JP3486083B2 - Inter-vehicle distance control device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention measures an inter-vehicle distance between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle and causes the subject vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle so that the inter-vehicle distance becomes a predetermined distance determined by a vehicle speed or the like. Regarding the control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inter-vehicle distance control device that automatically follows a preceding vehicle has been known as a technique for improving driving safety of an automobile and reducing a driver's operation load. . In this type of device, when the vehicle driver operates the brake, the driver's operation is generally prioritized to cancel the inter-vehicle distance control.

Among such inter-vehicle distance control devices, in the inter-vehicle distance control device that controls only the acceleration device (mainly, the throttle valve of the internal combustion engine that is the power source of the vehicle), the maximum deceleration when decelerating the vehicle is The deceleration during coasting of the vehicle (mainly in the fully closed state of the throttle valve in automobiles) is relatively small. Therefore, even if the control for the accelerator is immediately released in response to the brake operation by the vehicle driver during the deceleration control by the inter-vehicle distance control, the deceleration of the own vehicle is released more than the control is in progress. There is no situation in which the latter will drop significantly. In other words, the maximum deceleration achieved by controlling the accelerator is the so-called engine braking state when the throttle valve is fully closed as described above, but the deceleration realized by the brake operation is the deceleration in this engine braking state. It is hard to think that it will be much lower than that.

Therefore, in such an inter-vehicle distance control device that controls only the accelerator, even if the control is released in response to the brake operation of the vehicle driver, the own vehicle becomes the preceding vehicle due to the release of the control. There was no problem that they came too close together and caused discomfort.

[0005]

The above-mentioned inter-vehicle distance control device for controlling only the acceleration device is mainly intended to be applied to a traveling environment such as a highway, which allows cruising at a certain high speed. Therefore, in order to further expand the applicable range and enable the inter-vehicle distance control to be applied even in a traveling environment in which the acceleration / deceleration of the preceding vehicle is relatively large, such as a general road, in addition to the accelerator, the speed reducer (In automobiles, it is also necessary to control the braking device or the auxiliary brake by downshifting).

As described above, when the decelerating device is controlled and the decelerating control is actively performed, the following problems occur. That is, the maximum deceleration when the deceleration device that can positively perform deceleration control, such as the braking device, decelerates the vehicle is much larger than that when the vehicle decelerates by coasting. In other words, when the vehicle distance control device uses the speed reducer to perform deceleration control so that a relatively large deceleration is performed and the vehicle driver operates the brakes to cancel the inter-vehicle distance control, The vehicle driver
When deceleration by the brake operation is relatively is small, by releasing the inter-vehicle distance control, the deceleration of the vehicle is later controlled release than in control greatly decreases.

Therefore, in the inter-vehicle distance control device that controls the deceleration device and positively performs deceleration control as described above, when the control is released in response to the brake operation of the vehicle driver, it is contrary to the driver's sense. As a result, the host vehicle may come too close to the preceding vehicle, causing discomfort.

Therefore, the present invention is designed to provide a vehicle behavior that more closely matches the driver's sensation when the vehicle driver performs a braking operation while the deceleration control is being performed by the inter-vehicle distance control. The purpose is to prevent the driver from feeling uncomfortable.

[0009]

The inter-vehicle distance control device of the present invention is a control release means for releasing control for maintaining a target inter-vehicle distance by the inter-vehicle distance control means when a braking operation by a vehicle driver is detected. In a vehicle-to-vehicle distance control device including: a vehicle deceleration caused by the braking operation when a braking operation by a vehicle driver is detected while the deceleration side drive control is performed by the vehicle-to-vehicle distance control means. (Deceleration corresponding to operation) is compared with deceleration of the vehicle (deceleration corresponding to control) caused by drive control on the deceleration side to the deceleration unit by the inter-vehicle distance control unit, and the degree of decrease in deceleration corresponding to operation is compared with the deceleration corresponding to control. Is greater than a predetermined allowable maximum value, prohibiting the execution of control release by the control release means , and
The degree of decrease in deceleration corresponding to the operation is less than or equal to a predetermined allowable maximum value.
In the case of, the control release by the control release means is executed.
It is characterized in that a control release prohibiting means for permitting is provided.

As a result, if the degree of decrease in deceleration described above is larger than the maximum allowable value, the control release by the control release means is prohibited. In other words, if the operation-compatible deceleration becomes smaller than the control-compatible deceleration to some extent, the sense of deceleration is weakened when the inter-vehicle distance control is released and deceleration according to the braking operation by the vehicle driver is realized. , Which is unacceptable for the vehicle driver. Therefore,
When the braking operation is simply performed, the control release is not uniformly performed, but in the above case, the control release is prohibited.

Regarding the "predetermined allowable maximum value",
It may be set based on, for example, an experiment, but the point is that even if the feeling of deceleration is weakened, as long as it is within a range that is acceptable to the vehicle driver, such a maximum allowable "deceleration" It is sufficient to set a value corresponding to "weak feeling". The maximum allowable value may be a fixed value or a variable value based on the vehicle speed or the like.

On the contrary, if the degree of decrease in the operation-corresponding deceleration with respect to the control-corresponding deceleration is equal to or smaller than the predetermined allowable maximum value, the control canceling means executes the control cancellation. That is, when the operation-compatible deceleration is greater than the control-compatible deceleration, it is better for the vehicle driver to release the inter-vehicle distance control and realize deceleration according to the braking operation by the vehicle driver. Becomes stronger, so that it matches the feeling of the vehicle driver who performed the braking operation. In addition, when the degree of decrease in deceleration is 0, that is, when the control-compatible deceleration and the operation-compatible deceleration are the same, the vehicle driving is performed even if the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled and deceleration according to the braking operation by the vehicle driver is realized. There is no particular problem because the feeling of deceleration for the person does not change. When the degree of decrease in deceleration is the maximum allowable value, if the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled and deceleration according to the braking operation by the vehicle driver is realized, the deceleration weakens. If the degree of weakening is within a range that does not cause any particular problem for the vehicle driver, it is allowed. This is because all of these cases are considered to match the feeling of the vehicle driver who performed the braking operation.

As described above, according to the inter-vehicle distance control device of the present invention, when the vehicle driver performs the braking operation while the deceleration control is being performed by the inter-vehicle distance control, the driver's feeling is improved. The vehicle behavior can be matched to prevent the driver from feeling uncomfortable.

By the way, the above-mentioned control release prohibiting means compares the operation-corresponding deceleration with the control-corresponding deceleration, and the operation-corresponding deceleration can be determined as follows, for example. That is, as described in claim 2, the braking operation detecting means is configured to detect the braking operation based on the operation status of the brake pedal by the vehicle driver and to detect the stepping force or the stepping amount of the brake pedal. The corresponding deceleration is determined based on the force or the amount of depression of the brake pedal by the vehicle driver. Of course, other than this, it is possible to determine the deceleration of the vehicle caused by the braking operation. For example, in the case of downshifting to decelerate, the operation-compatible deceleration may be determined based on the position of the shift lever. The same applies to the case where an operation is performed on a device having another function of decelerating.

On the other hand, the control-compatible deceleration can be determined as follows, for example. In the case of claim 3,
The deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by the braking force generated by adjusting the brake pressure, and further includes a brake pressure detection means for detecting the brake pressure in the braking device, and the deceleration corresponding to the control is assumed. Is determined based on the brake pressure.

Alternatively, in the case of claim 4, the deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by the braking force generated by the brake pressure adjusting means adjusting the brake pressure based on the command value. Then, the control-compatible deceleration is determined based on the command value. These are based on a detected value or a command value effective for estimating the deceleration of the vehicle, such as a brake pressure or a command value for adjusting the brake pressure. The deceleration detecting means for detecting the actual deceleration may be provided, and the control-compatible deceleration may be determined based on the detected actual deceleration of the vehicle.

In the above-described inter-vehicle distance control device, as the speed reducing means, for example, as shown in claim 6,
By fully closing the throttle valve of the internal combustion engine,
A braking force (so-called engine braking) may be generated in the internal combustion engine, or the automatic transmission may be downshifted to generate the braking force in the automatic transmission, as described in claim 7, for example. You may As a matter of course, the brake device mounted on the host vehicle may be operated, and further, these controls may be combined to generate the braking force on the vehicle.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system block diagram of an automatic cruise control device 1 to which the present invention is applied. The present auto cruise control device 1 is a device configured to perform constant-speed traveling control when there is no preceding vehicle, and execute control to maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance when the preceding vehicle is captured.

The automatic cruise control device 1 is mainly composed of a computer 4, and has a scanning range finder 6, a steering angle sensor 8, a vehicle speed sensor 10, a cruise control switch 12, and an operation detection switch 13 for detecting an operation of a vehicle driver. , An indicator 14, a brake controller 18, and an engine output controller 20.

The computer 4 has an input / output interface (I / O) and various drive circuits and detection circuits. Since these hardware configurations are general ones, detailed description will be omitted. The computer 4 performs the inter-vehicle distance control described in the present embodiment and the constant-speed traveling control that maintains the vehicle speed at the set speed when the preceding vehicle is not captured.

The scanning range finder 6 includes a transmission / reception section 6a and a distance / angle calculation section 6b. The transmission / reception section 6a outputs a laser beam to the front of the vehicle while scanning it within a predetermined angle range and outputs the reflected light. Based on the time until the reflected light is captured by the distance / angle calculation unit 6b while being detected,
It is a device that detects the relative speed and distance of an object in front, and also the position coordinates. Therefore, the scanning range finder 6 functions as "inter-vehicle distance detecting means". Since such a device is already well known, detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition to the one using the scanning laser light, a range finder using radio waves such as microwaves or ultrasonic waves may be used.

The steering angle sensor 8 detects the amount of change in the steering angle of the steering wheel, and can detect the relative steering angle from the detected value. Therefore, when the power of the automatic cruise control device 1 is turned on, "0" is set in the steering angle storage address in the memory, and thereafter, the deviation of the neutral position of the steering angle is caused by the steering angle data during traveling. The relative steering angle is determined by integrating the detected change amount of the steering angle while performing the correction by the average value calculation. Based on this steering angle, it is possible to detect data (curve data) about the turning situation of the own vehicle such as the turning direction and the turning radius of the own vehicle. This curve data is used by the scanning rangefinder 6
It is used to determine whether or not the forward vehicle detected by is subject to the inter-vehicle distance control. More specifically, when the host vehicle is making a right turn, the preceding vehicle captured to the left of the center of the distance measuring range is determined to be a vehicle in another lane and this is excluded from the targets of the inter-vehicle distance control. That is, it is used for grasping the front vehicle captured on the right side as an object of the inter-vehicle distance control. In other words, the curve data becomes data necessary for grasping the traveling direction of the own vehicle and identifying the preceding vehicle existing in the traveling direction of the own vehicle.

The vehicle speed sensor 10 functions as "own vehicle speed detecting means" and is a sensor for detecting a signal corresponding to the rotational speed of the wheel. Operation detection sensor 13
Is for detecting a manual operation by the driver, and includes a brake pedal depression amount sensor 13a for detecting the amount of depression of the brake pedal by the driver and an accelerator pedal depression amount sensor 13b for detecting the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal by the driver.
Consists of. Of these, the brake pedal depression amount sensor 13
"a" functions as "braking operation detecting means". In the case of a vehicle equipped with a manual transmission, a clutch switch for detecting an upshift or downshift operation of the clutch is further included, but here, a vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission is targeted.

On the other hand, the cruise control switch 12
Includes a main switch 12a, a set switch 12b, a resume switch 12c, a cancel switch 12d, and a tap switch 12e. The role of each of these switches will be described in order.

First, the main switch 12a is a switch for starting the cruise control. By turning on the main switch 12a, the constant speed traveling control can be started. The inter-vehicle distance control processing is also executed within the constant speed travel control.

Further, the set switch 12b is a switch which, when pushed, takes in the vehicle speed Vn at that time, sets the vehicle speed Vn to the target vehicle speed Vm, and starts the constant speed running control. The resume switch 12c is
If this is pressed while the target vehicle speed Vm is stored while the cruise control is released,
The vehicle speed is returned from the current vehicle speed to the target vehicle speed Vm.

When the cancel switch 12d is pressed during cruise control, the constant speed traveling control is stopped. The tap switch 12e is for setting the distance to the preceding vehicle. Display 14
Can display the set vehicle speed, the current inter-vehicle distance, the sensor abnormality, and the like.

In accordance with an instruction from the computer 4, the engine output control unit 20 adjusts the opening of the throttle valve in the case of a gasoline internal combustion engine and adjusts the control rack position in the case of a diesel internal combustion engine. Even in this case, the speed is controlled by adjusting the engine output. The engine position may be adjusted by selecting the gear position of the automatic transmission.

The brake control unit 18 functions as "brake pressure adjusting means", and adjusts the pressure of each wheel cylinder based on the "command value" output from the computer 4. Further, this brake control may be performed by an exhaust brake or a retarding device that is widely used in large vehicles.

The computer 4 is a CP (not shown).
It is a well-known arithmetic and control unit composed of U, ROM, RAM and the like, and functions as the above-mentioned "inter-vehicle distance control means", "control release means" and "control release prohibition means". A detailed description of each function will be given later.

Further, the computer 4 is provided with a power switch (not shown), and is configured to be turned on to supply power to start a predetermined process. And
With this configuration, the processing as the automatic cruise control device and the constant speed traveling control processing are executed.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the processing for releasing the control from the inter-vehicle distance control in the control logic of the computer 4. The inter-vehicle distance control (S10) instructs deceleration when the vehicle is approaching the preceding vehicle, and conversely instructs acceleration when the vehicle is being delayed from the preceding vehicle to maintain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance with respect to the preceding vehicle. Execute control. The specific content of this inter-vehicle distance control is shown in FIG.

In the inter-vehicle distance control, first, an appropriate target inter-vehicle distance to the preceding vehicle is calculated from the traveling state of the preceding vehicle and the speed of the host vehicle (S110). Next, the acceleration / deceleration of the host vehicle to obtain an appropriate inter-vehicle distance is calculated (S120), and the target vehicle speed is calculated by integrating this acceleration / deceleration (S130).

Then, the actual vehicle speed is compared with the target vehicle speed (S140), and if the actual vehicle speed <the target vehicle speed, an acceleration command is output to the engine output control section 20 (S150).
On the other hand, if the actual vehicle speed> the target vehicle speed, a deceleration command is output to the brake control unit 18 (S160). When the actual vehicle speed is equal to the target vehicle speed, acceleration / deceleration commands are not issued.

Further, when an acceleration command is issued, in the case of a gasoline internal combustion engine, the throttle valve opening is increased to increase the engine output, and speed-up control is performed. On the other hand, when a deceleration command is issued, the throttle valve described above is fully closed to generate a braking force (so-called engine braking) in the internal combustion engine, or the automatic transmission is downshifted to apply the braking force to the automatic transmission. Deceleration control is performed by generating the braking force by increasing the wheel cylinder pressure.

Under the condition that the inter-vehicle distance control is executed in this way, as shown in FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the vehicle driver has operated the brake (S20). In particular,
When the brake pedal depression amount detected by the brake pedal depression amount sensor 13a exceeds a preset predetermined value, it is determined that "the brake is operated". Then, if the brake operation is performed (S20: YES), it is further determined whether or not a deceleration instruction is issued (S30). In the inter-vehicle distance control in S10, this is S in FIG.
It is determined whether the deceleration instruction indicated by 160 has been issued.

When the deceleration instruction is not issued (S30: NO), the process proceeds to S70 and the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled. On the other hand, when the deceleration instruction is issued (S30: YES), the process proceeds to S40 to calculate the operation corresponding deceleration A1, and further to S50 to calculate the control corresponding deceleration A2. Here, with respect to the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 and the control-corresponding deceleration A2, their contents and calculation method will be described.

First, the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 in the present embodiment is a deceleration that occurs when the brake control unit 18 adjusts the pressure of each wheel cylinder in accordance with the brake operation by the vehicle driver. In this embodiment,
Since the brake pedal depression amount sensor 13a detects the depression amount of the brake pedal by the driver as described above, the deceleration is calculated based on this depression amount. Specifically, the correspondence relationship between the depression amount of the brake pedal and the deceleration generated by the depression amount may be stored in a format such as a map and the calculation may be performed based on the correspondence relation.
Further, the depressing force of the brake pedal may be detected, and the deceleration may be calculated based on the depressing force and the amount of depression.

On the other hand, the control-compatible deceleration A2 of the present embodiment
Is calculated based on the actually detected deceleration of the vehicle. The deceleration of the vehicle is calculated based on the measurement of the vehicle speed sensor 10 from the actual vehicle speed of the own vehicle and the temporal change of the actual vehicle speed. Note that the control-compatible deceleration A2 may be obtained based on a detected value or a command value effective for estimating the deceleration of the vehicle, instead of obtaining it from the actual change in the vehicle speed. For example, it may be obtained based on the pressure of the wheel cylinder that is the target to be adjusted by the brake control unit 18. Alternatively, since the wheel cylinder pressure adjustment by the brake control unit 18 is performed based on the instruction from the computer 4, the brake control unit 1 is controlled by the computer 4.
Alternatively, it may be obtained based on the command value output to 8.

After the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 and the control-corresponding deceleration A2 are thus obtained in S40 and S50, the operation proceeds to S60, and the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 is set to the control-corresponding deceleration A2 by a predetermined allowable maximum value. Value obtained by adding αmax (A2
+ Αmax) or less. The allowable maximum value αmax and the meaning of the determination in S60 will be described later, but if the determination in S60 is affirmative, that is, if A2 + αmax ≧ A1, the process proceeds to S70, the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled, and this processing routine ends. . On the other hand, a negative judgment is made in S60,
That is, if A2 + αmax <A1, the process returns to S10 and the inter-vehicle distance control is continued.

Here, in these processes performed by the computer 4, the process performed in S10 corresponds to the action of the "inter-vehicle distance control means" described above, and the process performed in S70 corresponds to the action of the "control release means" described above. To do. Further, the process performed in S50 corresponds to the above-mentioned action as the "deceleration detecting means", and the process performed in S60 corresponds to the above-mentioned action as the "control release prohibiting means".

Subsequently, the above-mentioned allowable maximum values αmax and S
The meaning of the determination executed at 60 will be described with reference to the time chart of FIG. FIG. 4A is a time chart showing the acceleration on the vertical axis and the time on the horizontal axis. From the state where the vehicle is decelerated at the control-compatible deceleration A2,
After the brake is operated, the state is changed to the operation corresponding deceleration A1. In FIG. 4A, the operation-corresponding decelerations A1 to 1 are illustrated in descending order of deceleration. Further, FIG. 4B is a time chart showing the speed on the vertical axis and the time on the horizontal axis.
It is made to correspond to the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 shown in (1) to (3).

Since the deceleration is a negative acceleration, the value itself obtained by adding the allowable maximum value αmax (> 0) to the control corresponding deceleration A2 is larger than the control corresponding deceleration A2. Then, as described above, if A2 + αmax ≧ A1 (S60: Y
4) to cancel the inter-vehicle distance control (S70).
In the case of the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 shown in (a),
Inter-vehicle distance control is canceled. That is, is A1 = A2
Is the state of + αmax, is the state of A1 = A2,
Is the state of A1 <A2. Considering this from the viewpoint of speed change, in the case of, as shown in FIG.
The deceleration is performed more strongly than the deceleration state at the control corresponding deceleration A2, and in the case of, the same deceleration state continues. Then, in the case of, it is weaker than the deceleration state at the control-compatible deceleration A2, but since the degree of decrease in the deceleration is small, it is allowed here.

On the other hand, if A2 + αmax <A1 (S6
0: NO), in order to continue the inter-vehicle distance control (S10),
In the case of the operation corresponding deceleration A1 shown in FIG.
Inter-vehicle distance control is continued. That is, is A1> A2
This is a state of + αmax. Considering this from the viewpoint of speed change, the deceleration is weaker than the deceleration state with the control-compatible deceleration A2, as shown in FIG. The degree has increased considerably. Therefore, in such a case, the inter-vehicle distance control is continued, and specifically, the deceleration at the control-compatible deceleration A2 is continued.

That is, the inter-vehicle distance control is not uniformly released when the driver performs a brake operation, but is released only when a predetermined condition is satisfied. For details, control is performed only if the feeling of deceleration does not weaken or the "weak feeling of deceleration" is within the allowable range even if the inter-vehicle distance control is released and the vehicle enters the deceleration state corresponding to the brake operation. Release it. The deceleration A corresponding to the operation shown in (a) and (b) of FIG.
In the case of 1, the vehicle driver's feeling of deceleration becomes stronger when the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled, and therefore, it matches the feeling of the vehicle driver who performed the brake operation. Further, in the case of the operation corresponding deceleration A1 shown by, there is no particular problem because the inter-vehicle distance control is canceled and the deceleration feeling for the vehicle driver does not change. In the case of the operation-corresponding deceleration A1 indicated by, the deceleration is weakened when the inter-vehicle distance control is released. However, the degree of weakening of the deceleration is in a range that does not cause any problem for the vehicle driver, and the control is released. Tolerate. This is because all of these cases are considered to match the feeling of the vehicle driver who performed the braking operation.

As described above, according to the automatic cruise control device 1 of the present embodiment, when the vehicle driver performs the brake operation while the deceleration control is being performed by the inter-vehicle distance control, the driver of the vehicle is more likely to operate. It is possible to prevent the driver from feeling uncomfortable by making the vehicle behavior that matches the feeling.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the operation of the brake pedal is taken as an example of the “braking operation by the driver” that triggers the release of the inter-vehicle distance control. However, for example, an exhaust brake or a retarder is mounted as a deceleration mechanism. In some cases, it may be based on the operation of a manual switch that operates the exhaust brake or the retarder.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a control flowchart in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a time chart of a control state in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Auto cruise control device 4 ... Computer 6 ... Scanning range finder 8 ... Steering angle sensor 10 ... Vehicle speed sensor 12 ... Cruise control switch 13 ... Operation detection switch 13a ... Brake pedal depression amount sensor 13b ... Accelerator pedal depression amount sensor 14 ... Indicator 18 ... Brake control unit 20 ... Engine output control unit

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akira Isogai 1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya city, Aichi Prefecture DENSO CORPORATION (56) References JP-A-8-113058 (JP, A) JP-A-8-119004 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B60K 31/00 F02D 29/02 301

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An inter-vehicle distance detecting means for detecting an inter-vehicle distance between an own vehicle and a preceding vehicle, an own vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a speed of the own vehicle, and an operation independent of an acceleration operation and a braking operation by a vehicle driver. An acceleration means and a deceleration means capable of being performed; and an inter-vehicle distance control means for driving the own vehicle while maintaining a target inter-vehicle distance by drivingly controlling the acceleration means and the deceleration means based on the inter-vehicle distance and the speed of the own vehicle. A braking operation detecting means for detecting a braking operation by the vehicle driver, and a control releasing means for releasing the control for maintaining the target inter-vehicle distance by the inter-vehicle distance control means when the braking operation is detected. In the inter-vehicle distance control device, a braking operation by the vehicle driver is detected while the inter-vehicle distance control means is performing drive control on the deceleration side with respect to the deceleration means. When the deceleration of the vehicle caused by the braking operation (hereinafter referred to as "operation corresponding deceleration")
And deceleration of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "control-compatible deceleration") caused by drive control on the deceleration side with respect to the decelerating means by the inter-vehicle distance control means, and compare the operation-compatible deceleration with the control-compatible deceleration. When the degree of decrease is larger than a predetermined maximum allowable value, the control release means is prohibited from executing the control release, and the control-compatible deceleration is taken into account.
The degree of decrease in the deceleration corresponding to the operation is a predetermined allowable maximum value.
In the following cases, the control release by the control release means is performed.
An inter-vehicle distance control device comprising control release prohibiting means for permitting travel. 2. The braking operation detecting means is configured to detect the braking operation based on the operation status of the brake pedal by the vehicle driver and to detect the stepping force or the stepping amount of the brake pedal. The inter-vehicle distance according to claim 1, wherein the control release prohibiting means is configured to determine the deceleration corresponding to the operation based on a stepping force or a stepping amount of a brake pedal by the vehicle driver. Distance control device. 3. The deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by a braking force generated by adjusting the brake pressure, and further comprises a brake pressure detection means for detecting the brake pressure, and the control release. The inter-vehicle distance control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the prohibition means is configured to determine the control-compatible deceleration based on the brake pressure. 4. The deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by a braking force generated by the brake pressure adjusting means adjusting the brake pressure based on a command value. The inter-vehicle distance control device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control-compatible deceleration is configured to be determined based on the command value. 5. A deceleration detecting means for detecting an actual deceleration of the vehicle, wherein the control release prohibiting means detects the control-compatible deceleration by the deceleration detecting means. The inter-vehicle distance control device according to claim 1, wherein the inter-vehicle distance control device is configured to make a determination based on 6. The deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by a braking force of the internal combustion engine generated by fully closing a throttle valve of the internal combustion engine. The inter-vehicle distance control device according to any one of the above. 7. The deceleration means is configured to decelerate the vehicle by the braking force of the automatic transmission generated by shifting down the automatic transmission. An inter-vehicle distance control device described in (1).