Patents by Inventor Yukihide Kimura

Yukihide Kimura 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: 10639953
    Abstract: An automatic tilting vehicle is provided that includes left and right front wheels supported by knuckles, a steerable rear wheel, a vehicle tilting device, and a control unit. The vehicle tilting device includes a swing member, a tilt actuator for swing the swing member, and a pair of tie rods pivotally attached to the swing member and the knuckles. The control unit calculates a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle, estimates a lateral acceleration of the vehicle caused by the gyro moments of the wheels and calculates a target tilt angle of the vehicle based on a sum of the target lateral acceleration and the lateral acceleration caused by the gyro moments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide Kimura, Toshihide Yano, Junrou Yamamoto, Taku Nagasawa
  • Patent number: 10464601
    Abstract: Automatic tilting vehicle is provided that includes left and right front wheels supported by knuckles, a rear wheel steered by a steering actuator, a vehicle tilting device, and a control unit. The control unit calculates a target tilt angle of the vehicle and a target steered angle of the rear wheel based on a steering angle and a vehicle speed, controls the vehicle tilting device so that a tilt angle of the vehicle becomes the target tilt angle, and controls the steering actuator so that a steered angle of the rear wheel becomes the target steered angle. When the vehicle is turning and decelerating, a steered angle of the rear wheel is controlled not to be the target steered angle but to zero, and a tilt angle of the vehicle is reduced by a gyro moment of the rear wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Junrou Yamamoto, Toshihide Yano, Yukihide Kimura, Taku Nagasawa
  • Patent number: 10336366
    Abstract: A driving support apparatus for a vehicle comprising a steering device that steers steerable wheels, and a control unit configured to execute a running control in which a steered angle of the steerable wheels is changed by controlling the steering device, the control unit being configured to calculate a deviation between an index value of a target running state of the vehicle and an index value of an actual running state, to calculate a target change amount of the steered angle based on the index value deviation, to control the steering device so that a change amount of the steered angle conforms to the target change amount, and to limit a magnitude of a time change rate of the steered angle changed by the running control when one of a magnitude of the index value deviation and a magnitude of the target change amount exceeds a reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Yoshio Kudo, Takahiro Kojo, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Masao Ueyama, Takeshi Goto, Yukihide Kimura, Masateru Amano
  • Patent number: 10167013
    Abstract: A driving support device may be configured to calculate a target steering angle for allowing a vehicle to travel along a target course; set, as a reference steering angle, a steering angle when a difference between the steering angle and the target steering angle is small; calculate an indication value indicating intention of a driver's steering operation as a sum of a first product of a corrected steering angle and a steering torque, a second product of a derivative of the corrected steering angle and the steering torque, and a third product of the corrected steering angle and a derivative of the steering torque; and correct the target steering angle based on the indication value so that a target driving support torque is corrected in accordance with the intention of the driver's steering operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Yoshio Kudo, Takahiro Kojo, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Masao Ueyama, Takeshi Goto, Yukihide Kimura
  • Patent number: 10081385
    Abstract: A steering assist device includes: a steering torque detector; a steering operation amount acquisition device; an electric power steering device; and a control device configured to calculate a target control current of the electric power steering device, to supply the control current corresponding to the target control current to the electric power steering device, to determine a situation of steering operation of a driver, and to make a current component corresponding to the target inertia compensation assist torque in the target control current smaller when it is determined that the steering operation is turn-back steering with acceleration and deceleration than when it is determined that the steering operation of the driver is not the turn-back steering with acceleration and deceleration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide Kimura, Yoji Kunihiro, Takeshi Goto
  • Publication number: 20180264905
    Abstract: An automatic tilting vehicle is provided that includes left and right front wheels supported by knuckles, a steerable rear wheel, a vehicle tilting device, and a control unit. The vehicle tilting device includes a swing member, a tilt actuator for swing the swing member, and a pair of tie rods pivotally attached to the swing member and the knuckles. The control unit calculates a target lateral acceleration of the vehicle, estimates a lateral acceleration of the vehicle caused by the gyro moments of the wheels and calculates a target tilt angle of the vehicle based on a sum of the target lateral acceleration and the lateral acceleration caused by the gyro moments.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Publication date: September 20, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide KIMURA, Toshihide YANO, Junrou YAMAMOTO, Taku NAGASAWA
  • Publication number: 20180237065
    Abstract: Automatic tilting vehicle is provided that includes left and right front wheels supported by knuckles, a rear wheel steered by a steering actuator, a vehicle tilting device, and a control unit. The control unit calculates a target tilt angle of the vehicle and a target steered angle of the rear wheel based on a steering angle and a vehicle speed, controls the vehicle tilting device so that a tilt angle of the vehicle becomes the target tilt angle, and controls the steering actuator so that a steered angle of the rear wheel becomes the target steered angle. When the vehicle is turning and decelerating, a steered angle of the rear wheel is controlled not to be the target steered angle but to zero, and a tilt angle of the vehicle is reduced by a gyro moment of the rear wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2018
    Publication date: August 23, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Junrou YAMAMOTO, Toshihide YANO, Yukihide KIMURA, Taku NAGASAWA
  • Publication number: 20180222276
    Abstract: An automatic tilting vehicle is provided that includes left and right wheels supported by knuckles, a vehicle tilting device, and a control unit. The vehicle tilting device includes a swing member, an actuator for swing the swing member, and a pair of tie rods pivotally attached to the swing member and the knuckles. When a tilt angle of the vehicle is equal to or less than an allowable maximum tilt angle, a pivot point of the pivotal attachment portion at the lower end of the turning outer tie rod is located inside the vehicle with respect to a line segment connecting a grounding point of the corresponding wheel and a pivot point of the pivotal attachment portion at the upper end of the same tie rod.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Publication date: August 9, 2018
    Inventors: Yukihide KIMURA, Toshihide YANO, Junrou YAMAMOTO, Taku NAGASAWA
  • Publication number: 20180022383
    Abstract: A driving support apparatus for a vehicle comprising a steering device that steers steerable wheels, and a control unit configured to execute a running control in which a steered angle of the steerable wheels is changed by controlling the steering device, the control unit being configured to calculate a deviation between an index value of a target running state of the vehicle and an index value of an actual running state, to calculate a target change amount of the steered angle based on the index value deviation, to control the steering device so that a change amount of the steered angle conforms to the target change amount, and to limit a magnitude of a time change rate of the steered angle changed by the running control when one of a magnitude of the index value deviation and a magnitude of the target change amount exceeds a reference value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2017
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji KUNIHIRO, Yoshio KUDO, Takahiro KOJO, Yoshiaki SUZUKI, Masao UEYAMA, Takeshi GOTO, Yukihide KIMURA, Masateru AMANO
  • Publication number: 20170183027
    Abstract: A steering assist device includes: a steering torque detector; a steering operation amount acquisition device; an electric power steering device; and a control device configured to calculate a target control current of the electric power steering device, to supply the control current corresponding to the target control current to the electric power steering device, to determine a situation of steering operation of a driver, and to make a current component corresponding to the target inertia compensation assist torque in the target control current smaller when it is determined that the steering operation is turn-back steering with acceleration and deceleration than when it is determined that the steering operation of the driver is not the turn-back steering with acceleration and deceleration.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 12, 2016
    Publication date: June 29, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide KIMURA, Yoji KUNIHIRO, Takeshi GOTO
  • Patent number: 9669866
    Abstract: A steering intention determination device includes a calculation unit that calculates a value based on the product of a steering angular velocity and a steering torque and the product of a steering angle and the time differential value of the steering torque, and a determination unit that determines that the driver has a turn-and-steer steering intention in a case where the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, determine that the driver has a steering holding intention in a case where the value is less than the predetermined value and the absolute value of the steering angular velocity is less than a predetermined angular velocity, and determine that the driver has a switchback steering intention in a case where the value is less than the predetermined value and the absolute value of the steering angular velocity is equal to or greater than the predetermined angular velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Takahiro Kojo, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Yoshio Kudo, Masao Ueyama, Takeshi Goto, Yukihide Kimura
  • Publication number: 20170088166
    Abstract: A driving support device may be configured to calculate a target steering angle for allowing a vehicle to travel along a target course; set, as a reference steering angle, a steering angle when a difference between the steering angle and the target steering angle is small; calculate an indication value indicating intention of a driver's steering operation as a sum of a first product of a corrected steering angle and a steering torque, a second product of a derivative of the corrected steering angle and the steering torque, and a third product of the corrected steering angle and a derivative of the steering torque; and correct the target steering angle based on the indication value so that a target driving support torque is corrected in accordance with the intention of the driver's steering operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Publication date: March 30, 2017
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji KUNIHIRO, Yoshio KUDO, Takahiro KOJO, Yoshiaki SUZUKI, Masao UEYAMA, Takeshi GOTO, Yukihide KIMURA
  • Patent number: 9598101
    Abstract: Provided is a steering assist apparatus (10) for a vehicle, including a transmission device (22) configured to transmit a force and a displacement relating to steering between a steering wheel (18) and steered wheels (20L, 20R), a power steering device (12) configured to apply an assist torque to the transmission device, and a control device (50). When assuming the steering wheel, the transmission device, the power steering device, and the steered wheels as a steering system, the control device is configured to calculate, based on a product of a steering angular velocity and a derivative of the steering angular velocity, a product of the steering angular velocity and a steering torque, and a product of a steering angle and a derivative of the steering torque, a change rate (dDE) of an energy of the steering system, and control the assist torque based on the change rate of the energy of the steering system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide Kimura, Yoji Kunihiro, Takeshi Goto
  • Patent number: 9545944
    Abstract: A controller of a steering apparatus includes a calculating unit that calculates a correction assistance quantity based on a steering angular velocity coefficient and a torque coefficient, a steering angular velocity coefficient setting unit that sets the steering angular velocity coefficient depending on a steering angular velocity and that sets the steering angular velocity coefficient to become larger as a feedback quantity of a negative feedback unit becomes larger, and a torque coefficient setting unit that sets the torque coefficient depending on a steering torque and that sets the torque coefficient to become larger as the feedback quantity of the negative feedback unit becomes larger. The feedback quantity of the torque coefficient setting unit when the steering torque is in a predetermined high-frequency range is larger than the feedback quantity of the steering angular velocity coefficient setting unit when the steering angular velocity is in a predetermined high-frequency range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide Kimura, Takeshi Goto, Yoji Kunihiro
  • Publication number: 20160200354
    Abstract: A controller of a steering apparatus includes a calculating unit that calculates a correction assistance quantity based on a steering angular velocity coefficient and a torque coefficient, a steering angular velocity coefficient setting unit that sets the steering angular velocity coefficient depending on a steering angular velocity and that sets the steering angular velocity coefficient to become larger as a feedback quantity of a negative feedback unit becomes larger, and a torque coefficient setting unit that sets the torque coefficient depending on a steering torque and that sets the torque coefficient to become larger as the feedback quantity of the negative feedback unit becomes larger. The feedback quantity of the torque coefficient setting unit when the steering torque is in a predetermined high-frequency range is larger than the feedback quantity of the steering angular velocity coefficient setting unit when the steering angular velocity is in a predetermined high-frequency range.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 3, 2014
    Publication date: July 14, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide KIMURA, Takeshi GOTO, Yoji KUNIHIRO
  • Patent number: 9387876
    Abstract: A steering system includes a steering angle detection unit that detects a steering angle of a steering wheel; a steering torque detection unit that detects a steering torque with respect to the steering wheel; an ECU that calculates a corrected steering angle by nonlinearly correcting the steering angle, a first steering parameter as the product of an angular velocity of the steering angle and the steering torque, a second steering parameter as the product of the corrected steering angle and a time differential value of the steering torque, and a target control amount based on the first steering parameter and the second steering parameter; and a steering support unit that applies a rotation torque to the steering wheel based on the target control amount.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro Kojo, Yoshiaki Suzuki, Yoji Kunihiro, Yoshio Kudo, Masao Ueyama, Yukihide Kimura
  • Patent number: 9327777
    Abstract: A boundary layer control system includes a boundary layer separating portion that separates a boundary layer of an airflow at an underside of a body of a moving object from a main flow of the airflow, and an ejecting portion that ejects fluid in a state different from that of the boundary layer and the main flow, between the boundary layer and the main flow that have been separated by the boundary layer separating portion. This boundary layer control system is characterized in that boundary layer and the main flow are reliably separated by the fluid in a state different from that of the boundary layer and the main flow, so the percentage of the main flow that is slowed down (i.e., reduced in velocity) by the boundary layer is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Yukihide Kimura
  • Publication number: 20160107679
    Abstract: Provided is a steering assist apparatus (10) for a vehicle, including a transmission device (22) configured to transmit a force and a displacement relating to steering between a steering wheel (18) and steered wheels (20L, 20R), a power steering device (12) configured to apply an assist torque to the transmission device, and a control device (50). When assuming the steering wheel, the transmission device, the power steering device, and the steered wheels as a steering system, the control device is configured to calculate, based on a product of a steering angular velocity and a derivative of the steering angular velocity, a product of the steering angular velocity and a steering torque, and a product of a steering angle and a derivative of the steering torque, a change rate (dDE) of an energy of the steering system, and control the assist torque based on the change rate of the energy of the steering system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2015
    Publication date: April 21, 2016
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yukihide KIMURA, Yoji KUNIHIRO, Takeshi GOTO
  • Publication number: 20150266501
    Abstract: A steering system includes a steering angle detection unit that detects a steering angle of a steering wheel; a steering torque detection unit that detects a steering torque with respect to the steering wheel; an ECU that calculates a corrected steering angle by nonlinearly correcting the steering angle, a first steering parameter as the product of an angular velocity of the steering angle and the steering torque, a second steering parameter as the product of the corrected steering angle and a time differential value of the steering torque, and a target control amount based on the first steering parameter and the second steering parameter; and a steering support unit that applies a rotation torque to the steering wheel based on the target control amount.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Publication date: September 24, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takahiro KOJO, Yoshiaki SUZUKI, Yoji KUNIHIRO, Yoshio KUDO, Masao UEYAMA, Yukihide KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20150266504
    Abstract: A steering intention determination device includes a calculation unit that calculates a value based on the product of a steering angular velocity and a steering torque and the product of a steering angle and the time differential value of the steering torque, and a determination unit that determines that the driver has a turn-and-steer steering intention in a case where the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, determine that the driver has a steering holding intention in a case where the value is less than the predetermined value and the absolute value of the steering angular velocity is less than a predetermined angular velocity, and determine that the driver has a switchback steering intention in a case where the value is less than the predetermined value and the absolute value of the steering angular velocity is equal to or greater than the predetermined angular velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Publication date: September 24, 2015
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji KUNIHIRO, Takahiro KOJO, Yoshiaki SUZUKI, Yoshio KUDO, Masao UEYAMA, Takeshi GOTO, Yukihide KIMURA