Appeal 2007-2644
Application 10/708,681
being applied, the vehicle cannot avoid contacting the obstacle, first and
second yaw rates and a target yaw rate, which is the larger of the absolute
values of the first and second yaw rates, are calculated. See id. An
automatic brake control section calculates a target braking force based at
least on the target yaw rate, and then brakes a selected wheel to steer the
vehicle around the object. See id.
The Appellants argue that Matsuno’s equations 4 and 5 indicate that
Matsuno’s first and second yaw rates are calculated without reference to the
distance from the vehicle to an object and that, therefore, Matsuno does not
control brake-steer in proportion to the sensed distance from the object
(Br. 3). Matsuno, the Appellants argue, instead uses the object distance
signal as an on/off condition precedent for enabling a brake-steer routine
(Reply Br. 2).
Matsuno’s brake control section (15e) outputs to a brake drive
section (1) a brake fluid pressure signal that comes from 1) an automatic
brake control section (15j) that receives an input signal from yaw calculating
sections (15g,h,i), or 2) a deceleration calculating section (15d)
(¶¶ 0029, 0049; fig. 1). Matsuno’s brake fluid pressure signal is comparable
to the Appellants’ brake-steer signal (Appellants’ Spec. ¶ 0137; fig. 22).
Matsuno’s deceleration calculating section (15d) calculates an automatic
braking deceleration based upon the relative speed (Vr) of the vehicle and
the object, and a road gradient (θsL) (¶ 0025). An input to the deceleration
calculating section (15d) comes from a deceleration judging section (15c)
that compares the distance (Lr) between the vehicle and the object with a
threshold distance (Llmt) (¶ 0024). Because the input to the deceleration
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Last modified: September 9, 2013