Patents by Inventor Yuji Okuda

Yuji Okuda 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).

  • Publication number: 20180034386
    Abstract: This conversion device includes: a DC bus with a smoothing capacitor; a first converter provided between a DC power supply and the DC bus to perform DC/DC conversion; a second converter provided between the DC bus and an AC electric path to perform DC/AC or AC/DC conversion by a full-bridge of switching elements; a voltage sensor for detecting voltage between both ends of the capacitor as DC bus voltage; and a control unit which causes a part of an absolute value of an AC waveform, and a DC waveform, to alternately arise as the DC bus voltage by selectively causing the first converter and the second converter to operate in one AC cycle of the AC electric path, the control unit detecting arm short-circuit in the second converter on the basis of a degree of reduction, in the DC bus voltage, that occurs during operation of the second converter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Publication date: February 1, 2018
    Inventors: Yuji Okuda, Naoki Ayai
  • Patent number: 9862415
    Abstract: A lane keeping assist apparatus is disclosed which includes a lane detecting part that detects a lane in which a vehicle travels; an actuator that generates a force for changing an orientation of the vehicle; and a controller that operates the actuator such that the vehicle travels within the lane under a situation where a lane keeping assist function is in its ON state, wherein under a situation where the controller is operating the actuator, the controller determines whether an operation amount of the actuator is less than a predetermined first threshold, and prevents an output of operation information if it determines that the operation amount of the actuator is less than the predetermined first threshold, the operation information representing an operated state of the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Patent number: 9834213
    Abstract: A lane keeping assist apparatus is disclosed which includes a lane detecting part; an information output device; an actuator that generates a force for changing an orientation of a vehicle; and a controller that performs a lane keeping assist control based on a positional relationship between the lane and the vehicle, wherein the lane keeping assist control includes an alert control and an intervention control via the actuator, the controller selectively operates in a first mode where the alert control and the intervention control are executable, a second mode where only the intervention control is suppressed or a third mode where the alert control and the intervention control are suppressed, and the controller, during operating in the first mode, performs a mode transition to the second mode when the abnormality determination results indicate an abnormal state concerning only the part related to the intervention control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji Okuda, Hidenobu Kinugasa, Taisuke Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 9805275
    Abstract: A drift-assessment device includes a turn information detection unit that detects turn information of a vehicle, an image recognition and detection unit that detects position information of the vehicle relative to a lane, a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed, a selection unit that selects the image recognition and detection unit when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined vehicle speed and selects the turn information detection unit when the vehicle speed is less than the predetermined vehicle speed, and a drift-assessment unit that determines the drift of the vehicle based on the position information of the vehicle relative to the lane when the selection unit selects the image recognition and detection unit and determines the drift of the vehicle based on the turn information of the vehicle when the selection unit selects the turn information detection unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Publication number: 20170088175
    Abstract: Even when a control mode is switched, hands-off driving handling processing can be appropriately carried out. A hands-off determination unit is configured to start measurement of a no-operation state continuation period when a no-operation state in which a driver is estimated not to be operating a steering wheel is detected, and to determine that the driver is carrying out hands-off driving when the no-operation state continuation period is more than a hands-off driving determination period. The hands-off determination unit is configured to take over, when the control mode is switched under a state in which the measurement of the no-operation state continuation period has been started, a value of the no-operation state continuation period that has been measured until the switching of the control mode, thereby continuing the measurement of the no-operation state continuation period.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 27, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Hidenobu Kinugasa, Yoshiya Iwaki
  • Patent number: 9597960
    Abstract: In a driving assistance device 1, when an execution determination unit 12 determines that a driving assistance unit 11 performs driving assistance, a consciousness degradation determination unit 13 performs control such that a warning unit 9 is less likely to issue a warning than that when the driving assistance is not performed. Therefore, even when the position of a host vehicle is changed by the steering of the host vehicle by a driving assistance unit 11, it is possible to reduce the discomfort of a driver due to a warning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Publication number: 20170036694
    Abstract: A lane keeping assist apparatus has a vehicle speed responsive adjustment section which receives a target steering angle and a vehicle speed, sets a vehicle speed adjustment coefficient on the basis of the vehicle speed, multiplies an FF target steering torque by the vehicle speed adjustment coefficient, and outputs the resultant value as an adjusted FF target steering torque. The vehicle speed adjustment coefficient is set to 0 when the vehicle speed is lower than a first set vehicle speed and to 1 when the vehicle speed is higher than a second set vehicle speed. An adding section adds the adjusted FF target steering torque and an FB target steering torque together and outputs the resultant value as a final target steering torque.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2016
    Publication date: February 9, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Hidenobu KINUGASA
  • Publication number: 20170029026
    Abstract: A driving support device includes: an obstacle detector configured to detect an obstacle; a lane detector configured to detect a lane; and an electronic control unit configured to calculate a first target steering control amount for collision avoidance when the obstacle detector detects the host vehicle is likely to collide with the obstacle, calculate a second target steering control amount for maintaining the traveling of the host vehicle along the lane, decide a steering control amount for a steered wheel based on the first target steering control amount and the second target steering control amount such that the first target steering control amount outweighs the second target steering control amount in determining the steering amount for the steered wheel, and control the steered wheel based on the steering control amount decided by the electronic control unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2016
    Publication date: February 2, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Hidenobu KINUGASA, Hiroki MURATA
  • Publication number: 20170008561
    Abstract: A driving support device for a vehicle includes a hand-off determination unit configured to determine whether or not a specific condition is satisfied, the specific condition being a condition that a steering wheel is regarded as not being operated by a driver, a support interruption unit configured to interrupt a lane departure prevention support control when the hand-off determination unit determines that the specific condition is satisfied, a vehicle speed detection unit configured to detect a vehicle speed, and a vehicle speed response processing unit configured to control whether the support interruption unit interrupts the lane departure prevention support control based on the vehicle speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 7, 2016
    Publication date: January 12, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hidenobu KINUGASA, Yuji OKUDA
  • Patent number: 9477095
    Abstract: It is a subject of the present invention to provide eyeglasses which can be easily put on and off with one hand and which are capable of preventing shifts of the eyeglasses when worn. The present invention relates to eyeglasses 100 comprising a pair of right and left lenses R, a front frame portion 1 supporting the lenses R, a pad portion 2 mounted to a center of the front frame portion 1, a temple portion 5 extending rearward from an end portion on one side of the front frame portion 1 and an abutting portion 10 formed at an end portion on the other side of the front frame portion 1, wherein the temple portion 5 is hooked to an ear while the abutting portion 10 is in a state in which it abuts a side surface of a face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: CHARMANT CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Patent number: 9409478
    Abstract: A wobble determination device 1 appropriately determines the wobble of a vehicle and does not cause inconvenience for a driver. The wobble determination device 1 includes a steering determination unit 41 that determines whether the driver of a vehicle performs sudden steering after a non-steering state of the driver is maintained for a predetermined period of time and performs sudden return steering over a steering position in the non-steering state in a direction opposite to a direction of the sudden steering after the sudden steering and a wobble determination unit 42 that determines that the vehicle wobbles when the steering determination unit 41 determines that the steering of the driver is the sudden return steering which is performed over the steering position in the non-steering state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji Okuda, Shinya Kawamata
  • Publication number: 20160137201
    Abstract: A lane keeping assist apparatus is disclosed which includes a lane detecting part; an information output device; an actuator that generates a force for changing an orientation of a vehicle; and a controller that performs a lane keeping assist control based on a positional relationship between the lane and the vehicle, wherein the lane keeping assist control includes an alert control and an intervention control via the actuator, the controller selectively operates in a first mode where the alert control and the intervention control are executable, a second mode where only the intervention control is suppressed or a third mode where the alert control and the intervention control are suppressed, and the controller, during operating in the first mode, performs a mode transition to the second mode when the abnormality determination results indicate an abnormal state concerning only the part related to the intervention control.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2014
    Publication date: May 19, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Hidenobu KINUGASA, Taisuke HASEGAWA
  • Publication number: 20160129938
    Abstract: A lane keeping assist apparatus is disclosed which includes a lane detecting part that detects a lane in which a vehicle travels; an actuator that generates a force for changing an orientation of the vehicle; and a controller that operates the actuator such that the vehicle travels within the lane under a situation where a lane keeping assist function is in its ON state, wherein under a situation where the controller is operating the actuator, the controller determines whether an operation amount of the actuator is less than a predetermined first threshold, and prevents an output of operation information if it determines that the operation amount of the actuator is less than the predetermined first threshold, the operation information representing an operated state of the actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2014
    Publication date: May 12, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji OKUDA
  • Publication number: 20160107645
    Abstract: A departure prevention support apparatus includes a lane boundary sign recognizing part configured to recognize a lane boundary sign; a departure detecting part configured to detect a departure of the host vehicle from the lane boundary sign; and a target travel line generating part configured to generate a target travel line if the departure detecting part detects the departure, wherein the target travel line includes a first target travel line for reducing the departure, and a second target travel line for modifying a direction of the host vehicle whose departure has been reduced after having traveled along the first target travel line; wherein the target travel line generating part sets one of the first target travel line and the second target travel line such that it is substantially straight, depending on a direction of the departure and a direction of a curvature of the lane boundary sign.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2014
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Yoichi IWATA, Takahito NAKANO, Takashi KAWAI, Junpei TATSUKAWA, Tetsuya TAKAFUJI
  • Patent number: 9315194
    Abstract: The low-level consciousness determination system includes curved road determination means for determining whether a road on which the vehicle is traveling is a curved road and determining whether the vehicle is traveling on the outside of the curved road or on the inside of the curved road when the road is the curved road, threshold value setting means for setting different sudden steering determination threshold values when the curved road determination means determines that the road is not the curved road, when the curved road determination means determines that the vehicle is traveling on the outside of the curved road, and when the curved road determination means determines that the vehicle is traveling on the inside of the curved road, and sudden steering detection means for detecting the sudden steering on the basis of the threshold values set by the threshold value setting means after the non-steering state is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Publication number: 20160089499
    Abstract: A syringe includes a gasket, a barrel, and a plunger. The plunger includes a helical rib provided on an outer surface of a head portion, and the gasket comprises a helical valley portion for threadedly engaging with the helical rib, a plunger-retaining annular rib, and an accommodation portion for a part of the plunger at which the helical rib is formed. The annular rib comprises a rib absent portion for guiding, to the accommodation portion, the helical rib reaching the annular rib as threaded engagement is advanced between the plunger and the gasket. The helical rib comprises an entrance-restricting terminal end portion for restricting the entrance of the helical rib into the rib absent portion after the part of the plunger 4 at which the helical rib is formed is stored in the accommodation portion 32 of the gasket.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2015
    Publication date: March 31, 2016
    Applicant: Terumo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuji OKUDA, Koichiro FURUKAWA
  • Publication number: 20150175001
    Abstract: A wobble determination device 1 appropriately determines the wobble of a vehicle and does not cause inconvenience for a driver. The wobble determination device 1 includes a steering determination unit 41 that determines whether the driver of a vehicle performs sudden steering after a non-steering state of the driver is maintained for a predetermined period of time and performs sudden return steering over a steering position in the non-steering state in a direction opposite to a direction of the sudden steering after the sudden steering and a wobble determination unit 42 that determines that the vehicle wobbles when the steering determination unit 41 determines that the steering of the driver is the sudden return steering which is performed over the steering position in the non-steering state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 26, 2012
    Publication date: June 25, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuji Okuda, Shinya Kawamata
  • Publication number: 20150117714
    Abstract: A drift-assessment device includes a turn information detection unit that detects turn information of a vehicle, an image recognition and detection unit that detects position information of the vehicle relative to a lane, a vehicle speed detection unit that detects a vehicle speed, a selection unit that selects the image recognition and detection unit when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than a predetermined vehicle speed and selects the turn information detection unit when the vehicle speed is less than the predetermined vehicle speed, and a drift-assessment unit that determines the drift of the vehicle based on the position information of the vehicle relative to the lane when the selection unit selects the image recognition and detection unit and determines the drift of the vehicle based on the turn information of the vehicle when the selection unit selects the turn information detection unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 25, 2012
    Publication date: April 30, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Publication number: 20150070159
    Abstract: The low-level consciousness determination system includes curved road determination means for determining whether a road on which the vehicle is traveling is a curved road and determining whether the vehicle is traveling on the outside of the curved road or on the inside of the curved road when the road is the curved road, threshold value setting means for setting different sudden steering determination threshold values when the curved road determination means determines that the road is not the curved road, when the curved road determination means determines that the vehicle is traveling on the outside of the curved road, and when the curved road determination means determines that the vehicle is traveling on the inside of the curved road, and sudden steering detection means for detecting the sudden steering on the basis of the threshold values set by the threshold value setting means after the non-steering state is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Publication date: March 12, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda
  • Publication number: 20150039186
    Abstract: In a driving assistance device 1, when an execution determination unit 12 determines that a driving assistance unit 11 performs driving assistance, a consciousness degradation determination unit 13 performs control such that a warning unit 9 is less likely to issue a warning than that when the driving assistance is not performed. Therefore, even when the position of a host vehicle is changed by the steering of the host vehicle by a driving assistance unit 11, it is possible to reduce the discomfort of a driver due to a warning.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yuji Okuda