Brake control apparatus and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A brake control apparatus comprising:
- a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation;
a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle;
a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and
a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, at a hill hold start timing determined in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state,wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, andwherein the hill hold control section is configured to control the hill hold start timing in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter to advance the hill hold start timing in accordance with the road gradient.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A brake control apparatus includes a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition, and a control unit to start a hill hold control to hold a vehicle in a stop state by a braking force produced by a brake actuator even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the sensed vehicle condition. The parameter may be a variable indicative of a gradient of a road.
32 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, at a hill hold start timing determined in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state, wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, and wherein the hill hold control section is configured to control the hill hold start timing in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter to advance the hill hold start timing in accordance with the road gradient. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state, wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, and wherein the hill hold control section is configured to initiate the hill hold control by comparing a hill hold related parameter with a threshold, and to adjust the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state, wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, wherein the hill hold control section is configured to initiate the hill hold control by comparing a hill hold related parameter with a threshold, and to adjust the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient, wherein the vehicle sensor includes a pressure sensor to sense a master cylinder pressure of the master cylinder and the hill hold control section is configured to initiate the hill hold control when the master cylinder pressure, as the hill hold related parameter, becomes lower than the threshold, and to increase the threshold when the road gradient becomes steeper, and wherein the hill hold control section is configured to vary the threshold in accordance with the master cylinder pressure which is used as the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state, wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, wherein the hill hold control section is configured to initiate the hill hold control by comparing a hill hold related parameter with a threshold, and to adjust the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient, and wherein the hill hold control section is configured to determine the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter by referencing a predetermined table.
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19. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation, in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state, wherein the hill hold control start adjustment parameter is a parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road on which the vehicle is stopped, wherein the hill hold control section is configured to initiate the hill hold control by comparing a hill hold related parameter with a threshold, and to adjust the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient, and wherein the hill hold control section is configured to determine the threshold in accordance with the hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of the road gradient by substituting a value of the hill hold control start adjustment parameter into a predetermined mathematical equation.
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20. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuator connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a pressure control section connected between the master cylinder and the brake actuator, and arranged to increase the brake fluid pressure in the brake actuator when the pressure control section is in a pressure increase state, to decrease the brake fluid pressure in the brake actuator when the pressure control section is in a pressure decrease state, and to hold the brake fluid pressure in the brake actuator when the pressure control section is in a pressure hold state, the pressure control section being put in the pressure hold state in a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by the braking force produced by the brake actuator even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation; a pressure sensor to sense a master cylinder pressure of the master cylinder; and a hill hold control section to determine a hill hold control start timing to initiate the hill hold control, by comparing the master cylinder pressure with a predetermined pressure threshold, and to modify the hill hold control start timing in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of a road gradient. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A hill hold brake control process comprising:
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a first process element of examining whether a vehicle is in a predetermined stop state; a second process element of initiating a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in the stop state at a hill hold start timing determined by comparing a first parameter indicative of a driver'"'"'s brake pedal force with a first threshold; and a third process element of adjusting the hill hold control start timing to initiate the hill hold control in accordance with a gradient parameter indicative of a road gradient. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a driver'"'"'s brake release operation, and a vehicle condition indicative of a road gradient of a road; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to prevent the braking force of the brake actuating section from being decreased by the driver'"'"'s brake release operation, at a hill hold control start timing during the driver'"'"'s brake release operation, so as to hold the braking force to hold the vehicle in a stopped state even after a brake pedal is fully released, and to control the hill hold control start timing to initiate the hill hold control, in accordance with the vehicle condition indicative of the road gradient, to initiate the hill hold control earlier during the driver'"'"'s brake release operation when the road gradient is steeper and to initiate the hill hold control later during the driver'"'"'s brake release operation when the road gradient is less steep.
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29. A brake control apparatus comprising:
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a master cylinder to produce a brake fluid pressure in response to a driver'"'"'s braking operation; a brake actuating section connected with the master cylinder, to receive the brake fluid pressure from the master cylinder and to produce a braking force to brake a vehicle; a vehicle sensor to sense a vehicle condition; and a hill hold control section to initiate a hill hold control to hold the vehicle in a stopped state by holding the braking force of the brake actuating section even after an end of the driver'"'"'s braking operation if an engine of the vehicle is stopped, and to control a hill hold control start timing to initiate the hill hold control in accordance with a hill hold control start adjustment parameter indicative of a road gradient of a road, determined from the vehicle condition sensed by the vehicle sensor when the vehicle is in the stopped state.
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Specification