Ngk Insulators, Inc.

Hiroki Fujita

Mika Murakami

Sumiko Horisaka

Takashi Ito

Takahiro Tomita

Tsutomu Nanataki

Makoto Ohmori

Takayuki Sekiya

Natsumi Shimogawa

Yosuke Sato

Shuichi Ozawa

Yuki Bessho

Suguru Kodama

Sang Jae Lee

Hiroyuki Shindo

Naoya Saito

Hironori Sakakibara

Shinsaku Maeda

A sensor element includes a sensor element main body a including an oxygen ion-conductive solid electrolyte layer and a porous protective layer covering at least part of the sensor element main body. Then, the porous protective layer has the value of the number of interfaces in a unit thickness direction, which is the number of particle interfaces of constituent particles every 100 &#x3bc;m in the thickness direction, of 15 or more and 250 or less.

Gas sensor element and gas sensor

It is an object of the present invention to provide a NOx sensor for accurately obtaining the resistance value of a heater. When a second layer is laminated immediately above a first layer on which the heater for electrically heating the proximity of an inner space of the NOx sensor and two heater leads having substantially same shape which are energizing paths to the heater are formed, the second layer on which at least one of leads is formed out of a first lead for electrically connecting a reference electrode to outside, a second lead for electrically connecting a measuring electrode to outside, and a third lead for electrically connecting a plurality of pump electrodes to outside, the lead formed on the second layer is arranged so as not to overlap any of two heater leads in a laminating direction of the first layer and the second layer.

Gas sensor, NOx sensor and method of manufacturing gas sensor

A sensor elementof a gas sensorincludes a blocking portionincluding an outer blocking layerthat is formed to cover, in an upper surface of a multilayer body, at least a part of an upper closest regionwhere an outer pump electrodeis not disposed and a distance up to a third inner cavityis minimal. The outer blocking layerdoes not have conductivity for one or more among various types of substances containing oxygen. The outer blocking layeris disposed between a lead linefor the outer pump electrode and the upper surface of the multilayer body to provide insulation therebetween, and is disposed between an upper connector padand the upper surface of the multilayer body to provide insulation therebetween. A porous protective layercovers the outer pump electrode

Sensor element and gas sensor

A method for setting a temperature rising profile of a sensor element in the activation of a gas sensor is capable of quickly increasing the temperature of the sensor element while reliably preventing or reducing the occurrence of a crack. The method includes Weibull plotting a failure rate that is a cumulative frequency at which a crack occurs as a result of the rapid temperature rising of the sensor element, identifying a temperature-rising-rate upper limit from the plotting results, determining, based on the temperature-rising-rate upper limit, a temperature-rise upper limit curve, and determining, as an appropriate function, a temperature rising profile in a range in which a temperature rising rate at an appropriate temperature does not exceed values on the temperature-rising-rate upper limit curve for the temperature.

Method for setting temperature rise profile of sensor element of gas sensor

A gas sensor including an internal space, a first electrode, a second electrode, a pumping cell, a third electrode, a fourth electrode, a measuring cell, and a porous diffusion layer. The first and third electrodes, and the second and fourth electrodes are formed inside and outside the internal space, respectively. The pumping cell includes the first and second electrodes, and the measuring cell includes the third and fourth electrodes. The pumping cell pumps oxygen from the internal space when a predetermined voltage is applied between the first and second electrodes. The third electrode reduces an oxide gas component in a predetermined gas component to which a predetermined diffusion resistance has been applied by the porous diffusion layer. The measuring cell measures current flow between the third and fourth electrodes when a voltage corresponding to the degree of reduction in the third electrode is applied between the third and fourth electrodes.

Gas sensor

A gas sensor including a sensor element constituted by an oxygen-ion conductive solid electrolyte as a main component and detecting a predetermined gas component in a measurement gas includes: an external communication part having an opening opened to the outside, and introducing the measurement gas from the outside under a predetermined diffusion resistance; an internal space communicating with the external communication part; a first electrode formed on a surface of the internal space; a second electrode formed in a space different from the internal space; and a pumping cell operable to pump out oxygen existing in the internal space when a predetermined voltage is applied between the first electrode and the second electrode. The thickness of the external communication part is 50% or more and 100% or less of the thickness of the internal space.

A NOx sensorincludes a sensor deviceand a heatercapable of heating the sensor device. The sensor deviceincludes an inner pump electrodeand an outer pump electrodedisposed respectively on the inner side and the outer side of a solid electrolyte layer. The sensor devicedetects the concentration of NOx by introducing a gas to be measured into a first inner vacancy, pumping out oxygen in the gas to be measured from the inner pump electrodeto the outer pump electrode, introducing the gas to be measured, from which the oxygen has been pumped out, into a second inner vacancy, reducing the NOx in the gas to be measured, to thereby generate oxygen, and detecting the generated oxygen. A characteristic stabilizing layercovers the outer pump electrodeand is made of a porous body with a thickness of 10 to 200 &#x3bc;m and a thickness variation of 20% or less.

Gas sensor and method for manufacturing same

A device includes a ceramic thin plate member including a fired ceramic sheet; and a metal thin plate member having an outer shape larger than that of the ceramic thin plate member. An outer circumferential portion of the ceramic thin plate member is joined to the metal thin plate member. The ceramic thin plate member has through holes and a plurality of crease portions. Each crease portion has a ridge portion whose crest continuously extends from a joint portion between the ceramic thin plate member and the metal thin plate member toward an outer circumferential portion of the metal thin plate member. Since thermal stress due to a difference in thermal expansion between the metal thin plate member and the ceramic thin plate member can be relaxed through expansion of the crease portions, the ceramic thin plate member does not deform.

Device with ceramic thin plate member and metal thin plate member

A gas sensor includes an internal space, diffusion control part, pumping cell, and measuring cell. The diffusion control part communicates with the internal space and has a slit-like shape with a smaller thickness than that of the internal space. The pumping cell pumps out oxygen from the internal space when voltage is applied between a first electrode fowled on a surface of the internal space and a second electrode formed outside the internal space. The measuring cell measures a current flowing between a third and fourth electrodes when a voltage is applied between the third and fourth electrodes. The third electrode is formed in the diffusion control part, and can reduce an oxide gas component in a predetermined gas component to which a predetermined diffusion resistance has been applied by the diffusion control part. The fourth electrode is formed in a part different from the diffusion control part.

There is provided bonding material having a Young's Modulus after hardening of not less than 20% of articles to be bonded, and an average linear coefficient of thermal expansion after hardening of not more than 70% of the articles to be bonded. This bonding material can suppress deformation of a honeycomb segment due to thermal stress to be generated by a bonding material layer and can suitably be used at the time of manufacturing exhaust gas trapping filters capable of reducing the generation of defects such as a crack, and above all, a diesel particulate filter (DPF) for trapping particulate matter (particulates) in exhaust gas from the diesel engine.

Bonding material, process for producing the same, and honeycomb structure made with the same

There is disclosed a bonded element manufactured from a bonding material composition being capable of contributing to the lowering of thermal expansion of a bonding material layer sufficiently to relax any thermal stress generated in a honeycomb structure and largely inhibiting the cracking of the resultant honeycomb structure as well. In a bonded element in which two or more objects to be bonded are integrated via a bonding material layer, the bonding material layer having a Young's modulus of 20% or less of that of the objects to be bonded and having an average linear thermal expansion coefficient of 70% or less of that of the objects to be bonded, the bonding material layer being prepared from a bonding material composition composed mainly of fillers and a matrix in which fillers having an average linear thermal expansion coefficient of 2.0&#xd7;10&#xb7;Kor less are contained.

Bonded element, honeycomb segment bonded element, and honeycomb structure using the same

A metal phosphate composite having a composition represented by the formula M1M2(HPO) (wherein M1 represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of tin, titanium, zirconium, silicon, and germanium, M2 represents an element having a valence of 3, and x, w, y, and z satisfy the following relationship, 0.5&#x2266;x&#x3c;1, 0&#x2266;w, 2&#x3c;y&#x3c;10, and 0&#x3c;z&#x3c;35).

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Kasugai, Japan

Hiroki Fujita