Patents by Inventor Takahiro Kojo

Takahiro Kojo 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: 11884340
    Abstract: A steering control device includes: a first calculator configured to calculate, according to a turning state, a first control amount for causing a motor to generate an assistance force; a second calculator configured to calculate a second control amount for adapting an actual angle to a target angle that is convertible into a turning angle of a steering wheel and generated when a host control device intervenes in steering control; and a third calculator configured to calculate, according to the turning state, a third control amount for offsetting the second control amount when the host control device intervenes in steering control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo Nitta, Takahiro Toko, Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Patent number: 11767014
    Abstract: A vehicle control system includes an information acquirer configured to acquire vehicle surrounding information, and a controller configured to execute driving assistance control. The controller is configured to set a first line as a target traveling line when an operation status of the driving assistance control is ON. The controller is configured to set, when a driving switching request is made, the target traveling line to cause a vehicle to travel along a second line displaced from the first line by a predetermined displacement amount after a specific timing that is a timing when a predetermined time has elapsed from a requested timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2023
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATIO
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro, Hisashi Kajita, Hisaya Akatsuka, Hirotaka Tokoro
  • Patent number: 11731695
    Abstract: Provided is a control apparatus for a vehicle configured to perform steering assist control and driving support control based on a motor control amount, the control apparatus being further configured to correct the motor control amount such that a specific steering amount in a second period becomes smaller than that in a first period, the specific steering amount being an amount of change in a steering angle required for a magnitude of a steering torque to reach a torque threshold, the first period being a period from a first time point at which a driving support operation state is changed to an on state to a second time point at which a driving operation switching request is issued, and the second period being a period from the second time point to a third time point at which the driving support operation state is changed to an off state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Patent number: 11718341
    Abstract: A vehicle driver assistance system includes: a steering assist torque generation device configured to generate steering assist torque; a control device configured to control the steering assist torque generation device; and a switch configured to switch a steering mode between a manual steering mode and an automatic steering mode. The manual steering mode is a mode in which steered wheels are steered as a driver operates a steering wheel. The automatic steering mode is a mode in which the steered wheels are steered by the steering assist torque generated by the steering assist torque generation device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2023
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Yuji Watari, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Patent number: 11608108
    Abstract: An automatic steering system comprises a controller. The controller executes target steering angle calculation processing. The controller further calculates a learning value of lateral acceleration. The learning value is calculated based on an error of a detected value of the lateral acceleration by an acceleration sensor and an estimation value of the lateral acceleration calculated using driving speed and yaw rate. In the target steering angle calculation processing, it is judged whether the acceleration sensor is normal. If it is judged that the acceleration sensor is normal, a target steering angle is calculated by using the detected value. Otherwise, the lateral acceleration used to calculate the target steering angle is switched from the detected value to a backup value of the lateral acceleration. The backup value is calculated using the estimation value and the learning value calculated before a timing at which the acceleration sensor is judged to be abnormal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shun Maruyama, Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro
  • Patent number: 11524706
    Abstract: An override conciliating portion executes processing to conciliate an override request during an execution of automated driving control (i.e., override conciliation processing). In the override conciliation processing, it is determined whether or not there is the override request (step S20). If the determination result of the step S20 is positive, it is determined whether or not a second automated driving mode is selected as an operation mode (step S21). If the determination result of the step S21 is negative, acceptance processing of the override request is executed (step S22). If the determination result of the step S21 is positive, invalidation processing of the override request is executed (step S23).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Shun Mizoo, Takahiro Yokota, Shunsuke Tanimori, Hisaya Akatsuka, Masaki Shiota, Hirotaka Tokoro
  • Patent number: 11509250
    Abstract: A control device controls a motor which includes a first stator coil and a second stator coil insulated from each other. The control device includes: a first drive circuit that is connected to the first stator coil; a second drive circuit that is connected to the second stator coil; a first processing circuit; and a second processing circuit. The first processing circuit increases an output of an integral element according to the number of control systems when the second processing circuit performs a process of switching a first use and operation process to a second use and operation process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo Nitta, Takahiro Toko, Takahiro Kojo, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Patent number: 11496086
    Abstract: A control device for a motor including a first coil and a second coil which are insulated from each other is provided. The control device includes a first circuit and a second circuit that switches a first process to a second process when the first circuit fails. The external circuit generates an instruction for performing a process of increasing an amount of operation which is calculated by one of the first circuit and the second circuit according to the number of control systems when the other of the first circuit and the second circuit fails.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignees: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo Nitta, Takahiro Toko, Takahiro Kojo, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Publication number: 20220306114
    Abstract: A traveling control apparatus that allows lane changing due to a driver's steering intervention while continuing lane maintenance control includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit sets a target trace along a lane in which a vehicle is traveling, determines a target steering angle of the vehicle based on the target trace and a lateral position of the vehicle, applies control torque to a steering shaft of the vehicle based on the target steering angle, resets, in response to a change in the lateral position due to the driver's steering intervention which exceeds the control torque and entrance of the vehicle into an adjacent lane, the target trace to the adjacent lane, and determines, using a gradual changing function, in response to the resetting of the target trace, the target steering angle by changing the target steering angle at the time of the resetting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Publication date: September 29, 2022
    Inventors: Yoji KUNIHIRO, Takahiro KOJO, Hisaya AKATSUKA, Hirotaka TOKORO
  • Patent number: 11427247
    Abstract: A steering determination device determines a steering state in which a driver of a vehicle is steering a steering wheel of the vehicle. The device includes a torque recognition unit configured to recognize a steering torque based on a measurement result of a torque sensor provided on a steering shaft, an acceleration recognition unit configured to recognize longitudinal acceleration or lateral acceleration, a threshold value setting unit configured to set a threshold value for the determination of the steering state, based on the longitudinal acceleration or the lateral acceleration, and a steering determination unit configured to determine that the driver is in the steering state if the steering torque is equal to or greater than the threshold value. The threshold value setting unit is configured to set the threshold value such that the threshold value decreases as an absolute value of the longitudinal acceleration or the lateral acceleration decreases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignees: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiko Kuwabara, Naoki Nishimura, Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Hisaya Akatsuka, Maxime Moreillon, Tsutomu Tamura, Robert Fuchs
  • Publication number: 20220219656
    Abstract: A vehicle control device includes an automatic driving control device configured to execute automatic driving control on a vehicle, and an anti-lock braking system configured to control a longitudinal slip ratio of wheels of the vehicle to be equal to or smaller than a threshold during braking of the vehicle. The automatic driving control to be executed by the automatic driving control device includes braking force control for changing a braking force to be applied to the wheels of the vehicle depending on a target deceleration set without being based on a deceleration request by a driver. The automatic driving control device is configured to, when a failure of the anti-lock braking system is detected during execution of the automatic driving control on the vehicle, set the target deceleration in the braking force control to a value equal to or smaller than an upper limit deceleration value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2021
    Publication date: July 14, 2022
    Inventors: Tomotaka ASANO, Mitsutaka TANIMOTO, Takahiro KOJO, Tomomichi NAKAMURA, Taisuke YASUTOMI
  • Publication number: 20220077802
    Abstract: A control device controls a motor which includes a first stator coil and a second stator coil insulated from each other. The control device includes: a first drive circuit that is connected to the first stator coil; a second drive circuit that is connected to the second stator coil; a first processing circuit; and a second processing circuit. The first processing circuit increases an output of an integral element according to the number of control systems when the second processing circuit performs a process of switching a first use and operation process to a second use and operation process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicants: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo NITTA, Takahiro TOKO, Takahiro KOJO, Hisaya AKATSUKA
  • Publication number: 20220073134
    Abstract: A steering control device includes: a first calculator configured to calculate, according to a turning state, a first control amount for causing a motor to generate an assistance force; a second calculator configured to calculate a second control amount for adapting an actual angle to a target angle that is convertible into a turning angle of a steering wheel and generated when a host control device intervenes in steering control; and a third calculator configured to calculate, according to the turning state, a third control amount for offsetting the second control amount when the host control device intervenes in steering control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 30, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicants: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo NITTA, Takahiro TOKO, Yoji KUNIHIRO, Takahiro KOJO, Hisaya AKATSUKA
  • Publication number: 20220077809
    Abstract: A control device for a motor including a first coil and a second coil which are insulated from each other is provided. The control device includes a first circuit and a second circuit that switches a first process to a second process when the first circuit fails. The external circuit generates an instruction for performing a process of increasing an amount of operation which is calculated by one of the first circuit and the second circuit according to the number of control systems when the other of the first circuit and the second circuit fails.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2021
    Publication date: March 10, 2022
    Applicants: JTEKT CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shingo NITTA, Takahiro TOKO, Takahiro KOJO, Hisaya AKATSUKA
  • Publication number: 20220017141
    Abstract: An automatic steering system comprises a controller. The controller executes target steering angle calculation processing. The controller further calculates a learning value of lateral acceleration. The learning value is calculated based on an error of a detected value of the lateral acceleration by an acceleration sensor and an estimation value of the lateral acceleration calculated using driving speed and yaw rate. In the target steering angle calculation processing, it is judged whether the acceleration sensor is normal. If it is judged that the acceleration sensor is normal, a target steering angle is calculated by using the detected value. Otherwise, the lateral acceleration used to calculate the target steering angle is switched from the detected value to a backup value of the lateral acceleration. The backup value is calculated using the estimation value and the learning value calculated before a timing at which the acceleration sensor is judged to be abnormal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 11, 2021
    Publication date: January 20, 2022
    Inventors: Shun Maruyama, Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro
  • Publication number: 20210371010
    Abstract: Provided is a control apparatus for a vehicle configured to perform steering assist control and driving support control based on a motor control amount, the control apparatus being further configured to correct the motor control amount such that a specific steering amount in a second period becomes smaller than that in a first period, the specific steering amount being an amount of change in a steering angle required for a magnitude of a steering torque to reach a torque threshold, the first period being a period from a first time point at which a driving support operation state is changed to an on state to a second time point at which a driving operation switching request is issued, and the second period being a period from the second time point to a third time point at which the driving support operation state is changed to an off state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Publication date: December 2, 2021
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Publication number: 20210354748
    Abstract: A vehicle driver assistance system includes: a steering assist torque generation device configured to generate steering assist torque; a control device configured to control the steering assist torque generation device; and a switch configured to switch a steering mode between a manual steering mode and an automatic steering mode. The manual steering mode is a mode in which steered wheels are steered as a driver operates a steering wheel. The automatic steering mode is a mode in which the steered wheels are steered by the steering assist torque generated by the steering assist torque generation device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2021
    Publication date: November 18, 2021
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Yuji Watari, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Patent number: 11156515
    Abstract: A turning mechanism of a vehicle turns a wheel and is coupled to a steering wheel through a steering shaft. A torque sensor detects a torque applied to a first position of the steering shaft, as a sensor-detected torque. An upper friction torque is an absolute value of the sensor-detected torque that is caused by a friction force acting on the steering shaft between the first position and the steering wheel when the steering shaft is rotated. A vehicle control system repeatedly estimates the upper friction torque and variably sets a determination threshold to the estimated upper friction torque or more. The vehicle control system determines whether a driver state is a hands-on state or a hands-off state based on a comparison between the absolute value of the sensor-detected torque and the determination threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoji Kunihiro, Ryo Irie, Hisaya Akatsuka
  • Publication number: 20210316724
    Abstract: A vehicle control system includes an information acquirer configured to acquire vehicle surrounding information, and a controller configured to execute driving assistance control. The controller is configured to set a first line as a target traveling line when an operation status of the driving assistance control is ON. The controller is configured to set, when a driving switching request is made, the target traveling line to cause a vehicle to travel along a second line displaced from the first line by a predetermined displacement amount after a specific timing that is a timing when a predetermined time has elapsed from a requested timing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 2, 2021
    Publication date: October 14, 2021
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takahiro KOJO, Yoji KUNIHIRO, Hisashi KAJITA, Hisaya AKATSUKA, Hirotaka TOKORO
  • Patent number: 10875575
    Abstract: A steering assistance device includes a steering wheel to which a driver of a vehicle inputs steering torque, a steering shaft connected to the steering wheel, a steering mechanism configured to convert a rotation of the steering shaft into a steering angle for steering target wheels, a steering actuator configured to drive the steering mechanism such that a steering angle corresponding to a command value is generated, a steering torque sensor configured to detect torque acting on the steering shaft, an information providing unit configured to provide road information of a scheduled passage area extending in a traveling direction of the vehicle, and an electronic control unit configured to control the steering actuator, based on an output of the steering torque sensor and the road information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Yoshio Kudo, Takahiro Kojo, Yutaka Aoki, Ryo Irie, Satoshi Takahashi, Masateru Amano