VEHICLE CONTROL APPARATUS AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20110218713A1
• Filed: 11/26/2009
• Published: 09/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aichi Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Syuzo, Sakai, Morio
• Granted Patent: US 8,190,333 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/0276 reaction to emergency situations, e.g. crash

Abstract

A vehicle control apparatus includes a drive unit that drives a mechanism provided in a vehicle, an operating portion that is operated by an occupant and instructs the drive unit to drive, a collision predicting portion that predicts a collision, and a control portion that controls the drive unit. The control portion controls the drive unit to place the mechanism in a predetermined state when the collision is predicted by the collision predicting portion, and controls the drive unit to vary a driving speed of the drive unit when the operating portion is operated while the drive unit is being controlled. The invention also relates to a control method of this vehicle control apparatus.

Claims

1-12. -12. (canceled)

13. A vehicle control apparatus comprising:

a drive unit that drives a mechanism provided in a vehicle;

an operating portion that is operated by an occupant and instructs the drive unit to drive;

a collision predicting portion that predicts a collision; and

a control portion that controls the drive unit,

wherein the control portion controls the drive unit to place the mechanism in a predetermined state when the collision is predicted by the collision predicting portion, and controls the drive unit to vary a driving speed of the drive unit when the operating portion is operated while the drive unit is being controlled upon prediction of a collision.

14. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

the control portion stops driving the drive unit when the operating portion is operated while the drive unit is being controlled.

15. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

the control portion controls the drive unit at a first speed when the collision predicting portion predicts the collision, and decreases the driving speed of the drive unit to a second speed that is slower than the first speed when the operating portion is operated while the drive unit is being driven at the first speed.

16. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the drive unit is structured so as to drive in a first direction and a second direction that is opposite the first direction;

and

the control portion controls so as to reverse a driving direction of the drive unit to the second direction after decreasing the driving speed of the drive unit from the first speed to the second speed, when there is a drive command to drive the drive unit in the second direction in response to operation of the operating portion while the drive unit is being driven in the first direction at the first speed.

17. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 16, wherein

after the driving direction of the drive unit is reversed to the second direction, the control portion controls the drive unit such that the drive unit continues to be driven at the second speed.

18. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 17, wherein

the mechanism is returned to a state before being driven by the drive unit.

19. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 16, wherein

after the driving direction of the drive unit is reversed to the second direction, the control portion controls the drive unit such that the drive unit continues to be driven, and the mechanism is returned to a state before being driven by the drive unit.

20. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 15, wherein

the control portion stops driving the drive unit when the operating portion stops being operated, while the drive unit is being driven at the second speed.

21. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 13, wherein

the mechanism is a reclining mechanism that adjusts a reclining angle of a seat back of a vehicle seat.

22. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 21, wherein

the control portion controls the drive unit such that the reclining angle approaches a target angle when the collision predicting portion predicts the collision;

the target angle is a predetermined angle at which an occupant restraint device restrains the occupant in an appropriate posture; and

the predetermined state is a state in which the reclining angle matches the target angle.

23. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 22, wherein

the control portion starts to control the drive unit when the collision predicting portion predicts the collision and the reclining angle does not match the target angle.

24. A control method of a vehicle control apparatus, comprising:

predicting a collision;

driving a drive unit such that a mechanism provided in a vehicle is placed in a predetermined state when the collision is predicted; and

varying a driving speed of the drive unit when an operating portion is operated while the drive unit is being controlled upon prediction of a collision.