Patents by Inventor Nobuyuki SAKATA

Nobuyuki SAKATA 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: 10836253
    Abstract: A vehicle control system is provided, which includes an operating amount detector configured to detect an operating amount by an operator, of an operation mechanism comprising at least one of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal, a speed detector configured to detect a vehicle traveling speed, a reaction-force generator configured to generate a reaction force of the pedal, and a controller. The controller includes a processor to execute an acceleration calculating module to calculate an acceleration based on the traveling speed and the operating amount, a rigidity characteristic setting module to set the reaction force so that a rigidity value that is a ratio of the reaction force to the operating amount increases as the acceleration increases, and a reaction-force control module to control the reaction-force generator so that the reaction force generated by the reaction-force generator becomes the reaction-force value set by the rigidity characteristic setting module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Masao Inoue, Nobuyuki Sakata, Atsushi Yagi, Naoki Yamada, Yoh Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20190299781
    Abstract: A vehicle control system is provided, which includes an operating amount detector configured to detect an operating amount by an operator, of an operation mechanism comprising at least one of an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal, a speed detector configured to detect a vehicle traveling speed, a reaction-force generator configured to generate a reaction force of the pedal, and a controller. The controller includes a processor to execute an acceleration calculating module to calculate an acceleration based on the traveling speed and the operating amount, a rigidity characteristic setting module to set the reaction force so that a rigidity value that is a ratio of the reaction force to the operating amount increases as the acceleration increases, and a reaction-force control module to control the reaction-force generator so that the reaction force generated by the reaction-force generator becomes the reaction-force value set by the rigidity characteristic setting module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2019
    Publication date: October 3, 2019
    Inventors: Masao Inoue, Nobuyuki Sakata, Atsushi Yagi, Naoki Yamada, Yoh Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9908409
    Abstract: The present invention provides a vehicle accelerator pedal reaction force control device which may increase an output by a small accelerator opening operation, allows the driving force etc. to be easily controlled by the driver's intention, increases the resistance to the depression of an accelerator to make the driver feel secure, and allows the driver to experience the operational feeling that he or she is operating the vehicle by himself or herself. The vehicle accelerator pedal reaction force control device 1 has a first mode in which a relation of the driving force with respect to an accelerator opening is regarded as a predetermined characteristic and a second mode in which the driving force is higher than the driving force in the first mode. In the second mode, the pedal reaction force increases with an increase in the accelerator opening with respect to the first mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 6, 2018
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke Takegawa, Nobuyuki Sakata, Takuru Uchiyama, Yoh Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20160221437
    Abstract: The present invention provides a vehicle accelerator pedal reaction force control device which may increase an output by a small accelerator opening operation, allows the driving force etc. to be easily controlled by the driver's intention, increases the resistance to the depression of an accelerator to make the driver feel secure, and allows the driver to experience the operational feeling that he or she is operating the vehicle by himself or herself. The vehicle accelerator pedal reaction force control device 1 has a first mode in which a relation of the driving force with respect to an accelerator opening is regarded as a predetermined characteristic and a second mode in which the driving force is higher than the driving force in the first mode. In the second mode, the pedal reaction force increases with an increase in the accelerator opening with respect to the first mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2015
    Publication date: August 4, 2016
    Applicant: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kosuke TAKEGAWA, Nobuyuki SAKATA, Takuru UCHIYAMA, Yoh YAMAZAKI
  • Patent number: 8886420
    Abstract: A control method for an automatic transmission includes a step of canceling the shift performed by a shift operation for performing shifting in the same direction as that of the shifting performed by automatic shift control, when the shift operation is performed before the input revolution speed correlation value of the automatic transmission becomes a predetermined value, after the automatic shift control has been started in a manual shift mode, a step of switching a shift stage display at a timing at which the shift operation that is to be canceled has been performed, and a step of switching the shift stage display at a timing at which the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value when a shift operation is not performed within a period of time from when the automatic shift control is started till when the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsutaka Shibata, Kosuke Takegawa, Nobuyuki Sakata, Kazuo Sasaki
  • Publication number: 20140149008
    Abstract: A control method for an automatic transmission includes a step of canceling the shift performed by a shift operation for performing shifting in the same direction as that of the shifting performed by automatic shift control, when the shift operation is performed before the input revolution speed correlation value of the automatic transmission becomes a predetermined value, after the automatic shift control has been started in a manual shift mode, a step of switching a shift stage display at a timing at which the shift operation that is to be canceled has been performed, and a step of switching the shift stage display at a timing at which the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value when a shift operation is not performed within a period of time from when the automatic shift control is started till when the input revolution speed correlation value becomes the predetermined value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 3, 2013
    Publication date: May 29, 2014
    Applicant: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Tetsutaka SHIBATA, Kosuke TAKEGAWA, Nobuyuki SAKATA, Kazuo SASAKI