Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100050970 | System for restarting internal combustion engine when engine restart request occurs - In a system, a starter includes a motor for rotatably driving an output shaft with a pinion and an actuator that shifts the pinion toward a ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. A monitor unit monitors a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. The rotational speed of the internal combustion engine drops after an automatic control for stop of the engine. When an engine restart request occurs with the rotational speed being within a preset range during the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine dropping by the automatic control for stop of the engine, a drive unit drives the actuator to shift the pinion toward the ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. The drive unit rotatably drives the motor with the pinion being engaged with the ring gear to thereby crank the crankshaft. | 03-04-2010 |
20100059007 | Engine start system for use in idle stop system for automotive vehicle - An engine start system which may be employed in automotive idle stop systems. The engine start system includes a pinion gear to be pushed to a ring gear coupled to an engine for achieving meshing engagement with the ring gear. After the pinion gear engages the ring gear, the engine start system starts to rotate the pinion gear using a starter motor to crank the engine. Specifically, when an engine restart request is made following an engine stop request, the engine start system waits until after the speed of the engine drops below a preselected gear engageble speed and then moves the pinion gear toward the ring gear without rotating the pinion gear. This minimizes the consumption of fuel in the vehicle in supplying electric power to the starter motor and a maximum level of mechanical noise arising from the engagement of the pinion gear with the ring gear. | 03-11-2010 |
20100083926 | System for restarting internal combustion engine when engine restart request occurs - In a system for cranking a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, a starter is provided with a motor working to, when energized, rotatably drive an output shaft with a pinion and an actuator working to, when energized, shift the pinion toward the ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. A power supply is electrically connected to the motor and operative to output electrical power. A first mechanical relay is electrically connected between the power supply and the motor, and works to turn on and off a supply of a current based on the electrical power to the motor for rotating the pinion. A switching element is electrically connected across the first mechanical relay, and works to turn on and off the supply of the current to the motor for rotating the pinion. | 04-08-2010 |
20100180849 | SYSTEM FOR RESTARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WHEN ENGINE RESTART CONDITION IS MET - In a system, an angle sensor outputs a pulse each time an output shaft of an internal combustion engine rotates by a preset angle, and a calculator calculates speed-change information indicative of a change in a speed of rotation of the output shaft based on the pulses outputted from the angle sensor. A determiner determines, based on the speed-change information, whether at least one of the pulses outputted from the angle sensor represents a proper timing for a preset of a pinion of a starter with a ring gear mounted on the output shaft. A pinion engaging unit shifts the pinion toward the ring gear so that the pinion is engaged with the ring gear when it is determined that the at least one of the pulses outputted from the angle sensor represents the proper timing for the preset of the pinion with the ring gear. | 07-22-2010 |
20100184562 | AUTOMATIC STOP/START CONTROLLER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A controller stops a fuel injection when a vehicle is in a specified decelerate condition where the vehicle likely stops and an automatic stop requirement is generated. An input shaft and an output shaft of a shift transmission mechanism are directly connected with each other through a direct connector so that a driving power is transmitted from an engine to a driving shaft through a power transmitter which permits a sliding between an input shaft and an output shaft thereof. When a restart requirement is generated before the vehicle is completely stopped, the engine is restarted under a condition where the input shaft and the output shaft of the shift transmission mechanism are connected with each other by a direct connector. When the restart requirement is not generated before the vehicle is completely stopped, the input shaft and the output shaft are disconnected when the vehicle is completely stopped. | 07-22-2010 |
20100217493 | IDLE STOP SYSTEM FOR VEHICLES - In an idle stop system for an engine mounted in a vehicle, when it is determined predetermined stop conditions are met, the engine is automatically stopped. During the engine stop, when it is determined that predetermined restart conditions are met, the engine is automatically restarted. Further, it is determined whether or not a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the restart of the engine. When it is determined that the predetermined period of time has elapsed, the clutch mechanism is controlled into the connection thereof at and after a time instant when it is determined that the predetermined period of time has elapsed. Hence, the connected state of the clutch mechanism is realized after a controlled delay. | 08-26-2010 |
20100222973 | SYSTEM FOR RESTARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WHEN ENGINE RESTART CONDITION IS MET - A system is installed in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine, a transmission, and a clutch. The system restarts, according to at least one engine restart condition is met, the internal combustion engine that has been automatically controlled for stop thereof. The system includes a restart-condition determiner configured to determine that, as the at least one engine restart condition, an operation of the clutch is started by a driver of the vehicle for shifting the second state to the first state. The system includes a state detector configured to detect an operated state of the clutch during the clutch is shifted from a disengagement state to an engagement state. The system includes a restart controller configured to determine whether to enable or disable the restart of the internal combustion engine according to the operated state of the clutch detected by the state detector. | 09-02-2010 |
20100229815 | SYSTEM FOR RESTARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WHEN ENGINE RESTART CONDITION IS MET - In a system installed in a vehicle, an automatic stop of an engine is carried out when an engine automatic stop condition is met during the vehicle being decelerated. The automatically stopped engine is restarted when an engine restart condition is met before the vehicle is stopped. A vehicle speed obtaining unit obtains a vehicle speed, and a threshold determining unit determines a threshold based on a predetermined-timing value of the vehicle speed. The predetermined-timing value is obtained at a predetermined timing when or after the engine restart condition is met. The threshold is used to determine whether to enable a next automatic stop of the engine. A stop enabling unit enables the next automatic stop of the engine when the speed of the vehicle obtained after the engine restart condition is met is equal to or higher than the threshold. | 09-16-2010 |
20100282200 | SYSTEM FOR STARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - In an engine starting system, when a first solenoid is energized at a first timing in response to any one of a turning on of a starter switch and an occurrence of an engine restart request, a solenoid actuator shifts a pinion to a ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. When a second solenoid is energized, a solenoid switch member energizes a motor. A determiner determines a second timing of energization of the second solenoid after the first timing so that a first delay time from the first timing to the second timing when the first timing is responsive to the turning on of the starter switch is different from a second delay time from the first timing to the second timing when the first timing is responsive to the occurrence of the engine restart request. | 11-11-2010 |
20100299053 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING STARTER FOR STARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - In a system for controlling a starter, the starter includes a pinion shiftable between an engagement position and a disengagement position. The starter includes an actuator configured to shift the pinion from the disengagement position to the engagement position when energized, and a motor configured to rotate the pinion when energized. The system includes a control circuit, a first switch unit configured to switch between energization and deenergization of the actuator under control of the control circuit, and a second switch unit configured to switch between energization and deenergization of the motor under control of the control circuit. The first switch unit and the second switch unit are individually arranged. The second switch unit includes a first relay configured to switch between energization and deenergization of the motor under control of the control circuit, and a second relay configured to control activation of the first relay. | 11-25-2010 |
20100326389 | SYSTEM FOR RESTARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WHEN ENGINE RESTART REQUEST OCCURS - In a system, a starter includes a motor for rotatably driving an output shaft with a pinion and an actuator that shifts the pinion toward a ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. A monitor unit monitors a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. The rotational speed of the internal combustion engine drops after an automatic control for stop of the engine. When an engine restart request occurs with the rotational speed being within a preset range during the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine dropping by the automatic control for stop of the engine, a drive unit drives the actuator to shift the pinion toward the ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. The drive unit rotatably drives the motor with the pinion being engaged with the ring gear to thereby crank the crankshaft. | 12-30-2010 |
20110004392 | APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE AMOUNT OF WASTE HEAT OF AN ENGINE - An apparatus is provided for application to a waste heat reuse system that recovers and reuses engine waste heat, and for controlling the amount of waste heat based on a requested heat amount of a heat utilization request. In the apparatus, an overlap angle between a valve-opening period of an intake valve and that of an exhaust valve of the engine is controlled based on an engine driving condition. Ignition timing of the engine is controlled to fall on maximum-efficient timing that minimizes fuel consumption in a current engine driving condition. When a requested heat amount cannot be satisfied, overlap-increase control is performed to increase an overlap angle, and ignition advance control is performed to advance ignition timing with reference to a maximum-efficient timing that corresponds to the increased overlap angle. Waste heat amount of the engine is controlled with the overlap-increase control and the ignition advance control. | 01-06-2011 |
20110197853 | WASTE HEAT CONTROLLER - An ECU controls waste heat quantity of an engine according to a required heat quantity in response to a heat-utilize requirement. The ECU controls a valve opening period of an intake valve based on an engine driving condition and an ignition timing based on a most efficient timing at which fuel economy is highest. The ECU determines whether there is an ignition advance margin relative to the most efficient timing. When there is no margin, an actual compression ration of the engine is decreased by advancing or retarding a valve close timing of the intake valve and the ignition timing is advanced relative to the most efficient timing in order to increase the waste heat quantity. | 08-18-2011 |
20120035837 | SYSTEM FOR RESTARTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE WHEN ENGINE RESTART REQUEST OCCURS - In a system, a starter includes a motor for rotatably driving an output shaft with a pinion and an actuator that shifts the pinion toward a ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. A monitor unit monitors a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. The rotational speed of the internal combustion engine drops after an automatic control for stop of the engine. When an engine restart request occurs with the rotational speed being within a preset range during the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine dropping by the automatic control for stop of the engine, a drive unit drives the actuator to shift the pinion toward the ring gear to be engaged with the ring gear. The drive unit rotatably drives the motor with the pinion being engaged with the ring gear to thereby crank the crankshaft. | 02-09-2012 |
20120125295 | ENGINE CONTROLLER - An ECU detects a shaft torque in a specified torque detection range defined for each cylinder. The shaft torque is generated due to a combustion of the fuel and is applied to a crankshaft of the engine. The ECU computes a crank angle position as an actual peak position at which a combustion torque is peak. The ECU stores a previously determined maximum torque position which corresponds to a crank angle position at which a combustion torque becomes peak. Based on the actual peak position and the previously stored maximum torque position, an igniter controls an ignition timing. | 05-24-2012 |
20130269661 | VAPOR FUEL TREATMENT APPARATUS - A control part conducts a pulse width modulation control for a first valve and a second valve in a manner that a sum of a first flow rate of fluid flowing through a first passage and a second flow rate of fluid flowing through a second passage agrees with a target flow rate. When the target flow rate is less than a sum of the maximum of the first flow rate and the maximum of the second flow rate, the control part controls a control timing of a first signal driving the first valve and a control timing of a second signal driving the second valve to be different from each other. | 10-17-2013 |
20140102419 | VAPOR FUEL PROCESSING APPARATUS - A canister absorbs evaporated fuel produced in a fuel tank and supplies the absorbed evaporated fuel to an engine. A sealing valve is equipped between the fuel tank and the canister. A detection unit detects a state of a lid of the fuel tank. An intention estimation unit estimates existence of a refueling intention according to an activity of a user. A release time period estimation unit estimates a release time period, which is needed to release a pressure in the fuel tank, according to a state of a vehicle. A manipulation control unit opens the sealing valve when the lid is opened. The manipulation control unit opens the sealing valve, even in a case where the lid is closed, on estimation that the refueling intention exists, and on determination that the estimated release time period is greater than a predetermined time period. | 04-17-2014 |