Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Hajime Hirata

Kunimichi Hatano

Yoshimitsu Akuta

Hajime Kajiwara

Kiyoshi Nakajima

Takehiko Hakui

A first rotor () and a second rotor () are arranged in a coaxial and mutually rotatable relationship and are provided with a first driven gear () and a second driven gear (), respectively. A drive shaft () is also provided with a first drive gear () and a second drive gear () which are commonly connected to an output shaft of an electric motor (), and mesh with the first and second driven gears, respectively, at slightly different gear ratios. The first and second rotors are connected via a thread feed mechanism () that converts a relative rotation between the first and second rotors into an axial linear movement between the first and second rotors that is used for changing a distance between a vehicle body part and a corresponding end of a suspension spring in a vehicle height adjusting system (). Owing to a differential rotation of a high gear ratio between the first and second rotors, a significant torque amplification is possible with a compact arrangement. The use of spur gears instead of a worm gear mechanism minimizes torque loss.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Hajime Hirata