Patent ID: 7362068

Claim:
A closing member control system comprising: a drive motor, which drives a closing member between a fully open position and a fully closed position; a pinching control means for monitoring pinching of an object by the closing member in a closing operation of the closing member toward the fully closed position and for controlling the drive motor in a manner that enables release of the object from the closing member upon occurrence of the pinching of the object by the closing member, wherein the pinching control means determines that the object is pinched by the closing member when the drive motor is decelerated in the closing operation of the closing member, and thereby a change in a rotational speed of the drive motor per unit time decreases below a threshold value in the closing operation; a position sensing means for sensing a current position of the closing member; and a motor output control means for controlling an output of the drive motor, wherein: the motor output control means reduces the output of the drive motor when the closing member reaches a first intermediate position, which is between the fully open position and the fully closed position, in the closing operation of the closing member; and the motor output control means increases the output of the drive motor based on a position signal, which is received from the position sensing means and which indicates that the position of the closing member in the closing operation is in a second intermediate position located on a fully closed position side of the first intermediate position, wherein the second intermediate position is located in a pinch-monitoring disabled zone, in which the monitoring of the pinching of the object through the pinching control means is disabled, wherein the motor output control means increases the output of the drive motor during a principal predetermined time period, which begins when the drive motor is locked upon arrival of the closing member to the fully closed position.