Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kazuyuki Nakai

Akifumi Nomura

Kenichi Ohmori

Shinichi Wagatsuma

Yoshiaki Tsukada

Takashi Tsutsumizaki

Yuichi Tawarada

Hiroyuki Kawakubo

Yoshitaka Nukada

Kaoru Hanawa

Masaaki Negoro

Toru Oshita

Eiko Shiozaki

Satoshi Ino

Kazuya Tanabe

Yuji Kashiwabara

Akimufi Nomura

A hybrid power unit is mounted on a vehicle body frame of a saddle-type vehicle and is composed of an engine, a transmission, a clutch system, that enables switching between connection and disconnection of power transmission between a crankshaft and the transmission, and an electric motor capable of transmitting rotational power to the transmission. An operation of the electric motor alone is enabled with alleviation of the load. Thus, an increase in the size in the direction along the axis line of the crankshaft is avoided. The electric motor, rendered incapable of direct power transmission from and to a crankshaft, is housed in a transmission chamber so as to be allowed to transmit rotational power from a rotor of the electric motor to a transmission shaft. The rotor is disposed on an upper side relative to the highest oil level of lubricating oil in the transmission chamber.

Hybrid power unit

A hybrid saddle-type vehicle is provided with a power transmission mechanism for transmitting a power of an internal combustion engine to a drive shaft of a rear wheel from one side of a swing arm in a widthwise direction of a vehicle, and an electric motor disposed in the other side in the widthwise direction and for transmit a driving force from the other side in the widthwise direction. A motor housing of the electric motor is supported on an extension portion extending in the other side in the widthwise direction from a portion of the drive shaft to which the rear wheel is mounted, via a pair of bearing sections disposed on both sides of the motor housing in the widthwise direction. The rotor is rotatably supported by the drive shaft between the pair of the bearing sections.

Hybrid saddle-type vehicle

A hybrid vehicle includes an engine; a motor; a power transmission mechanism and an oil pump for lubricating the engine and the power transmission mechanism with the rotation of a crankshaft. The oil pump has an oil pump shaft with an oil pump driven gear on one end thereof through a one-way clutch and an oil pump driven sprocket on the other end of the oil pump shaft through a one-way clutch. The oil pump driven gear is connected to a primary drive gear rotating integrally with a motor driven gear for transmitting the power of the motor to the drive wheel. The oil pump driven sprocket is connected to a cam chain of the engine to be rotated by power of the engine. The motor driven gear is disposed on one side of the crankshaft and the cam chain is disposed on the other side of the crankshaft.

Hybrid vehicle

A hybrid vehicle in which an electric motor is disposed in the vicinity of a center of a vehicle body to reduce lateral expansion. The hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a motor, and a power transmission mechanism for transmitting power of the engine and the motor to a rear wheel. The engine is suspended on the vehicle body in a non-swingable manner with a cylinder extending in a substantially horizontal direction and a crankshaft provided to be oriented in a vehicle width direction. The electric motor is located in front of and above the crankshaft of the engine.

A piston with transverse-rib through holes formed easily therein for reducing the cost of manufacturing. A piston includes a pair of mutually opposed longitudinal ribs individually formed with piston pin bosses interconnecting a pair of piston skirt portions on a back side of a piston head. A pair of transverse ribs interconnect the mutually opposed longitudinal ribs with the transverse ribs. The pair of transverse ribs are formed with transverse-rib through holes at places proximal to the back side of the piston head. A skirt opening is formed by cutting away a part of the piston skirt portion that is opposed to the transverse rib and faces the transverse-rib through hole.

Piston

A technique for enabling reduction of fuel consumption without greatly changing an engine structure and without impairing a feeling of operation of a vehicle as a motorcycle. An engine includes a crankshaft and a primary gear integrated with the crankshaft that is attached such that the power of the engine is transmitted to a wheel. A one-way clutch transmits the power from the crankshaft to the primary gear but does not transmit the power from the primary gear to the crankshaft. The one-way clutch is provided between the crankshaft and the primary gear with a regenerative brake motor being provided on the primary gear. The engine is non-swingable mounted on the vehicle body with a cylinder extending in a substantially horizontal direction and a crankshaft provided to be oriented in a vehicle width direction. An electric motor is located in front of and above the crankshaft of the engine.

Vehicle

A coolant air bleed structure is provided for a water-cooled internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders and a cylinder head, formed at upper portion of the cylinders. The cylinder head includes a coolant jacket formed therein. The coolant air bleed structure is disposed in an air bleed hole formed in a protrusion formed at a substantially central vertical portion of a sidewall of the cylinder head. The coolant air bleed structure is operatively connected to the coolant jacket, and includes a jiggle valve which is configured to open during a coolant changing operation.

Coolant air bleed structure for water-cooled internal combustion engine and engine incorporating same

A vehicular power unit including a drive-side transmission sprocket wheel provided on an end of an output shaft that protrudes from one side of a crankcase, an endless transmission belt for transmitting power to a driving wheel wound the sprocket wheel. The endless transmission belt transmits power from the crankshaft to a transmission housed in the crankcase. A water pump is arranged on the same side of the crankcase in a position between the crankshaft and the output shaft. Further, the water pump is disposed inside the drive-side transmission sprocket wheel in a direction along the axis of an output shaft. This configuration enables the vehicular power unit to be formed in a compact size in a direction along an axis of a crankshaft.

Vehicular power unit

A sub-gallery for leading oil to a cylinder head side of an engine is provided in a crankcase in such a manner as to be connected to an outlet of an oil filter and in parallel with a main gallery. A lubricating device is also provided to equally feed oil to each of portions to be lubricated in the engine, including the main gallery connected to a discharge port of an oil pump via the oil filter. This lubricating device sufficiently feeds oil to even the cylinder head side of the engine while avoiding increased pressure loss of the oil.

Growing community of inventors

Saitama, Japan

Kazuyuki Nakai