Denso Corporation

Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Boshoku Kabushiki Kaisha

Reflection Technology, Inc.

Kenji Hattori

Masaharu Hayashi

Masamichi Shibata

Ryuichi Ohno

Kaori Doi

Toshiaki Shirai

Akimitsu Sugiura

Tetsuya Miwa

Osamu Fujimoto

Shunichi Takeda

Masato Itakura

Katsuhiko Eguchi

Hirofumi Suzuki

Makoto Nakagawa

Yasuomi Imanaka

Ryota Wakasugi

Hiroshi Araki

Yoshinari Takakura

Keisuke Onoda

Tomoyuki Watanabe

Teiji Mabuchi

Teiji Ishinada

Ippei Funato

Toshiya Nakamura

Shunkichi Suzaki

Kongou Aoki

Shin Hase

Hisanobu Adachi

Haruo Gotou

A spark plug includes: a mounting bracket; a center electrode having a first end portion exposed and extended from first end portion of the mounting bracket; a slant-shape ground electrode that has first end side joined to the first end portion of the mounting bracket, has a surface of the second end side extended to be opposed to the first end portion of the center electrode, and has an extension direction inclined with respect to the center electrode; a convex portion protruding from a base material of the ground electrode on the surface thereof toward the center electrode, inclines toward the center electrode with respect to a protrusion direction, and has a convex portion opposed surface opposed to an end surface of the center electrode; and a precious metal layer formed on at least the convex portion opposed surface out of surfaces of the convex portion.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine and method for manufacturing the same

A spark plug includes: a cylindrical mounting bracket attachable to an internal combustion engine; a center electrode that is held by the mounting bracket in an insulated manner and has a first end portion exposed and extended from a first end portion of the mounting bracket; a ground electrode that has a first end side joined to the first end portion of the mounting bracket and has a surface of the second end side extended to be opposed to the first end portion of the center electrode; a convex portion that protrudes from a base material of the ground electrode on the surface of the ground electrode toward the center electrode, has a surface protruded outward, and has surfaces without corners; and a precious metal layer formed on the surface of the convex portion.

In an ignition coil for an internal combustion engine, a spark plug is incorporated which has an insulator including an insulator head that has no corrugation. The ignition coil has a coil body part generating high voltage and a joint part, which holds therein a conducting member electrically connecting the coil body part and a spark plug. The joint part has a plug cap into which the insulator head of the spark plug is inserted and which is formed of an elastic member having a cylindrical shape. The plug cap has a close-contact part whose inner peripheral surface is closely brought into contact with an outer peripheral surface of the insulator. The close-contact part has a tip end-side close-contact part positioned at a tip end side with respect to a middle position in an axial direction, and a base end-side close-contact part positioned at a base end side with respect to the middle position. At least part of the base end-side close-contact part is provided with a strong strained force part that has strained force for fastening the insulator head, the strained force being stronger than strained force of all portions of the tip end-side close-contact part.

Ignition coil for internal combustion engine

An ignition apparatus includes a spark plug and an ignition coil. The spark plug has a plug terminal protruding proximalward from an insulator. The ignition coil includes a coil main body, which includes a primary coil and a secondary coil, and a helical spring that electrically connects the secondary coil and the plug terminal. The plug terminal is made of a material that is both electrically conductive and magnetic. The plug terminal includes a terminal main body, which has an outer diameter greater than an inner diameter of the spring, and a terminal extension portion that has an outer diameter less than the inner diameter of the spring and extends proximalward from the terminal main body. A distal end portion of the spring abuts the terminal main body. The terminal extension portion is inserted and arranged in the spring. Between an outer circumferential surface of the terminal extension portion and an inner circumferential surface of the spring, there is interposed an insulating member.

Ignition apparatus

In an ignition control system, a primary current control unit performs discharge generation control one or more times during a single combustion cycle. The discharge generation control allows a spark plug to generate a discharge spark. A parameter calculating unit successively calculates a parameter correlated with energy of a discharge spark. An energy density calculating unit successively calculates energy density that is energy per unit length of the discharge spark. When the energy density is greater than a predetermined value during a predetermined period after a primary current is interrupted during a single combustion cycle, an integrated value calculating unit calculates an integrated value by integrating the parameter during the predetermined period. The primary current control unit performs the discharge generation control again when the integrated value calculated by the integrated value calculating unit is less than a predetermined determination threshold.

Ignition control system

A spark plugincludes a cylindrical housing, a cylindrical insulator, a center electrode, a terminal bracket, a ground electrode, and a resistor. The insulator is held on the inside of the housing. The center electrodeis held on the inside of the insulator, with a tip end being projected therefrom. The terminal bracket is held on the inside of the insulator, with a base end part and being projected therefrom. The ground electrode forms a spark discharge gap G between itself and the center electrode. The resistor contains carbon and is disposed on the inside of the insulator so as to be located between the center electrodeand the terminal bracket. In an axial direction X of the spark plug, the resistor has a higher carbon content in a first region positioned on a tip side, compared to a second region positioned on a base end side.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine

A spark plug for an internal combustion engine includes a cylindrical metal shell, a center electrode, and a ground electrode. The center electrode has an end portion which protrudes outside an end of the metal shell. The ground electrode is joined at an end thereof to the metal shell and has an inner surface facing the end portion of the center electrode. The ground electrode has a maximum width W meeting a relation of 1.3&#x2264;W&#x2264;2.0. A distance d between the center of an end surface of the center electrode and the inner surface of the ground electrode on a plane extending through the center of the center electrode perpendicular to an axis of the spark plug is selected to meet a relation of W+0.525&#x2264;d&#x2264;1.07W+0.66. This ensures the stability of ignitability of the spark plug.

Spark plug

A vehicle seat includes a pad that is made of resin foam, and that forms a seat cushion or a seatback. The pad has a layered structure formed of a surface layer pad that forms a seating surface-side portion of the pad and a back layer pad that is provided on the back side of the surface layer pad. The back layer pad is higher in hardness and lower in density than the surface layer pad.

Vehicle seat

A water pump used in a cooling system for an internal combustion engine includes a pump shaft fixedly connected to an impeller means and detachably connected to a driven gear. The driven gear is in meshing engagement with a drive gear which is detachably mounted on a cam shaft rotated by the engine. The two shafts are not axially aligned, but are arranged in parallel relationship with each other. Thus, the optimum rotational ratio between the shafts may be obtained by adjusting the radii of the gears.

Water pump apparatus

A viscous fluid coupling used as a cooling fan for automobile engines, having a power output member divided into two water chambers by a partition. The refluxing of water between the two chambers are controlled by a valve which opens the first hole of the partition by being associated with a bimetal that operates by detecting the temperature of the air passing through the radiator and opens the second hole of the partition by being associated with a thermostat that operates by detecting the temperature of the water in the water pump, thereby effecting the accurate control of the rotation speed of the fan.

Viscous fluid coupling

An automotive vehicle engine having a coolant circulation system with a radiator, a fan, and a thermostatic valve for controlling coolant flow through the radiator. This thermostatic valve starts to open at a first temperature, is fully opened at a second temperature, and is partly opened at an intermediate third temperature. A system for coupling the fan to a rotation engine member includes: a first member rotationally coupled to the rotating member; a second member rotationally coupled to the fan; and a mechanism for providing rotational coupling between the first and second members. The degree of rotational coupling is lower when a first control valve is closed than opened, and is lower when a second control valve is closed than opened. The first control valve is opened when and only when the temperature of air passing the radiator is greater than a determinate temperature; and the second control valve is opened when engine coolant temperature rises from below to above a fourth temperature, while being closed when it drops from above to below a fifth temperature substantially lower than the fourth temperature. The fourth and fifth temperatures are substantially higher than the third temperature, differing therefrom respectively by first and second temperature differences, the second of which is substantially less than the first and the fifth temperature is higher than the second temperature.

Engine cooling fan coupling system controlled in concert with a cooling

A viscous fluid coupling including an input member having a disc-shaped rotor, an output member rotatable with respect to the input member and having a housing encircling the rotor, a partition wall in the housing for dividing the inside of the housing into an oil chamber and a working chamber. The rotor is located in the working chamber and a labyrinth device is provided between the rotor and the housing for making it possible to transfer rotation of the rotor to the housing under a supply of viscous oil to the labyrinth device. Perforations are formed in the partition wall for establishing a communication between the oil chamber and the working chamber so that the viscous oil can be supplied from the oil chamber to the working chamber. Oil expelling passages are also provided for connecting radially outward portions of the oil and working chambers so that the viscous oil in the working chamber is expelled to the oil chamber under pumping action of the rotor when the rotor is rotated. A valve is associated with the perforations in the partition wall and, a temperature responsive element is provided for actuating the valve so that the valve is moved between an open position wherein it opens the perforations and a close position wherein it closes the perforations in accordance with a temperature condition. Oil displacing blocks are disposed in the oil chamber and normally maintained at a radially inward position but forced radially outwardly under a centrifugal force when housing is rotated.

A cooling fan device for use with an internal combustion engine in which there is provided a viscous fluid coupling operable to control the speed of rotation of a fan for cooling a radiator in response to variation in the temperature of the engine. A partition plate is provided in a fluid-tight chamber so as to divide the chamber into a working chamber and a reservoir chamber. The partition plate has two holes which allow fluid flow from the reservoir chamber to the working chamber. Two valves, one for each hole, are provided which are normally biased to close the holes. One of the valves is attached to a slidable plug which moves in response to temperature change; the other valve is positioned to be engaged by the first valve. Changeover valves control the movement of the plug by allowing suction air pressure or atmospheric air pressure to enter a diaphragm at one end of the plug as the engine temperature varies and thereby open or close the holes.

Temperature responsive, pneumatically actuated, fluid shear, cooling fan

A cooling fan device for use with an internal combustion engine in which there is provided a viscous fluid coupling. A viscous fluid valve is operable to control the opening of a hole so as to regulate the flow of fluid from a working chamber to a reservoir chamber. The valve which is operated in response to the change in the temperature of the engine cooling water, is secured to a slidable plug which is surrounded by a diaphragm. A changover valve controls the admission of suction air (vacuum) or atmospheric air in response to the change in engine pressure.

A temperature responsive viscous fluid coupling of the type having a bimetal coil secured at the outer end thereof to a cover member and at the inner end thereof to a rotatable shaft for controlling the fluid coupling is provided with at least one resilient member for engaging the radial outermost surface of the bimetal coil and an axially directed surface of the bimetal coil at a point circumferentially spaced from the outer end of the bimetal coil by approximately 150.degree..

Growing community of inventors

Kariya, Japan

Kenji Hattori