
    Abstract: A slip determination system for a vehicle, which is capable of improving the determination accuracy by avoiding erroneous determination of excessive slip of wheels when a state of the wheels, driven/braked by motors, is switched. In the slip determination system according to the present invention, when first and second motor rotational speeds NMOT1 and NMOT2, which are rotational speeds of rear motors which brake/drive rear wheels WRL and WRR, reach a reference rotational speed NMREF set based on wheel rotational speeds NWFL, NWFR, NWRL, and NWRR, it is determined that excessive slip has occurred in the rear wheels WRL and WRR. When the sign of a target torque TROBJ of the rear motors is inverted, the reference rotational speed NMREF is changed to a value more difficult to be reached by the first and second motor rotational speeds NMOT1 and NMOT2, or the excessive slip determination is inhibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Satoshi Ando, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Publication number: 20170349038
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a left-wheel drive unit having a first motor and a first transmission, a right-wheel drive unit having a second motor and a second transmission, and a motor control unit. Each of the first and second transmissions has a first to third rotational elements. The first motor is connected to the first rotational element of the first transmission. The second motor is connected to the first rotational element of the second transmission. The left wheel is connected to the second rotational element of the first transmission. The right wheel is connected to the second rotational element of the second transmission. The third rotational element of the first transmission and the third rotational element of the second transmission are coupled to each other. Each of the first and second transmissions has a fourth rotational element which is supported to revolve around by the second rotational element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2017
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sei Shinohara, Masatoshi Noguchi, Satoshi Andou, Makoto Tsuchihashi
  • Publication number: 20170282929
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a slip acquisition unit that acquires occurrence of excessive slip, an addition slip point calculating unit that calculates addition slip points in a time-discrete manner, based on having acquired that the excessive slip has occurred, a cumulative slip point calculating unit that accumulates the addition slip points and calculates a cumulative slip point over time, a drive state switching unit that switches between 2WD and AWD based on cumulative slip points and a drive state switching threshold value, and a cumulative slip point resetting unit triggered by a lateral acceleration correlation value of the vehicle reaching a lateral acceleration threshold value or higher, or a drive force correlation value of the drive wheels reaching a drive force correlation threshold value or higher, to reset the cumulative slip point to a value smaller than the drive state switching threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Masatoshi Noguchi, Satoshi Ando
  • Publication number: 20170282928
    Abstract: A vehicle drive system includes a slip acquisition unit that acquires that an excessive slip of front wheels or rear wheels has occurred, an addition slip point calculating unit that calculates addition slip points in a time-discrete manner, based on the slip acquisition unit having acquired that the excessive slip has occurred, a cumulative slip point calculating unit that accumulates the addition slip points and calculates a cumulative slip point over time, a drive state switching unit that, switches between 2WD and AWD based on cumulative slip points, and an increase forbidding determination unit that forbids addition or accumulation of the addition slip points, or increase of the cumulative slip points, in a case where a lateral acceleration correlation value that has correlation with lateral acceleration of the vehicle exceeds a lateral acceleration threshold value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 30, 2017
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Satoshi Ando, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 9574998
    Abstract: A line segment detection apparatus includes a head that supports a sensor configured to detect light reflected by a surface of a cutting target medium, a driving unit configured to move the head in two-dimensional directions relatively to the medium, and a processing unit configured to drive the driving unit and perform arithmetic processing on an output of the sensor. The processing unit includes a region detection unit configured to detect a region different in reflectance from surroundings based on a change of a signal output from the sensor when the sensor was moved in a first direction, and a determination unit configured to determine whether the region is a line segment, based on the change of the signal output from the sensor when the sensor passed a point in the region and was moved in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: Graphtec Corporation
    Inventors: Masatoshi Noguchi, Tamao Umezawa
  • Patent number: 9573466
    Abstract: Provided are a vehicle such that drive state can be suitably selected in a configuration including an internal combustion engine, and a vehicle control method. In a vehicle and a method of controlling the same, different values are set for a first switching threshold value for switching from a first independent drive state (in which one of a front wheel and a rear wheel is driven) to a combined drive state, and for a second switching threshold value for switching from a second independent drive state (in which the other of the front wheel and the rear wheel is driven by an internal combustion engine) to the combined drive state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 9511682
    Abstract: According to this vehicle and control method for the same, an electric motor control device sets a target left power and a target right power, on the basis of the power suppliable by a power supply, power loss dependent on the respective rotation state quantities of a left electric motor and a right electric motor, the target power difference between the left electric motor and the right electric motor, and the target sum of power of the left electric motor and the right electric motor, and controls the left electric motor and the right electric motor using the target left power and the target right power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Ando, Toshinori Tsukamoto, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Publication number: 20160318400
    Abstract: A slip determination system for a vehicle, which is capable of improving the determination accuracy by avoiding erroneous determination of excessive slip of wheels when a state of the wheels, driven/braked by motors, is switched. In the slip determination system according to the present invention, when first and second motor rotational speeds NMOT1 and NMOT2, which are rotational speeds of rear motors which brake/drive rear wheels WRL and WRR, reach a reference rotational speed NMREF set based on wheel rotational speeds NWFL, NWFR, NWRL, and NWRR, it is determined that excessive slip has occurred in the rear wheels WRL and WRR. When the sign of a target torque TROBJ of the rear motors is inverted, the reference rotational speed NMREF is changed to a value more difficult to be reached by the first and second motor rotational speeds NMOT1 and NMOT2, or the excessive slip determination is inhibited.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Publication date: November 3, 2016
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Sakaguchi, Satoshi Ando, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Publication number: 20160288792
    Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle drive system that can improve drive efficiency while maintaining vehicle stability. The drive state switching unit (64) comprises: a step (S3, S105) in which a switch is made from 2WB to AWD on the basis of a cumulative slip point; a step (S12, S303) in which a switch is made from 2WD to AWD on the basis of a calculated lateral G; a step (S13, S109, S111) in which a switch is made from AWD to 2WD after the step (S3or S105) under a first switching condition; and a step (S13, S306, S308) in which a switch is made from AWD to 2WD after the step (S12 or S303) under a second switching condition. The first switching condition and the second switching condition are made to differ from one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2014
    Publication date: October 6, 2016
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoshi ANDO, Masayuki KIKUCHI, Masatoshi NOGUCHI
  • Patent number: 9387847
    Abstract: One embodiment provides a vehicle including: a first drive system configured to drive first wheels; and a second drive system configured to drive second wheels, wherein the first drive system includes: an electric motor; a motor controller; an engagement/disengagement unit provided between the electric motor side and the first drive wheels side; an engagement/disengagement controller; and a one-way power transmission unit provided between the electric motor side and the first drive wheels side in parallel to the engagement/disengagement unit, and configured, at least, to engage the both sides when a reverse-direction rotational power is inputted from the first wheels side to the electric motor side, wherein, when the vehicle reverses, a reverse driving force to reverse the vehicle is generated at least in the first drive system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Patent number: 9376006
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle provided with left and right electric motors electrically connected to a battery and mechanically connected respectively to left and right vehicle wheels, a power generator mechanically connected to an internal combustion engine being electrically connected to the battery, wherein the battery is reliably protected during traction control and at other such times. Two electric motors, specifically first and second electric motors, are temporarily handled integrally to determine a torque down amount (TD), which is the total allowable power variation width (?) of the two electric motors, on the basis of left and right total power (Y), and the respective motive powers of the first and second electric motors are controlled while being limited by values obtained by simply dividing the determined torque down amount (TD) equally, whereby the allowable input/output power (allowable input power (Z)) of the battery is reliably protected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshito Terayama, Yoshinori Ando, Toshinori Tsukamoto, Masaki Negoro, Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Masatoshi Noguchi, Yusuke Sakaguchi
  • Publication number: 20160144739
    Abstract: According to this vehicle and control method for the same, an electric motor control device sets a target left power and a target right power, on the basis of the power suppliable by a power supply, power loss dependent on the respective rotation state quantities of a left electric motor and a right electric motor, the target power difference between the left electric motor and the right electric motor, and the target sum of power of the left electric motor and the right electric motor, and controls the left electric motor and the right electric motor using the target left power and the target right power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 25, 2014
    Publication date: May 26, 2016
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshinori Ando, Toshinori Tsukamoto, Masatoshi Noguchi
  • Publication number: 20160039405
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle provided with left and right electric motors electrically connected to a battery and mechanically connected respectively to left and right vehicle wheels, a power generator mechanically connected to an internal combustion engine being electrically connected to the battery, wherein the battery is reliably protected during traction control and at other such times. Two electric motors, specifically first and second electric motors, are temporarily handled integrally to determine a torque down amount (TD), which is the total allowable power variation width (?) of the two electric motors, on the basis of left and right total power (Y), and the respective motive powers of the first and second electric motors are controlled while being limited by values obtained by simply dividing the determined torque down amount (TD) equally, whereby the allowable input/output power (allowable input power (Z)) of the battery is reliably protected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 16, 2014
    Publication date: February 11, 2016
    Applicant: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshito Terayama, Yoshinori Ando, Toshinori Tsukamoto, Masaki Negoro, Yoshikazu Fujimoto, Masatoshi Noguchi, Yusuke Sakaguchi
  • Patent number: 9150118
    Abstract: A motor controller obtains: a first motor target rotation number, a first motor actual rotation number of a first motor, a second motor target rotation number, and a second motor actual rotation number of a second motor; determines a first rotation number difference between the first motor target rotation number and the first motor actual rotation number of the first motor, and a second rotation number difference between the second motor target rotation number and the second motor actual rotation number of the second motor, determines first and second rotation control torques based on a smaller one of the first rotation number difference and the second rotation number difference; and determines a first motor torque of the first motor and a second motor torque of the second motor based on the first and second rotation control torques.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2015
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Sei Shinohara, Satoshi Ando, Masatoshi Noguchi, Masakatsu Hori, Makoto Tsuchihashi