Auto-cruise system for vehicle

Claim 1

An auto-cruise system for a vehicle, comprising: a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle speed of a subject vehicle; an actuator adapted to change the subject vehicle speed; a speed setting means for setting the vehicle speed at a desired value; a distance detecting means for detecting a distance between the subject vehicle and an object ahead of the subject vehicle; a distance regulating means for outputting a speed-reducing command signal when the distance detected by said distance detecting means becomes shorter than a reference distance determined based on a detection value detected by said vehicle speed detecting means; and a travel speed control means for controlling the operation of said actuator, which is capable of switching over among 1) a cruise speed control mode for controlling the vehicle speed, such that the detection value detected by said vehicle speed detecting means is equalized to a vehicle speed set by said speed setting means when the speed reducing command signal has not been output from said distance regulating means, 2) a speed reducing control mode for reducing the vehicle speed when the speed-reducing command signal has been output from said distance regulating means, and 3) a speed increasing control mode for increasing the vehicle speed until it is restored to the set vehicle speed in response to the disappearing of the speed-reducing command signal output from said distance regulating means, wherein said auto-cruise system further includes a turning state detecting means for detecting a turning state of the vehicle, and in said speed increasing control mode of the travel speed control means, an acceleration until the vehicle speed is restored to the set vehicle speed is set such that it becomes lower as the turning state detected by the turning state detecting means becomes larger.