Patent ID: 6865471

Claim:
A vehicle cruise control apparatus for controlling a vehicle to run at a set speed desired by a driver, said apparatus comprising: actual vehicle speed detecting means for detecting an actual speed of the vehicle; setting means for allowing the driver to operate a desired set speed; set speed storage means for storing the set speed; driver set speed input state detecting means for detecting a state in which the driver inputs the set speed using said setting means; target acceleration/deceleration calculating means for calculating a target acceleration/deceleration based on the driver set speed input state and a vehicle speed deviation when the target acceleration/deceleration is calculated to match the actual vehicle speed with the set speed; and means for controlling a throttle actuator based on the target acceleration/deceleration to increase or decrease the engine power; wherein said target acceleration/deceleration calculating means calculates a large absolute target value for the target acceleration/deceleration so that the actual vehicle speed promptly follows the set speed, when said driver set speed input state detecting means determines, based on a detected driver set speed input state, that the driver changes the set speed at a high frequency; and wherein said target acceleration/deceleration calculating means calculates a small absolute target value for the target acceleration/deceleration, so that the actual vehicle speed slowly follows the set speed, when said driver set speed input state detecting means determines that the driver changes the set speed at a low frequency.