Vehicle behavior controlling apparatus

• US 8,751,109 B2
• Filed: 07/17/2009
• Issued: 06/10/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Watanabe, Ryochi
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, John R
• Assistant Examiner(s): CASS, JEAN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US13/001,153
• Publication Number:
  US 20110130923A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,789 Days
• Field of Search: 303/20
• US Class Current: 701/41
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2220/03 Driver counter-steering; Avoidance of conflicts with ESP control
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 8/1755 Brake regulation specially adapted to control the stability of the vehicle, e.g. taking into account yaw rate or transverse acceleration in a curve road vehicle drive control systems for control of driving stability otherwise than by controlling a particular sub-unit B60W30/02

Abstract

A vehicle behavior controlling apparatus includes a steering state determining unit that determines a state of a steering by a driver, and a brake device controlling unit that executes a stabilization braking in which predetermined braking force is generated on a front wheel at a side reverse to a steering direction by a second steering during a turning-back steering, when it is determined that the steering angle in the second steering is held when the turning-back steering is executed by the steering state determining unit, and when it is determined that the steering angle in the second steering is held, a limitation is imposed on an amount of a reduction in the braking force. Thus, a yaw moment in the direction reverse to the yaw moment by the second steering in the turning-back steering can be generated, whereby the yaw moment due to the steering can be reduced.

Claims

1. A vehicle behavior controlling apparatus comprising:

a steering state determining unit configured to determine a state of steering by a driver, including a state of turning-back steering where a first steering turns a wheel in a first left or right direction and is followed by a second steering which turns the wheel in a second right or left direction such that the first and second directions are reverse steering directions;

a yaw rate acquiring unit to acquire a yaw rate during a travel of the vehicle; and

a brake device controlling unit configured to control braking force applied to a wheel by controlling a brake device which generates the braking force, the brake device being configured to execute a stabilization braking, including;

(a) when the turning-back steering is determined as being executed by the steering state determining unit, the brake device controlling unit generates a predetermined braking force on a front wheel at a side reverse to the second direction of the second steering, and

(b) when a steering angle in the second steering is determined as being held by the steering state determining unit, the brake device controlling unit limits an amount of a reduction in the braking force, wherein

the amount of the reduction in the braking force is limited, to execute the stabilization braking, when the steering angle in the second steering of the turning-back steering is determined to be held,

the steering state determining unit determines that the steering angle in the second steering during the turning-back steering is being held when;

(1) the turning-back steering is being executed, (2) the steering angle is greater than a predetermined value, and (3) a change of the steering angle is less than a predetermined change,

the brake device controlling unit executes the stabilization braking during a braking when a steering angle in the second steering is being held,

the brake device controlling unit, during a period when the stabilization braking is executed, ends the stabilization braking when the yaw rate, which is acquired by the yaw rate acquiring unit during the stabilization braking, is reduced from a peak value of the yaw rate by a predetermined amount or more.

2. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the brake device controlling unit compares a current control amount in a control of the current stabilization braking and a previous control amount of the current control amount in the current stabilization braking, and selects the greater control amount as the current control amount, thereby maintaining the braking force, when the stabilization braking is executed.

3. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the brake device controlling unit sets a lower limit value of the control amount for the stabilization braking, and sets the control amount in a control of the stabilization braking to be not less than the lower limit value, thereby maintaining the braking force, when the stabilization braking is executed.

4. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the yaw rate acquiring unit sets, during a first turn, a peak yaw rate that is a greatest yaw rate during the first turn.

5. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the yaw rate acquiring unit updates the peak yaw rate to reflect, during turns that follow the first turn, a peak yaw rate that is a greatest yaw rate during the first turn and the turns that follow the first turn.

6. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the yaw rate acquiring unit sets a peak yaw rate independently for left and right turns.

7. The vehicle behavior controlling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the brake device controlling unit, during the period when the stabilization braking is executed, ends the stabilization braking when the yaw rate exceeds the peak yaw rate that is set by the yaw rate acquiring unit and the yaw rate is reduced by the predetermined amount or more.