Toyota Patents

Toyota Motor Corporation designs, manufactures, assembles and sells passenger cars, minivans and commercial vehicles under the Toyota and Lexus brands. The company also provides financial services products to customers and dealers seeking loans to purchase or leases of Toyota vehicles.

Toyota Patents by Type
  • Toyota Patents Granted: Toyota patents that have been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Toyota Patent Applications: Toyota patent applications that are pending before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
  • Publication number: 20210103428
    Abstract: A vehicular arithmetic operation processing device that is mounted in a vehicle having a communication function of communicating with an outside of the vehicle and the vehicular arithmetic operation processing device includes an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to: perform an arithmetic operation for an arithmetic operation task, output a result of the arithmetic operation, and receive an arithmetic operation task from the outside of the vehicle by using the communication function when an amount of arithmetic operations performed in the vehicular arithmetic operation processing device is equal to or less than a predetermined first value; and transmit an arithmetic operation task to the outside of the vehicle by using the communication function when the amount of arithmetic operations which are performed in the vehicular arithmetic operation processing device is equal to or greater than a predetermined second value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 14, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masahiro Nishiyama, Kenji Tsukagishi, Takahisa Kaneko
  • Publication number: 20210104926
    Abstract: A rotating electric machine includes: a rotary shaft member; a rotor including an annular rotor core having magnet housing holes; a stator including an annular stator core and a stator coil; a field yoke; and a field coil provided in the field yoke. Further, a bridge portion is provided between two magnet housing holes, an end surface in an axial direction at one end in a radial direction of the field yoke and an end surface in the axial direction of the bridge portion face each other in the axial direction, and an end surface in the axial direction at another end in the radial direction of the field yoke, and an end surface in the axial direction of the rotor core or an end surface in the axial direction of the stator core face each other in the axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 27, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroyuki HATTORI
  • Publication number: 20210105870
    Abstract: A window glass apparatus includes a heater for heating a part of a windshield which is a particular part of a window glass of a host vehicle, and a control ECU configured to control an amount of the electric power supplied to the heater. The control ECU detects a preceding vehicle and controls the amount of the electric power supplied to the heater in such a manner that the amount of the electric power supplied to the heater is reduced as compared with a case where the preceding vehicle is not detected, using information on the detected preceding vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hideyuki MURASATO, Takahiro ADACHI, Toshifumi KAWASAKI, Masami NAGANO
  • Publication number: 20210105325
    Abstract: A data collection device includes: an acquirer configured to acquire the location of a vehicle from a vehicle device mounted on the vehicle; an extractor configured to extract, based on the location of the vehicle, at least one identifier out of identifiers each assigned to a region on a map that is divided into a plurality of regions; a distributor configured to distribute to the vehicle device at least one information pair that is formed by pairing the extracted identifier with a data collection condition; and a collector configured to collect, from the vehicle device, data gathered by the vehicle device based on the collection condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 9, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicants: DENSO TEN Limited, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masashi TSUYUNASHI, Yasuyuki KUSUMOTO
  • Publication number: 20210101610
    Abstract: A driver assistance device includes a one or more processors. The one or more processors is configured to determine whether a pedal misapplication determination condition is satisfied, and output, when the one or more processors determines that the pedal misapplication determination condition is satisfied, at least one of a warning display and warning audio directly instructing a driver to release the pedal that is depressed at a point in time of outputting.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Xi CHEN, Kohei MOROTOMI
  • Publication number: 20210104970
    Abstract: An integrated power control assembly mounted on an axial end of a three-phase motor includes a substrate, two input busbars each of positive and negative polarities alternatively spaced apart on the substrate, a plurality of sets of paired devices, and three output busbars corresponding to the three phases of the motor, wherein a set of paired devices includes a switching semiconductor and a diode. An inner input busbar has edges adjacent to an inner input busbar of opposite polarity and an outer input busbar of opposite polarity and configured to have at least twice as many devices as the outer input busbars. One or more sets of paired devices are disposed axially on outer input busbars and on inner input busbars along the edges. An individual output busbar is disposed over and electrically coupled to one or more sets of paired devices disposed on adjacent input busbars of opposite polarity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 19, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Shohei Suenaga, Shailesh N. Joshi, Danny J. Lohan, Yanghe Liu
  • Publication number: 20210102587
    Abstract: An electromagnetic brake device presses a pressing plate against a brake rotor along an axis via a friction material by the electromagnetic force of an electromagnetic actuator. The electromagnetic brake device includes a support member that is disposed on the opposite side of the pressing plate to the brake rotor and that is supported by a housing so as to be displaceable along the axis and non-rotatable around the axis, and a shaft member that transmits a force in the direction along the axis between the pressing plate and the support member. An electromagnetic coil and an armature of the electromagnetic actuator are spaced apart from the pressing plate between the pressing plate and the support member, the electromagnetic coil is supported by the housing, and the armature is supported by the support member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 21, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hiroshi ISONO
  • Publication number: 20210103279
    Abstract: A touch panel of an automatic driving vehicle includes a SLOW DOWN button. An operator is able to operate the SLOW DOWN button while the vehicle is running in the automatic driving mode to apply different deceleration controls using a first operation, or a long press, and a second operation, or a short press. For example, when a long press is applied, the automatic driving vehicle completes deceleration at time t4, or a time immediately after time t3 at which the long press operation is completed. In contrast, when a short press is applied, the automatic driving vehicle completes deceleration after the elapse of a relatively long period after completion of the short press.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirohito IDE, Yuchi YAMANOUCHI, Masaki SHITARA, Ryo HATTORI
  • Publication number: 20210101642
    Abstract: Vehicle body panels and systems are described. A vehicle body panel may include at least one layer of material defining the vehicle body panel and one or more than one electronic device, where a portion of each electronic device is embedded within one or more than one of the at least one layer of material. Each electronic device may communicate with a control system or a vehicle control unit of the vehicle to support an advanced-feature functionality of the vehicle. At least one electronic device may include a first portion embedded within the one or more than one of the at least one layer of material. The first portion may be couplable to a second portion, not embedded within the material, where the first portion upon being coupled to the second portion communicates with the control system or the vehicle control unit of the vehicle to support the advanced-feature functionality.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2019
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA MOTOR ENGINEERING & MANUFACTRUING NORTH AMERICA, INC.
    Inventors: Ethan W. Pomish, Shardul S. Panwar
  • Publication number: 20210104754
    Abstract: A fuel cell includes: a membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly; a frame member which surrounds the membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly; and a pair of separators with the frame member and the membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly sandwiched therebetween. The separators include a manifold hole through which a reaction gas is supplied or discharged. The frame member includes a manifold opening which communicates with the manifold hole, an in-plane opening in which the membrane electrode gas diffusion layer assembly is disposed, a gas flow path which communicates with the in-plane opening and the manifold opening, a seal portion which is welded to the separators around the gas flow path, and an accommodation portion which is provided between the seal portion and the gas flow path to accommodate a material of the frame member caused to flow by welding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 17, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Daisuke KANNO, Yoshihiro YAMAGATA
  • Publication number: 20210101473
    Abstract: A combination vehicle includes a tractor and a trailer towed by the tractor. The trailer includes a first tank that is configured to store a high-pressure gas as a fuel used by the tractor to travel. The tractor includes a second tank that is configured to store a high-pressure gas as a fuel used by the tractor to travel. The combination vehicle is configured to travel using the fuel supplied from the first tank and the second tank.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, c/o HINO MOTORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Toshiyuki KONDO, Yukihide YOKOYAMA
  • Publication number: 20210103740
    Abstract: A method for tracking a non-connected vehicle is provided. The method includes obtaining one or more features of the non-connected vehicle, assigning an ID to the non-connected vehicle, the ID including information about the one or more features of the non-connected vehicle, predicting one or more locations of the non-connected vehicle in response to the non-connected vehicle being out of a field of view of a connected vehicle at a first location, identifying a vehicle at a second location, the second location corresponding to one of the predicted one or more locations, and determining whether the identified vehicle at the second location corresponds to the non-connected vehicle based on a comparison of one or more features of the identified vehicle and the ID.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2019
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Hao Yang, Rui Guo, Baik Hoh, Kentaro Oguchi
  • Publication number: 20210101608
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a controller and a display. The display is mounted in the vehicle to surround a user in the vehicle. The controller is configured to determine travel information to be proposed to the user based on attribute information for the user, and present the determined travel information on the display.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 1, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiromitsu FUJII, Kohei MIWA, Yuko MIZUNO, Shinsuke ARIGA, Hirotaka OMISHA, Tsuyoshi OKADA
  • Publication number: 20210103435
    Abstract: A program update system includes a vehicle including a first and second electronic devices, and a program transmission device. The program transmission device is configured to communicate with the vehicle and transmit a program for the first electronic device and a program for the second electronic device to the vehicle. The program transmission device transmits an update program for a first electronic device to a second electronic device. The program transmission device transmits a program in a state before the update for backup. The second electronic device updates the program for the first electronic device based on the update program. The second electronic device stores the program in the state before the update.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kunihiro MIYAUCHI, Isao WATANABE, Hiroya ANDOU
  • Publication number: 20210101481
    Abstract: The controller is programmed to perform first control that controls a driving force distributor such as to decrease a distribution rate upon satisfaction of a predetermined condition that a frequency of at least one rotation fluctuation of an output member of the drive system, a main drive wheel and a sub drive wheel is within a predetermined area, compared with the distribution rate upon non-satisfaction of the predetermined condition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 4, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shingo SATAKE, Yoshimitsu YOKOUCHI, Hiroki SAITO
  • Publication number: 20210101637
    Abstract: A steering apparatus includes left and right swing arm members, left and right tie rods pivotally attached to the arm portions of the swing arm members at their inner ends, relay rods pivotally attached to the arm portions at both ends, and a steering input transmission system. Rack-and-pinion type electric power steering devices are connected to the arm portions of the left and right swing arm members. A control unit calculates correcting steering torques for reducing rotational vibrations generated in the electric power steering devices due to a disturbance, and correct target steering assist torques calculated based on a steering torque with the correcting steering torques and control the electric power steering devices with the corrected target steering assist torques.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki TOYODA, Ruriko SAKAGUCHI, Hironobu FUKUTA
  • Publication number: 20210101498
    Abstract: A power supply circuit of an electrified vehicle according to the present disclosure is mounted on the electrified vehicle including: a battery configured to receive an electric power from an external DC power supply; an accessory configured to operate at a system voltage of the battery; and a DC inlet to which a voltage higher than the system voltage is applied from the external DC power supply. The power supply circuit includes a first power line, a step-down converter and a second power line. The first power line is configured to connect the DC inlet and the battery. The step-down converter is disposed on the first power line and configured to lower a voltage supplied to the battery from the DC inlet. The second power line has one end connected to the first power line between the step-down converter and the battery, and another end connected to the accessory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 7, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuhiro SUGIMOTO
  • Publication number: 20210103284
    Abstract: Embodiments herein are directed to a wheelchair system that includes a wheelchair. The wheelchair includes a coupling mechanism, a processing device, and a non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium in communication with the processing device. The non-transitory, processor-readable storage medium includes one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the processing device to determine the location of an accessory, position the wheelchair with respect to the accessory, and couple the wheelchair to the accessory via the coupling mechanism. The positioning of the wheelchair is independent from a user physically controlling the positioning of the wheelchair with respect to the accessory.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 8, 2019
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventor: Katsumi Nagata
  • Publication number: 20210101292
    Abstract: Systems and methods for determining a pose of an object held by a flexible end effector of a robot are disclosed. A method of determining a pose of the object includes receiving tactile data from tactile sensors, receiving curvature data from curvature sensors, determining a plurality of segments of the flexible end effector from the curvature data, assigning a frame to each segment, determining a location of each point of contact between the object and the flexible end effector from the tactile data, calculating a set of relative transformations and determining a location of each point relative to one of the frames, generating continuous data from the determined location of each point, and providing the continuous data to a pose determination algorithm that uses the continuous data to determine the pose of the object.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2019
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
    Inventors: Naveen Suresh Kuppuswamy, Alexander Alspach
  • Publication number: 20210101446
    Abstract: A temperature adjustment device controller is configured to determine a temperature adjustment control basic value from a necessary temperature adjustment control amount calculated based on a parameter including environmental information, set a target blowing temperature of temperature adjustment air based on the temperature adjustment control basic value, and set a target blowing amount of the temperature adjustment air based on the temperature adjustment control basic value, an open-closed state of a movable roof, and a vehicle speed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Toshiki Nakanishi, Kozo Matsumoto, Takashi Kubokura, Motoki Tatara, Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Shinji Umeki, Kenji Ishida, Shunsuke Tanaka, Naoki Mizutani
  • Publication number: 20210101293
    Abstract: An autonomous mobile robot includes a first arithmetic unit configured to calculate a course direction based on an own position, a moving-object position, and a moving-object velocity vector, the course direction being a direction in which the autonomous mobile robot should travel, a second arithmetic unit configured to input the own position, the moving-object position, the moving-object velocity vector, and the course direction into a trained model and thereby calculate an estimated position, the trained model being a model that has been trained, the estimated position being a position at which the autonomous mobile robot is estimated to arrive a predetermined time later without colliding with the moving object, a generating unit configured to generate a remaining route from the estimated position to a destination, and a movement control unit configured to control a movement to the destination based on the course direction and the remaining route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, National University Corporation Shizuoka University, National University Corporation Iwate University
    Inventors: Yuichi Kobayashi, Takeshi Sugimoto, Chyon Hae Kim, Kazuhito Tanaka
  • Publication number: 20210101448
    Abstract: A vehicle-mounted temperature controller 100 provided with a compressor 2 having a compression part 2a compressing a refrigerant and a drive motor 2b driving the compression part 2a and using waste heat accompanying driving of the compression part 2a to make the temperature of the refrigerant rise, a blower 61 blowing air to a heater core 145 raised in temperature by receiving heat of the refrigerant and blowing air exchanged in heat with the heater core 145 to the inside of the passenger compartment, and an electronic control unit 51 controlling a current phase of the drive motor 2b to a phase by which a ratio of change of an output of the drive motor 2b to a change of the current phase becomes relatively larger to thereby drive the drive motor 2b by an inefficient drive operation when the blower 61 is in a nondriven state and controlling the current phase to a phase by which a ratio of change of an output of the drive motor 2b to a change of the current phase becomes relatively smaller to thereby drive the
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takuya HIRAI, Hidefumi AIKAWA, Yuji MIYOSHI
  • Publication number: 20210101171
    Abstract: A coating booth includes a coating chamber in which coating is performed on a coated object by a coating device, a supply air chamber placed above the coating chamber, and a recovery chamber placed below the coating chamber. The coating booth is configured such that: air directed from the supply air chamber toward the recovery chamber flows through a predetermined region inside the coating chamber, the predetermined region including a passage region for the coated object; and the air directed from the supply air chamber toward the recovery chamber does not flow through a predetermined-region outside region inside the coating chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Akira NUMASATO, Shinji TANI, Kazuki TANAKA, Takufumi KIMURA
  • Publication number: 20210101507
    Abstract: A child seat temporary holding structure in a passenger motor vehicle having a connection member to which a connector provided on an ISOFIX type child seat is to be detachably connected, the connection member protruding from a top wall located on the upper side of the vehicle body relative to a seat in the cabin of the passenger motor vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Mitsuyoshi Ohno
  • Publication number: 20210101561
    Abstract: A vehicle occupant restraint system is configured to, when a vehicle speed is higher than or equal to a vehicle speed threshold, a steering angle velocity is higher than or equal to a steering angle velocity threshold set for each vehicle speed, and an estimated lateral acceleration is higher than or equal to an acceleration threshold, drive a retractor motor. The steering angle velocity threshold is as a condition to drive the retractor motor. Therefore, by setting an appropriate steering angle velocity threshold according to an amount of movement of an occupant with inertia in a vehicle width direction, the vehicle occupant restraint system is able to take up a webbing when the occupant is estimated to move with inertia by a relatively large amount in the vehicle width direction. The amount of movement with inertia varies for each vehicle speed even at the same steering angle velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 14, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kenji Fukuta
  • Publication number: 20210101572
    Abstract: In a vehicle, application of hydraulic pressure in a hydraulic braking device is started, when an accelerator is turned on, and the accelerator is predicted to be turned off, and engine braking feeling is predicted to become insufficient, the engine braking feeling being deceleration feeling given to a driver when the accelerator is turned off and an engine brake is operated, and a predetermined condition that prediction time until the accelerator is turned off is shorter than dead time of a hydraulic pressure response of the hydraulic braking device is established. The hydraulic braking device generates a negative jerk in the vehicle when the accelerator is turned off upon lapse of dead time after application of the hydraulic pressure in the hydraulic braking device is started.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shun SATO
  • Publication number: 20210101583
    Abstract: A controller for a hybrid vehicle predicts whether necessary discharging electric power from a power storage device which is required to perform downshift in a transmission exceeds upper-limit discharging electric power of the power storage device when downshift in the transmission is performed in a hybrid vehicle travel mode and controls a compressor rotation speed such that a rate of increase of the compressor rotation speed of a supercharger at the time of performing downshift in the transmission increases as the upper-limit discharging electric power decreases when it is predicted that the necessary discharging electric power exceeds the upper-limit discharging electric power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 9, 2020
    Publication date: April 8, 2021
    Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keisuke OMURO, Atsushi TABATA, Tetsuya KONO, Koichi OKUDA
  • Patent number: 10967768
    Abstract: A vehicle seat includes a seat main body having a seat back, and disposed at a vehicle front side of a seating position at an end side in a vehicle width direction of a rear seat; and a flow path having one end side and another end side, conditioned air flowing through the one end side, the conditioned air being produced by an air-conditioning device mounted at the vehicle, the other end side being disposed inside the seat main body, another end of the flow path opening at a vehicle rear surface of the seat back, and the conditioned air flowing through an inside of the flow path and being blown from the other end towards a vehicle rear side of the seat back.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Kazuyuki Shiga
  • Patent number: 10967845
    Abstract: A vehicle drive-force transmitting apparatus including: a drive gear; a fluid pump that is to driven by rotation of the drive gear; and a casing that stores therein the drive gear and the fluid pump. The fluid pump includes: a pump body; a pump cover; a rotor; a driven gear that meshes with the drive gear; and a pump shaft on which the rotor and the driven gear are mounted. The pump shaft is rotatably supported at its supported portion by the pump body and/or the pump cover. The driven gear is mounted on a free end portion of the pump shaft. An outer peripheral portion of the pump body or an outer peripheral portion of the pump cover is supported by the casing, such that the other portion of the pump body and the other portion of the pump cover are spaced apart from the casing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kazuki Iwakura, Hiroaki Kiyokami
  • Patent number: 10967832
    Abstract: A remote startup system includes a terminal of a user, a center server that is configured to communicate with the terminal, and a vehicle that is configured to communicate with the center server, and starts up an engine of the vehicle according to a startup request transmitted from the terminal to the center server. The remote startup system includes a lock information acquisition unit configured to acquire lock information indicating whether or not the vehicle is locked when the startup request is transmitted from the terminal to the center server or when a function of transmitting the startup request that is included in the terminal is activated, and a controller configured to change a startup manner of the engine based on the startup request according to whether the lock information indicates that the vehicle is locked or indicates that the vehicle is unlocked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Tamane, Masato Endo
  • Patent number: 10967455
    Abstract: A vehicular differential device includes a differential case, a ring gear, and a welded portion positioned on an abutting surface where the differential case and the ring gear are in contact with each other. The welded portion is configured to join the differential case and the ring gear for integral rotation of the differential case and the ring gear around a rotation axis of the vehicular differential device. The welded portion includes a plurality of welding surfaces positioned at predetermined intervals along a circumferential direction around the rotation axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Osamu Shimizu, Nobuharu Imai, Yuji Suzuki
  • Patent number: 10967753
    Abstract: A vehicle includes: an inlet configured to allow a connector of a charging cable to be inserted into the inlet; a battery configured to be charged from a charger through the connector and the inlet; a communication device configured to perform communication with a server; and an ECU configured to control charging. The ECU diagnoses whether there is an abnormality in the charger, when where the charger and the vehicle are connected to each other through the charging cable, the abnormality being able to be diagnosed in a state where the connector has been inserted into the inlet, and sends information indicating an abnormality occurrence, to the server through the communication device, when where the ECU diagnoses the charger as having the abnormality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hidetoshi Kusumi
  • Patent number: 10967712
    Abstract: A register panel mounting structure includes: a retainer having a cylindrical shape and having a flow path formed therein to permit passage of air for air conditioning; and a register panel mounted at an edge portion of the retainer, the edge portion forming an opening at a downstream side. The register panel has a shape only covering, from a front side, one portion of the edge portion in a circumferential direction. The register panel includes: an inner panel disposed at a side at which the opening is located when viewed from the edge portion; and an outer panel disposed opposite to the side at which the opening is located when viewed from the edge portion. The inner panel and the outer panel sandwich one portion of the edge portion in the circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuya Inagaki, Toshinao Wada
  • Patent number: 10967421
    Abstract: A method of reusing core sand includes crushing a core used for casting into granules, the core includes water glass as a binder, and the water glass includes water-soluble water glass and water-insoluble water glass; heating the core; detaching the water glass from the core sand; and separating and collecting the core sand from a mixture of the water glass and the core sand.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Daisuke Yamashita, Hirotsune Watanabe, Masashi Morikawa
  • Patent number: 10967822
    Abstract: A vehicle that includes a rear bumper having a license plate well recessed into the rear bumper and a combined lighting assembly disposed at the rear bumper. The combined lighting assembly includes a lighting body having an outward facing portion coupled to a sideward facing portion by a turned portion. The sideward facing portion extends into the license plate well. The combined lighting assembly also includes a rearward facing light having a rearward illumination region directed in the vehicle rearward direction from the outward facing portion and a license plate light having a sideward illumination region directed into the license plate well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Frank A Ramos, II, Chung Lee, Alexander Paradis, Stuart Wuerthele
  • Patent number: 10967808
    Abstract: An interior cover mount assembly includes a base member and an interior cover including a clip and the clip includes an arm section and a head section having a width greater than that of the arm section. The base member has an insertion stopper hole through which the head section is inserted and a projection projecting from the base member toward the interior cover and disposed near the holding section. The insertion stopper hole includes an insertion section through which the head section is inserted and a holding section having a width smaller than that of the head section and greater than that of the arm section and where the arm section is arranged. In the interior cover that is mounted on the base member, the clip is fit in the insertion stopper hole such that the head section overlaps the holding section and the projection in the mounting direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignees: TOYOTA BOSHOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA, TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomonari Masuda, Mitsuaki Eshima
  • Patent number: 10967748
    Abstract: An electric vehicle includes a battery that stores electric power for traveling, a sensor that detects the temperature of the battery, a communication circuitry configured to communicate with a server configured to collect information as to a plurality of vehicles, a temperature adjusting circuitry configured to adjust the temperature of the battery, and a control circuitry configured to control the temperature adjusting circuitry. The information as to the vehicles includes at least an ambient temperature in a surrounding area of each vehicle. The control circuitry selectively switches the mode of operation of the temperature adjusting circuitry by using the temperature of the battery and the ambient temperature collected in the server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shinji Ichikawa
  • Patent number: 10967713
    Abstract: A vehicle side door includes: a door main body; a mirror stay fixed to the door main body so as to be at least partially placed outwardly from the door main body, the mirror stay including a support portion placed outwardly from the door main body; and a mirror unit including a mirror holder supported by the support portion, and a mirror supported by the mirror holder, wherein: the door main body includes an outer panel constituting an outer face of the door main body, an inner panel placed inwardly from the outer panel and fixed to the outer panel, and a reinforcing member fixed to the inner panel or the outer panel; and the mirror stay is fixed to the reinforcing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takashi Yao, Shigeki Kojima, Tomoyuki Itoh
  • Patent number: 10967366
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a method for producing an exhaust gas purifying catalyst, in which fine Rh—Pd particles exhibiting high catalytic activity are produced such that a variation in the Pd composition can be reduced. The present disclosure relates to a method for producing an exhaust gas purifying catalyst having fine composite metal particles containing Rh and Pd, comprising: preparing a starting material solution containing Rh and Pd, in which the atomic percentage of Pd to the total of Rh and Pd is 1 atomic % to 15 atomic %; and allowing the prepared starting material solution to react with a neutralizer by a super agitation reactor having a rotation number of 500 rpm or more, to generate fine composite metal particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shogo Shirakawa, Masahide Miura
  • Patent number: 10967774
    Abstract: There is provided a vehicle seat including: a seatback frame of a seatback that supports a back area of a vehicle occupant, the seatback frame including: a left and right pair of side frame portions spaced apart in a seat width direction; and an upper frame portion that joins between end portions, at a seat upper side, of the left and right pair of side frame portions in the seat width direction, a headrest that supports a head area of the vehicle occupant being supported at the upper frame portion; and a plastic deformation portion provided at the upper frame portion, the plastic deformation portion being plastically deformed and moving at least a portion of the upper frame portion toward a seat rear side together with the headrest, when a load toward the seat rear side that exceeds a predetermined value is applied to the plastic deformation portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Kazuya Mori
  • Patent number: 10967831
    Abstract: A seatbelt retractor device includes a pre-tensioner section, and a force limiter section that can change a magnitude of a load at which to start reducing tension of the retracted seatbelt. A seatbelt control ECU activates the pre-tensioner section when a deceleration G detected by a floor sensor exceeds a first threshold, and acquires a collision velocity from a radar device and sets a second threshold value to a lower value the greater the collision velocity. The seatbelt control ECU controls the starting load for tension reduction by the force limiter section to be a high load when the deceleration G has exceeded the second threshold within a determination time period after activation of the pre-tensioner section, and controls the starting load for tension reduction to be a low load when which the deceleration G has not exceeded the second threshold within the determination time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takashi Fujinami, Yusuke Mase
  • Patent number: 10967810
    Abstract: A roof structure includes a roof panel constituting a roof of a vehicle, a roof headlining constituting a ceiling of a vehicle cabin, and a stiffening board disposed between the roof panel and the roof headlining. The stiffening board is attached to a lower face of the roof panel by adhering at plural adhesion portions. Steps are formed at the stiffening board between the respective plural adhesion portions so as to widen a space between the stiffening board and the lower face of the roof panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kai Aizawa, Masayuki Okano
  • Patent number: 10967839
    Abstract: A vehicle control system of a vehicle includes a trailer brake control electronic control unit (ECU), which in turn includes a trailer brake output circuit. The trailer brake control ECU is configured to receive an electronic parking brake (EPB) state flag and a vehicle acceleration message. The dynamic EPB state flag indicates one of an ON state and an OFF state of a dynamic EPB, and the vehicle acceleration message indicates an acceleration of the vehicle. The trailer brake control ECU outputs, via the trailer brake output circuit, a trailer brake signal based on the acceleration of the vehicle indicated by the received vehicle acceleration message in response to determining that the received dynamic EPB state flag indicates the ON state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Adam VanAntwerp, Corey Zwegers, Stephen Robertson, Takayuki Goto, Yuichi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10968306
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a bound stopper, which has high mechanical strength, is excellent in durability against fatigue breaking, settling or the like when a heavy load is repeatedly received, and is easy to be produced, in which the bound stopper comprises a polyurethane foam obtained from a polyurethane foam composition containing an isocyanate component and a blowing agent, and the isocyanate component contains a urethane prepolymer having an isocyanate group, the urethane prepolymer being obtained from a polyol component, a polyrotaxane containing a cyclic molecule having an active hydrogen group as a constituent, and an isocyanate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignees: BASF INOAC Polyurethanes Ltd., TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Makihara, Yoshikatsu Hatakeyama
  • Patent number: 10967735
    Abstract: A control device is to be applied to a four-wheel drive vehicle including a first coupling device interposed between a rear-wheel final gear device and a rear left wheel axle and a second coupling device interposed between the rear-wheel final gear device and a rear right wheel axle. The control device includes a controller changes a coupling torque of the first coupling device and a coupling torque of the second coupling device independently of each other. The controller estimates, when the vehicle is accelerating, a vehicle body speed of the vehicle under a state in which the coupling torque of any one of the first coupling device and the second coupling device is set to a value larger than zero and the coupling torque of another one thereof is set to zero. Thereby, the control device can accurately estimate the vehicle body speed when the vehicle is traveling while accelerating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Ryochi Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10967726
    Abstract: A controller for a hybrid system is provided. A clutch is disposed between a crankshaft and a drive shaft of an electric motor. An engine-side rotating body rotates integrally with the crankshaft. A motor-side rotating body rotates integrally with the drive shaft. The controller performs balance control. In the balance control, the controller causes the engine-side rotating body and the motor-side rotating body to rotate relative to each other by bringing the clutch into the slipping state. Thereafter, the controller switches the clutch to the engaged state such that the position of the center of gravity of the engine-side rotating body and the position of the center of gravity of the motor-side rotating body are farther from each other in the circumferential direction than before bringing the clutch into the slipping state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tomokazu Inagawa
  • Patent number: 10967911
    Abstract: A vehicle side body includes a vertical plate, a horizontal plate connected to a lower edge of the vertical plate and extending outward from the edge to form an L-shaped inside edge with the vertical plate, an opening extending in the vertical plate and the horizontal plate across the inside edge, and an L-shaped bracket fixed to, around the opening, an inner surface of the vertical plate and a lower surface of the horizontal plate. A hydrogen filling port to which a hydrogen filling nozzle is connectable is attached to the L-shaped bracket. A rib plate is provided to connect an outer surface of the vertical plate and an upper surface of the horizontal plate. An accidental contact between the hydrogen filling nozzle and a body is inhibited.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshinobu Takashi
  • Patent number: 10967722
    Abstract: A battery pack comprises a lower-stage battery stack and an upper-stage battery stack. The upper-stage battery stack is separated from the lower-stage battery stack in a vehicle height direction. A middle frame that is a reinforcing member is arranged at a height position that matches a height position of a separation space between the upper-stage battery stack and the lower-stage battery stack in terms of a position in the vehicle height direction. Longitudinal frames of the middle frame project outward from the upper-stage battery stack in a vehicle width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Shinobu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 10967863
    Abstract: A control device of a vehicle with a stepped automatic transmission has: a gradient acquiring part; a driving force calculating part; a future change estimating part; and a shift control part. The shift control part prohibits change of the gear stage when the speed of change of the speed or acceleration of the vehicle in the future if the maximum driving force applied, is within a reference range of speed of change where the occupants would not notice a change in speed or acceleration, and permits change of the gear stage when the speed of change of the speed or acceleration of the vehicle in the future if the maximum driving force applied, is outside the reference range of speed of change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takaaki Tokura, Hideki Takamatsu, Hirofumi Sato, Shojiro Suga, Katsumi Kono, Akira Hino, Masato Matsubara
  • Patent number: D915486
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2021
    Assignee: TOYOTA RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INC.
    Inventor: Christopher Gidwell