Patents by Inventor Motohiko Honma

Motohiko Honma 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: 9132710
    Abstract: Disclosed is a damping force control device for a vehicle that controls the damping coefficient of a damping force generation device on the basis of a final target control amount that is based on the target control amount for attitude control, which suppresses changes in the vehicle body attitude in at least the rolling direction, and the target control amount for riding comfort control, which increases riding comfort with regards to vehicle body vibrations in at least the rolling direction. The target control amount for riding comfort control is a control amount calculated as the total of a fixed basic control amount and a variable control amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yanqing Liu, Yuichi Mizuta, Motohiko Honma, Jin Hozumi, Masaaki Tabata
  • Patent number: 8914193
    Abstract: The magnitude of a linear damping coefficient Cs is set so as to decrease the greater a maximum amplitude value ? of an intermediate frequency sprung acceleration is. In the case where a damping force control apparatus carries out control for dampening vibrations of a sprung member using a nonlinear H-infinity control theory, the linear damping coefficient Cs is set to a high value when the maximum amplitude value ? of the intermediate frequency sprung acceleration inputted to a suspension apparatus is low. Accordingly, a requested damping force Freq also increases, which makes it possible to quickly dampen vibrations in the sprung member. Meanwhile, in the case where the maximum amplitude value ? of the intermediate frequency sprung acceleration is high, the linear damping coefficient Cs is set to a low value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Ogawa, Motohiko Honma, Koutaro Okimura, Taisuke Hayashi, Takahito Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20140214274
    Abstract: Disclosed is a damping force control device for a vehicle that controls the damping coefficient of a damping force generation device on the basis of a final target control amount that is based on the target control amount for attitude control, which suppresses changes in the vehicle body attitude in at least the rolling direction, and the target control amount for riding comfort control, which increases riding comfort with regards to vehicle body vibrations in at least the rolling direction. The target control amount for riding comfort control is a control amount calculated as the total of a fixed basic control amount and a variable control amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Publication date: July 31, 2014
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yanqing LIU, Yuichi MIZUTA, Motohiko HONMA, Jin HOZUMI, Masaaki TABATA
  • Patent number: 8744681
    Abstract: Disclosed is a damping force control device for a vehicle that controls the damping coefficient of a damping force generation device on the basis of a final target control amount that is based on the target control amount for attitude control, which suppresses changes in the vehicle body attitude in at least the rolling direction, and the target control amount for riding comfort control, which increases riding comfort with regards to vehicle body vibrations in at least the rolling direction. The target control amount for riding comfort control is a control amount calculated as the total of a fixed basic control amount and a variable control amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2014
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yanqing Liu, Yuichi Mizuta, Motohiko Honma, Jin Hozumi, Masaaki Tabata
  • Patent number: 8641052
    Abstract: A suspension device (S) as a solution for the problem of the present invention includes: an active suspension unit (U) equipped with a linear actuator (A) and a first fluid pressure damper (D1) connected to the actuator (A) to extend and retract in the same direction; and a second fluid pressure damper (D2) arranged in parallel with the active suspension unit (U).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignees: Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd., Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuhiro Kondo, Yoshifumi Kobayashi, Motohiko Honma, Takayuki Tachi
  • Patent number: 8598831
    Abstract: A vehicle damper including an electromagnetic damper configured to generate a damping force with respect to a motion of a sprung portion and an unsprung portion toward each other and a motion thereof away from each other and includes: an electromagnetic motor; a motion converting mechanism; and an external circuit which is disposed outside the electromagnetic motor and including a first connection passage and a second connection passage and which includes a battery-device connection circuit for connecting the motor and a battery device and a battery-device-connection-circuit-current adjuster configured to adjust an electric current that flows in the battery-device connection circuit, wherein the damper system further includes an external-circuit controller configured to control an electric current that flows in the electromagnetic motor by controlling the external circuit and configured to control a flow of an electric current between the battery device and the electromagnetic motor by controlling the battery
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Ogawa, Motohiko Honma, Hirofumi Inoue
  • Patent number: 8469370
    Abstract: A suspension device (S) of the present invention includes: a member (11) coupled to one of a vehicle body and a vehicle axle; an outer cylinder (3) coupled to the other one of the vehicle body and the vehicle axle and disposed at the outer circumference of the member (11); and a bearing (4) that is interposed between the member (11) and the outer cylinder (3), the bearing (4) having balls (4a) that rollably contact at least one of the member (11) and the outer cylinder (3), and a ball case (4b) that retains the balls (4a) rollably.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignees: Kayaba Industry Co., Ltd, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuhiro Kondo, Mitsuhiko Hirose, Takayuki Tachi, Yasutaka Fukumoto, Motohiko Honma
  • Publication number: 20120310479
    Abstract: Disclosed is a damping force control device for a vehicle that controls the damping coefficient of a damping force generation device on the basis of a final target control amount that is based on the target control amount for attitude control, which suppresses changes in the vehicle body attitude in at least the rolling direction, and the target control amount for riding comfort control, which increases riding comfort with regards to vehicle body vibrations in at least the rolling direction. The target control amount for riding comfort control is a control amount calculated as the total of a fixed basic control amount and a variable control amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2010
    Publication date: December 6, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yanqing Liu, Yuichi Mizuta, Motohiko Honma, Jin Hozumi, Masaaki Tabata
  • Patent number: 8285449
    Abstract: A suspension ECU computes an actual roll angle and an actual pitch angle of a vehicle, and computes a difference between a target pitch angle and the actual pitch angle. The ECU then computes a total demanded damping force which must be cooperatively generated by shock absorbers so as to decrease the computed difference to zero, and distributes the total demanded damping force in proportion to the magnitude of a lateral acceleration such that a demanded damping force on the turn-locus inner side becomes greater than a demanded damping force on the turn-locus outer side. Further, the ECU determines whether or not the vehicle body is vibrating in the vertical direction as a result of input of a road surface disturbance, calculates a vibration-suppressing damping force needed for damping the vibration, and determines the demanded damping forces by use of the vibration-suppressing damping force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ikuhide Iyoda, Motohiko Honma
  • Publication number: 20120187640
    Abstract: A suspension device (S) as a solution for the problem of the present invention includes: an active suspension unit (U) equipped with a linear actuator (A) and a first fluid pressure damper (D1) connected to the actuator (A) to extend and retract in the same direction; and a second fluid pressure damper (D2) arranged in parallel with the active suspension unit (U).
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 27, 2009
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Inventors: Takuhiro Kondo, Yoshifumi Kobayashi, Motohiko Honma, Takayuki Tachi
  • Publication number: 20120181767
    Abstract: A suspension device (S) of the present invention includes: a member (11) coupled to one of a vehicle body and a vehicle axle; an outer cylinder (3) coupled to the other one of the vehicle body and the vehicle axle and disposed at the outer circumference of the member (11); and a bearing (4) that is interposed between the member (11) and the outer cylinder (3), the bearing (4) having balls (4a) that rollably contact at least one of the member (11) and the outer cylinder (3), and a ball case (4b) that retains the balls (4a) rollably.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2009
    Publication date: July 19, 2012
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, KAYABA INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Takuhiro Kondo, Mitsuhiko Hirose, Takayuki Tachi, Yasutaka Fukumoto, Motohiko Honma
  • Publication number: 20120046829
    Abstract: The magnitude of a linear damping coefficient Cs is set so as to decrease the greater a maximum amplitude value ? of an intermediate frequency sprung acceleration is. In the case where a damping force control apparatus carries out control for dampening vibrations of a sprung member using a nonlinear H-infinity control theory, the linear damping coefficient Cs is set to a high value when the maximum amplitude value ? of the intermediate frequency sprung acceleration inputted to a suspension apparatus is low. Accordingly, a requested damping force Freq also increases, which makes it possible to quickly dampen vibrations in the sprung member. Meanwhile, in the case where the maximum amplitude value ? of the intermediate frequency sprung acceleration is high, the linear damping coefficient Cs is set to a low value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 23, 2009
    Publication date: February 23, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Atsushi Ogawa, Motohiko Honma, Koutaro Okimura, Taisuke Hayashi, Takahito Watanabe
  • Publication number: 20120042217
    Abstract: A corrected state space model obtained by correcting a state space model to represent a controllable system by adding an error matrix ? to a state space model representing an uncontrollable system is designed. A control object is controlled based on a control input of the system represented by this corrected state space model. The control input is calculated by a state feedback controller. By correcting the state space model representing the uncontrollable system by the error matrix ?, the system can be made controllable. Since the error matrix ? is added to a state matrix, an influence of an error on an output of the system can be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 18, 2009
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takahito Watanabe, Motohiko Honma, Masaaki Tabata
  • Publication number: 20110298399
    Abstract: A vehicle damper including an electromagnetic damper configured to generate a damping force with respect to a motion of a sprung portion and an unsprung portion toward each other and a motion thereof away from each other and includes: an electromagnetic motor; a motion converting mechanism; and an external circuit which is disposed outside the electromagnetic motor and including a first connection passage and a second connection passage and which includes a battery-device connection circuit for connecting the motor and a battery device and a battery-device-connection-circuit-current adjuster configured to adjust an electric current that flows in the battery-device connection circuit, wherein the damper system further includes an external-circuit controller configured to control an electric current that flows in the electromagnetic motor by controlling the external circuit and configured to control a flow of an electric current between the battery device and the electromagnetic motor by controlling the battery
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 8, 2009
    Publication date: December 8, 2011
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Atsushi Ogawa, Motohiko Honma, Hirofumi Inoue
  • Patent number: 8036791
    Abstract: A suspension ECU 13 calculates a target characteristic changing coefficient a_new for changing a target characteristic, which is represented by a quadratic function, by use of the maximum actual roll angle ?_max generated in a vehicle body during the current turning state and a turning pitch angle ?_fy_max which is a fraction of an actual pitch angle ? generated as a result of turning, and changes the target characteristic by use of the coefficient a_new. Subsequently, the suspension ECU 13 calculates the difference ?? between the actual pitch angle ? and a target pitch angle ?h corresponding to the actual roll angle ? on the basis of the changed target characteristic, and calculates a total demanded damping force F to be cooperatively generated by the shock absorbers so as to reduce the difference ?? to zero.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuichi Mizuta, Motohiko Honma, Wataru Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20110029198
    Abstract: A suspension ECU 13 calculates a target characteristic changing coefficient a_new for changing a target characteristic, which is represented by a quadratic function, by use of the maximum actual roll angle ?_max generated in a vehicle body during the current turning state and a turning pitch angle ?_fy_max which is a fraction of an actual pitch angle ? generated as a result of turning, and changes the target characteristic by use of the coefficient a_new. Subsequently, the suspension ECU 13 calculates the difference ?? between the actual pitch angle ? and a target pitch angle ?h corresponding to the actual roll angle ? on the basis of the changed target characteristic, and calculates a total demanded damping force F to be cooperatively generated by the shock absorbers so as to reduce the difference ?? to zero.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2009
    Publication date: February 3, 2011
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuichi Mizuta, Motohiko Honma, Wataru Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20100191420
    Abstract: A damping force control apparatus for a vehicle computes an actual roll angle ? and an actual pitch angle ? in step S11, and computes a difference ?? between a target pitch angle ?a and the actual pitch angle ? in step S12. In step 13, the apparatus computes a total demanded damping force F which must be cooperatively generated by shock absorbers so as to decrease the computed ?? to zero. In step S14, the apparatus distributes the total demanded damping force F in proportion to the magnitude of a lateral acceleration G such that a demanded damping force Fi on the turn-locus inner side becomes greater than a demanded damping force Fo on the turn-locus outer side. In step S15, the apparatus controls the damping force of each of the shock absorbers to the damping force Fi or the damping force Fo. Thus, throughout a turn, a posture changing behavior in which the turn-locus inner side serves as a fulcrum can be maintained.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 19, 2008
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Inventors: Motohiko Honma, Yuichi Mizuta, Taisuke Hayashi, Wataru Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20100076649
    Abstract: A suspension ECU 13 computes an actual roll angle ? and an actual pitch angle ? of a vehicle, and computes a difference ?? between a target pitch angle ?a and the actual pitch angle ?. The ECU then computes a total demanded damping force F which must be cooperatively generated by shock absorbers 11a, 11b, 11c, and 11d so as to decrease the computed ?? to zero, and distributes the total demanded damping force F in proportion to the magnitude of a lateral acceleration Gl such that a demanded damping force Fi on the turn-locus inner side becomes greater than a demanded damping force Fo on the turn-locus outer side. Further, the ECU 13 determines whether or not the vehicle body is vibrating in the vertical direction as a result of input of a road surface disturbance, calculates a vibration-suppressing damping force Fd needed for damping the vibration, and determines the demanded damping forces Fi and Fo by use of the vibration-suppressing damping force Fd.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 5, 2009
    Publication date: March 25, 2010
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Ikuhide Iyoda, Motohiko Honma
  • Patent number: 7546911
    Abstract: A suspension apparatus for use in a vehicle including a first liquid passage; a first connection portion; a first accumulator which is connected to the hydraulic suspension device via the first connection portion and the first liquid passage; a second liquid passage; a second connection portion; a second accumulator which is connected to the first liquid passage via the second connection portion and the second liquid passage; and a liquid-flow control device which controls a flow of a hydraulic liquid between the hydraulic suspension device and at least one of the first and second accumulators, wherein the first liquid passage and the first connection portion allow the hydraulic liquid to more easily flow therethrough into the first accumulator than the second liquid passage and the second connection portion allow the hydraulic liquid to flow therethrough into the second accumulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2009
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Motohiko Honma
  • Patent number: 7360777
    Abstract: A vehicle suspension system for a vehicle, including: (a) a plurality of suspension cylinders each disposed between a chassis-side member and a corresponding one of a plurality of wheel-side members; (b) a controller cylinder including a housing and at least one piston slidably mounted in the housing, such that the housing and the at least one piston cooperate to define a plurality of chambers each having a volume that is variable upon slide movement of the at least one piston relative to the housing; (c) individual conduits each communicating a corresponding one of the plurality of chambers of the controller cylinder and a chamber of a corresponding one of the plurality of suspension cylinders; and (d) a suspension-cylinder operation facilitator operable to facilitate an operation of each of the plurality of suspension cylinders for permitting displacement of each of the plurality of wheel-side members relative to the chassis-side member after the at least one piston of the controller cylinder has reached it
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2008
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Mizuno, Masaki Kanatani, Hidenori Kajino, Motohiko Honma