Braking control system for vehicle

• US 6,203,120 B1
• Filed: 02/17/1999
• Issued: 03/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Sugimoto, Yoichi, Hada, Satoshi, Urai, Yoshihiro, Ichikawa, Shoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Schwartz, Christopher P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BARTZ, CLIFFORD T
• Application Number:
  US09/251,424
• Time in Patent Office: 762 Days
• Field of Search: 303/125, 303/146, 303/166, 367/909, 340/935, 701/70, 701/71, 701/78, 701/82, 701/83, 701/300, 701/301
• US Class Current: 303/125
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 13/662 characterised by specified functions of the control system components
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 2201/02 Active or adaptive cruise control system; Distance control
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/12 for automatic initiation; for initiation not subject to will of driver or passenger limiting speed of vehicles other than rail vehicles B60K31/00
• 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: B60T 8/4827 in hydraulic brake systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 367/909 Collision avoidance

Abstract

When the behavior of a vehicle becomes unstable during an automatic braking operation for avoiding contact of the vehicle with an object, the restoring of the unstable state backed up to effectively avoid the contact of the vehicle with the object. When a radar device in the vehicle, detects the object exist ahead of the vehicle in the direction of movement of the vehicle, the possibility of the contact of the vehicle with the object is determined by a determining device from the relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the object, based on the result of the detection. When it is determined that there is the possibility of the contact, an automatic braking device operates a vacuum booster to carry out an automatic braking operation. When the unstable state of the vehicle is detected by an unstable state detector during the automatic braking operation by the automatic braking device, the automatic braking device forcibly continues the automatic braking operation, until the vehicle reaches a state in which the unstable state is not detected, whether or not it is determined that there is the possibility of the contact of the vehicle with the object. Thus, it is possible to precisely control the continuation and finishing of the automatic braking operation to reliably achieve the avoidance of the contact of the vehicle with the object, while preventing the behavior of the vehicle from further becoming unstable due to the discontinuation of the automatic braking operation.

Claims

1. A braking control system for a vehicle, comprising:

an object detecting device for detecting an object existing ahead of a vehicle in the direction of movement of the vehicle,

braking device adapted to brake the vehicle,

determining means for determining a possibility of contact of the vehicle with the object based upon a relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the object, as a function of the output of said object detecting device,

automatic braking means for carrying out an automatic braking operation by operating said braking device based on the output of said determining means, and

unstable state detecting means for detecting an unstable state of the vehicle, wherein when the unstable state of the vehicle is detected by said unstable state detecting means during the automatic braking operation carried out by said braking device, the automatic braking operation is forcibly continued by said automatic braking means, based on an operational state of the unstable state detecting means.

2. A braking control system for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said unstable state detecting means detects the unstable state based on the lateral behavior of the vehicle.

3. A braking control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said unstable state detecting means detects the yaw rate of the vehicle.

4. A braking control system as set forth in claim 1, wherein said unstable state detecting means detects the side slip angle of the vehicle.

5. A braking control system for a vehicle, comprising:

an object detecting device for detecting an object existing ahead of a vehicle in the direction of movement of the vehicle,

a braking device adapted to brake the vehicle,

determining means for determining a possibility of contact of the vehicle with the object based upon a relative positional relationship between the vehicle and the object, as a function of the output of said object detecting device, and

automatic braking means for carrying out an automatic braking operation by operating said braking device based on the output of said determining means, and

vehicle behavior inhibiting means for detecting lateral behavior of vehicle and varying the distribution of a braking force to left and right wheels of the vehicle as a function of detection of the lateral behavior, to thereby carry out a spin preventing control operation, wherein when said vehicle behavior inhibiting means is being operated during the automatic braking operation by the braking device, the automatic braking operation is forcibly continued by said automatic braking means based on an operational state of said vehicle behavior inhibiting means.

6. A braking control system as set forth in claim 5, wherein said vehicle behavior inhibiting means detects the yaw rate of the vehicle.

7. A braking control system as set forth in claim 5, wherein said vehicle behavior inhibiting means detects the side slip angle of the vehicle.