Patent ID: 11890981
Assignee: AISIN CORPORATION
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. A vehicle step device comprising:
a movable step that is provided in a door opening of a vehicle; and
a drive controller that drives the movable step so that the movable step operates in deployment and storage directions, the drive controller including
a sidewalk detection unit that detects a sidewalk provided in parallel with a traveling road surface of the vehicle,
a separation distance detecting unit that detects a separation distance between a side edge portion of the vehicle in which the movable step is stored and the sidewalk, and
a deployment amount setting unit that sets a deployment amount of the movable step extending in a width direction of the traveling road surface from the side edge portion of the vehicle based on the separation distance; and

a height detection unit that detects a height difference between the sidewalk and the traveling road surface, wherein
the deployment amount setting unit sets a deployment amount of the movable step to be larger as the separation distance increases,
when the height difference of the sidewalk is lower than an interference determination value that is a value smaller than a minimum ground clearance of the movable step, the deployment amount setting unit sets the deployment amount of the movable step larger than the separation distance, and
when the height difference of the sidewalk is equal to or more than the interference determination value, the deployment amount setting unit sets the deployment amount of the movable step smaller than the separation distance.