Nissan Motor Company Limited

Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Hiroshi Endo

Masazumi Sone

Iwao Imai

Yasuki Ishikawa

Norio Fujiki

Kousaku Baba

Hideo Kasuya

Norimasa Kishi

Hiroshige Fukuhara

Kiyoshi Yamaki

Akira Matsumura

Akio Kawai

Masahiro Adachi

Shigeru Okabayashi

Kazuhiro Ban

Akira Tachibana

Motoki Hirano

Kosaku Baba

An improved positioning system for a vehicle is shown. In the system, when radio wave can be received from only one satellite, the current position of the vehicle is computed based on a pair of navigational data, which are brought by radio wave received at the current time and by radio wave received at an earlier time.

Positioning system for a vehicle

An optical radar system includes an optical transmitter which responds to a drive signal to radiate a search light pulse into detection fields arranged in the direction in which the vehicle is moving. An optical receiver includes a plurality of arrayed photoelectric sensitive elements which receive any search light pulses reflected by objects in the detection fields. A distance measuring device determines the respective distances from the system to the objects and the corresponding directions in which the objects lie in accordance with the delay between the drive signal and the reception of the corresponding reflected search light pulses by the individual photoelectric elements.

Optical radar system with an array of photoelectric sensors

An optical radar system for vehicles has a stationary receiver and a transmitter which scans the road surface ahead of the vehicle, the scan area being shifted in accordance with the direction of steering of the vehicle. The scan area is covered by periodically sweeping a narrow-beam pulse laser through the designated scan area and monitoring the return lag of pulses reflected by objects in the scan area. The scan area is centered over the longitudinal axis of the vehicle while the latter is moving straight ahead. The axis of the scan area is shifted in proportion to the orientation of the steering wheel of the vehicle.

Optical radar system for vehicles

An ignition system for an internal combustion engine comprises a voltage boosting means which generates a high DC voltage by boosting a low DC voltage, a capacitor which charges the high DC voltage from the voltage boosting means, and ignition coil means having a secondary winding to which the high DC voltage is applied from the boosting means, wherein a high capacitive energy charged within the capacitor is supplied into one of spark plugs located within a corresponding engine cylinder in which a spark discharge has started and subsequently the output energy from the boosting means is supplied into that spark plug via the secondary winding of the ignition coil. Consequently, the ignition energy can sufficiently be supplied immediately after an ignition start to which a combustion characteristic is closely related and the complete combustion of air-fuel mixture can be achieved over the whole range of engine revolutional speed.

Ignition system for an internal combustion engine

An optical pulse radar for an automotive vehicle of heterodyne detection-type which can detect an object ahead of the vehicle with an improved S/N radio even under the worst detection conditions in which sunlight or a strong headlight beam from a car is directly incident thereupon. The optical pulse radar according to the present invention comprises a laser system, a beam splitter for obtaining a carrier beam and a heterodyne beam, a beam deflector, a beam modulator, a beam mixer for obtaining a beat beam signal, a beam sensor and, a beat signal processing section, etc. An optical IC may incorporate the beam splitter and mixer, the beam modulator, and the beam deflector in order to miniaturize the system, while improving the sensitivity, reliability, massproductivity, and cost.

Optical pulse radar for an automotive vehicle

A moving obstacle detection system for an automotive vehicle utilizing a doppler effect of the transmitted wave against an obstacle which runs in front of the vehicle such as another vehicle. The system generally comprises: (a) a doppler radar unit which operates so as to produce a doppler signal when the vehicle is halted; (b) a detecting means which detects the changing phase of a doppler signal produced from the doppler signal; (c) a discriminating means which discriminates the departure of another vehicle from the front area of the vehicle and the intersection of another vehicle or pedestrian traverse to the vehicle on a basis of the frequency changing rate or amplitude level changing rate of the detected doppler signal; and (d) an alarm unit which produces an alarm in a predetermined form only when the departure of another vehicle from the front detection area of the doppler radar unit or in the case when another vehicle straightly approaches or departed from the vehicle and in the case when another vehicle or pedestrian goes across the vehicle, separately from each other.

Moving obstacle detection system for a vehicle

An N cylinder internal combustion engine plasma ignition system comprises a DC-DC converter for boosting low DC voltage to high DC voltage. Each of N ignition energy charging circuits includes a first capacitor connected between the DC-DC converter and ground via first and second diodes. The capacitor is charged by the DC-DC converter. Each of N reverse blocked thyristors connected to a junction of the first diode and first capacitor selectively grounds an electrode of the corresponding first capacitor to discharge ignition energy stored in the first capacitor. For each cylinder a transformer connected between the first capacitor and a spark plug boosts and feeds the discharged energy to the plug. One end of the transformer primary winding is grounded via a second capacitor to generate a damped oscillation when the corresponding thyristor grounds the first capacitor. An ignition trigger signal generator sequentially triggers the corresponding thyristor in a predetermined ignition order whenever the engine revolves through a predetermined angle and supplies a pulse to the DC-DC converter in synchronization with the ignition trigger signal. Derivation of the high DC voltage is halted for a period of time according to the pulsewidth. Each of N core-less inductors connected in series with the secondary winding of a transformer restricts an abrupt large current flow from the corresponding spark plug, to extend the discharge duration of each spark plug and ignite the air-fuel fixture stably without misfire.

Plasma ignition system for an internal combustion engine

An optical power supply switching apparatus by which a battery power can be connected to or disconnected from at least one electric appliance provided for an automotive vehicle without generating electromagnetic noise or electromagnetic interference between the electric appliance and other audio equipment. The optical power supply switching apparatus according to the present invention comprises at least one light-emitting element, one optical fiber, at least one photoelectric transducer, at least one semiconductor contactless switching element, and a plurality of optical directional-couplers and optical filters where necessary, in addition to a special low-impedance coaxial power distribution line.

Optical power supply switching apparatus

An obstacle detection system for vehicles comprises a laser radar mounted on the front end of a vehicle and modulated by drive pulses of high rate. The laser pulses are deflected in two orthogonal directions by paired deflection signals fed from a deflection driver to paired acousto-optic light deflectors to digitally scan a space ahead of the running vehicle. The deflector driver supplies paired deflection information to arithmetic logic means. One deflection signal fed to one deflector has a rate much higher than the other and is synchronized therewith. When receiving a return pulse by a photo-detector, a video pulse of substantially constant level is reproduced by a sensitivity time control function. The distance between a target and the vehicle can be registered in a binary counter. Relevant distance information is supplied to the arithmetic logic means. The latter provides a decision of whether a possibility of collision exists and produces an alarm when the distance approaches a stopping distance. For two facing targets the arithmetic logic means calculates a spacing between them and provides decision that passing-through therebetween is impossible if the spacing is smaller than a predetermined width. For a target above the road the arithmetic logic means calculates its height and provides a decision that passing-through thereunder is impossible if that height is smaller than a predetermined height.

Obstacle detection system for use in vehicles

A device for preventing noise leakage externally from a digital electronic apparatus using a clock pulse generator, comprising: (a) a metal casing; (b) a printed circuit board housed within the metal casing into which the digital electronic apparatus is assembled having a plurality of land patterns formed thereon at the end of various signal lines of the digital electronic apparatus; (c) a connector attached at one end of the printed circuit board having a plurality of connector pins therewithin for connecting said land patterns with external various apparatus; (d) an insulative film positioned on one surface of the printed circuit board closely adjacent to the land patterns; (e) a conductive film coated on one surface of the insulative member and coupled electrically to the metal casing; and (f) a plurality of chip-type capacitors which bridges between the conductive film and plurality of land patterns for effecting noise filtering and a method of manufacturing the device described above comprising the steps of: (a) coating a solder-resisting film on the conductive film except a portion to which the chip-type capacitors are connected and a portion to which the metal casing is electrically connected; (b) electrically connecting the conductive film to the plurality of chip-type capacitors to the land patterns in a soldering with a solder bath; and (c) electrically connecting the conductive film to the metal casing.

Device for preventing noise leakage and manufacturing method of the

A plasma ignition system for an internal combustion engine which varies a discharge time of a plasma ignition energy charged capacitor according to the engine operating condition, e.g., the current engine speed. The plasma ignition system comprises: (a) a plurality of plasma ignition plugs, each provided within the corresponding engine cylinder; (b) a DC-DC converter which produces and outputs a high DC voltage; (c) a plurality of first capacitors each for charging and discharging the high DC voltage from the DC-DC converter; (d) a plurality of switching circuits each connected to the corresponding first capacitor for defining the discharge time interval of the corresponding first capacitor in response to a trigger signal inputted thereto at a predetermined ignition timing; (e) a trigger signal generator which generates and outputs the trigger signal to each corresponding switching circuit, the width of the trigger signal being varied so as to become narrower when the engine rotates at a speed higher than a predetermined value; and (f) a plurality of transformers each connected to the corresponding capacitor which receives the high DC voltage from the corresponding first capacitor through the corresponding switching circuit at the primary winding thereof and boosts the high oscillation voltage generated at the primary winding thereof according to the winding ratio between the secondary and primary windings thereof so as to apply the boosted voltage to the corresponding plasma ignition plug.

Plasma ignition system for internal combustion engine

A plasma ignition system for an engine having any number of engine cylinders, which comprises: (A) a plurality of plasma ignition plugs each mounted within a corresponding engine cylinder; (B) a first power supply unit for supplying a first electric power into each plasma ignition plug so as to generate a spark discharge within each plasma ignition plug; (C) a first switching circuit for sequentially connecting the first power supply unit to each plasma ignition plug according to a predetermined ignition order; (D) a second power supply unit for supplying a second electric power into each plasma ignition plug so as to generate a high-temperature plasma gas within each plasma ignition plug; and (E) a second switching circuit for sequentially connecting two of the plasma ignition plugs within the respective engine cylinders, one engine cylinder being at the start of an explosion stroke and the other engine cylinder being at almost end of an exhaust stroke, in a predetermined delay after the occurrence of the spark discharge at the corresponding plasma ignition plug when the engine speed is below a predetermined value, so that the number of high-voltage withstanding characteristic capacitors and switching elements (thyristors) of the switching circuits can be reduced half that of engine cylinders and the power consumption of these first and second power supply units can be saved remarkably particularly when the engine speed exceeds the predetermined value, e.g., 3000 r.p.m.

An obstacle detector mounted on an automotive vehicle includes a light emitting element, which includes a semiconductor infrared laser, which transmits a light signal through an optical transmission system against any obstacle liable to present on the road on which the vehicle runs. The light signal has a wavelength which is 6.5 microns and which is of such a wavelength that solar light energy having the same wavelength as that of the light signal is not present, or is of very low intensity, at the surface of the earth and that the light energy from light sources such as the headlights of vehicles and/or streetlamps having substantially the same wavelength as that of the light signal, when the light energy has passed through the front glass of the headlights or streetlamps is not present or is of very low intensity. An optical receiving system receives part of the light reflected by the obstacle and passes it to an optical filter which has a pass band width whose central wavelength is 6.5 microns. The output of the filter is converted by a photodetector to a corresponding electrical signal for processing by a data processor in order to determine the distance from the vehicle to the obstacle, the azimuth of the obstacle, the velocity of the vehicle relative to the obstacle, etc.

Obstacle detector for use in vehicles

In an auxiliary ignition system for starting a diesel engine having a plurality of plasma spark plugs installed in corresponding combustion chambers facing fuel injection valves, starting time is reduced by applying high ignition energy to the plugs following predetermined time intervals after fuel injection to the corresponding engine cylinders.

Ignition system for starting a diesel engine

An ignition system for a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine having a spark plug within each engine cylinder, wherein a single DC-DC converter is provided and a high-voltage withstanding characteristic capacitor is provided for each spark plug. The capacitor charges to the high DC output voltage of the DC-DC converter and operatively supplies the high DC voltage via a boosting transformer into the corresponding spark plug at a predetermined ignition timing. The amount of the discharge energy being varied according to the pulse width of an input signal of each switching circuit which operates to supply the charged high DC voltage of the capacitor into the corresponding spark plug, the pulse width being varied according to various engine operating conditions.

Growing community of inventors

Yokosuka, Japan

Hiroshi Endo