Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Naohito Kaneda

Koichiro Kamei

Kazuhiro Odahara

Daisuke Mizuno

Hiroaki Kitano

Masahiko Kurishige

Masami Abe

Shiro Yonezawa

Takashi Iwasaki

Haruki Nakayama

Mitsuru Tsukima

Akihiko Imagi

Hayato Yamauchi

Taehyun Kim

Naoki Imamura

Keiichi Kusumoto

Kensuke Kato

Noriaki Moriyama

There is provided an engine starting device, including: a motor generator coupled to a crankshaft of an engine; and a starter including a pinion provided in a detachable manner from a ring gear provided on the crankshaft, and configured to mesh with the ring gear when the engine is started, wherein the engine is cranked through simultaneous cranking by both of the motor generator and the starter when a condition set in advance is satisfied, and wherein, in the simultaneous cranking, the starter starts rotating after the motor generator starts rotating.

Engine starting device

Provided is a motor generator, which is always connected to an engine via a belt, and is configured to carry out start control of the engine and power generation control, the motor generator having a two-output power transmission mechanism including: a belt driving mechanism, which is configured to drive the engine through the belt; and a gear driving mechanism, which includes a pinion gear to be coupled to a ring gear on the engine side in accordance with an external instruction, and is configured to drive the engine by the pinion gear being coupled to the ring gear, in which an output of the belt driving mechanism and an output of the gear driving mechanism are arranged at positions opposing each other in an axial direction of a rotor of the motor generator.

Motor generator, engine starting device, and engine start control method

The rotation speed and the crank position of an engine in an engine stopping process are detected; then, in the case where when the detected crank position is at an intermediate point between the top dead center of any one of the cylinders and the top dead center of the cylinder following said one of the cylinders, it is determined that the engine rotation speed is within a predetermined range, drive of the starter is prohibited for a predetermined time period.

Engine starting apparatus

Since a pinion gear unit which rotates according to the rotation of an output rotation shaft driven by the motor unit, a pushing mechanism which moves the pinion gear unit towards an engagement location of the pinion gear and an engine starting gear, and a bracket which includes a bracket main body unit which supports the motor unit and the pushing mechanism and a nose unit which extends from the bracket main body unit to a side opposite to the motor unit and rotatably bears a tip portion of the output rotation shaft on a side opposite to the motor unit, and which is attached to an engine side are included, a first stopper unit which restricts the movement of the rotation member to the direction of the engine starting gear is provided on the output rotation shaft, a second stopper unit which restricts the movement of the pinion gears to the direction of the engine starting gear by pushing and biasing of the elastic member is provided on the rotation member, and positioning the first stopper unit is positioned on a side opposite to the engine starting gear with respect to the second stopper unit, it is possible to shorten the shaft length of the rotation member and to shorten the entire length of the engine starting device.

It is possible to obtain an engine starting device in which, at the time of initial engagement of a first pinion gear and an engine starting gear, in a case where the first pinion gear collides with the engine starting gear, the first pinion gear is inclined with respect to the second pinion gear, a void having a predetermined size for expanding the inclined state is formed between a surface of an end surface portion of the first pinion gear on the side of an end surface portion of the second pinion gear, and a surface of an end surface portion of the second pinion gear on the side of the end surface portion of the first pinion gear, even in a case where any one of the rotation speed of the engine starting gear and the rotation speed of the pinion gear is larger than the other, rotation synchronization of the engine starting gear and the pinion gear and phase focusing of the teeth between the engine starting gear and the pinion gear is further rapidly and further reliably performed at the time when the engine starting gear and the pinion gear is abutted to each other, noise is decreased, and shortening of the life due to abrasion can be suppressed.

Provided is an engine starting device enabling the meshing engagement of a pinion gear and a ring gear to be quickly and quietly achieved in an automatic idle-stop system while an engine is rotating by inertia. The engine starting device includes: a ring gear connected to a crankshaft of an engine; a starter motor for starting the engine; a pinion gear for transmitting rotation of the starter motor to the ring gear; pinion-gear moving portion for moving the pinion gear so as to achieve meshing engagement with the ring gear; and starter control portion for executing any one of a plurality of control modes.

A pinion gear unit includes a rotation member rotating according to the rotation of a output shaft. A first pinion gear fit to the rotation member through a first serration unit rotates with, and also moves with the rotation member if the pinion gear unit moves towards an engagement location with an engine starting gear. A second pinion gear is fit to the rotation member adjacent to the first pinion gear through a second serration unit, rotates with and moves with the rotation member if the pinion gear unit further moves towards the engagement location, and engages with the starting gear later than the first pinion gear, where the first pinion gear engages with the engine starting gear. Fitting is performed by the first and second serration units so that phases of teeth of the first and second pinion gears in a circumferential direction correspond with each other.

A ring gear to be coupled to a crankshaft of an engine; a starter motor for starting the engine; a pinion gear for transmitting rotation of the starter motor to the ring gear; pinion-gear meshing-engagement unit for moving the pinion gear to achieve meshing engagement with the ring gear; rpm-difference acquiring unit for acquiring an rpm difference between the pinion gear and the ring gear; and restart control unit for allowing the pinion gear to be moved by the pinion-gear meshing-engagement unit when the rpm difference between the pinion gear and the ring gear, which is acquired by the rpm-difference acquiring unit, becomes smaller than a threshold value are provided. The restart control unit includes threshold-value setting unit, and the threshold value corresponding to a characteristic to be input to the threshold-value setting unit is preset.

An engine starting device for an automatic idling stop system includes: a crank angle sensor for detecting a crank angle of an engine; a ring gear connected to a crankshaft of the engine, for transmitting rotation of the engine; ring gear rpm detecting section; a starter motor for starting the engine; a pinion gear for transmitting rotation of the starter motor to the ring gear; pinion-gear push-out section for pushing out the pinion gear into meshing engagement with the ring gear; and pinion gear push-out control section for driving the pinion-gear push-out section to bring the pinion gear and the ring gear into meshing engagement when the ring gear rpm detected by the ring gear rotational speed detection section becomes smaller than a threshold value which is determined by at least one of the crank angle, a gear range, and a restart condition.

Engine start device

Provided is an engine starter having a simple structure and excellent in stability and reliability, which starts an engine while preventing an occurrence of instantaneous interruption in an electrical device mounted in a vehicle. An engine starter for driving a starter motor by closing a starter switchconnected in series between a power sourceand the starter motorfor receiving power supply from the power source to start an engine includes: a resistorconnected in series to the starter switch between the power source and the starter motor, for limiting a current flowing through the starter motor; and a short-circuiting switchconnected in parallel to the resistor, for short-circuiting both ends of the resistor by energization of a driving coil after start of an operation of closing the starter switch, and the resistor is made of a plate-like stainless steel.

Engine starter and resistor short-circuiting device

An engine-starting device for stopping the engine after satisfaction of an idling-stop condition during idling of a vehicle, starting rotation of a starter-motor upon satisfaction of a starter-motor rotation start condition, and causing a pinion gear to mesh with a ring gear upon satisfaction of a pinion gear meshing condition, includes the ring gear to be connected to a crank shaft, the pinion gear for transmitting the starter-motor rotation, a plunger for causing the pinion gear to mesh with the ring gear, and a starter control section for instructing energization of the starter-motor, in which the starter-motor is energized to be rotated upon the satisfaction of the starter-motor rotation start condition prior to clearing of the idling-stop condition in response to a restart request, and the pinion gear is caused to mesh with the ring gear by the plunger upon the satisfaction of the pinion gear meshing condition.

Engine starting device for idling-stop vehicle

In an electromagnetic switch for an auxiliary-rotation starter according to the present invention, the magnetic bypass core is disposed at a place that is an air gap portion, in a magnetic circuit, through which the plunger moves due to magnetic attractive force produced by energizing the attraction coil and the holding coil and that is between the outer circumference of the plunger and the inner circumference of the bobbin, in such a way that one end thereof makes contact with one end of the case and the other end thereof faces the end of the core by the intermediary of an air gap.

Electromagnetic switch for auxiliary-rotation starter

A starter for an internal combustion engine has no radial protrusion of an auxiliary switch in a shape projected along an axial direction thereof, thus improving the degree of freedom in mounting the starter on the engine. An axially extending electromagnetic switch is mounted on a motor for turning it on and off. An auxiliary switch extends in an axial direction of the motor and is mounted thereon for operating the electromagnetic switch by means of an operation of a key switch. A pinion gear can be placed into or out of engagement with a ring gear of the engine so as to be driven by the motor. The motor has a bracket with a radially extending flange, through which the starter is mounted on the engine. The auxiliary switch is arranged at an inner side of a common tangent line between outer peripheries of the electromagnetic switch and the flange.

Starter for internal combustion engine

A brush apparatus includes a brush and a brush holder. The brush includes a pigtail embedded in a wider side thereof so that the longitudinal side in cross-section of the pigtail extends in parallel with a surface of the brush coming into contact with a commutator. The brush holder includes a brush holding member, a brush spring for pressing the brush against the commutator for sliding contact, a base for holding the brush holding member and electrically connecting the same to an earth circuit, and a connection lug on the base. The brush holding member is formed with a notch on a wider side from an upper end thereof for allowing a downward movement of the pigtail when the brush wears and hence is pressed downward. A distal end of the pigtail is connected to the connection lug.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Naohito Kaneda