Patents by Inventor Yuki Minase

Yuki Minase 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: 20130166162
    Abstract: A system includes: a shift mechanism; and a position detecting device detecting an operating position of the shift mechanism on the basis of an output signal of a sensor attached to the shift mechanism. An execution mode of a driving force limiting process that limits driving force is set on the basis of the operating position that is detected by the position detecting device. The driving force limiting process is executed on the basis of the execution mode of the driving force limiting process and a vehicle operation state. When it is determined that there is an abnormality in the position detecting device in a state that the driving force limiting process is not executed, setting the execution mode on the basis of the operating position of the shift mechanism is prohibited, and execution of the driving force limiting process is allowed on the basis of the vehicle operation state.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Publication date: June 27, 2013
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Masashi Takagi, Motonari Ohbayashi, Hiroshi Shimada, Toshihiro Takagi
  • Publication number: 20130166161
    Abstract: A vehicle has a shift mechanism and a position detection device that detects an operation position of the shift mechanism. A transmission is brought to a power transmission state when an operation unit of the shift mechanism is operated to a driving position, and is brought to a power interrupt state when the operation unit is operated to a non-driving position. A driving force limitation process for reducing the driving force of an internal combustion engine is executed when it is determined that the non-driving position has been shifted to the driving position on the basis of the operation position of the operation unit as detected by the position detection device. The driving force limitation process is prohibited when it is determined that the vehicle is traveling and that the operation unit is not operated to any of the operation positions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2012
    Publication date: June 27, 2013
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Masashi Takagi, Motonari Ohbayashi, Hiroshi Shimada, Toshihiro Takagi
  • Publication number: 20130143716
    Abstract: A drive control apparatus for a vehicle includes: a control unit that controls drive force output from an engine in accordance with operation of an accelerator pedal; and a shift mechanism capable of selectively switching a shift position to a driving position or a non-driving position. The shift mechanism transmits the drive force to wheels when the shift position is in the driving position, and interrupts transmission of the drive force when the shift position is in the non-driving position. The control unit executes a drive force restriction process of reducing the drive force when the shift position is switched from the non-driving position to the driving position while the accelerator pedal is in an on state, and, when the switching is from a neutral position, the control unit changes a mode of reducing the drive force in accordance with a continuation time of the neutral position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2012
    Publication date: June 6, 2013
    Inventors: Shinya KODAMA, Motonari OHBAYASHI, Yuki MINASE, Masashi TAKAGI, Toshihiro TAKAGI
  • Publication number: 20130133455
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle drive control apparatus including a shift mechanism configured to be able to selectively switch its shift position to either a driving position or a non-driving position; and a controller configured to control the drive force output from a motor serving as a drive source of the vehicle according to operation of an accelerator, to transmit the drive force from the motor to wheels when the shift position is in the driving position, and to stop the transmission of the drive force from the motor to the wheels when the shift position is in the non-driving position. The controller also performs drive force suppression processing to control the drive force, when the shift position is switched from the non-driving position to the driving position with the accelerator turned ON, such that the acceleration of the vehicle does not exceed an upper limit of acceleration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Publication date: May 30, 2013
    Inventors: Shinya KODAMA, Motonari OHBAYASHI, Yuki MINASE, Masashi TAKAGI, Toshihiro TAKAGI
  • Patent number: 8442741
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent drivability from being deteriorated. An ECU is operative to set a reduction speed threshold value to determine a driver's braking intention on the basis of the correlation in the depression amount of an accelerator pedal, the depression amount of a brake pedal, and a travel state of a vehicle caused by the depression amounts of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. The ECU is further operative to change the reduction speed threshold value on the basis of the detected drive state to compare the travel state calculated on the basis of the detected drive state with the changed reduction speed threshold value to determine the driver's braking intention, thereby making it possible to determine the driver's braking intention without detecting the operation amount of a driver and to accurately estimate the driver's braking intention. This makes it possible to change the reduction control between executed and not executed, and to improve the drivability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Haruhiko Katsumata, Michihito Shimada, Masashi Takagi, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Kenichi Okaya
  • Patent number: 8428845
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent drivability from being deteriorated. The vehicle control apparatus comprises an ECU adapted to determine whether or not a brake is “off” or the state of the hysteresis width of an accelerator opening degree exceeding a predetermined hysteresis width is continued for a predetermined period of time during the execution of an engine torque reduction control process. When the ECU determines that the brake is “off” or that the state of the hysteresis width of an accelerator opening degree exceeding a predetermined hysteresis width is continued for a predetermined period of time, the ECU performs an engine torque restoration process of the engine. Therefore, the vehicle control apparatus can allow the continued execution and non-execution of the reduction control to be switched therebetween in accordance with the driver's travel intention, thereby making it possible to prevent the drivability from being deteriorated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Hiroyuki Hanamura
  • Patent number: 8380420
    Abstract: Precise operation of an accelerator operating member (7) is more difficult to perform in a reversing operation of a vehicle (1) as compared with an advancing operation. Therefore, behavior of the vehicle (1) is not smooth and thus tends to be unnatural. In the reversing operation of the vehicle (1), driving force output from an internal combustion engine (2) is limited in accordance with vehicle acceleration (D). At this time, it is possible to regulate the driving force of the vehicle (1) in conformity to the actual operation of the accelerator operating member (7) by the driver. In addition, limitation of the driving force is not executed in the advancing operation of the vehicle (1). At this time, the vehicle (1) can be driven in a state in which the driving force is comparatively small. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the behavior of the vehicle (1) from being unnatural.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2013
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masashi Takagi, Motonari Ohbayashi, Yuki Minase, Shinya Kodama, Toshihiro Takagi
  • Publication number: 20130030674
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle control apparatus that can prevent the drivability from being deteriorated. The vehicle control apparatus has an ECU that determines an acceleration/deceleration is caused by the disturbances and determines the control permission condition is not established, when an acceleration calculated by the variation of the wheel rotation speed detected by the wheel rotation speed sensor is more than or equal to a third deceleration threshold value, or less than or equal to a second deceleration threshold value. Therefore, the vehicle control apparatus can prohibit the reduction control of the driving force and can eliminate an influence of the variation of the wheel rotation speed caused by the disturbances when an unreasonable variation of the wheel rotation speed is detected as the acceleration, even under the condition that the vehicle travels on an extremely uneven road surface or a slippery road surface, thereby appropriately determining the deceleration of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Publication date: January 31, 2013
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Michihito Shimada, Masashi Takagi, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Kenichi Okaya
  • Publication number: 20130030675
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle control apparatus that can prevent the drivability from being deteriorated. The vehicle control apparatus has an ECU which determines, when the control permission condition is not established, not to execute the reduction control in the case that the accelerator opening degree is smaller than or equal to the accelerator threshold value or the vehicle speed is smaller than or equal to the vehicle speed threshold value, even if a depression of an accelerator pedal is detected and a depression of a foot brake pedal is detected. Therefore, the vehicle control apparatus can stop the torque reduction control to prevent the reduction of the engine output contrary to the intention of the driver in the case that an impact to the vehicle is small such that a load more than necessary is not applied to the vehicle even if the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are both depressed by the driver.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Publication date: January 31, 2013
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Michihito Shimada, Masashi Takagi, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Kenichi Okaya
  • Publication number: 20130024090
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent drivability from being deteriorated. An ECU is operative to set a reduction speed threshold value to determine a driver's braking intention on the basis of the correlation in the depression amount of an accelerator pedal, the depression amount of a brake pedal, and a travel state of a vehicle caused by the depression amounts of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. The ECU is further operative to change the reduction speed threshold value on the basis of the detected drive state to compare the travel state calculated on the basis of the detected drive state with the changed reduction speed threshold value to determine the driver's braking intention, thereby making it possible to determine the driver's braking intention without detecting the operation amount of a driver and to accurately estimate the driver's braking intention. This makes it possible to change the reduction control between executed and not executed, and to improve the drivability.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2010
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Minase, Haruhiko Katsumata, Michihito Shimada, Masashi Takagi, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Kenichi Okaya
  • Publication number: 20130006490
    Abstract: Precise operation of an accelerator operating member (7) is more difficult to perform in a reversing operation of a vehicle (1) as compared with an advancing operation. Therefore, behavior of the vehicle (1) is not smooth and thus tends to be unnatural. In the reversing operation of the vehicle (1), driving force output from an internal combustion engine (2) is limited in accordance with vehicle acceleration (D). At this time, it is possible to regulate the driving force of the vehicle (1) in conformity to the actual operation of the accelerator operating member (7) by the driver. In addition, limitation of the driving force is not executed in the advancing operation of the vehicle (1). At this time, the vehicle (1) can be driven in a state in which the driving force is comparatively small. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the behavior of the vehicle (1) from being unnatural.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2011
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masashi Takagi, Motonari Ohbayashi, Yuki Minase, Shinya Kodama, Toshihiro Takagi
  • Publication number: 20130006493
    Abstract: A driving force control apparatus for a vehicle includes a driving force suppression processing unit and a control unit. The driving force suppression processing unit executes driving force suppression processing to set a driving force output from a prime mover below a driving force corresponding to an accelerator operation amount. The control unit modifies a driving farce output during execution of the driving force suppression processing in accordance with a steering angle of the vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 28, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masashi Takagi, Motonari Ohbayashi, Yuki Minase, Shinya Kodama, Toshihiro Takagi
  • Publication number: 20120290188
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent a drivability of a vehicle from being deteriorated. When an ECU determines that an accelerator is “ON” and a brake is “ON”, the ECU determines whether or not the brake previously depressed is “OFF”. When the ECU determines that the brake previously depressed is “OFF” and that the vehicle is in the reduced speed state, the vehicle control apparatus is operative to execute an engine output reduction control process under the condition that the simultaneous depressions of the accelerator and brake pedals continues for less than 10 seconds and the vehicle speed is not less than 7 km/hr. When the simultaneous depressions of the accelerator and brake pedals continues for no less than 10 seconds, the ECU is operative to make an output reduction prohibition flag “ON” and not to execute the engine output reduction control process until a predetermined time elapses.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiya Oishi, Toshio Takaoka, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Tsutomu Miyazaki
  • Publication number: 20120290179
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent the deterioration of drivability. The ECU can set a control accelerator opening degree to be converted when a control permission condition is established. The control accelerator opening degree is equal to or larger than an accelerator lower limit which is larger than an idle determination value for determining an automatic stopping of an engine by an eco-run. The control accelerator opening degree thus set can prevent the drivability from being deteriorated without the automatic stopping of the engine being caused even if the accelerator opening degree is converted to reduce the torque of the engine with the establishment of the control permission condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Publication date: November 15, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiya Oishi, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Tsutomu Miyazaki
  • Publication number: 20120271526
    Abstract: Disclosed is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent drivability from being deteriorated. The ECU is operative to determine whether the previously depressed brake is in the “ON” or “OFF” state when the vehicle is determined as being not travelling on a bad road, the accelerator being in the “ON” state, and the brake being in the “ON” state. When the ECU is operative to determine that the previously depressed brake is in the “OFF” state, and the vehicle is in the reduced speed state, the ECU is operative to perform the reduction process of the engine output under the condition that the simultaneous depressions of the accelerator and brake pedals are held for less than 10 seconds, and the vehicle speed is 7 km/hr or more. When, on the other hand, the ECU determines that the vehicle is travelling on the bad road, the ECU is operative not to perform the reduction process.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2009
    Publication date: October 25, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiya Oishi, Masato Kaigawa, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Tsutomu Miyazaki
  • Publication number: 20120259524
    Abstract: For providing a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent the deterioration of the drivability, the ECU (100) of the vehicle control apparatus according to the present invention can determine the speed reduction of the vehicle (10) at the time of the accelerator pedal (212) and the foot brake pedal (213) being depressed together, and can abort the execution of the reduction control due to the control permission condition not being established when the speed reduction is not determined (NO in Step S15), so that the execution or non-execution of the reduction control can be carried out avoiding an unintentional braking of the vehicle, thereby making it possible to prevent the drivability from deteriorating.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2009
    Publication date: October 11, 2012
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Hiroyuki Hanamura
  • Publication number: 20120116650
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle control apparatus which can prevent drivability from being deteriorated. The vehicle control apparatus comprises an ECU adapted to determine whether or not a brake is “off” or the state of the hysteresis width of an accelerator opening degree exceeding a predetermined hysteresis width is continued for a predetermined period of time during the execution of an engine torque reduction control process. When the ECU determines that the brake is “off” or that the state of the hysteresis width of an accelerator opening degree exceeding a predetermined hysteresis width is continued for a predetermined period of time, the ECU performs an engine torque restoration process of the engine. Therefore, the vehicle control apparatus can allow the continued execution and non-execution of the reduction control to be switched therebetween in accordance with the driver's travel intention, thereby making it possible to prevent the drivability from being deteriorated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 28, 2009
    Publication date: May 10, 2012
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tsutomu Miyazaki, Toshiya Oishi, Masashi Takagi, Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Kenichi Okaya, Hiroyuki Hanamura
  • Publication number: 20110295480
    Abstract: Provided is a vehicle control apparatus that can prevent the deterioration of drivability. An ECU executes a reduction control when speed reduction of a vehicle is determined as a control permit condition is established, and does not execute the reduction control when the speed reduction is not determined as the condition is not established. Additionally, when determined that a vehicle behavior stabilization control that stabilizes behavior of the vehicle is being executed, the ECU determines the speed reduction of the vehicle by changing a speed reduction threshold value for determining the speed reduction. This makes it possible to adequately determine the speed reduction of the vehicle even when a drive state of the vehicle is changed by the execution of the vehicle behavior stabilization control, thereby allowing the execution and non-execution of the reduction control to be switched reflecting a driver's intention and thus preventing the drivability from being deteriorated.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 29, 2010
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Michihito Shimada, Yuki Minase, Toshiya Oishi, Tsutomu Miyazaki, Masashi Takagi, Kenichi Okaya