Denso Corporation

Ngk Insulators, Inc.

Mitsubishi Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Koji Kato

Yoshihisa Sato

Hiroaki Tanaka

Harutsugu Fukumoto

Masakazu Takeichi

Norifumi Matsukawa

Hiroyuki Kawase

Hisao Kishigami

Hisanaga Matsuoka

Takeyuki Mizuno

Kiyonari Oda

Yoshimitsu Tsutsui

Takayuki Aono

Kiyonori Kawasaki

Noriyasu Kuroda

Nobuhiko Kogo

Masahiro Fujiyama

Takuma Katsumata

An object detector capable of reliably detecting objects around a vehicle is mounted on a wall of a bumper of a vehicle. Thicknesses of the bumper and of a bottom surface portion of a housing are less than one-half the wavelength of ultrasonic waves generated by a piezoelectric vibrator. This suppresses the reflection of ultrasonic waves by the bumper and by the bottom surface portion of the housing, and enhances the ultrasonic wave propagation efficiency, making it possible to reliably detect objects positioned around the vehicle.

Ultrasonic object detector

An obstacle detection device for a vehicle notifies the driver of an obstacle approaching rapidly in the rear side by sound when a detected velocity of the obstacle relative to the vehicle is larger than a threshold velocity. It does not notify the driver of the obstacle by sound when the detected relative velocity is smaller than the threshold velocity.

Obstacle detection device

A satellite-positioning receiving device includes: an antenna which receives a signal from a satellite; an RF amplifier unit which amplifies the signal received by the antenna; a reference quartz oscillator; a digital processor unit which performs signal processing; an operation accepting unit; and two reception processing systems, that is, a first reception processing system including a first mixer unit, a first local oscillator, a first IF amplifier unit, and a first IF filter unit and a second reception processing system including a second mixer unit, a second local oscillator, a second IF amplifier unit, and a second IF filter unit. The digital processor unit is connected to the local oscillators and the IF filter units, and is so constituted that it is capable of individually changing and setting their characteristics.

Satellite-positioning signal receiving device

A communications system in a first vehicle sends departing information indicating that the first vehicle is about to depart from a parking space along with the vehicle information of the first vehicle when a door is unlocked, a key is inserted, and an engine is started. When the sent departing information is received by a communications system in a different second vehicle that is searching a parking space, the sent vehicle information of the first vehicle is shown in a display device in the second vehicle. The vehicle information includes the number of the license plate, the vehicle kind, the vehicle color, and the vehicle class. The driver of the second vehicle can easily determine whether a nearby vehicle where an occupant is present is the first vehicle that sends the departing information.

Communications system and program

A device for detecting an obstacle located backward of a vehicle is mounted on a vehicle such as a pickup truck having a rear loading space and a tailgate for closing the loading space. Ultrasonic waves are transmitted backward, and the backward obstacle is detected by receiving ultrasonic waves reflected by the backward obstacle. When the tailgate is open or the load extends backward from the open tailgate, the transmitted waves are reflected by the open tailgate or the extending load. This may cause erroneous detection of the backward obstacle. To avoid the erroneous detection, detection of the reflected waves from the backward obstacle is delayed by a predetermined period when the tailgate is open or the load extends backward.

Device for detecting obstacle located backward of automobile

A pair of distance measurement sensors provided at different heights measures distances to an obstruction. When the measured distances are shorter than a threshold distance, the height of the vehicle is found based on the measured distances. When the height of the vehicle is found greater than a threshold height, the existence of the obstruction is reported to the driver. When the height of the vehicle is found smaller than the threshold height, on the other hand, a change in obstruction height is found and compared with a threshold. When the change in obstruction height is greater than the threshold, the existence of the obstruction is reported to the driver since the height is determined to be an unreliable result of computation.

Driving assisting apparatus for vehicles

During a period until a subject vehicle stops to go back for being parked, detection distance data items and advance distance data items are obtained by using an ultrasonic sensor and a speed sensor. These data items are stored with both the data items mutually associated. The detection distance data item indicates a distance to a parked vehicle adjacent to the subject vehicle and the advance distance data item indicates a distance in which the subject vehicle advances. When computing a size of the parked vehicle from the advance distance data items, the size of the parked vehicle is determined to be shorter than an aggregated distance corresponding to the advance distance data items. This enables the determined size of the parked vehicle to approximate an actual size of the parked vehicle.

Parking assistance system

A calculator calculates an approximate value of a function Y=log (1+e) using input data x. In the calculator, a decoder outputs m-bit data that represents a value corresponding to the slope of a straight line, and further outputs intercept data of the straight line. The straight line interpolates the function Y=log (1+e) for an interval that includes the input data x as an X-value, and has a slope of &#x2212;2. The intercept data represents Y-intercept of the straight line. A shifter shifts the input data x by |n| bits based on the m-bit data, and provides the resultant value as first term data. An adder generates the sum of the first term data and the intercept data, and outputs the generated sum as an approximate value of the function log Y=(1+e)

Approximate calculator for non-linear function and map decoder using same

An 8-bit CLA adder is constructed for inputting 4 lower bits a3:0,b3:0 and 4 upper bits a7:4,b7:4 of two input signals to the two 4-bit full adders 2,12 and a carry c-1 to the lowest bit the full adder of the first-stage 2 to generate carries c3,c7 correspondint to the third and seventh bit of the input signals from a carry generation signal g7:0 and a carry propagation signal p7:0 generated by the both adders 2,12 and the carry c-1. The full adder of the second-stage 12 is constructed to add the 4 upper bits a7:4,b7:4 with setting a carry-in as 0 so as to generate a temporary summing signal sz7:4. A logical circuit 14 generates a true sum of 4 upper bits from a carry c3 to the third bit to the forth bit, a temporary sum sz7:4 and a carry propagation signal p7:4 generated by the full adder of the second-stage 12.

Logic operation circuit and carry look ahead adder

With N-bit mask bit data, a bit mask generator generates (L.times.M.times.N)-bit mask data in which the N-bit mask bit data is disposed in one of L.times.M consistent blocks which is specified by M-bit block selection data and L-bit super-block selection data and each bit of the other blocks are stuffed with a stuffing bit. The bit mask generator comprises a first mask generator responsive to the block selection data for generating first mask data by disposing the N-bit mask bit data in one of M blocks of N bits which is specified by one of the M-bit block selection data, and a second mask generator responsive to the super-block selection data for generating the final mask data by disposing the first mask data in one of L super-blocks of M blocks which is specified by one of the L-bit super-block selection data. A bit field operation is performed by using the generated mask data.

Mask data generator and bit field operation circuit

A ceramic turbo charger rotor having a blade portion including a shroud tip portion and a top portion, a back plate portion arranged rear of the blade portion, and a shaft portion arranged to the back plate portion is manufactured by working only a part of a back plate portion as a standard surface or by working only a top surface of the tip portion as a standard surface while no working is applied for the back plate portion, so as to reduce a total manufacturing cost.

Ceramic turbo charger rotor and method of manufacturing the same

A ceramic-metal joined composite body including a ceramic member having a projection formed thereon, and a metallic member having a recess formed therein. The projection of the ceramic member is fitted into the recess of the metallic member, and a corner of a bottom of the recess has a rounded dimension such that R/D.gtoreq.0.04, in which R and D are the rounded dimension of the corner of the bottom of the recess and an outer diameter of the projection, respectively. The ceramic-metal joined composite body particularly is useful in a rotary shaft for a turbocharger rotor or a gas turbine rotor.

Ceramic-metal joined composite bodies with a curved bottom metal recess

A ceramic-metal composite body is produced by fitting a protruding portion of a ceramic member into a concave portion of a metallic member. In this case, the protruding portion has a quantity of undulation in a plane including the axial line of the protruding portion of not more than 5 .mu.m.

Ceramic-metal composite bodies

A method for controlling the thickness of an extruded, biaxially elongated film product, in which thickness deviations are controlled automatically and without supervision. In the method, correlation between positions along the widthwise direction of a film sheet and positions of die manipulation bolts of an extrusion die is obtained, and initially, a profile of the film sheet prior to lateral elongation is converged into a tolerable range; thereafter, the thickness of the film sheet after lateral elongation is measured, and if there are thickness deviations outside the tolerable range, a thickness regulation is effected by transmitting a signal corresponding to the thickness deviations to the appropriate die manipulation bolts.

Method for controlling the thickness of a film product

A method and apparatus for winding or rewinding a film wherein a pressurized jet of air is directed onto a surface of an unsupported portion of the film being wound or rewound. The air jet is elongated transversely of the length of said film. Simultaneously with the application of the air jet to the film the air impinging on the surface of the film is collected by suction.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi-gun, Japan

Koji Kato