Subaru Corporation

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.

Hideki Hata

Hiroki Aoyanagi

Masaya Sato

Koushi Yamada

Yohei Katayama

Kazuyuki Mizuno

Umi Tanabe

Shigeo Katayama

Sadatomo Matsumura

Yusei Kimura

Osamu Shioume

Kenji Watanuki

Hiroyuki Matsumoto

Ryuji Nozaki

Yoshie Midorikawa

Ryousuke Kamae

Kazuyuki Kotsuka

A vehicle capable of traveling with a embossed surface of a directionality pattern includes a vehicle body and an under cover member. The under cover member is disposed on one or both of a front portion and a rear portion of a lower surface of the vehicle body. The embossed surface of the directionality pattern is formed on a plane portion of the under cover member. The embossed surface of the directionality pattern is configured to accelerate an airflow along a fore-and-aft direction of the vehicle body.

Vehicle with embossed surface of directionality pattern on lower surface of vehicle body, and under cover member for vehicle

A vehicle with an improved front aerodynamic characteristic includes a front exterior member disposed on a front surface of a vehicle body of the vehicle. The front exterior member includes a front inlet port, a funnel member, and a specially processed surface. The front inlet port is formed in the front exterior member. The front inlet port is configured to draw in an airflow in front of the front exterior member. The funnel member is formed around the front inlet port. The specially processed surface is formed on an inner surface of the funnel member, and has recesses that are arrayed.

Vehicle with improved front aerodynamic characteristic and front exterior member for vehicle

A vehicle including an embossed surface for improving aerodynamic characteristics includes a front bumper member provided at a lower portion of a front surface of a vehicle body of the vehicle. On a surface of a side surface portion of the front bumper member, the embossed surface having a directional pattern for assisting an airflow to direct in one direction along the surface is formed. The one direction is raised rearward relative to a front-rear direction of the vehicle body.

Vehicle including embossed surface for improving aerodynamic characteristics, and front bumper member

In a vehicle air guide path structure, a vertically long air guide path forming member is provided along an outer edge of a side surface portion of a vehicle body on a rear side of a wheel house. A vertically long air guide path is formed at the rear side of the wheel house. The vertically long air guide path suctions air from the wheel house and exhausts air along a side surface of the vehicle body. A partition member partitions the vertically long air guide path so as to form a plurality of sections in an upper-lower direction. A vertically long inclined surface is formed on the side surface portion of the vehicle body at a rear side of the vertically long air guide path. The partition member protrudes to a rear side from the vertically long air guide path.

Vehicle air guide path structure and air guide path forming member

A vehicle front structure for a vehicle including a front exterior member provided on a front surface of a vehicle body includes a front introduction hole and a duct structure. The front introduction hole is formed in an end portion of the front exterior member in a vehicle width direction. The duct structure is coupled to the front introduction hole inside the front exterior member. The duct structure includes a rear exhaust hole that exhausts air to a wheel house located at a rear side of the front exterior member in the vehicle body, and a branch exhaust hole formed in a flow path section provided between the front introduction hole and the rear exhaust hole.

Vehicle front structure and front exterior member

A shock absorber includes a reservoir between a cylinder and an outer tube, in which hydraulic liquid and gas are sealed; a middle tube between the cylinder and the outer tube; a connecting pipe in the lateral wall of the middle tube, which includes a tip end extending toward the outside of the outer tube; an opening in the outer tube, allowing hydraulic liquid to flow from the outside of the outer tube into the reservoir through the outer side of the connecting pipe; and a partition member in the reservoir, which includes a partition wall that configured to regulate hydraulic liquid's upward flow from the opening in the reservoir. The partition member is made of flexible resin or rubber, provided with a fitting hole, and fitted to the connecting pipe with interference with the connecting pipe inserted through the hole.

Shock absorber

A shock absorber including a piston () slidably fitted in a cylinder having hydraulic oil sealed therein. A flow of hydraulic oil, induced in a passage () and a sub-passage () by sliding movement of the piston in the cylinder in response to the stroke of a piston rod, is controlled by an extension main valve () and a compression sub-valve () incorporated in the extension main valve, thereby generating a damping force. The amount of deflection of a sub-disk () constituting the compression sub-valve when the sub-disk is opened is limited by restricting portions (). The sub-disk is provided with communicating holes () to reduce a differential pressure acting on the sub-disk when opened and also to relax the concentration of stress in the sub-disk, thereby improving the durability of the sub-disk.

An object of the present invention is to provide a hydraulic cylinder enabling a reduction in a stress generated by the pressure of hydraulic fluid at a welded portion of a case containing a damping valve. A piston () coupled with a piston rod () is slidably inserted in a cylinder () sealingly containing hydraulic fluid. A joint () is attached to the side wall of an outer cylinder () of the cylinder. A damping force is generated by controlling a flow of the hydraulic fluid caused by a sliding movement of the piston in the cylinder by a damping force generating mechanism () contained in the joint (). A valve case () of the joint () has a reduced diameter at a connection portion () welded to the outer cylinder (). The reduced diameter is smaller than the diameter of the damping force generating mechanism () contained in the valve case (). The reduction in the diameter of the connection portion () which is a welded portion results in a reduction in a stress generated at the connection portion () by the pressure of the hydraulic fluid, whereby the strength against the pressure applied to the welded portion can be increased.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Hideki Hata