Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Hitoshi Tasaka

Shigeru Kamio

Mitsuo Hara

Kazuhiro Nishigaki

Masashi Kiyono

Mitsunori Takao

Hideo Kiuchi

Oyuki Ogawa

Katsuya Sakita

Kazunari Shirai

Yoshimasa Nakaya

Minoru Kuroda

Hiroshi Yamazoe

Susumu Okino

An air flow rate control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a stepping motor. The stepping motor has a plurality of coils and a rotor which is rotated by energizing the coils. A throttle valve connected to the rotor moves together with the rotor, and controls a rate of air flow drawn into the internal combustion engine. A control device is operative for feeding command currents of first and second command current values to first and second coils among the plurality of the coils respectively, and for controlling a degree of opening of the throttle valve. The first and second command current values correspond to a command degree of opening of the throttle valve at which the control device is intended to control the throttle valve. A direction of a resultant of vector forces generated by the first and second command currents simultaneously fed to the first and second coils corresponds to a held position of the rotor. A magnitude of the resultant of the vector forces corresponds to a magnitude of a hold force of the rotor.

Air flow rate control apparatus for internal combustion engine

A throttle valve control apparatus serves to electrically drive a throttle valve which adjusts a rate of air flow into an engine mounted on a vehicle. The throttle valve control apparatus includes a lever connected to the throttle valve for movement in an opening direction and a closing direction together with the throttle valve. An opening degree limiting member is located in a side of the lever which corresponds to the opening direction. A spring urges the opening degree limiting member in a direction of closing the throttle valve. An accelerator interlocking and driving device serves to move the opening degree limiting member in accordance with a degree of operation of an accelerator member. A throttle actuator functions to adjust a degree of opening of the throttle valve. A vehicle speed sensor functions to detect a running speed of the vehicle. A guard actuator serves to adjust a position of the opening degree limiting member. An auto cruise control device serves to control the throttle actuator and to feedback-control the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed sensor at a target vehicle speed. A guard control means serves to control the guard actuator and to adjust the position of the opening degree limiting member at a position slightly separated from a position of the lever in the opening direction during control by the auto cruise control device. A changing device serves to change control of the position of the opening degree limiting member by the guard control device and control of the position of the opening degree limiting member by the accelerator interlocking and driving device with each other.

Throttle valve control apparatus

A throttle control apparatus serves to control a degree of opening of a throttle valve via an actuator. The throttle valve is provided in an air induction passage of an internal combustion engine. The throttle control apparatus includes a throttle opening degree sensor for detecting the degree of opening of the throttle valve. An engine operating condition detecting device is operative to detect an operating condition of the engine. A throttle opening degree estimating device is operative to estimate the degree of opening of the throttle valve on the basis of the operating condition of the engine which is detected by the engine operating condition detecting device. A memorizing means serves to memorize a corrective quantity. A corrective quantity updating device is operative to update the corrective quantity memorized by the memorizing device on the basis of a difference between an output value from the throttle opening degree sensor and an estimated value from the throttle opening degree estimating device. A control device serves to adjust a controlled quantity of the actuator in response to the output value from the throttle opening degree sensor and the corrective quantity memorized by the memorizing device to control the degree of opening of the throttle valve.

Throttle control apparatus for internal combustion engine

An apparatus that detects a reference position of a throttle valve. The throttle valve is forced in either a valve opening direction or a valve closing directions by an urging member. A DC motor, which is connected to the throttle valve, drives the throttle valve against the force created by the urging member within a rotatable angle that is restricted by a stopper. A throttle valve opening sensor detects an opening angle of the throttle valve. A lock current detecting circuit detects a lock current created by the DC motor when the DC motor is brought into contact with the stopper. A throttle valve reference position renewing circuit updates the reference position, which is memorized in a throttle valve reference position memory, on the basis of an opening angle of the throttle valve, which is detected by the throttle valve opening sensor, when the lock current detecting circuit detects the lock current.

Apparatus for detecting reference position of servo-controlled member

A throttle control apparatus includes an electrical drive unit for electrically driving a throttle of an internal combustion engine and a mechanical drive unit for driving the throttle through the operation of an accelerator by a driver. In the case where an abnormality is generated in the electrical drive unit, the driving of the throttle by the electrical drive unit is interrupted and the throttle is thereinstead driven by the mechanical drive unit. The mechanical drive unit is provided with a throttle opening angle control member. The throttle control apparatus further includes a torque control unit for suppressing an increase in output torque of the internal combustion engine in the case where a throttle opening angle is increased in the direction of an opening angle set by the throttle opening angle control member when the driving of the throttle by the electrical drive unit is interrupted.

Throttle control apparatus for an internal combustion engine

A running control apparatus for an engine-driven vehicle includes a throttle command setting unit for setting a throttle command value based on an accelerator operation degree detected by an accelerator operation degree detector, and a throttle opening and closing driving unit controlled by a throttle opening and closing control unit for adjusting the opening of a throttle valve to the throttle command value, the throttle command value being set to change at a change rate smaller than a change rate of the accelerator operation degree in a region where the accelerator operation degree is small, while, to change at the change rate larger than the change rate of the accelerator operation degree in a region where the accelerator operation degree is large, and the running control apparatus further includes an A/T load signal setting unit and an automatic transmission control unit, in which the A/T load signal setting unit sets an A/T load signal so that the A/T load signal approximates to the throttle command value as the accelerator operation degree decreases, while, the A/T load signal approximates to the accelerator operation degree as the accelerator operation degree increases, and the automatic transmission control unit performs speed change control of an automatic transmission based on the A/T load signal and a vehicle speed signal detected by a vehicle speed detector.

Running control apparatus for engine-driven vehicles

A vehicle slip control system for controlling a wheel slip based on a friction coefficient of a road surface measures an engine torque T.sub.E by applying an intake pipe negative pressure Pm and a number of engine revolutions Ne to an engine model. A drive torque T is measured by applying the engine torque T.sub.E to an A/T model, and a driving wheel acceleration d.omega. is obtained by finding a difference of a detected driving wheel speed .omega.. By filtering this driving wheel acceleration d.omega., a post-filter driving wheel acceleration d.omega..sub.0 is calculated. A squat force Ws is calculated from the drive-torque T and the post-filter driving wheel acceleration d.omega., and a friction coefficient .mu. of the road surface is estimated from the squat force Ws. The estimated friction coefficient .mu. is used to control a wheel slip.

Vehicle wheel slip control system using predictive model to estimate

A throttle valve drive apparatus comprises an actuator which serves to mechanically drive a throttle valve disposed in an intake passage of an internal combustion engine and is controlled in accordance with an instruction from a control unit, an accelerator lever which serves to mechanically drive the throttle valve and to adjust the opening degree of the throttle valve in accordance with an amount of operation performed by an operator, a first clutch disposed between rotary shafts of the actuator and the throttle valve and serving to transmit a turning force from the actuator to the throttle valve, and a second clutch disposed between rotary shafts of the accelerator lever and the throttle valve and serving to transmit the turning force from the accelerator lever to the throttle valve. In this apparatus, an engaging force of the first clutch is discriminated from that of the second clutch, one of the first and second clutches has a greater engaging force comprising an on-off constant engagement type clutch, the other clutch having a smaller engaging force comprising a constant engagement type clutch, and the on-off type clutch is switched on and off so as to transmit the turning force to the throttle valve selectively from the actuator or the accelerator lever.

Throttle valve drive apparatus

A fuel injector to be mounted on a branch of an engine intake manifold has a hollow body with an injection orifice therein and a valve member mounted slidably in the body and having a pintle extending from one end of the valve member and slidably received in and extending through the injection orifice. A sleeve member is mounted on the body to cover the injection orifice and defines a pintle-receiving space into which the forward end of the pintle extends. Communication apertures are formed in the outer end of the sleeve member to communicate the pintle receiving space with an engine intake passage. The total of the cross-sectional areas of the communication apertures is smaller than the cross-sectional area of the pintle-receiving space.

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Chiryu, Japan

Hitoshi Tasaka