US5871062A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and device for speed and distance control for a motor vehicle
Assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
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Filing: 1996-04-15
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Granted: 1999-02-16
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Expires: 2016-04-15
Abstract
Abstract A method and a device for controlling the speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front are provided. The speed is controlled as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle and the distance from the vehicle travelling in front is controlled if a vehicle is located in the detection area. The desired distance for the distance control is set after an instruction for a lane change to the left has been triggered, to a value which is smaller than the value before this instruction was triggered, but is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance. Alternatively, the actual acceleration of the vehicle is limited to a prescribed maximum value if a vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle during the time that an instruction for a lane change to the right is set. In this way, fast overtaking maneuvers can be performed within the control and/or lane changes to the right can be carried out without undesired acceleration effects.
Inventors
- 👤 Jens Desens
- 👤 Zoltan Zomotor
- 👤 Stefan Hahn
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 09:22
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60W; B60W30/00; B60W30/14; B60W30/16; B60K; B60K31/00; B60K31/0008; B60W2540/00; B60W2540/20; B60W2720/00; B60W2720/10; B60W2720/106; B60W2754/00; B60W2754/10; B60W2754/30
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
182 words
A method of operating a vehicle speed and distance control unit for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said speed and distance control unit having a device for entry of lane change instructions by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as a vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and after an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been entered, setting a desired distance for the distance control to a value (d s1 ) which is smaller than a value (d sn ) before the instruction for a lane change to the left was triggered, but which is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance (d min ).
Claim 2
Independent Claim
182 words
A method of operating a vehicle speed and distance control unit for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said speed and distance control unit having a device for entry of lane change instructions by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as a vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and after an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been entered, setting a desired distance for the distance control to a value (d s1 ) which is smaller than a value (d sn ) before the instruction for a lane change to the left was triggered, but which is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance (d min ).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
75 words
The method according to claim 1, wherein the desired distance value (d s1 ) after the instruction for a lane change in said predetermined lateral direction has been entered is set to the larger value of the prescribed minimum distance (d min ) and a value (d sn /k) which is smaller by a prescribed factor (1/k) than the value (d sn ) before the instruction for a lane change to the left was triggered.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
166 words
A method of operating a vehicle speed and distance control unit for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said speed and distance control unit having a device for entry of lane change instructions by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and after an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been entered, changing over from a distance control to an acceleration control, and prescribing a minimum distance, wherein acceleration control is terminated and distance control is implemented when the distance drops below the prescribed minimum distance.
Claim 5
Independent Claim
166 words
A method of operating a vehicle speed and distance control unit for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said speed and distance control unit having a device for entry of lane change instructions by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and after an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been entered, changing over from a distance control to an acceleration control, and prescribing a minimum distance, wherein acceleration control is terminated and distance control is implemented when the distance drops below the prescribed minimum distance.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said motor vehicle having a device for detecting lane change instructions which are entered by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and limiting an actual acceleration of the vehicle to a maximum value (a max ) if the vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle during a time that an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction is set.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
155 words
A method for controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, said motor vehicle having a device for detecting lane change instructions which are entered by a vehicle operator, the method comprising the steps of: controlling the speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; controlling the distance from a vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle; and limiting an actual acceleration of the vehicle to a maximum value (a max ) if the vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle during a time that an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction is set.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method according to claim 4, wherein the maximum value (a max ) which limits actual acceleration is set equal to the actual acceleration (a i ) when the vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the vehicle, if the actual acceleration (a i ) is positive, and otherwise the maximum value is set to zero.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
175 words
A device for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed distance as long as a vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; and means which, after entry of an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been detected, set the desired distance for the distance control to a value which is smaller than the value before the instruction for a lane change in said predetermined lateral direction was entered, but is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
175 words
A device for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed distance as long as a vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; and means which, after entry of an instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction has been detected, set the desired distance for the distance control to a value which is smaller than the value before the instruction for a lane change in said predetermined lateral direction was entered, but is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
225 words
A device for controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; means which, after entry of an instruction for a lane change in a first predetermined lateral direction has been detected, set the desired distance for the distance control to a value which is smaller than the value before the instruction for a lane change in said first predetermined lateral direction was entered, but is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance; and means for limiting actual acceleration of the motor vehicle to a maximum value during detection of an entered instruction for a lane change in a second predetermined lateral direction if a vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
225 words
A device for controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; means which, after entry of an instruction for a lane change in a first predetermined lateral direction has been detected, set the desired distance for the distance control to a value which is smaller than the value before the instruction for a lane change in said first predetermined lateral direction was entered, but is at least as large as a prescribed minimum distance; and means for limiting actual acceleration of the motor vehicle to a maximum value during detection of an entered instruction for a lane change in a second predetermined lateral direction if a vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
162 words
A device for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; and means for limiting actual acceleration of the motor vehicle to a maximum value during detection of a set instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction if a vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
162 words
A device for automatically controlling a speed of a motor vehicle and its distance from a vehicle travelling in front, the device comprising: a speed control unit for controlling motor vehicle speed about a prescribed desired speed as long as no vehicle travelling in front is located within a prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; a distance control unit for controlling distance of the motor vehicle from the vehicle travelling in front about a prescribed desired distance as long as the vehicle travelling in front is located within the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle; means for detecting entered lane change instructions from an operator of said vehicle; and means for limiting actual acceleration of the motor vehicle to a maximum value during detection of a set instruction for a lane change in a predetermined lateral direction if a vehicle travelling in front moves out of the prescribed detection area in front of the motor vehicle.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2002-02-15 | 2002-08-17 | 2003-02-16 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2006-02-15 | 2006-08-17 | 2007-02-16 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2010-02-15 | 2010-08-17 | 2011-02-16 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |