Patent ID: 11958355
Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 2:
3. An accelerator pedal system for a vehicle, comprising:
a pedal lever configured to operate in accordance with a step-on operation;
a lock mechanism configured to be capable of restricting the operation of the pedal lever;
an actuator configured to switch between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is free from restriction by the lock mechanism; and
a controller including at least one processor configured to determine switching of a locking operation by the lock mechanism, and to control a driving operation of the actuator,
wherein the controller is configured
to detect an opening degree of the pedal lever,
to detect an approaching object from behind the vehicle during a travel of the vehicle in the locked state of the pedal lever,
to release the locked state of the pedal lever in response to a detection of the approaching object from behind the vehicle during the travel of the vehicle,

to continue the unlocked state when the detected opening degree of the pedal lever is equal to or larger than a predetermined opening degree after releasing the locked state due to the approaching object from behind the vehicle, and
to relock the pedal lever after releasing the locked state due to the approaching obiect from behind, when (i) no approaching object from behind is detected and (ii) the detected opening degree of the pedal lever becomes smaller than the predetermined opening degree.