Vehicle Deceleration Controller

• US 20090128318A1
• Filed: 06/22/2007
• Published: 05/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagata, Shinichi, Okita, Toshinori
• Granted Patent: US 8,396,639 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/467
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/02 Active or adaptive cruise control system; Distance control
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/22 initiated by contact of vehicle, e.g. bumper, with an external object, e.g. another vehicle , or by means of contactless obstacle detectors mounted on the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2420/408 Radar; Laser, e.g. lidar
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/02 Control of vehicle driving stability
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/14 Means for informing the driver, warning the driver or prompting a driver intervention

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to reliably carry out warning braking in a situation where the warning braking is needed and a crew can recognize the warning braking, and prevent the crew from feeling an unnatural sensation due to the warning braking in a situation where the warning braking is needed but the crew cannot effectively recognize the warning braking. If an obstacle is present ahead of the vehicle, the driver does not carry out brake operation, the driver is looking aside, and the vehicle may collide with the obstacle, the maximum target deceleration Gbt2max for the warning braking is computed. If automatic travel control is not carried out or if automatic travel control is being carried out and its target deceleration Gbt4 is less than a reference value Gbt4s smaller than the maximum target deceleration Gbt2max, the warning braking is carried out. However, when the target deceleration Gbt4 for the automatic travel control is larger than the allowable reference value Gbt4s for warning braking, the warning braking is not carried out.

Claims

1. A deceleration controller for a vehicle comprising warning braking means for performing warning braking so as to issue a warning to a crew of the vehicle;

and travel control means for decelerating the vehicle in response to a deceleration request associated with travel control of the vehicle, wherein, even when the warning braking is needed, the warning braking is not performed if the vehicle is being decelerated by the travel control means and deceleration of the vehicle is equal to or greater than a reference value.

2. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the deceleration controller starts the warning braking upon detection of a situation where the warning braking is needed and the deceleration of the vehicle is less than the reference value.

3. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the deceleration controller continues the warning braking until a predetermined termination condition is satisfied, even if the deceleration of the vehicle becomes equal to or greater than the reference value in a situation where the warning braking is being performed.

4. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, when vehicle speed is high, the reference value is large, as compared with the case where the vehicle speed is low.

5. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the travel control calculates a target deceleration for the travel control of the vehicle and decelerates the vehicle such that the deceleration of the vehicle coincides with the target deceleration, and the warning braking means terminates the warning braking when the target deceleration for the travel control becomes greater than the deceleration of the vehicle in a situation where the warning braking is being performed.

13. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the deceleration request associated with the travel control of the vehicle is a deceleration request for automatically decelerating the vehicle, irrespective of driving operation by the driver, so as to support the driving of the vehicle by the driver.

6. A vehicle deceleration controller comprising warning braking means for performing warning braking so as to issue a warning to a crew of a vehicle;

and travel control means for decelerating the vehicle in response to a deceleration request associated with travel control of the vehicle, wherein the warning braking means computes a target deceleration for the warning braking and decelerates the vehicle such that deceleration of the vehicle coincides with the target deceleration, and wherein, even when the warning braking is needed, the warning braking is not performed if the vehicle is being decelerated by the travel control means and the target deceleration is equal to or less than a sum of the deceleration of the vehicle and a predetermined value.

7. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the deceleration controller starts the warning braking upon detection of a situation where the warning braking is needed and the target deceleration is greater than the sum of the deceleration of the vehicle and the predetermined value.

8. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the deceleration controller continues the warning braking until a predetermined termination condition is satisfied, even if the target deceleration for the warning braking becomes equal to or less than the sum of the deceleration of the vehicle and the predetermined value in a situation where the warning braking is being performed.

9. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein, when the deceleration of the vehicle is large, the maximum value of the target deceleration is large, as compared with the case where the deceleration of the vehicle is small.

10. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein, when vehicle speed is high, the maximum value of the target deceleration is small, as compared with the case where the vehicle speed is low.

11. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein, when vehicle speed is high, the predetermined value is small, as compared with the case where the vehicle speed is low.

12. A deceleration controller for a vehicle according to claim 6, wherein the travel control means calculates a target deceleration for the travel control of the vehicle and decelerates the vehicle such that the deceleration of the vehicle coincides with the target deceleration, and the warning braking means terminates the warning braking when the target deceleration for the travel control becomes greater than the target deceleration for the warning braking in a situation where the warning braking is being performed.