Patent ID: 8214126

Claim:
A speed control device for a vehicle, comprising: a vehicle speed acquiring unit that acquires a speed of the vehicle; a vehicle position acquiring unit that acquires a position of the vehicle; a continuous curve acquiring unit that acquires curve shapes and positions of two successive curves located in front of the vehicle; a curve-to-curve distance calculating unit that calculates a curve-to-curve distance between the two curves based on the curve shapes and the positions of the two curves; a selection unit that selects, based on the curve shapes of the two curves, the curve shape of one of the two curves having a radius of curvature larger than that of the other of the two curves; a vehicle speed limit setting unit that sets, based on the curve-to-curve distance and the selected curve shape, a vehicle speed limit to which the speed of the vehicle is to be limited between the two curves; a target vehicle speed determination unit that determines, based on the vehicle position, the curve shapes and the positions of the two curves, and the vehicle speed limit, a target vehicle speed at which the vehicle is to run along the two curves; a vehicle speed control unit that controls the speed of the vehicle based on the target vehicle speed and the vehicle speed; and an acceleration operating amount acquiring unit that acquires an operating amount of an acceleration operating member operated by a driver of the vehicle, and wherein the target vehicle speed determination unit is structured so as to determine, the target vehicle speed to be larger, when the operating amount is greater than zero, than the target vehicle speed when the operating amount is zero.