Patent ID: 7125087

Claim:
A brake fluid pressure retaining unit comprising: brake operation detecting means for detecting whether or not a brake of a vehicle providing creep force is operated; an electromagnetic valve having a solenoid coil and being provided midway in a brake fluid channel connecting a master cylinder and a wheel cylinder, the electromagnetic valve opening/closing the brake fluid channel in response to current being passed through the solenoid coil; and control means for detecting a release signal indicative of releasing brake operation detected by the brake operation detecting means, and for passing current through the solenoid coil while referring to predetermined current values, the predetermined current values corresponding to a target maintaining fluid pressure that maintains a predetermined braking force, wherein the predetermined current values correspond to an inclination of a surface, and wherein the control means passes current through the solenoid coil so that a value of the current is in a range between a predetermined opening-side current value and a predetermined closing-side current value determined in advance for each of the target maintaining fluid pressures, the predetermined opening-side current value being a current value required to switch the electromagnetic valve from a closed state to an open state, and the predetermined closing-side current value being a current value required to switch the electromagnetic valve from the open state to the closed state.