1. A method for selecting an operating state of a cruise control system for a motor vehicle having a distance sensor and automatic blindness detection, the method comprising:
checking, for automatic shutdown of the cruise control in the event of blindness of the distance sensor, at least one additional condition;
performing the shutdown only if the at least one additional condition is met; and
selecting, if no other one of the at least one condition is met when blindness of the distance sensor is detected, a partially active operating state in which the cruise control remains active at a desired speed selected by the driver, wherein a distance control based on signals of the distance sensor is activatable again only by a command by the driver.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one additional condition includes the fact that a detection of the blindness of the distance sensor is immediately preceded by a \u201cfollowing\u201d mode in which a vehicle traveling in front is selected as a target object and a distance from the target object is regulated.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
outputting a message to the driver, when the blindness of the distance sensor is detected and no other one of the at least one condition is met so that the cruise control is continued, to instruct the driver of a possible blindness of the distance sensor.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the message includes a visual display and is deleted automatically when the distance sensor detects new objects and the blindness detection system finds that there is no blindness of the distance sensor.
5. A method for selecting an operating state of a cruise control system for a motor vehicle having a distance sensor and automatic blindness detection, the method comprising:
checking, for automatic shutdown of the cruise control in the event of blindness of the distance sensor, at least one additional condition, wherein at least one of the at least one additional condition is that when blindness is detected, the blindness detection is the first blindness detection to occur within a certain period of time; and
performing the shutdown only if the at least one additional condition is met.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein if a current blindness detection is not the first time that the blindness has been detected, the cruise control is shut down only after a certain waiting time has elapsed since the current blindness detection, during which time the blinding of the distance sensor persists.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the waiting time is variable as a function of at least one of a frequency of reactivation commands by the driver and a frequency of detection of target objects by the distance sensor.
8. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of the at least one additional condition includes the fact that a detection of the blindness of the distance sensor is immediately preceded by a \u201cfollowing\u201d mode in which a vehicle traveling in front is selected as a target object and a distance from the target object is regulated.
9. The method of claim 5, further comprising:
outputting a message to the driver, when the blindness of the distance sensor is detected and no other one of the at least one condition is met so that the cruise control is continued, to instruct the driver of a possible blindness of the distance sensor.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the message includes a visual display and is deleted automatically when the distance sensor detects new objects and the blindness detection system finds that there is no blindness of the distance sensor.
11. A cruise control system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a distance sensor;
a control unit to regulate a speed of the vehicle as a function of a distance from a vehicle traveling in front, the distance being measured by the distance sensor, or, if no vehicle traveling in front is detected, to regulate the speed to a desired speed selected by the driver, by performing the following:
checking, for automatic shutdown of the cruise control in the event of blindness of the distance sensor, at least one additional condition,
performing the shutdown only if the at least one additional condition is met, and
selecting, if no other one of the at least one condition is met when blindness of the distance sensor is detected, a partially active operating state in which the cruise control remains active at a desired speed selected by the driver, wherein a distance control based on signals of the distance sensor is activatable again only by a command by the driver.
12. A cruise control system for a motor vehicle, comprising:
a distance sensor;
a control unit to regulate a speed of the vehicle as a function of a distance from a vehicle traveling in front, the distance being measured by the distance sensor, or, if no vehicle traveling in front is detected, to regulate the speed to a desired speed selected by the driver, by performing the following:
checking, for automatic shutdown of the cruise control in the event of blindness of the distance sensor, at least one additional condition, wherein at least one of the at least one additional condition is that when blindness is detected, the blindness detection is the first blindness detection to occur within a certain period of time, and
performing the shutdown only if the at least one additional condition is met.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A multilayer ceramic capacitor, comprising:
a laminated body formed by alternately stacked ceramic dielectric layers and conductive layers,
wherein the ceramic dielectric layers and the conductive layers are corrugated and the conductive layers have a nonuniform thickness.
2. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 1, wherein the conductive layers are provided with interrupted regions devoid of a conductive material.
3. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 2, wherein boundary portions of the conductive layers, close to the interrupted regions, are curved upward or downward toward a stacking direction of the ceramic dielectric layers and the conductive layers.
4. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 3, wherein a boundary portion points toward one of its neighboring conductive layers.
5. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 1, wherein corrugations of the ceramic dielectric layers and the conductive layers run substantially parallel to each other.
6. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 1, a conductive paste used in forming the conductive layers includes a conductive material and a ceramic material with a ratio of 100 to about 30-50 in weight.
7. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 6, wherein the ceramic material is commonly used in forming the ceramic dielectric layers.
8. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 1, wherein the conductive layers are formed by sintering layers of the conductive paste having a thickness of less than about 3 m.
9. The multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 8, wherein the layers of the conductive paste have a thickness of less than about 1 m.
10. A method for forming the multilayer ceramic capacitor of claim 1.
11. The method of claim 10, comprising the steps of:
stacking ceramic green sheets having a conductive paste coated thereon; and
pressing the stacked ceramic green sheets with a die having grooves on a pressing surface thereof, wherein an average depth of the grooves is between about 10 and 30% of an average thickness of a ceramic green sheet.