| NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120131911 | EXHAUST GAS PURIFYING CATALYST AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME - An exhaust gas purifying catalyst ( | 05-31-2012 |
| 20120129006 | WELDING STRUCTURAL PART AND WELDING METHOD OF THE SAME - A welding structural part | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120126574 | VEHICLE BOUNDARY LAYER AIR FLOW CONTROL STRUCTURE - A vehicle boundary layer air flow control structure is provided with a vehicle body and a side view mirror. The vehicle body includes an exterior contoured surface with an air flow deflector. The side view mirror is attached to the vehicle body to provide a diagonally rearward direction to be viewed from a driver's seat. The air flow deflector has a downward air flow guiding surface provided in a vehicle body region of the exterior contoured surface of the vehicle body along which an air flow heading toward the side view mirror passes. The downward air flow guiding surface extends in an air flow direction of the air flow with respect to the side view mirror to divert the air flow underneath the side view mirror. | 05-24-2012 |
| 20120122012 | FUEL CELL AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SAME - A fuel cell and its production method are provided to enable position adjustment at the time of provisional lamination of unit cells. In a fuel cell comprising a lamination of a membrane electrode assembly including anode and cathode electrode layers on both sides of an electrolyte membrane, and a separator, the fuel cell and its production method is characterized in that there is further provided a self-fusing seal material at an end portion of the membrane electrode assembly or the separator. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120118440 | HIGH-STRENGTH AND HIGH-DUCTILITY DIE-QUENCHED PARTS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME - A high-strength die-quenched part | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120117950 | AIR-FUEL RATIO CONTROL DEVICE - An air-fuel ratio control device is provided for controlling the air-fuel ratio of an engine. The device includes an exhaust passage having a main catalytic converter and a bypass passage having a bypass catalytic converter, the bypass passage diverging from the exhaust passage at an upstream junction and rejoining the exhaust passage at a downstream junction. A valve mechanism disposed in the exhaust passage between the upstream junction and the downstream junction moves between a closed state and an open state. During a predetermined period of time after the valve mechanism opens to permit flow in the exhaust passage, the air-fuel ratio of the engine is controlled based on a signal from a first air-fuel ratio sensor in the bypass passage using a low response correction value that is less than a normal response correction value that would be used when the valve mechanism is closed. | 05-17-2012 |
| 20120116643 | VEHICLE DRIVING ASSIST SYSTEM - A vehicle driving assist system calculates a risk potential indicative of a degree of convergence between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle. Then, the system performs a driver notification operation that produces a driver notification stimulus based on the risk potential such as decreasing the driving force exerted against the vehicle as the risk potential increases and increasing an actuation reaction force exerted on the accelerator pedal during its operation as the risk potential increases. If a failure is detected in a reaction force generating device serving to add a reaction force to the accelerator pedal in accordance with the risk potential, then the system corrects an engine torque characteristic such that the engine torque does not increase even if the accelerator pedal is depressed to suppress an odd feeling in the vehicle performance by the driver when a failure occurs in the reaction force generating device. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120115678 | CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD OF BELT TYPE CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - Provided is control device and method for a belt type continuously variable transmission which can reduce drive energy consumption by a decrease in belt friction when the estimated accuracy of belt slip condition is high and which can prevent the belt from greatly slipping during belt slip control when the estimated accuracy of belt slip condition is low. The device includes a primary pulley ( | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120111143 | CRANKSHAFT OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE PROVIDED WITH MULTI LINK-TYPE PISTON-CRANK MECHANISM AND MULTI LINK-TYPE PISTON-CRANK MECHANISM OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - In a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine wherein a crankthrow is shortened by the use of a multi-link mechanism, the crankthrow from the axis of a main journal to the axis of a crankpin is set shorter than one-half of a piston stroke, and an oil passage is formed to supply lubricating oil to a bearing portion of the crankpin. The pin-side opening of the oil passage, which is open at the outer peripheral surface of the crankpin, is formed in ranges other than angular ranges of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° with respect to a reference line extending from the axis of the main journal toward the axis of the crankpin in a decentering direction of the crankpin, thereby alleviating a stress concentration caused by a torsional torque in the vicinity of the pin-side opening of the oil passage. | 05-10-2012 |
| 20120108390 | CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD OF BELT TYPE-CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A control device and a control method for a belt type-continuously variable transmission capable of preventing a belt slip from occurring by restricting that an input torque to the belt type-continuously variable transmission is excessive relative to a belt clamp force when returning from a belt slip control to a normal control are provided are provided. The control device includes a primary pulley ( | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120108374 | BELT-BASED, CONTINUOUSLY-VARIABLE TRANSMISSION CONTROL DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD - Provided are control device and method for a belt type continuously variable transmission which can improve control stability of secondary hydraulic pressure with the estimated accuracy of a belt slip condition during belt slip control ensured. The device has a primary pulley ( | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120108373 | CONTROLLER AND CONTROL METHOD OF BELT TYPE CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - Provided is control device and method for a belt type continuously variable transmission which can reduce drive energy consumption by a decrease in belt friction when the estimated accuracy of belt slip condition is high and which can prevent the belt from greatly slipping during belt slip control when the estimated accuracy of belt slip condition is low. The device includes a primary pulley ( | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120106590 | THERMOSTAT DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS - A thermostat diagnostic apparatus is provided with a cooling medium temperature sensor, an engine operating condition sensor and a malfunction diagnosing device. The malfunction diagnosing device is configured to diagnose a stuck-open malfunction of a thermostat provided in a coolant flow passage of an engine installed in a mobile body based on a comparison of a real cooling medium temperature detected by the cooling medium temperature sensor and an estimated cooling medium temperature estimated based on an engine operating condition of the engine detected by the engine operating condition sensor. The malfunction diagnosing device determines that the thermostat is stuck in an open state upon determining that either the estimated cooling medium temperature or the real cooling medium temperature exceeds a prescribed reference value during a period in which an increased heat exchange rate condition of a radiator is satisfied continuously. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120104795 | VEHICLE BOUNDARY LAYER AIR FLOW CONTROL STRUCTURE - A vehicle boundary layer air flow control structure is provided with a vehicle body and a side view mirror. The vehicle body includes an exterior contoured surface with an air flow deflector. The side view mirror is attached to the vehicle body to provide a diagonally rearward direction to be viewed from a driver's seat. The air flow deflector has an inward longitudinal air flow guiding surface provided in a vehicle body region of the exterior contoured surface of the vehicle body along which an air flow heading toward the side view mirror passes. The inward longitudinal air flow guiding surface extends in an air flow direction of the air flow with respect to the side view mirror to divert the air flow inward of the side view mirror with respect to a vehicle widthwise direction. | 05-03-2012 |
| 20120101702 | DRIVING ASSISTING SYSTEM, METHOD AND VEHICLE INCORPORATING THE SYSTEM - A system for assisting an operator in driving a vehicle. The system calculates risk potential associated with the vehicle. Responsive to an acceleration command issued by the operator via an operator-controlled input device to perform an intended acceleration operation, the system conveys information related to the calculated risk potential by modifying a relationship of an amount of acceleration corresponding to an operation amount of the operator-controlled input device, based on the calculated risk potential. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120098177 | VIBRATION REDUCTION DEVICE - A vibration reduction device includes: a rod rigid body supported between an engine and a vehicle body via respective elastic bodies, a resonance frequency of which is set to be lower than an engine rigid body resonance frequency; an elastic component that is provided on the rod rigid body and caused to deform by a force acting in an axial direction of the rod rigid body; an inertial mass supported by the elastic component; and an actuator that causes the inertial mass to reciprocate in the axial direction of the rod rigid body by generating a force that is proportionate to an axial direction velocity of the rod rigid body. As a result, resonance itself can be suppressed without reducing a double vibration proofing effect. | 04-26-2012 |
| 20120095667 | FUEL PUMP CONTROL DEVICE FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - An engine fuel pump control apparatus is provided. The engine fuel pump control apparatus is connected to an engine and a transmission. A fuel pump is interposed in a fuel conduit between a fuel tank and the engine and the fuel pump has a selectively variable fuel delivery rate. A fuel pump controller is configured to adjust a fuel delivery rate from the fuel pump to the engine in which the fuel pump controller is configured to increase the fuel delivery rate as a rotational speed of the engine increases. The fuel pump controller is further configured to adjust the fuel delivery rate as a detected vehicle speed characteristic varies. | 04-19-2012 |
| 20120080906 | SPARE TIRE INSTALLATION STRUCTURE - A spare tire installation structure for a vehicle has a first rigid member disposed within a trunk compartment of the vehicle, and a second rigid member configured vehicle rearward of the first rigid member and disposed within the trunk compartment of the vehicle. The first rigid member and the second rigid member define a space to house a spare tire. The second rigid member is configured to displace the spare tire vehicle forward and into the first rigid member in response to a rear collision to the vehicle. The first rigid member is configured to split a wheel of the spare tire. | 04-05-2012 |
| 20120072097 | DRIVER ASSISTANCE SYSTEM AND DRIVER ASSISTANCE METHOD - Risk and/or control status are presented in such a way that the vehicle driver can easily comprehend the fact. Upon detecting risk during driving a vehicle, the vehicle is controlled and information of at least one of the risk and the status of the vehicle being controlled is presented in visual form. In addition, the driver's initiative (D) in driving the vehicle is calculated (step S | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070736 | NEGATIVE ELECTRODE FOR LITHIUM ION SECONDARY BATTERY AND BATTERY USING SAME - There is provided a negative electrode for a lithium-ion secondary battery, including a conductive substrate, a negative electrode active material layer containing a negative electrode active material capable of absorbing and desorbing lithium ions and a conductive member having a lower elastic modulus than that of the conductive substrate, wherein at least part of the negative electrode active material is connected to the conductive substrate via the conductive member. There is also provided a lithium-ion secondary battery with such a negative electrode. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070718 | BATTERY MODULE - A battery module ( | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120070715 | BIPOLAR SECONDARY BATTERY - A bipolar secondary battery includes a power generating element in which a bipolar electrode and an electrolyte layer are stacked. The bipolar electrode includes a positive-electrode active material layer formed on one surface of a current collector and a negative-electrode active material layer formed on the opposing surface of the current collector. Peripheral edges of the bipolar electrode and electrolyte layer are bonded through a seal. Edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer on opposite surfaces of a respective current collector are offset from each other. The edge of a seal portion facing an inner edge of the edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer is positioned inside an outer edge of the edges of the positive-electrode active material layer and the negative-electrode active material layer. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120069182 | VEHICLE IMAGE DISPLAY APPARATUS AND METHOD - A vehicle image display apparatus and method acquires captured images of an area around a vehicle captured by cameras at a plurality of positions on an outer portion of the vehicle, generates a single image based on the captured images and displays a composite image including the single image superposes with a first image showing boundary regions of the captured images in the single image and a second image showing end regions of the vehicle. When the composite image is displayed for the first time after an input operation is given to an ignition key of the vehicle, the first and second images are highlighted for a time period after the composite image starts to be displayed. After the time period elapses, the first image is non-highlighted and the second image is highlighted. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120064731 | SILICON CARBIDE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME - A silicon carbide semiconductor device ( | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120064422 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A fuel cell system is provided with a fuel cell, a first combustor, a first heating gas return channel and a gas supplier. The fuel cell includes a solid electrolyte cell with an anode and a cathode. The fuel cell generates power by reacting a hydrogen-containing gas and an oxygen-containing gas. The first combustor selectively supplies a heating gas to the cathode of the fuel cell. The first heating gas return channel mixes at least some exhaust gas discharged from the cathode with the heating gas of the first combustor such that a mixed heating gas of the exhaust gas and the heating gas is supplied to the cathode. The gas supplier connected to the first heating gas return channel for supplying the exhaust gas from the cathode to mix with the heating gas of the first combustor. | 03-15-2012 |
| 20120059563 | ACCELERATOR REACTION FORCE CONTROL APPARATUS - An accelerator reaction force control apparatus is provided with an accelerator position detecting device, a reaction force varying device and a threshold value setting device. The reaction force varying device varies a reaction force of the accelerator so as to increase a reaction force of the accelerator by a prescribed increase amount with respect to a base reaction force when the accelerator position is equal to or larger than an accelerator position threshold value. The reaction force varying device also varies a reaction force increase rate at a first increase rate during a first reaction force increase period of the increase of the reaction force, and at a second increase rate during a second reaction force increase period of the increase of the reaction force. The second increase rate is larger during the second reaction force increase period than during the first reaction force increase period. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120058416 | PROTON-CONDUCTIVE COMPOSITE ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE AND PRODUCING METHOD THEREOF - A composite electrolyte membrane of the present invention includes a porous body composed of an inorganic substance and an electrolyte material. The porous body includes therein plural spherical pores in which a diameter is substantially equal, and communicating ports each allowing the spherical pores adjacent to each other to communicate with each other. The electrolyte material is provided on the spherical pores and the communicating ports, has proton conductivity, and is composed of a hydrocarbon polymer. The proton-conductive composite electrolyte membrane has excellent ion conductivity, high heat resistance, and restricted swelling when being hydrous, and is capable of being produced at low cost. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120055725 | VEHICLE BATTERY COOLING STRUCTURE - A vehicle battery cooling structure is provided with a vehicle body, a battery unit and a cooling jacket. The vehicle body includes a floor panel and a vehicle body frame member. The battery unit is attached to the vehicle body frame member. The battery unit is arranged below the floor panel. The battery unit includes a battery case and a battery. The cooling jacket is attached to an upper surface of the battery case that houses the battery. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120055724 | VEHICLE COMPONENT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT - A vehicle component mounting structure is provided with a vehicle body, a battery, a charger, a high-power electrical component other than the charger. The battery is mounted on the vehicle body. The charger is mounted on the vehicle body and converts a lower-voltage electric power supplied thereto from an external source into a higher-voltage electric power that is supplied to the battery. The high-power electrical component is mounted on the vehicle body with high voltage being supplied to the high-power electrical component. The charger and the high-power electrical component are arranged on longitudinally opposite sides of the battery with respect to a longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120055721 | VEHICLE COMPONENT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT - A vehicle component mounting arrangement is provided with a motor [[(M)]], an inverter [[( | 03-08-2012 |
| 20120045907 | ELECTRICAL COMPONENT STRUCTURE - An electric component structure is provided with at least two electrical conductive parts, an insulator and a magnetic flux generating structure. The electrical conductive parts are arranged with an electric line of force existing between adjacent ones of the conductive parts. The insulator holds the conductive parts. The magnetic flux generating structure generates a magnetic flux with magnetic flux lines oriented in a direction different from a direction of the electric line of force existing between the adjacent ones of the conductive parts. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120044064 | TIRE AIR PRESSURE DETECTING DEVICE, TIRE AIR PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM, AND TIRE AIR PRESSURE NOTIFICATION METHOD - A tire air pressure detecting device includes an air pressure detecting unit, a transmitting unit, a running state detecting unit, an air pressure change rate detecting section and a frequency adjustment section. The frequency adjustment section is configured to adjust a transmitting frequency at which the detected value of the tire air pressure detected by the air pressure detecting unit is externally transmitted by the transmitting unit according to the running state detected by the running state detecting unit and the air pressure change rate detected by the air pressure change rate detecting section. The frequency adjustment section is further configured to variably set a threshold value for switching the transmitting frequency from low frequency to high frequency according to the running state and the air pressure change rate. | 02-23-2012 |
| 20120041641 | STABILITY DISPLAY APPARATUS - Disclosed herein are stability display apparatus and methods. One apparatus comprises a driving state detection unit configured to detect a driving state of a vehicle in operation; a controller comprising an instability estimation unit configured to estimate an instability index indicating driving instability of the vehicle based on the driving state of the vehicle detected by the driving state detection unit and configured to determine changes in the instability index; and a display unit configured to display the instability index estimated by the instability estimation unit in a display region within a range less than or equal to an upper limit that is a limit of display and configured to display in the display region a representation of the changes of the instability index when the instability index is beyond the upper limit. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120040272 | ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL USING AN IONIC CONDUCTOR - An electrochemical cell includes an electrolyte membrane containing an ionic conductor. The ionic conductor includes:
| 02-16-2012 |
| 20120040265 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SAME - Disclosed is a fuel cell system which comprises a power generation means that includes a plurality of fuel cells that are connectable to one another in series or in parallel through connecting terminals, a fuel gas supply conduit through which fuel electrodes of all or part of the fuel cells are connected in series and an oxidant gas supply conduit through which air electrodes of all or part of the fuel cells are connected in series; a switching means that switches an electric connection condition between the connecting terminals and connecting means of an external load device; a fuel gas supply means that supplies the fuel gas supply conduit with a fuel gas and an oxidant gas supply means that supplies the oxidant gas supply conduit with an oxidant gas; a load detecting means that detects a load of the external load device; and a control means that selects, based on an already derived relation between overall electric power output curves corresponding to the number of the fuel cells that are mutually connected and an operation temperature zone, one of the power output curves in accordance with an input from the load detecting means and selects the number of mutually connected fuel cells that brings about the highest voltage of the fuel cells thereby to control the switching means, the fuel gas supply means and the oxidant gas supply means. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120040234 | LAMINATED BATTERY AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A laminated battery formed by laminating a plurality of flat cells each having an electrode tab includes: an insulating member disposed to prevent a short-circuit in the electrode tab; and a terminal connected to the electrode tab, wherein a tip end side of the terminal is supported by a support member provided on the insulating member. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120038319 | ELECTRIC VEHICLE STRUCTURE - An electric vehicle structure is provided with a charging port, an electric charging harness and an intermediate connector. The charging port is configured to be provided on a portion of a vehicle. The electric charging harness includes a first wiring portion electrically connected to the charging port and a second wiring portion configured to be connected to an electrical component of the vehicle. The intermediate connector releasably connects the first wiring portion of the electric charging harness to the second wiring portion of the electric charging harness with a repeatable connecting and disconnecting connection. | 02-16-2012 |
| 20120034548 | GAS DIFFUSION LAYER FOR FUEL CELL - To provide a means of further improving the cell's start-up capability (below-freezing-point-start-up capability) in a low temperature environment in the gas diffusion layer used in the fuel cell. It is a gas diffusion layer for fuel cell having a pore volume of micropores of 2.0×10 | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120033076 | VIBRATION APPLYING STRUCTURE DETECTING DEVICE AND VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE - A vibration applying structure detecting device for a wheeled vehicle traveling on a roadway having a vibration applying structure on a road surface in or adjacent to the roadway includes a lane departure judgment device that determines whether there is a lane departure tendency, a vibration detecting device that determines the frequency and the amplitude of input vibration from a road surface to the vehicle, and a contact judgment device that determines that at least one of the wheels of the vehicle is contacting the vibration applying structure when the input vibration with an amplitude equal to or greater than a prescribed amplitude threshold value has a frequency that is equal to or greater than a prescribed frequency threshold value. The device may also include a threshold value setting device that sets one or both of the amplitude threshold value and the frequency threshold value. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120031690 | VEHICLE COMPONENT MOUNTING STRUCTURE - A vehicle component mounting arrangement comprises a vehicle body member, a motor, an inverter and an air conditioning compressor. The motor serves as a drive source. The motor has a motor housing that is elastically supported with respect to the vehicle body member inside a motor room. The inverter is electrically connected to the motor to supply a drive current to the motor. The inverter is vertically arranged above the motor inside the motor room such that a vertical space exists directly between the inverter and the motor in a vertical direction of the vehicle. The air conditioning compressor serves to compress a refrigerant. The air conditioning compressor is attached to the motor housing, and is arranged inside the vertical space between the inverter and the motor. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120031689 | VEHICLE COMPONENT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT - A vehicle component mounting arrangement is provided with a motor, an inverter, a converter and a charging port. The inverter is electrically connected to the motor to supply a drive current to the motor. The inverter is vertically arranged above the motor such that a vertical space exists directly between the inverter and the motor. The converter is vertically arranged inside a motor room of the vehicle with the inverter extending horizontally outward with respect to the converter in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A space facing portion of the converter aligns with the vertical space as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The charging port is electrically connected to the converter by a charging harness that is at least partially disposed in the vertical space. The charging port is positioned in horizontally outward of the inverter in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120025968 | TIRE AIR PRESSURE MONITORING DEVICE - A tire air pressure monitoring device for monitoring the air pressure of a tire on a vehicle having two or more tires, including an air pressure sensing device that senses air pressure information of the tire and is adapted to be mounted at a prescribed position on the tire so as to rotate with the tire, a transmitting device that transmits the sensed air pressure information, a rotary position sensing device that senses the rotary position of the air pressure sensing device as the tire rotates, a period of rotation calculating device that calculates the period of rotation of the tire, a period of rotation disruption sensing device that senses disruption in the period of rotation based on a change in the period, and a transmission control device that outputs commands to transmit the air pressure information to the transmitting device based on a disruption in the period of rotation. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120022759 | VEHICLE BRAKING ASSIST DEVICE AND VEHICLE BRAKING ASSIST METHOD - A vehicle braking assist device for a host vehicle includes a risk potential computing part that computes a risk potential of the host vehicle with respect to an obstacle in the travelling direction of the host vehicle, an accelerator operation state sensor that detects the operation state of an accelerator, and a braking force application device that applies a first braking force on the host vehicle when the risk potential is higher than a predetermined first threshold and the detected operation state of the accelerator indicates that the accelerator is not being operated, and that applies a second braking force on the host vehicle irrespective of the operation state of the accelerator when the risk potential is higher than a predetermined second threshold, the risk potential represented by the second threshold being higher than the risk potential represented by the first threshold. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120021579 | SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - An aspect of the present invention provides a semiconductor device that includes a first conductivity type semiconductor body, a source region in contact with the semiconductor body, whose bandgap is different from that of the semiconductor body, and which formed heterojunction with the semiconductor body, a gate insulating film in contact with a portion of junction between the source region and the semiconductor body, a gate electrode in contact with the gate insulating film, a source electrode, a low resistance region in contact with the source electrode and the source region, and connected ohmically with the source electrode, and a drain electrode connected ohmically with the semiconductor body. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120021239 | BONDING METHOD OF DISSIMILAR MATERIALS MADE FROM METALS AND BONDING STRUCTURE THEREOF - Disclosed is a bonding method for dissimilar materials made from metals and its resulting structures. The materials to be bonded are formed by layering three or more sheets such that a dissimilar material interface and a same material interface are formed. A first current is conducted between a three-sheet layered plate material wherein an aluminum alloy plate, a zinc plated steel plate and a bare steel plate, for example, are layered in order. A nugget is formed in an interface between the zinc plated steel plate and the bare steel plate, which are the same materials. Then, a second current greater than the first current is conducted, and a nugget is formed in an interface between the aluminum alloy plate and the zinc plated steel plate. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120019206 | VEHICLE CHARGING PORT ARRANGEMENT - A vehicle charging port arrangement is provided with a vehicle body, an electric charging port and a charging-in-progress indicator. The vehicle body includes a vehicle cabin and a vehicle front end portion having an upper surface. The electric charging port is arranged on the vehicle front end portion. The electric charging port is configured to receive an electric charging connector. The charging-in-progress indicator is movably mounted to the vehicle front end portion to move in a vertical direction between a charging port access position that provides access to the electric charging port and a charging port blocking position that prevents access to the electric charging port. The charging-in-progress indicator is visible from inside the vehicle cabin looking over the upper surface of the vehicle front end portion while the charging-in-progress indicator is in the charging port access position. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120018238 | VEHICLE BATTERY COOLING STRUCTURE - A vehicle battery cooling structure is provided with a vehicle body, a battery unit and a cooling jacket. The vehicle body includes a floor panel and a vehicle body frame member. The battery unit is attached to the vehicle body frame member. The battery unit is arranged below the floor panel. The battery unit includes a battery case and a battery. The cooling jacket is attached to a laterally extending rearward surface of the battery case that houses the battery. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20120016549 | CONTROL DEVICE AND CONTROL METHOD FOR ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLE - A vehicle comprises a drive motor ( | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120012593 | STRUCTURE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD FOR PRESSURE VESSEL - A pressure vessel structure includes a vessel main body, and a grid layer provided on a periphery of the vessel main body and including a plurality of grid lines formed by intersecting strip-form raw materials so as to overlap alternately. Thus, a burst pressure of the pressure vessel is increased. | 01-19-2012 |
| 20120007728 | ONBOARD VEHICLE INFORMATION NOTIFYING APPARATUS - An onboard vehicle information notifying apparatus has a moving body position acquiring section that acquires a moving body position for at least one moving body existing in a vicinity of a host vehicle and that acquires map information of the vicinity of the host vehicle. The map information is divided into a plurality of unit regions, with each of the unit regions being a notification necessary region when the moving body exists in the unit region. An information acquiring section acquires an advancement speed and an advancement direction of the host vehicle, and a prescribed movement speed of the moving body. An information providing zone setting section sets an information providing zone within which existence of the moving body should be reported. The information notifying section reports the existence of the moving body when the information providing zone overlaps with the notification necessary region. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120004072 | FRICTION GEARING - A friction gearing has housing and a unit housed in the housing, the unit including a first roller, a second roller and rotatable support plates. The first roller and the second roller are in frictional engagement with each other under a radial pressing force. The radial pressing force is variable in response to a change in the radial distance between the first and the second roller. The rotatable support plates support the first and the second rollers and receive a resisting force that is generated when the first and the second rollers come in contact under the pressing force. The unit is received in the housing with the axis of rotation of the first roller radially fixed while the first roller is rotatably supported by the housing. | 01-05-2012 |
| 20110319223 | VEHICLE DRIVE FORCE DISTRIBUTING APPARATUS - A vehicle drive force distributing apparatus includes an irreversible transmission mechanism, an operating state determining component and a command value resolution switching component. The irreversible transmission mechanism prevents a radially oriented pressing force, generated between first and second rollers based on an inter-roller radial pressing force command value, from decreasing during a period while command value is constant to maintain the radially oriented pressing force at a prescribed value without operating an inter-roller radial pressing force generating source. The operating state determining component determines whether first or second vehicle operating states exists during which a first or a lower second precision level of drive force distribution control, respectively, is to occur between main and subordinate drive wheels. The command value resolution switching component provides the inter-roller radial pressing force command value at a constant value for a longer period during the second vehicle operating state. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110316348 | NON-CONTACT POWER SUPPLYING DEVICE AND NON-CONTACT POWER SUPPLYING METHOD - A non-contact power supplying device includes a power-receiving resonating means set to have a predetermined resonant frequency; a power-feeding resonating means set to have a resonance frequency equal to the predetermined resonant frequency; an oscillating means configured to input an alternating-current power into the power-feeding resonating means; an impedance detecting means configured to detect impedance within a predetermined frequency range as viewed from a power-feeding side; and a frequency-variable means configured to set a frequency of the alternating-current power. The oscillating means is configured to supply electric power to the power-receiving resonating means by producing a resonance between the power-receiving resonating means and the power-feeding resonating means. The frequency-variable means is configured to set the frequency of the alternating-current power in accordance with a value of the impedance detected by the impedance detecting means within the predetermined frequency range. | 12-29-2011 |
| 20110313602 | DRIVE CONTROL APPARATUS AND DRIVE CONTROL METHOD FOR HYBRID VEHICLE - Disclosed herein are embodiments of a drive control apparatus for hybrid vehicles and methods of driving control. In one such embodiment, a drive controller is configured to calculate a basic motor-generator torque value based on the basic engine torque value and the target driving torque value, set a target engine torque to be the basic engine torque value and set a target motor-generator torque as the basic motor-generator torque value when the state of charge of the battery is within an allowable range, set the allowable range of the battery to be smaller when the transmission is performing the shift change operation and execute a basic value shift process when the battery is deviated from the allowable range. The basic value shift process suppresses deviation of the battery by shifting the target engine torque from the basic engine torque value and the target motor-generator torque from the basic motor-generator torque value. | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110309512 | Semiconductor Device - Embodiments of the invention provide a semiconductor device having high reliability as they ease the thermal stress or a heat distortion or strain occurring during the manufacturing process or during operation, and the embodiments function with stability for a long time. A semiconductor device has a semiconductor substrate, an insulating ceramic plate on which the semiconductor substrate is mounted and stress buffer | 12-22-2011 |
| 20110307135 | ENGINE CONTROL APPARATUS AND HYBRID VEHICLE INCLUDING THEREOF - An engine control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle is provided with a conversion angle detecting device, an angle determining device, an engine load calculating device and an engine control device. The conversion angle detecting device detects a rotational phase of a cam with respect to a crankshaft as a detected conversion angle of a variable valve operating mechanism of an engine. The angle determining device determines if the detected conversion angle is different from a starting conversion angle when the engine is started. The engine load calculating device calculates a requested load to be imposed on the engine based on the detected conversion angle if the detected conversion angle is different from to the starting conversion angle at a time the engine is started. The engine control device controls the engine in accordance with the requested engine load that was calculated. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110303187 | IGNITION TIMING CONTROLLER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - An ignition timing controller for an engine includes basic knock-limit ignition timing calculation means that calculates a basic knock-limit ignition timing on the basis of an operating state of the engine; learning-region variation calculation means that learns the knock-limit ignition timing of the engine in two operating regions and thereby calculates a learning-region variation due to octane number and a learning-region variation due to humidity in one of the operating regions; estimated variation calculation means that estimates a variation due to octane number and a variation due to humidity in a present operating state on the basis of the learning-region variation due to octane number and the learning-region variation due to humidity; and knock-limit ignition timing calculation means that calculates the knock-limit ignition timing in the present operating state on the basis of the basic knock-limit ignition timing, the variation due to octane number, and the variation due to humidity. | 12-15-2011 |
| 20110300427 | VEHICLE BATTERY MOUNTING STRUCTURE - A battery unit ( | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110297654 | LASER WELDING APPARATUS - A laser welding apparatus is provided with a multiple axis robot having an arm and a scanner attached to a tip end of the arm of the multiple axis robot. The scanner includes an optical system that emits a laser beam onto a work piece. The scanner includes a preset coordinate system with an origin of the coordinate system coinciding with an intersection point between an optical axis of the laser beam and a fixed element of the optical system. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110297118 | CYLINDER BLOCK AND THERMALLY SPRAYED COATING FORMING METHOD - A cylinder block is provided with a cylinder bore and a thermally sprayed metallic coating disposed on an internal wall of the cylinder bore. The internal wall has first and second wall sections that are located at different axial locations along the internal wall of the cylinder bore. The thermally sprayed metallic coating is disposed on the internal wall of the cylinder bore by spraying droplets of a molten metal. The thermally sprayed metallic coating includes a first thermally sprayed coating portion having a first iron oxide concentration and a second thermally sprayed coating portion having a second iron oxide concentration. The first thermally sprayed coating portion is disposed on the first wall section. The second thermally sprayed coating portion is disposed on the second wall section. The second iron oxide concentration is different from the first iron oxide concentration. | 12-08-2011 |
| 20110289790 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING ELECTRODE MATERIAL - An electrode material drying method and apparatus for drying electrode material are provided for achieving quality improvement of batteries. Electrode material portions containing a solvent are spaced apart from each other on the metal foil. An inductive coil that inductively heats the metal foil faces the metal foil. An amount of heat applied to an uncoated portion of the metal foil between the electrode material portions is reduced below that of a coated portion of the metal foil on which the electrode material portions are arranged. The heat evaporates the solvent in the electrode material portions by causing the metal foil to generate heat with inductive heating while moving the metal foil and the inductive coil relative to each other in an arrangement direction, that is, a direction in which the electrode material portions are arranged. | 12-01-2011 |
| 20110287336 | ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVE MEMBER AND POLYMER ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELL USING THE SAME - An electrical conductive member includes: an electrical conductive structure including: a substrate ( | 11-24-2011 |
| 20110238252 | VEHICLE ENVIRONMENT RECOGNIZING APPARATUS - A vehicle environment recognizing apparatus comprises an image capturing device, a road shape calculating section and a straight road determining section. The image capturing device is configured to capture an image of a road on which a vehicle is traveling. The road shape calculating section is configured to calculate approximation lines that approximate a shape of the road in at two least regions that are located at different distances in front of the vehicle based on image data captured by the image capturing device. The straight road determining section is configured to determine whether the road on which the vehicle is traveling is straight based on a degree to which the approximation lines of the regions calculated by the road shape calculating section match one another. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110236784 | FUEL CELL STACK - A fuel cell stack is provided in which a plurality of single cells each including a membrane electrode assembly are stacked in a stacking direction. The fuel cell stack includes a plurality of electrical insulation members each connected to an outer peripheral portion of a corresponding one of the membrane electrode assemblies. The fuel cell stack further includes a first displacement absorbing member disposed between each insulation member and an adjacent insulation member. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110234162 | SECONDARY BATTERY SYSTEM - A secondary battery system that is light in weight and low in cost is provided, which comprises a plurality of secondary batteries connected in series. A plurality of first diodes each has an anode connected to a negative electrode of the corresponding secondary battery. A plurality of second diodes each has a cathode connected to a positive electrode of the corresponding secondary battery. A plurality of capacitors is each connected to a junction portion between the cathode of the first diode and the anode of the second diode. An alternating current power source is commonly connected to the junction portions through the capacitors. | 09-29-2011 |
| 20110226540 | FUEL CELL ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A fuel cell electric vehicle includes a driving motor for driving a pair of wheels, a fuel cell for generating electricity used in the driving motor with the fuel cell being disposed above the driving motor, and supply/discharge manifolds. The supply/discharge manifolds are for transporting the fuel gas, the oxidizing gas and the coolant to or from the fuel cell from lateral end portions of a lower part of the fuel cell so that the fuel gas, the oxidizing gas and the coolant supplied to and discharged from the fuel cell flow in a substantially vertical direction with respect to a vehicle without the fuel gas, the oxidizing gas and the coolant passing through a center portion between the lower part of the fuel cell and an upper part of the driving motor. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110209521 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ESTIMATING FRICTIONAL CONDITION OF GROUND SURFACE WITH WHICH VEHICLE IS IN CONTACT - Apparatus (or method) for estimating a gripping characteristic of a vehicle wheel of a vehicle on a ground contact surface includes first input section (or step), a second input section (or step) and an output section (or step). The first input section sets a first input which is a ratio of a first wheel force acting on the vehicle wheel in the ground contact surface in a first direction, and a first wheel slip degree. The second input section sets a second input which is a ratio of a second wheel force acting on the vehicle wheel in the ground contact surface in a second direction, and a second wheel slip degree of the vehicle wheel. The output section determines, from the first and second inputs, an output which is a grip characteristic parameter indicative of the gripping characteristic of the vehicle wheel. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110206993 | COMPOSITE ELECTRODE FOR ELECTRICITY STORAGE DEVICE, METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE SAME AND ELECTRICITY STORAGE DEVICE - A composite electrode for an electricity storage device of the present invention includes: a substrate; a whisker or a fiber which is made of at least one of a metal and a metal compound and is formed on the substrate; and a coating layer which contains an active material and is formed on at least a part of a surface of the whisker or the fiber. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110206974 | ELECTRODE AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREOF - An electrode includes a collector formed with a conductive resin layer and an active material layer formed on the conductive resin layer. The active material layer comprises an active material and a binder polymer, and the conductive resin layer is bonded by thermal fusion bonding to the active material layer. | 08-25-2011 |
| 20110192371 | MULTI-LINK ENGINE - A multi-link engine is provided with an upper link, a lower link and a control link. The upper link is pivotally connected to a piston by a piston pin. The lower link is rotatably mounted on a crankpin of a crankshaft and connected to the upper link by an upper pin. The control link is rotatably connected to the lower link by a control pin and pivotally mounted on a pivot portion of a control shaft. The links are configured and arranged with respect to each other such that inertia forces of a prescribed second or higher order in terms of an engine rotational speed act on at least the upper link and the control link in a transverse direction of the engine with a sum of leftward and rightward inertia forces of the prescribed second or higher order being substantially zero. | 08-11-2011 |
| 20110183166 | BIPOLAR SECONDARY BATTERY, BATTERY PACK, AND VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH THE SAME - A bipolar secondary battery is provided with an electric power generating unit, a pair of terminal plates. The electric power generating unit includes a plurality of bipolar electrodes stacked on one another with an electrolyte layer disposed between the bipolar electrodes and separating the bipolar electrodes. Each of the bipolar electrodes includes a collector with a positive electrode active material layer formed on a first side surface of the collector, and a negative electrode active material layer formed on a second side surface of the collector. The first terminal plate is connected to a first stacking direction facing end of the electric power generating unit. The second terminal plate is connected to a second stacking direction facing end of the electric power generating unit. At least one of the terminal plates includes an electric current suppressing device that suppresses an electric current occurring when an internal short circuit occurs in the electric power generating unit. | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110181263 | OVER-CURRENT DETECTING APPARATUS FOR SWITCHING ELEMENT - An over-current detecting apparatus for a switching element ( | 07-28-2011 |
| 20110174559 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A HYBRID VEHICLE - A hybrid vehicle is taught herein in which a clutch is disposed between an engine and a motor/generator and disengagement of the clutch is controlled in a coasting drive while dragging the engine. A drive controller engages the clutch so that the vehicle coasts while dragging the engine at a time of coasting deceleration. While coasting, when the stepped transmission of the hybrid vehicle downshifts, the clutch is disengaged during the downshift. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110171563 | GAS DIFFUSION LAYER FOR FUEL CELL - A gas diffusion layer for a fuel cell includes a conductive microparticle layer and a base material layer. The conductive microparticle layer is formed with first pores of no less than 0.5 μm and no more than 50 μm and second pores of no less than 0.05 μm and less than 0.5 μm. Pores are also formed in the base material layer. A total volume of the second pores is no less than 50% and less than 100% of a total volume of all of the pores in the conductive microparticle layer. By properly setting a pore size D | 07-14-2011 |
| 20110165992 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A HYBRID VEHICLE - A hybrid vehicle in which a clutch is disposed between an engine and a motor/generator is controlled to suppress frequent engagement/disengagement of the clutch in a case of a coasting drive while dragging the engine. A clutch control apparatus controls the clutch and selects any one of the following drive modes: 1) an EV drive mode where the vehicle travels by only driving force of the motor/generator with the clutch disengaged; 2) an HEV drive mode where the vehicle travels by driving force of the engine and/or the motor/generator with the clutch engaged; and 3) an engine brake drive mode in which the vehicle coasts or travels by the driving force of the motor/generator while dragging the engine where the clutch is engaged, and the fuel supply is stopped when a charge of the battery is greater than or equal to a threshold value. | 07-07-2011 |
| 20110155085 | ENGINE CONTROL APPARATUS AND ENGINE CONTROL METHOD - An engine control apparatus is provided that controls an engine which is restarted using an AC motor. The engine control apparatus comprises an engine rotational direction determining section, a restart command determining section and an engine restart prohibiting section. The engine rotational direction determining section is configured to determine a rotational direction of the engine. The restart command determining section is configured to determine if a restart command occurred while a rotational speed of the engine is decreasing due to an idle stop command. The engine restart prohibiting section is configured to selectively prohibit the engine from being restarted by the AC motor in response to the restart command upon determining the engine is rotating backward. | 06-30-2011 |
| 20110153182 | DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING KNOCK IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - An internal combustion engine knock determining device includes a vibration detector that produces a signal corresponding to engine vibration, an intensity computing unit that retrieves vibrational components in a plurality of frequency regions in which vibration intensity peaks are located when knock occurs, a background-noise computing unit that calculates background noise caused by factors other than knock, a frequency computing unit that determines specific frequency regions from which to determine whether knock is occurring by excluding certain frequency regions designated as frequency regions requiring exclusion due to the intensity of false-detection causing noise as a proportion of the background noise in the certain regions, and a knock determining unit that determines the occurrence of knock based on the vibration intensity in the specific frequency regions obtained by excluding the frequency regions requiring exclusion, wherein the number of specific frequency regions is increased to improve the accuracy of knock detection. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110153133 | OPERATING NOISE CONTROL DEVICE AND OPERATING NOISE CONTROL METHOD FOR VEHICLE - A vehicle ( | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110151313 | Electrode for Use in a Battery - An electrode and method for preparing the same in which droplets of a first electrode ink composition and droplets of a second electrode ink composition are ejected from an ink jet device onto a base material and the first electrode ink composition contains at least one electrode active material and the second electrode ink composition contains at least one binder material. The resulting electrode is suitable for use in a battery. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20110139119 | APPARATUS FOR ENGINE CONTROL - An engine control apparatus is provided with an engine, an ignition device, a valve timing changing mechanism, an intake valve close timing detecting device, a supercharger and a controller. The engine achieves a Miller cycle by the valve timing changing mechanism setting an intake valve close timing to occur after a bottom dead center timing. The controller controls an ignition timing of the ignition device, the open timing of the intake valve and the close timing of the intake valve. The controller retards the ignition timing during supercharging and when a detected value of the intake valve close timing is earlier than a target value of the intake valve close timing by at least a prescribed value in comparison with a situation in which the detected value matches the target value of the intake valve close timing. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20110136708 | GREASE COMPOSITION - There is provided a grease composition, including: a base oil; a metal soap thickener formed of at least one metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, calcium, magnesium and aluminum and a fatty acid containing at least one selected from the group consisting of a hydroxyl group, a carboxyl group and a carboxylic acid metal salt group in each molecular structure; and nanoparticles formed of at least one selected from the group consisting of oxides, carbides and diamond materials. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110135980 | BATTERY CELL AND MONITORING DEVICE FOR ASSEMBLED BATTERY - A battery cell includes a power generating element, an electrode connected to the power generating element and configured to electrically connect the power generating element to outside, and an exterior member configured to cover the power generating element. The exterior member includes an insulating layer and a conductive layer, and the conductive layer includes a connection section electrically connected to the outs. | 06-09-2011 |
| 20110129751 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RECOVERING PERFORMANCE OF A FUEL CELL - A fuel cell system is provided having at least one fuel cell including an oxidant electrode, a fuel electrode, and an electrolyte membrane interposed between the oxidant electrode and the fuel electrode. The fuel cell system includes a temperature detector which detects a temperature of the fuel cell and a controller which operates the fuel cell, controls a potential of the oxidant electrode, and determines whether to perform a performance recovery operation in which an impurity on the oxidant electrode is oxidized. When the performance recovery operation is to be performed, the controller controls the potential of the oxidant electrode to be a desired potential based on the temperature detected by the temperature detector. | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110128106 | Rare earth magnet having high strength and high electrical resistance - This rare earth magnet having high strength and high electrical resistance has a structure including an R—Fe—B-based rare earth magnet particles | 06-02-2011 |
| 20110125367 | ACCELERATOR REACTION FOR CONTROL APPARATUS - A control apparatus of a vehicle includes a detector to detect an opening degree of an accelerator, a controller to adjust a reaction force of the accelerator, wherein the controller is configured to increase the reaction force of the accelerator when the accelerator opening degree exceeds a threshold value, a first threshold value corresponding to a first vehicle driving force, and a second threshold value corresponding to a second vehicle driving force that is larger than the first vehicle deriving force, wherein the first threshold value is higher than the second threshold value. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110123825 | BONDED STRUCTURE OF DISSIMILAR METALLIC MATERIALS AND METHOD OF JOINING DISSIMILAR METALLIC MATERIALS - Disclosed herein are bonded structures and methods of forming the same. One embodiment of a bonded structure comprises first and second metallic layers and a bonding interface between the first and second metallic layers formed by diffusion and comprising a layer of at least one intermetallic compound. The intermetallic compound layer is formed in an area 52% or greater of an area of the bonding interface and has a thickness of 0.5 to 3.2 μm. | 05-26-2011 |
| 20110100962 | DISSIMILAR METAL JOINING METHOD - According to a metal joining method of the present invention, first and second dissimilar metals are joined together by interposing between the first and second metal materials a third metal material dissimilar to the first and second metal materials and causing eutectic melting at least either at an interface between the first and third metal materials or at an interface between the second and third metal materials. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110098901 | ACCELERATOR-PEDAL REACTION FORCE CONTROL APPARATUS - A control apparatus includes a means for detecting a position and a means for adjusting a reaction force of the accelerator, wherein the means for adjusting increases the reaction force of the accelerator by an increase amount in addition to a basic reaction force when the position of the accelerator is increased to satisfy a predetermined condition associated with a specific fuel consumption of the vehicle, the means for adjusting sets the increase amount to a first amount when the position of the accelerator is increased from a first accelerator position in a preload area to a second accelerator position that satisfies the predetermined condition, the means for adjusting sets the increase amount to a second amount when the position of the accelerator position is increased from an intermediate accelerator position that exceeds the preload area to the second position, and the first amount is greater than the second amount. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110098900 | ACCELERATOR REACTION FORCE CONTROL APPARATUS - An apparatus to control a reaction force of an accelerator includes a detector to detect an opening degree of the accelerator, and a controller to increase the reaction force by a first force magnitude during a period in which the vehicle transitions from a first operational state to a second operational state in response to an increase in the opening degree of the accelerator, wherein the controller increases the reaction force if the accelerator opening degree is increased within a predetermined time period after the reaction force is increased by the first force magnitude, wherein the first operational state corresponds to a low specific fuel consumption and the second operational state corresponds to a high specific fuel consumption, and wherein the controller decreases the reaction force by the first force magnitude in response to a reduction in the opening degree of the accelerator. | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110094211 | EXHAUST GAS PURIFYING CATALYST - An exhaust gas purifying catalyst includes a monolithic substrate ( | 04-28-2011 |
| 20110087414 | ACCELERATOR-PEDAL REACTION FORCE CONTROL APPARATUS - A utility vehicle comprising a cab which houses a steering wheel assembly is provided wherein a steering wheel ( | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110086285 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system includes a fuel cell having an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte membrane disposed therebetween. An oxidant gas supplying device supplies oxidant gas to the cathode, an oxidant gas backpressure regulating device regulates the pressure of the oxidant gas at the cathode according to a valve opening, and a pressure detecting device detects the oxidant gas pressure at the cathode. During a start-up fuel gas disposal process, a controller controls the oxidant gas supplying device to supply the oxidant gas at a standard oxidant gas flow, controls the valve opening of the oxidant gas backpressure regulating device to a first valve opening, and controls the valve opening of the oxidant gas backpressure regulating device to a second valve opening which is greater than the first valve opening when the oxidant gas pressure detected by the pressure detecting device reaches an elevation target pressure. | 04-14-2011 |
| 20110081584 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system is described that enables discharge of moisture generated by the fuel cell system based on pressure differences between components of the fuel cell system. The fuel cell system includes a fuel cell that discharges oxidant offgas via a cathode discharge pipe and discharges fuel offgas and moisture to an anode drain opening that in turn discharges the fuel offgas and the moisture to a gas-liquid separator via an anode drainpipe. A throttle valve establishes a pressure difference downstream within the anode drainpipe to enable movement of the fuel offgas and the moisture from the anode drain opening to a lower pressure area of the gas-liquid separator. In addition, the pressure difference enables the fuel offgas to flow from the gas-liquid separator to the cathode discharge pipe through the throttle valve. | 04-07-2011 |
| 20110076580 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM, AND METHOD OF STOPPING FUEL CELL SYSTEM - For implementing a stop control which extracts a current from a fuel cell and consumes a cathode side oxygen at a system stop, the current extraction from the fuel cell is ended in a state that a certain quantity of oxygen smaller than when the current extraction is started remains on a cathode side of the fuel cell. With this, the hydrogen movement to the cathode side after the system stop can be effectively suppressed and thereby a cathode internal hydrogen concentration at the system start can be kept low, thus making it possible to properly process the cathode side hydrogen at the system start. | 03-31-2011 |
| 20110067229 | ASSEMBLING METHOD FOR BATTERY OUTER CASE FOR RECEIVING A FLAT BATTERY PACK JOINED BY SEAM-ROLLING - An assembling method for a battery outer case including the steps of: molding a metal container main body with notched holes formed beforehand in its body portion for exposing terminals connected to a flat battery pack; receiving a flat battery pack in the metal container main body while fitting the terminals into the notched holes; covering the metal container main body with a metal lid; and superposing an open end portion of a metal container main body and an end portion of the metal lid with each other thereby to join them to each other by double seaming. | 03-24-2011 |
| 20110061628 | Internal combustion engine and starting method thereof - An internal combustion engine is ignition-combustion started with or without cranking by controlling the ignition-combustion based on combustion chamber pressure, or engine temperature, or piston position, or the time elapsed since the engine was stopped, or a combination of these considerations. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110056920 | DISSIMILAR METAL JOINING METHOD - According to a metal joining method of the present invention, first and second dissimilar metals are joined together by interposing between the first and second metal materials a third metal material dissimilar to the first and second metal materials and causing eutectic melting at least either at an interface between the first and third metal materials or at an interface between the second and third metal materials. | 03-10-2011 |
| 20110053732 | FRICTION TYPE TRANSMISSION DEVICE AND PRESSING FORCE CONTROL METHOD FOR FRICTION TYPE TRANSMISSION DEVICE - In a friction drive transmission apparatus arranged to transmit power by a frictional transmission force between two roller units pressed against each other, there is provided a pressing force imparting means to increase and decrease a pressing force imparted to a roller pair to vary the frictional transmission force between both roller units smoothly at the time of a shift. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110053717 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A continuously variable transmission configured to transmit a rotational driving force of one pulley to another pulley by a driving-force transmitting means wound between the two pulleys, wherein each of the two pulleys is configured to vary a groove width thereof, the continuously variable transmission including: an engagement-receiving portion provided to the driving-force transmitting means, in a side of the driving-force transmitting means on which the driving-force transmitting means is wound on the pulleys; and a movable engaging portion provided to a shaft portion of at least one of the two pulleys, wherein the movable engaging portion is movable in a radial direction of the shaft portion to protrude from and escape into the shaft portion, wherein the movable engaging portion is configured to protrude from the shaft portion so as to engage with the engagement-receiving portion at least one of when a pulley-ratio region is in a setting for highest speed and when the pulley-ratio region is in a setting for lowest speed. | 03-03-2011 |
| 20110045366 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - Disclosed is a fuel cell system comprising a reformer and a fuel cell body to which a fuel gas reformed through the reformer and air are supplied and in which the supplied fuel gas and air are separated from each other and caused to flow and contact on respective electrodes to perform electric power generation. A moisture quantity adjustment device is configured to adjustably separate a portion of moisture included in the fuel gas supplied from the reformer in order for the moisture included in the fuel gas to be supplied to the fuel cell body in an appropriate quantity. | 02-24-2011 |
| 20110039146 | BIPOLAR SECONDARY BATTERY, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE BIPOLAR SECONDARY BATTERY, BIPOLAR ELECTRODE, METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE BIPOLAR ELECTRODE AND ASSEMBLED BATTERY - A bipolar secondary battery includes a plurality of bipolar electrodes, each including a current collector that has a positive electrode layer on one surface thereof and a negative electrode layer on the opposite surface thereof. A separator is disposed between adjacent two bipolar electrodes such that the positive electrode layer of one bipolar electrode and the negative electrode layer of the adjacent bipolar electrode adjacent are opposed to each other along the length of the separator. The positive electrode layer and the negative electrode layer are formed with protrudent portions disposed at positions offset from each other along a length of the current collector. | 02-17-2011 |
| 20110034331 | EXHAUST GAS PURIFYING CATALYST AND PRODUCTION METHOD THEREOF - An exhaust gas purifying catalyst including: a plurality of first compounds | 02-10-2011 |
| 20110028361 | LOW-FRICTION SLIDING MECHANISM - A low-friction sliding mechanism includes first and second sliding members having respective sliding surfaces slidable relative to each other and a lubricant applied to the sliding surfaces of the first and second sliding members. At least the sliding surface of the first sliding member is made of a diamond-like carbon material, and at least the sliding surface of the second sliding member is made of either an aluminum-based alloy material, a magnesium-based alloy material or a diamond-like carbon material. The lubricant contains a base oil and at least one of an ashless fatty-ester friction modifier and an ashless aliphatic-amine friction modifier. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110024207 | BATTERY PACK AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE BATTERY PACK - A battery pack comprises a battery stack. The battery stack includes a plurality of battery modules that are arranged in parallel in side-by-side relationship; a plurality of couplers each being mounted on a given portion of the corresponding battery module thereby to constitute a coupler-mounted battery module. The couplers are detachably connected to one another to constitute an aligned unit of the couplers. Each of the couplers comprises a plurality of projected pawls provided by one side of the coupler and a plurality of catching recesses provided by the other side of the coupler. The catching recesses catch the projected pawls of an adjacent coupler for forming part of the aligned unit of the couplers. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110023777 | CYLINDRICAL INTERNAL SURFACE PROCESSING APPARATUS - A cylindrical internal surface processing apparatus has an internal diameter measuring device and a controller. The internal diameter measuring device measures an internal diameter of an internal cylindrical bore formed in a base member to obtain a measurement result of the internal diameter of the internal cylindrical bore. The controller includes a surface roughening control section and a quality determining section. The surface roughening control section controls operation of a surface roughening equipment to form a rough surface section and an internal diameter measuring surface section on the internal cylindrical bore. The internal diameter measuring surface section is smoother than the rough surface section. The quality determining section determines if the rough surface section is acceptable to allow a subsequent thermally sprayed coating to be applied on the rough surface section based on the internal diameter measurement result at the internal diameter measuring surface section of the internal cylindrical bore. | 02-03-2011 |
| 20110022285 | LANE DEPARTURE PREVENTION SYSTEM AND METHOD - When a target yaw moment Ms is computed, an estimated lateral acceleration G | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110021312 | HYBRID VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE - A hybrid vehicle control device is provided with an engine stop control section and a fuel injection control section. The engine stop control section is configured to issue an engine speed reduction command to reduce an engine speed of an engine during an engine stopping operation occurring in response to establishment of an engine stop condition by using an electric motor and slip engaging a drive-wheel side clutch disposed between the electric motor and a drive wheel such that the drive-wheel side clutch transmits rotational torque between the electric motor and the drive wheel. The fuel injection control section is configured to issue a fuel injection command to continue fuel injection during the engine stopping operation until the engine speed decreases below a prescribed engine speed whereupon the fuel injection is stopped. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110015849 | INTAKE AIR CONTROL APPARATUS FOR VEHICULAR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - An apparatus is provided for controlling an intake valve of a vehicular internal combustion engine. The apparatus includes a variable valve operating mechanism configured to vary a valve lift and a valve phase angle of the intake valve, and a controller. The controller calculates a desired first target value at a current engine operating condition, a reacceleration estimated value based on an engine rotational speed and estimated operating load upon reacceleration, and a second target value at which engine torque is equivalent to engine torque at the first target value. The controller sets the first target value as a control target value, and then switches the control target value to the second target value when a minimum clearance between the intake valve and a piston is determined to become less than a permissible value during variation of the intake valve from the first target value toward the reacceleration estimated value. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015840 | SHIFT CONTROL OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - A subtransmission mechanism | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015839 | CONTROL OF AND CONTROL METHOD FOR VEHICLE CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A control device for a vehicle continuously variable transmission | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015838 | SHIFT CONTROL OF CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A continuously variable transmission | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015837 | CONTROL OF AND CONTROL METHOD FOR VEHICLE CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A control device for a vehicle continuously variable transmission | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015836 | SHIFT CONTROL OF CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A speed ratio of a continuously variable transmission mechanism | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015835 | CONTROL OF AND CONTROL METHOD FOR VEHICLE CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A control device for a vehicle continuously variable transmission | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110015033 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The transmission controller performs a non-coordinated shift, in which the gear position of the subtransmission mechanism is modified from the second gear position to the first gear position at a higher speed than when the gear position of the subtransmission mechanism is modified by a coordinated shift while permitting a deviation between the through speed ratio and the target through speed ratio, instead of the coordinated shift when it is determined that the second speed kick down shift is to be performed. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110014521 | BATTERY WITH BATTERY ELECTRODE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME - The invention provides a battery electrode capable of improving a lifespan characteristic (cycle characteristic at the time of high temperature endurance). The battery electrode has a collector and an active material layer formed on a surface of the collector. The active material layer includes a plurality of binders having different specific gravities. The binders are more present at the collector side of the active material layer. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20110010064 | SHIFT-BY-WIRE FAIL CONTROL DEVICE FOR VEHICLE WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - A shifting apparatus includes an actuator to direct a travel range setting of a vehicle transmission, a selector to indicate a desired travel range setting, a transmission controller to move the actuator into the travel range setting in response to the desired travel range setting of the selector, and a restrictor to restrict an output of a drive motor if the vehicle transmission is in a travel range setting other than the desired travel range setting. A method to control a vehicle transmission includes detecting a travel range setting of the vehicle transmission, detecting a desired travel range setting of a selector, and entering a limp-home mode if the detected travel range setting is different from the desired travel range setting and a detected vehicle travel direction corresponding to the detected travel range setting is the same as a desired travel direction corresponding to the desired travel range setting. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110008690 | FUEL CELL STACK - A fuel cell stack is provided having a plurality of unit cells stacked in a horizontal direction. Each unit cell includes an electrolyte membrane having two surfaces and a peripheral edge, electrodes provided on both surfaces of the electrolyte membrane, frame-shaped members provided on both surfaces of the electrolyte membrane adjacent to the respective electrodes and adjacent the peripheral edge of the electrolyte membrane, separators provided on the electrodes and the frame-shaped members and having a reactant gas passage for supplying a reactant gas to each of the electrodes, and a manifold formed in the stacking direction in fluid communication with the reactant gas passage. The manifold includes a horizontal edge portion in fluid communication with the reactant gas passage. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110005496 | CONTROL APPARATUS FOR A CYLINDER DIRECT-INJECTION INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A control apparatus is provided for a four stroke cylinder direct-injection internal combustion engine having a cylinder and a piston disposed within the cylinder. The control apparatus includes a variable compression ratio mechanism for variably controlling the engine compression ratio by changing the top dead center position of the piston and a fuel injection device for injecting fuel directly into the cylinder. When the actual compression ratio of the engine is higher than a target compression ratio, the variable compression ratio mechanism reduces the compression ratio, and in accordance with the reduction in the compression ratio, the fuel injecting device injects an intake fuel injection amount in the intake stroke and a compression fuel injection amount in the compression stroke, and the timing for starting the fuel injection in the compression stroke is retarded. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110005457 | ENGINE BLOCK COATING SYSTEM - An engine block coating system for applying a coating to an engine block includes a work stand, a coating gun, and a first nozzle. The work stand supports the engine block. The coating gun discharges coating on an inner surface of a first cylinder bank. The first nozzle discharges gas from a second cylinder bank to a crankcase side of the first cylinder bank and the second cylinder bank such that the second cylinder bank is shielded from the coating. The coating gun and the first nozzle are arranged relative to each other such that gas discharged by the first nozzle is discharged toward the coating to alter a direction of the coating by the gas discharged by the first nozzle directly contacting the coating such that the coating would otherwise contact the cylinder bore of the second cylinder bank upon stopping discharge of the gas by the first nozzle. | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110005050 | MANUFACTURING METHOD AND MANUFACTURING APPARATUS FOR FILM-COVERED ELECTRICAL DEVICE - In a vacuum container ( | 01-13-2011 |
| 20110004387 | VEHICLE HEADWAY MAINTENANCE ASSIST SYSTEM AND METHOD - A vehicle headway maintenance assist system is provided that provides a haptic notification to an accelerator to alert the driver under prescribed conditions. The vehicle headway maintenance assist system includes a preceding vehicle detection section, a reaction force generating section, and a control section. The preceding vehicle detection section is configured to detect a headway distance between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle. The reaction force generating section is configured to generate a reaction force based on the headway distance detected by the preceding vehicle detection section. The control section is configured to control a relationship between a driving force and an accelerator actuation amount by a driver to increase the accelerator actuation amount at a time before the reaction force generating section generates the reaction force. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20110000085 | CYLINDRICAL INTERNAL SURFACE PROCESSING METHOD - A cylindrical internal surface processing method comprises forming a cylinder bore, roughening an upper section of the bore, depositing coating onto the bore, and machining a lower section of the bore and the coating. The forming of the cylinder bore includes forming the upper and lower sections with the lower section being axially spaced from the upper section and having an axial length greater than zero. The roughening creates a roughened surface such that a radially innermost edge of the roughened surface has an internal diameter smaller than an internal diameter of the lower section. The coating is deposited to cover the upper section and at least a portion of the lower section. The machining forms a tapered portion and a cylindrical portion, a radially outermost edge of the cylindrical portion having an internal diameter larger than that of a radially outermost edge of the roughened surface. | 01-06-2011 |
| 20100332109 | CONTROL DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A control device for an internal combustion engine of a spark-ignition type that injects fuel directly into a combustion chamber including a temperature detector that detects the temperature of the combustion chamber, a load detector that detects the load of the internal combustion engine, and a controller. The controller performs a first control when the temperature of the combustion chamber is lower than or equal to a predetermined temperature and the load of the internal combustion engine is higher than a predetermined load such that the timing of fuel injection is advanced compared with the timing when the load of the internal combustion engine is lower than or equal to the predetermined load. | 12-30-2010 |
| 20100324823 | VEHICLE OPERATION SUPPORTING DEVICE AND VEHICLE OPERATION SUPPORTING METHOD - When an obstacle on either of the two sides of a vehicle is detected, the future position of the vehicle after a prescribed time is predicted. When the future predicted vehicle position reaches a prescribed lateral position in the width direction of the lane, control start is determined such that obstacle avoiding control is carried out to prevent the approach of the vehicle to the obstacle. When an intention of the driver to enter the lane of the obstacle is detected, the start timing for obstacle avoiding control is shortened. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100323261 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system having a fuel cell, a coolant supply device for circulating a supply of the coolant through a coolant path for cooling the fuel cell, a fuel cell temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the fuel cell, a coolant temperature detector for detecting a temperature of the coolant in the coolant path, and a controller for controlling the amount of coolant circulated by the coolant supply device. The controller selects an operation mode of the fuel cell between a power generation mode and a power generation stop mode and calculates the difference between the detected coolant temperature and detected fuel cell temperature. While the operation mode is the power generation stop mode, the controller increases the amount of the coolant circulated as the difference between the detected coolant temperature and the detected fuel cell temperature increases. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100320960 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The present invention provides a fuel cell system including a fuel cell configured to cause reactant gas to be electrochemically reacted to generate electrical power when the reactant gas is supplied to the fuel cell, power consuming equipment such as a reactant gas supply apparatus and a heating device operable to consume electrical power generated by the fuel cell, and a controller for controlling operation of the fuel cell system. During a warm-up operation, the controller causes the reactant gas supply apparatus to start a flow of the reactant gas and to increase the flow of the reactant gas over time, such that the reactant gas supply device starts to consume power and consumes increased power over time. After starting the flow of the reactant gas, the controller causes the heating device to start heating the coolant such that the heating device consumes power. | 12-23-2010 |
| 20100318270 | CONTROL APPARATUS OF DRIVING FORCE IN CASE OF BELT SLIPPING FOR VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH V-BELT CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A control apparatus of a driving force in case of belt slipping includes a belt slip control detecting unit adapted to detect that the belt slip control is in execution, a belt contact radius ratio calculating unit adapted to calculate a belt contact radius ratio of the V-belt to the pulleys, and a power source output torque determining unit adapted to determine a target power output torque according to the belt contact radius ratio in execution of the belt slip control in response to signals from the belt slip control detecting unit and the belt contact radius ratio calculating unit. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100318263 | VEHICLE DRIVING SUPPORT SYSTEM AND VEHICLE DRIVING SUPPORT METHOD - When an obstacle is sensed on a side of a vehicle, the future position of the vehicle after a prescribed time is predicted. When the predicted vehicle future position reaches a prescribed lateral position in the lane width direction, a decision to start a control is made, and the vehicle is controlled in a direction to prevent it from coming too close to the obstacle. If a state occurs in which the obstacle is sensed after not being sensed (i.e., it is first sensed), a decision to start the control is suppressed. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100316798 | CYLINDER BORE SPRAYING APPARATUS AND SPRAYED FILM FORMING METHOD - The invention provides a cylinder bore spraying apparatus capable of carrying out honing processing and finishing after a sprayed film is formed in a cylinder bore in a state where the cylinder bore is deformed by a dummy head. A sprayed film is formed on an inner peripheral surface of a cylinder bore by a spraying gun in a state where a dummy head is pressed against a cylinder block such that a cylinder head is fastened to the cylinder block by a bolt. Thereby, a deformed state of a cylinder bore is simulated. A protection mask prevents the sprayed film from adhering to the dummy head and is detachably attached to the liner hole of the dummy head. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100313837 | VALVE CONTROL APPARATUS FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - A valve control apparatus is provided for an internal combustion engine. The apparatus includes a variable phase angle mechanism configured to continuously change a valve opening phase angle of a valve, a variable valve mechanism configured to continuously change at least one of a valve opening duration and a valve lift of the valve, and a controller configured to control the variable phase angle mechanism and the variable valve mechanism. The variable phase angle mechanism is configured to set the valve opening phase angle at a retarded phase angle in a startup operation as compared with a normal phase angle in a normal operation. After an engine stop command is generated, the controller controls the variable valve mechanism such that an integrated valve opening value is increased to be larger than an idle state integrated valve opening value in an idle state. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20100305834 | ENGINE FUEL INJECTION CONTROL APPARATUS - An engine fuel injection control apparatus includes a variable valve device that at least varies an intake valve open timing of an intake valve. A controller adjusts the variable valve device and a fuel injection timing of a fuel injection valve. The controller controls a fuel injection end timing in accordance with an overlap amount of the intake valve and an exhaust valve. The controller adjusts the fuel injection timing such that the fuel injection end timing is more advanced than the intake valve open timing and such that as an amount by which the overlap amount exceeds a prescribed overlap amount becomes larger, a time interval between the fuel injection end timing and the intake valve open timing is set to become increasingly larger, upon determining that the engine is being cold started and the overlap amount is larger than the prescribed overlap amount. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100304260 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell stack includes a heat exchange unit that performs heat exchange between a gas mixture containing source hydrogen and a circulating gas and cooling water used for controlling the temperature of the fuel cell stack. A system controller adjusts the temperature of the cooling water by controlling a temperature control unit on the basis of the temperature of source hydrogen flowing into a junction at which the source hydrogen and a circulating gas are mixed such that the temperature of a source/recirculated hydrogen mixture that is mixed at the junction and that is supplied to the fuel cell stack is kept within a managed temperature range. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20100299037 | ACCELERATOR REACTION FORCE CONTROL APPARATUS - An accelerator reaction force control apparatus has an accelerator position detecting device that detects an accelerator position and a reaction force varying device that varies a reaction force of an accelerator. The reaction force varying device increases the accelerator's reaction force beyond a base reaction force in response to the accelerator position being equal to or larger than a reaction force increase threshold, and decreases the accelerator's reaction force toward the base reaction force in response to the accelerator position becoming equal to or smaller than a reaction force increase cancellation threshold after the reaction force has been increased beyond the base reaction force. The reaction force varying device varies a reaction force decrease rate at which the accelerator's reaction force is decreased based on an accelerator position change condition existing at a time when the accelerator position becomes equal to or smaller than the reaction force increase cancellation threshold. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100298092 | TRACTION CONTROL SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE - In order to attain a stable traction control regardless of an inertia change in a driving system, when a driving force transmitted from driving wheels to a road surface is lowered by a certain quantity by torque control, the driving force is lowered according to a transmission torque capacity of a clutch element for connecting and disconnecting a power source and the driving wheels | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100294065 | TRANSMISSION OIL-PRESSURE CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHODS - A control apparatus of a vehicle transmission includes a hydraulic circuit configured to activate at least one friction element with a control pressure, a selector configured to select a range of the transmission, a valve configured to switch a transmission shifter, and a control unit configured to direct the valve to switch the transmission shifter in response to the selected transmission range and to reduce the control pressure prior to switching the transmission shifter. A method to control a vehicle transmission includes activating at least one friction element with a control pressure, selecting a desired range of the transmission, switching a transmission range in response to the selected desired transmission range, and reducing the control pressure prior to switching the transmission range. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100292047 | HYBRID VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL APPARATUS - A hybrid vehicle drive control apparatus is basically provided with an engine ( | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100289454 | SECONDARY BATTERY REMAINING CAPACITY ESTIMATING APPARATUS - A secondary battery remaining capacity estimating apparatus basically includes a secondary battery ( | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100288597 | DRIVE FORCE TRANSMITTING APPARATUS - A drive force transmitting apparatus comprises a dry clutch, a hydraulic cylinder, a piston arm, an elastic partitioning member, a first seal member and a leakage lubricating fluid recovery path. The elastic partitioning member prevents lubricating fluid that has leaked from a sliding portion of a piston of the hydraulic cylinder from flowing into the dry clutch. The first seal member is disposed between opposing surfaces of a cylinder housing and a clutch cover at a position downstream from the elastic partitioning member in a leakage flow direction of lubricating fluid that has leaked. The leakage lubricating fluid recovery path is at least partially formed by a gap between the cylinder housing and the clutch cover, such that lubricating fluid leaking past the piston is conveyed to an inside of the transmission while maintaining a sealed state established by the elastic partitioning member and the first seal member. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100288035 | ENGINE MISFIRE DIAGNOSTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD - An engine misfire diagnostic apparatus measures an amount of time required for a crankshaft ( | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100287913 | INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE EXHAUST GAS CLEANING APPARATUS AND EXHAUST GAS CLEANING METHOD - An internal combustion engine exhaust gas cleaning apparatus is basically provided with a NOx trapping catalytic converter, a sulfur poisoning amount estimating section and a sulfur poisoning removal section. The NOx trapping catalytic converter is arranged in an exhaust passage to trap NOx contained in an exhaust gas flowing through the exhaust passage when an air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is lean and to release trapped NOx when an air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas is rich. The sulfur poisoning amount estimating section estimates an estimated sulfur poisoning amount of sulfur poisoning of the NOx trapping catalytic converter based on a fuel consumption amount and an oil consumption amount. The sulfur poisoning removal section raises a temperature of the NOx trapping catalytic converter to a sulfur poisoning removal temperature based on the estimated sulfur poisoning amount to remove sulfur poisoning from the NOx trapping catalytic converter. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100286938 | BATTERY PACK CONTROL APPARATUS - A battery pack control apparatus is provided with first, second and third monitoring devices, a battery pack control device, first and second communication devices, and a first electric power consuming device. The monitoring devices are connected to the single battery cells of a battery pack to monitor a state of the single battery cells. The battery pack control device communicates data related with the third monitoring device through the first communication device having an electric insulating quality and with the first monitoring device through a second communication device having an electric insulating quality. The second monitoring device communicates data with the first and third monitoring devices. The first electric power consuming device consumes an amount of electric power at a single battery cell connected to the second monitoring device. The amount of electric power corresponds to a communication occurring at the second communication device. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100286858 | CONTROL APPARATUS FOR HYBRID VEHICLE - A hybrid vehicle control apparatus is provided with an engine, an electric motor, a holding element, an automatic transmission, a range position detecting device and a controller. The holding element is arranged between the engine and the electric motor to selectively connect and disconnect the engine and the electric motor to and from each other. The automatic transmission is arranged between the electric motor and a drive wheel. The range position detecting device detects a range position of the automatic transmission selected by a driver. The controller executes a control operation serving to stop the engine while also executing a slip control serving to lower a torque transfer capacity of the holding element upon a determination that a request to stop the engine has occurred while the engine is operating, the holding element is engaged, and the automatic transmission is detected in a non-driving range. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100279182 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR REMOVAL OF IMPURITIES FROM FUEL CELL ELECTRODES - A fuel cell system and method of removing impurities from a catalyst are provided. The fuel cell system comprises a fuel cell stack comprising a pair of end plates and at least one unit cell. The unit cell contains a gas diffusion layer in contact with a membrane electrode assembly which is constructed of a polymer electrolyte membrane enclosed between two electrodes. The at least one unit cell is stacked between the end plates. The fuel cell system further comprises a voltage supply means and a means of impressing a cyclically varying voltage from the voltage supply means on the fuel cell stack. The cyclically varying voltage removes impurities that adhere to catalysts on the electrode surfaces in the fuel cell stack. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100276703 | SILICON CARBIDE SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE - A MOS type SiC semiconductor device having high reliability and a longer lifespan against TDDB of a gate oxide film is disclosed. The semiconductor device includes a MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) structure having a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate, a polycrystalline Si gate electrode, a gate oxide film interposed between the SiC substrate and the polycrystalline Si gate electrode and formed by thermally oxidizing a surface of the SiC substrate, and an ohmic contact electrically contacted with the SiC substrate. The semiconductor device further includes a polycrystalline Si thermally-oxidized film formed by oxidizing a surface of the polycrystalline Si gate electrode. The gate oxide film has a thickness of 20 nm or less, preferably 15 nm or less. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20100274438 | DRIVING OPERATION ASSISTING SYSTEM, METHOD AND VEHICLE INCORPORATING THE SYSTEM - A driving assisting for calculating risk potential by considering a response delay by the driver and transmitting information related to the risk potential to the operator in a haptic manner. A controller is provided to estimate the response delay based on an operation performed by the operator. Based on the estimated response delay, the controller calculates a future position at which the risk potential is to be calculated. The longer the response delay, the remoter the future position is. The shorter the response delay, the nearer the future position is. The calculated risk potential at the future position may be transmitted to the operator via a pressing force from one of right and left side portions of a driver's seat occupied by the operator. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100274435 | DRIVING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE AND VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH DRIVING ASSISTANCE SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE - A driving assistance system for vehicle obtains short-duration data representing a present traveling condition and driving operation and intermediate-duration data representing a traveling condition and driving operation of that day. A drive diagnosis is carried out by comparing a distribution of the short-duration data and a distribution of the intermediate-date, and a drive diagnosis result is evaluated with two evaluation criteria so as to provide an alarm or an operation improvement suggestion. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100265418 | DISPLAY APPARATUS - A display apparatus provided on a surface of a panel, the display apparatus includes a quadrangular window section provided in the surface, an image display surface disposed in and recessed from the quadrangular window section, a frame configured to surround the image display surface and extend from the image display surface to the quadrangular window section, in which the frame includes an inside edge formed in a substantially trapezoidal shape having a shorter upper edge and a longer lower edge, and an outside edge formed in a quadrangular shape conforming to the quadrangular window section, in which a difference in length in a lateral direction between the shorter edge of the inside edge and an upper edge of the outside edge is set larger than a difference in length in the lateral direction between the longer edge of the inside edge and a lower edge of the outside edge. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100264680 | SUPPORT STRUCTURE - In one or more embodiments of the present disclosure a support structure includes a contact surface configured to deform, a base section configured to receive the contact surface, a first set of ribs extending from the contact surface toward the base section and inclined in a first direction, and a second set of ribs extending from the contact surface toward the base section and inclined in a second direction, in which the first set of ribs and the second set of ribs are disposed such that there is no contact with each other in a relaxed position, and in which the first set of ribs and the second set of ribs are configured to deform and contact each other upon application of a force to the contact surface. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100263201 | LAMINATE CELL, ASSEMBLED BATTERY, BATTERY MODULE AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A laminate cell comprises a power generating element formed by sequentially stacking positive electrode plates and negative electrode plates while interposing separators therebetween; a positive tab connected to the positive electrode plates through a plurality of positive leads; a negative tab connected to the negative electrode plates through a plurality of negative leads; and a cell package formed of a metal composite film, the cell package hermetically sealing the power generating element and an electrolyte. According to the laminate cell, the heat capacity of a portion of the positive tab, onto which a plurality of the positive leads are joined, and the heat capacity of a portion of the negative tab, onto which a plurality of the negative leads are joined, are made larger than that of other portions of the positive tab and the negative tab. | 10-21-2010 |
| 20100261576 | ENGINE ROTATIONAL SPEED CONTROL APPARATUS - An engine rotational speed control apparatus is provide to prevent a degradation of fuel efficiency caused by an unnecessary increase of the rotational speed of an engine when a depression amount of an accelerator pedal is briefly increased and then immediately decreased. In particular, when the vehicle is accelerated, an optimum fuel efficiency operating point along an optimum fuel efficiency curve is not moved immediately to another optimum fuel efficiency operating point corresponding to a new target drive force. Instead, the target drive force is reached by increasing the engine load while increasing the engine rotational speed as little as possible, and thus using an operating point that does not lie on the optimum fuel efficiency curve. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100258097 | INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE - An internal combustion engine ( | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100248895 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - The transmission controller changes the gear position of the subtransmission mechanism and varies the speed ratio of the variator in an opposite direction to a speed ratio variation direction of the subtransmission mechanism when the actual through speed ratio passes a predetermined mode switch line. When the improvement in the shift response of the continuously variable transmission is determined to be required and the actual through speed ratio passes the mode switch line from a Low side to the High side, the transmission controller increases a shift speed of the subtransmission mechanism compared with a normal coordinated shift. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248894 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A continuously variable transmission includes a variator capable of varying a speed ratio continuously, and a subtransmission mechanism provided in series with the variator. On the basis of an operating condition of a vehicle, a transmission controller sets a destination through speed ratio, which is an overall speed ratio of the variator and the subtransmission mechanism to be realized in accordance with the operating condition, and controls the variator and the subtransmission mechanism on the basis thereof. When shifts are prohibited in the subtransmission mechanism, the destination through speed ratio is limited to a speed ratio range that can be realized only by a shift in the variator. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248886 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A continuously variable transmission includes a variator capable of varying a speed ratio continuously, and a subtransmission mechanism provided in series with the variator. When an actual through speed ratio passes a predetermined mode switch speed ratio, a transmission controller performs a coordinated shift in which a gear position of the subtransmission mechanism is changed and a speed ratio of the variator is varied in an opposite direction to a speed ratio variation direction of the subtransmission mechanism. When the rapid deceleration is determined to be underway, the transmission controller decreases a speed ratio variation amount of the variator in the direction of a High side accompanied by a downshift of the subtransmission mechanism compared with the coordinated shift. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100248875 | CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE TRANSMISSION AND CONTROL METHOD THEREOF - A transmission controller permits a 2-1 shift, in which a gear position of a subtransmission mechanism is changed from a second speed to a first speed, when an accelerator pedal has been depressed to or above a predetermined opening. The gear position of the subtransmission mechanism is changed from the second speed to the first speed when an actual through speed ratio passes a mode switch line from a High side to a Low side while the 2-1 shift is permitted in the subtransmission mechanism. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100239902 | LAMINATE CELL, ASSEMBLED BATTERY, BATTERY MODULE AND ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A laminate cell comprises a power generating element formed by sequentially stacking positive electrode plates and negative electrode plates while interposing separators therebetween; a positive tab connected to the positive electrode plates through a plurality of positive leads; a negative tab connected to the negative electrode plates through a plurality of negative leads; and a cell package formed of a metal composite film, the cell package hermetically sealing the power generating element and an electrolyte. According to the laminate cell, the heat capacity of a portion of the positive tab, onto which a plurality of the positive leads are joined, and the heat capacity of a portion of the negative tab, onto which a plurality of the negative leads are joined, are made larger than that of other portions of the positive tab and the negative tab. | 09-23-2010 |
| 20100233551 | ION CONDUCTOR - An ion conductor includes: an inorganic porous film which includes multiple fine pores of which surfaces are bonded to multiple proton-donor functional groups; and an electrolyte material which is held in the fine pores of the inorganic porous film, and includes a cation component and an anion component. Further, a method of producing the ion conductor includes: mixing and agitating an inorganic sol, polymer particles, and a solvent; filtering a mixed liquid including the inorganic sol, the polymer particles, and the solvent to fabricate a membrane including the inorganic sol and the polymer particles; removing an extra solvent contained in the membrane formed by filtering, followed by drying the membrane; firing the dried membrane and removing the polymer particles to form an inorganic porous film; chemically modifying to introduce proton-donor functional groups onto surfaces of fine pores of the inorganic porous film; and impregnating the fine pores of the inorganic porous film introduced the proton-donor functional groups with an electrolyte material, followed by drying the inorganic porous film. | 09-16-2010 |
| 20100228454 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - In control apparatus and method for an automatic transmission, a gear shift state of a stepwise variable transmission mechanism is controlled to a target gear shift state by releasing a first engagement section according to a reduction in a capacity of the first engagement section and, simultaneously, by engaging a second engagement section according to an increase in the capacity of the second engagement section, in accordance with a torque inputted to the stepwise variable transmission mechanism and, during an inertia phase, either one of the first and second engagement sections functions as a gear shift state control side engagement section and the capacity of a gear shift state non-control side engagement section which is the other engagement section is increased when determining that it is impossible to make the gear shift state follow up the target gear shift state at the gear shift state control side engagement section. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100228450 | CONTROL APPARATUS OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - A control apparatus of an automatic transmission has an engagement part, a power-ON/OFF state judgment section and a control section controlling a capacity of the engagement part. The control section compares an actual input revolution speed difference absolute value of an absolute value of a difference between an input revolution speed when engaged and an actual input revolution speed with a target input revolution speed difference absolute value of an absolute value of a difference between the input revolution speed when engaged and a target input revolution speed, then a deviation is determined by subtracting the target input revolution speed difference absolute value from the actual input revolution speed difference absolute value. When the deviation is positive, the capacity is increased. When the deviation is negative, the capacity is reduced. When the deviation is zero, a previous capacity that is set before the comparison of the both absolute values is maintained. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100228449 | CONTROL SYSTEM OF AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - A control system controls an automatic transmission. The automatic transmission comprises a stepwise variable transmission section that includes a plurality of frictional elements and establishes a desired speed by a shift change disengaging one of the frictional elements and engaging the other of the frictional elements and a continuously variable transmission section that establishes a desired speed continuously. The control system makes a speed change control of the continuously variable transmission section cooperate with a change of an input rotation speed of the stepwise variable transmission section. The control system is configured to carry out during the shift change of the stepwise variable transmission section, judging whether a delivery of a torque from a disengaging side frictional element to an engaging side frictional element is completed or not; and starting the speed change control of the continuously variable transmission section upon judgment of the completion of the delivery of the torque regarding that an inertial phase has started. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100227736 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION - A control apparatus for an automatic transmission includes a stepwise variable transmission mechanism; a power ON/OFF state judging section; and a shift control section configured to control the stepwise variable transmission mechanism to a target rotational speed by disengaging the first engagement portion and engaging the second engagement portion in accordance with a torque inputted to the stepwise variable transmission mechanism, the shift control section being configured to engage one of the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion which has a function to suppress a variation of an input rotational speed of the stepwise variable transmission mechanism which is generated by a switching of the power ON/OFF state when the power ON/OFF state is switched at the shift control of the stepwise variable transmission mechanism, and to disengage the other of the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100224168 | CONTROL DEVICE OF DIESEL ENGINE AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING DIESEL ENGINE - A control device of a diesel engine, including an acceleration detector including an acceleration sensor, the acceleration sensor being attached to an engine body that defines a combustion chamber, the acceleration detector configured to output a vibration acceleration, an integrator configured to integrate values corresponding to amplitudes of the vibration acceleration from a predetermined integration start timing that is at least before an ignition timing, a comparison unit configured to compare an integration value of the integrator with a predetermined ignition timing judgment level, and a real ignition timing judgment unit configured to judge a real ignition timing on the basis of a reach timing, at which the integration value has reached the ignition timing judgment level. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100222971 | CONTROL APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION SYSTEM - A control apparatus for an automatic transmission system having a serial arrangement of a stepwise variable automatic transmission mechanism and a continuously variable automatic transmission mechanism, the control apparatus being disposed in the automatic transmission system and performing a shift control of the continuously variable automatic transmission mechanism in accordance with variation in transmission ratio of the stepwise variable automatic transmission mechanism, the control apparatus including a control section configured to execute a retardation processing upon shift control of one of the continuously variable transmission mechanism and the stepwise variable transmission mechanism which has a smaller response delay of an actual transmission ratio from a target transmission ratio than that of the other transmission mechanism. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100221624 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system includes a controller that estimates or detects an air replacement state of a fuel electrode and a hydrogen circulation path while the operation of the fuel cell system is stopped. Upon starting the fuel cell system, the controller changes the order in which the operation of a hydrogen circulation pump is started and a hydrogen pressure regulator is opened to start the supply of hydrogen gas on the basis of the estimated or detected air replacement state, thereby preventing deterioration caused by uneven distribution of air and hydrogen in the fuel electrode. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100206438 | MAGNESIUM ALLOY MATERIAL AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME - The present invention provides a magnesium alloy material excellent in mechanical properties without using specific manufacturing facilities and processes and a method of manufacturing the same. The magnesium alloy material is an Mg—Zn—RE alloy containing, as an essential component, Zn and at least one of Gd, Tb, and Tm as RE, and of the rest including Mg and unavoidable impurities, and has stacking faults of a thickened two-atomic layer of Zn and RE in the alloy structure of the Mg—Zn—RE alloy. A method of manufacturing a magnesium alloy material involves a casting step, a solution treatment step, and a heat treatment step and the heat treatment step is carried out in a condition satisfying −14.58 [ln(x)]+532.32| 08-19-2010 | |
| 20100203408 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME - A fuel cell system which prevents the deterioration of the fuel cell stack when feeding of the oxidant gas is paused under a load to perform a fuel conservation operation. Controller shuts down oxidant gas compressor and cooling water circulating pump to execute fuel conservation operation at a low fuel cell system load. The controller gives a current draw instruction to electric power controller. In the fuel conservation operation, electric power controller draws a current larger than zero from fuel cell stack, and keeps the total charge drawn per unit time constant or substantially constant. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100203407 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM WITH REGENERATION OF ELECTRODE ACTIVITY DURING START OR STOP - A performance recovery operation for a fuel cell system effectively restores a fuel electrode such that, upon starting or stopping of operation of the fuel cell, both fuel and oxidizing electrodes are disposed in a hydrogen atmosphere and then the fuel electrode is maintained at a higher potential level than in a normal operation. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100201086 | SUSPENSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SUPPORTING A WHEEL - A suspension device includes a wheel supporting member configured to rotatably support a wheel. Two links respectively link the wheel supporting member and a vehicle-body side member and are disposed substantially in parallel in a vehicle width direction. At least one projecting portion extends from at least one of the two links towards the other link, and an elastic linking portion links the projecting portion of one of the links to at least one of the other link and the projecting portion of the other link. A toe angle adjusting device is configured to input a force in a direction oriented backward in the vehicle forward-backward direction to the wheel supporting member to adjust a toe-in angle of the wheel. | 08-12-2010 |
| 20100196771 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING FUEL CELL SYSTEM - A fuel cell system has a purge valve that adjusts the amount of nitrogen in a hydrogen circulation channel and a fuel electrode to be discharged through a discharge channel. A purge rate correcting unit variably sets a target control value of the nitrogen content in the hydrogen circulation channel and the fuel electrode by taking into account whether a driving mode is set in a normal power generation mode or an idle mode. An opening of the purge valve is controlled on the basis of the target control value. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20100191400 | VEHICLE BRAKE CONTROLLER - A vehicle brake controller that suppresses variation in deceleration when there is a changeover between regenerative braking torque and frictional braking torque due to regeneration coordination control. A controller performs the function of correcting the assist driving force. More specifically, under regeneration coordination control, the larger the value of change in regenerative braking torque, the smaller the value of change in primary piston becomes with respect to the value of change in input rod stroke. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100190019 | Material for curable solvent-based topcoating material, and coating material and coating film comprising or formed from the same - [Object] To provide a coating material for a curable solvent-based topcoating material, having excellent marring resistance, chipping resistance, producing no crack and excellent in performances such as weatherability, stain resistance, adhesion and the like, and a curable solvent-type topcoating material using such a material. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100179719 | VEHICLE DRIVING ASSIST SYSTEM - A vehicle driving assist system calculates a risk potential indicative of a degree of convergence between a host vehicle and a preceding obstacle. Then, the system performs a driver notification operation that produces a driver notification stimulus based on the risk potential such as decreasing the driving force exerted against the vehicle as the risk potential increases and increasing an actuation reaction force exerted on the accelerator pedal during its operation as the risk potential increases. If a failure is detected in a reaction force generating device serving to add a reaction force to the accelerator pedal in accordance with the risk potential, then the system corrects an engine torque characteristic such that the engine torque does not increase even if the accelerator pedal is depressed to suppress an odd feeling in the vehicle performance by the driver when a failure occurs in the reaction force generating device. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100174407 | LASER PROCESSING ROBOT CONTROL SYSTEM, CONTROL METHOD AND CONTROL PROGRAM MEDIUM - A laser processing robot control system is provided with a robot ( | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100172792 | STRESS-BUFFERING MATERIAL - Inventors of the present invention have found that, by manufacturing a stress-buffering material with a Ca-containing aluminum alloy including 0.1 to 12 at % of Ca, the stress-buffering material at low cost, capable of expanding its use in various fields, and having low Young's modulus that is beyond a conventional level, can be obtain. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100171251 | SUPPORTING STRUCTURE FOR VEHICLE SUSPENSION COMPONENT - A vehicle suspension includes a vehicle body, a supporting member, wherein a proximal end is attached to the vehicle body at a central axis. The supporting member is configured to secure an end of a vehicle suspension component to the vehicle body. A distal end of the support member includes a hanger configured to receive and to allow a tie-down hook to move in an arcuate path defined by a circle centered at the central axis. | 07-08-2010 |
| 20100167144 | FUEL CELL SYSTEM AND OPERATION METHOD THEREOF - A fuel cell system and a method for controlling the same. The system and method employ a fuel cell stack that generates electrical power by electrochemical reaction of a fuel gas and an oxidant gas, a total generated electrical energy computation device that computes a value pertaining to the total generated electrical energy as the sum of the electrical energy generated by said fuel cell stack from start-up of the fuel cell system, and a residual water volume estimation device that estimates the residual water volume left in the fuel cell stack based on said value pertaining to said total generated electrical energy computed by said total generated electrical energy computation device. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100163220 | AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE - An air conditioning system of a vehicle including a controller and sensors in communication with the controller. The sensors include an interior temperature sensor for determining the temperature of the vehicle interior and an inner surface temperature sensor for determining the temperature of the inner surface of the vehicle's windshield. The controller determines a dew-point for the vehicle interior based on the sensed interior temperature. The controller adjusts the dew-point or the inner surface temperature based on a correction value, and performs a defogging operation when the temperature of the inner surface of the windshield is less than the dew-point, wherein the dew-point or the inner surface temperature is adjusted. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100160111 | CONTROL APPARATUS FOR BELT-TYPE CONTINUOUSLY-VARIABLE TRANSMISSION - A belt continuously-variable transmission control apparatus includes: a belt continuously-variable transmission including; a primary pulley arranged to receive a torque from a driving source; a secondary pulley arranged to output the torque to driving wheels; a belt wound around the primary pulley and the secondary pulley; a hydraulic pressure control section configured to control a hydraulic pressure of one of the primary pulley and the secondary pulley which is a capacity side, and thereby to bring the belt, the primary pulley and the secondary pulley to a slip state; and a torque control section configured to control the torque of the driving source, and thereby to bring the slip state to a predetermined slip state. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100159278 | MATERIAL FOR ROOM TEMPERATURE DRYING AQUEOUS OVERCOATING MATERIAL AND COATING MATERIAL USING SAME - There is provided a room-temperature drying aqueous overcoating medium containing 1 to 100 mass % of hydrophilic polyrotaxane with respect to the coating film forming component, where the hydrophilic polyrotaxane has a cyclic molecule, a linear molecule included in the cyclic molecule in a skewered manner and blocking groups arranged on opposite ends of the linear molecule to prevent elimination of the cyclic molecule from the linear molecule and at least one of the linear molecule and the cyclic molecule has a hydrophilic modifying group. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100154757 | ENGINE INTAKE QUANTITY CONTROL APPARATUS - An engine intake air quantity control apparatus is provided with a throttle valve, a supercharger, a variable intake valve operating device and an intake air control device. The throttle valve varies an intake air flow passage area of an intake passage. The supercharger supercharges intake air. The variable intake valve operating device changes an intake valve timing of an intake valve in accordance with an engine operating state. The intake air control device increases an opening degree of the throttle valve in accordance with a detected increase of an accelerator pedal depression amount, and increases an intake air quantity by starting to supercharge the intake air with the supercharger upon a prescribed throttle valve opening degree having been reached. The intake air control device changes the prescribed throttle valve opening degree in accordance with the intake valve timing of the intake valve. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100147618 | STEERING CONTROL APPARATUS - A steering control apparatus is provided with first and a second steering mechanisms serving to assist a steering force exerted by a driver via a steering wheel. The first steering mechanism employs a first electric motor to apply a rotational torque to a pinion shaft, and the second steering mechanism uses a hydraulic oil pressure to apply a thrusting force to a rack bar. | 06-17-2010 |
| 20100140986 | VEHICLE SEAT - A vehicle seat includes a seat cushion frame which comprises a pair of side frames and a front cross member located on a front side of the vehicle seat, the front cross member extending between the side frames and at least one leg support member is connected to the front cross member, and is arranged vehicle forward of the front cross member, wherein the at least one leg support member comprises at least a portion having a strength lower than a strength of the front cross member. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100140554 | COMPOSITE POSITIVE ELECTRODE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM ION BATTERY AND BATTERY USING THE SAME - Disclosed is a composite positive electrode material for lithium ion batteries, which especially enables to achieve excellent high-rate discharge characteristics in a battery. Also disclosed are a slurry, positive electrode and battery using such a composite positive electrode material. Specifically disclosed is a composite positive electrode material for lithium ion batteries, which contains a positive electrode active material (a), a conductive substance (b) having a primary particle diameter of 10-100 nm and/or a fibrous conductive substance (c) having a fiber diameter of from 1 nm to 1 μm, and a conductive substance (d) having an aspect ratio of 2-50. This composite positive electrode material for lithium ion batteries is obtained by mixing the conductive substance (d) with a composition containing the positive electrode active material (a), the conductive substance (b) and/or the conductive substance (c), which composition is obtained by dispersing the positive electrode active material (a), the conductive substance (b) and/or the conductive substance (c) in a solvent to a state where they are forcibly dispersed, and then agglutinating them. | 06-10-2010 |
| 20100129677 | Material for Curable Aqueous Overcoating Material and Coating Material Using Same - There is provided a curable aqueous overcoating composition containing 1 to 90 mass % of hydrophilic polyrotaxane with respect to the coating film forming component, where the hydrophilic polyrotaxane has a cyclic molecule, a linear molecule included in the cyclic molecule in a skewered manner and blocking groups arranged on opposite ends of the linear molecule to prevent elimination of the cyclic molecule from the linear molecule and at least one of the linear molecule and the cyclic molecule has a hydrophilic modifying group. | 05-27-2010 |
| 20100119945 | POSITIVE ELECTRODE ACTIVE MATERIAL SINTERED BODY FOR BATTERY - The positive electrode active material sintered body for a battery of the present invention is a positive electrode active material sintered body for a battery satisfying the following requirements (I) to (VII): (I) fine particles in a positive electrode active material are sintered to constitute the sintered body; (II) a peak pore diameter which provides a maximum differential pore volume value in a pore diameter range of 0.01 to 10 μm in a pore distribution is 0.3 to 5 μm; (III) a total pore volume is 0.1 to 1 cc/g; (IV) an average particle diameter is not less than the peak pore diameter and not more than 20 μm; (V) any peak, which provides a differential pore volume value of not less than 10% of the maximum differential pore volume value, is not present on a smaller pore diameter side than the peak pore diameter in the pore distribution; (VI) a BET specific surface area is 1 to 6 m | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119916 | FUEL CELL HOUSING STRUCTURE - A fuel cell housing structure includes a fuel cell, an electrically insulated housing and a vent gas port. The electrically insulated housing contains the fuel cell. The housing is arranged to provide a space within the housing surrounding the fuel cell. The vent gas port is provided in the housing. The vent gas port connects to the space at a position above or on a same level as the fuel cell. In the fuel cell housing structure, water entering the housing from the vent gas port is blocked from contacting the fuel cell. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100119910 | FUEL CELL STACK STRUCTURE - A fuel cell stack structure includes, for example, a plurality of unit cells each having an aperture formed therethrough. A first fuel cell stack is formed by stacking the plurality of unit cells in a stacking direction and has an internal manifold opening defined by the apertures. A fluid passage within the cell for flowing a fluid that flows within the internal manifold is configured and arranged to flow the fluid in a plane generally perpendicular to the stacking direction of the unit cell. The structure also includes an external manifold having an external passage for supplying the fluid to the internal manifold, wherein the fluid flowing within the external passage creates a vortex proximal to the internal manifold by an external manifold surface facing a flow direction of the fluid. | 05-13-2010 |
| 20100113262 | HIGH HEAT-RESISTANT CATALYST AND MANUFACTURING METHOD THEREOF - A high heat-resistant catalyst includes: noble metal particles; first compounds which contact the noble metal particles and suppress movement of the noble metal particles; and second compounds which envelop the noble metal particles and the first compounds, suppress the movement of the noble metal particles, and suppress coagulation of the first compounds following mutual contact of the first compounds. The first compounds support the noble metal particles, and single piece or aggregate of the first compounds supporting the noble metal particles are included in a section partitioned by the second compounds. A coefficient of linear thermal expansion of the second compounds is 1.2×10 | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100109379 | MOUNTING STRUCTURE OF IMPACT ABSORBING MEMBER AND METHOD OF MOUNTING SAME - An impact-absorbing member to be installed in a vehicle body component includes a main body positioned on an inner panel of the vehicle body component such that a portion of the main body is adjacent to an outboard surface of the inner panel, and a mount protruding from the main body to an opening in the inner panel such that the mount is adjacent to an inboard surface of the inner panel, wherein the impact-absorbing member is secured by gripping an edge portion of the inner panel surrounding the opening between the mount adjacent to the inboard surface and the portion of the main body adjacent to the outboard surface. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100105547 | OXIDATION CATALYST COMPOSITION AND PM OXIDATION CATALYST - [Object] To provide an oxidation catalyst composition excellent in low temperature activity and a PM oxidation catalyst which can oxidize or burn particulate and the like from an internal combustion engine even at relatively low temperatures.
| 04-29-2010 |
| 20100083789 | Accelerator pedal device - An accelerator pedal device having a pedal arm working in conjunction with an accelerating pedal, a housing to rotatably support the pedal arm around a prescribed pivot axis line between a rest position and a maximum applied position, a hysteresis generation mechanism that comes in contact with the vicinity of an upper end of the pedal arm to generate hysteresis in a pedal force of the accelerator pedal, and an active control mechanism to push back the pedal arm toward the rest position under prescribed conditions between the pivot axis line and the hysteresis generation mechanism. The active control mechanism includes a drive source provided in the housing, and a return lever that is rotated in the same direction as the direction of the swinging of the pedal arm in conjunction with the drive source and is detachably engaged with the vicinity of the upper end of the pedal arm. | 04-08-2010 |
| 20100078911 | MULTI-LINK SUSPENSION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR SUSPENDING WHEELS - A wheel suspension device for a vehicle includes a wheel supporting member rotatably supporting a wheel. The wheel supporting member is linked to a vehicle-body side by a first link and a second link, with the second link arranged substantially parallel to the first link in a vehicle width direction. The first link has a projecting portion, and at least one elastic linking portion links the projecting portion to the second link. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100077847 | TIRE STATE ESTIMATOR AND TIRE STATE ESTIMATION METHOD - A tire state estimator includes a lateral force upper limit estimating section, a lateral force estimating section, and a tire slip angle estimating section. The lateral force upper limit estimating section calculates an estimated tire lateral force upper limit, on a basis of an estimated tire slip angle and a measured tire self aligning torque. The lateral force estimating section calculates an estimated tire lateral force, on a basis of the estimated tire lateral force upper limit calculated by the lateral force upper limit estimating section and the estimated tire slip angle. The tire slip angle estimating section calculates the estimated tire slip angle, on a basis of the estimated tire lateral force calculated by the lateral force estimating section and a measured vehicle state. | 04-01-2010 |
| 20100071781 | FUEL CELL VALVE AND FUEL CELL SYSTEM USING THE VALVE - A valve for a fluid passage in a vehicle fuel cell system. A housing includes an inflow passage connected to an upstream side of the fluid passage and an outflow passage connected to a downstream side of the fluid passage. A valve body is disposed in the housing and includes an intermediate fluid passage configured to provide fluid communication between the inflow passage and the outflow passage. A heating element is configured to apply heat directly to the valve body. | 03-25-2010 |
| 20100049407 | DRIVER ASSISTING SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE AND VEHICLE EQUIPPED WITH THE DRIVER ASSISTING SYSTEM - A system assists a driver occupying a seat within a vehicle traveling on a road. The system includes sensing apparatus that senses a plurality of different types of conditions regarding the vehicle. Information apparatus provides information regarding the different types of conditions to the driver by respective different types of haptic inputs. | 02-25-2010 |
| 20100030430 | VEHICLE DRIVING CONTROL APPARATUS AND VEHICLE DRIVING CONTROL METHOD - A vehicle driving control apparatus is provided with a lane detecting device, a future position estimating device and a vehicle control device. The lane detecting device detects a lane marker of a lane. The future position estimating device estimates a future transverse position of a host vehicle after a prescribed amount of time. The vehicle control device executes a vehicle control such that a yaw moment is imparted to the host vehicle toward a middle of the lane. The yaw moment is imparted upon determining that the future transverse position is positioned laterally farther toward an outside of the lane from the middle of the lane than a prescribed widthwise lane position that is determined in advance using the lane marker as a reference. The vehicle control device suppresses an impartation of the yaw moment device when a recognition degree of the lane marker is lower than a prescribed value. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100025284 | POLYGONAL DRAWN CONTAINER AND A FORMING METHOD THEREOF - A rectangular drawn container and a method for forming the same are provided which can prevent warpage of a bottom portion of a container in a simple way. In a rectangular drawn container that is provided with a polygonal bottom panel portion and a body portion of a polygonal tubular shape rising from peripheral edges of the bottom panel portion, a convex bead is formed on the bottom panel portion at a location in the vicinity of at least one bottom side rounded portion among bottom side rounded portions of the body portion, at an inner side of the container so as to extend in parallel to the at least one bottom side rounded portion at a predetermined distance therefrom. The bottom panel portion takes a rectangular shape, and the bead is arranged along a pair of bottom side rounded portions at long sides of the bottom panel portion. | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100024757 | ENGINE STARTER MOUNTING STRUCTURE - An engine starter mounting structure is provided that basically has a starter housing part ( | 02-04-2010 |
| 20100023218 | VEHICLE DRIVING CONTROL APPARATUS AND VEHICLE DRIVING CONTROL METHOD - A vehicle driving control apparatus is provided with an obstacle detecting device, a future position estimating device, an obstacle avoidance control device, and a lane change intent detecting device. The obstacle detecting device detects an existence of an obstacle positioned laterally of a host vehicle. The future position estimating device estimates a future position of the host vehicle after a prescribed amount of time. The obstacle avoidance control device executes an obstacle avoidance control. The lane change intent detecting device detects an intent of a driver to effect a lane change and a direction of the intended lane change. Therefore, when it is detected that the driver intends to move to an adjacent lane located on the opposite side of the vehicle as the side containing the obstacle, a control suppressing portion of the obstacle avoidance control device suppresses the obstacle avoidance control. | 01-28-2010 |
