Nippon Soken, Inc.

Asmo Co., Ltd.

Other

Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Denso Corporation

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Toyota Shatai Kabushiki Kaisha

Asmo Co., Ltd. & Hitachi Cable, Ltd.

Noboru Tsuge

Satosi Kuwakado

Toshiaki Shimogawa

Hidenori Ishihara

Masahiro Taguchi

Toshihiro Takei

Takeshi Tanaka

Tomoyuki Kikuta

Fumitaka Nakahigashi

Shigeru Kashiwazaki

Koji Horii

Katsuyuki Tanaka

Masanori Kato

Tsutomu Saito

Sadahisa Onimaru

Kenji Kato

Masafuyu Sano

Hideji Tani

Toshio Yasui

Masakazu Chiba

Toshihiro Matsuura

Toshiaki Shimokawa

Kazutaka Kato

Seiichi Chiba

Nobuo Shiba

A variable reluctance angle sensor includes a stator, a rotor, and a computation section. The stator includes a core member having teeth, which are arranged in a circumferential direction, and excitation coils, which are respectively wound about the teeth such that magnetic poles of the teeth have different polarities alternately in the circumferential direction. An input voltage is supplied to the excitation coils. The rotor radially faces the teeth of the stator. The rotor has a shape such that gap permeance with respect to the stator changes in a sinusoidal fashion in accordance with the rotational angle of the rotor. The computation section obtains output voltages of two or more phases having different phases based on the voltages of the excitation coils, and detects the rotational angle of the rotor based on the output voltages.

Variable reluctance type angle sensor

A stator having a stator core about which a coil is wound is secured to an aluminum frame. A magnet-embedded type rotor is rotatably accommodated inward of the stator. A circuit substrate is attached to the surface of the aluminum frame opposite to the surface to which the stator is secured. A control circuit and hall ICs for detecting the rotational position of the rotor are mounted on the circuit substrate. Detection signals of the hall ICs are received by the control circuit. The control circuit supplies a drive current to the coil of the stator in accordance with the detection signals.

Electric motor

Support members are provided on the terminal portions of a sensor main body. In this state, a seal portion is formed by molding, and the seal portion seals the terminal portions of the sensor main body. During molding, external pressure acts on a housing. However, since four electrode wires pulled out from the housing are supported by insulating support members, the four electrode wires do not contact one another due to the pressure applied during molding, and thus do not short-circuit.

Pressure sensitive sensor terminal processing method

Method for manufacturing a pressure sensitive sensor

An automatic opening-and-closing device can be obtained which can prevent a foreign object from being caught in by detecting the foreign object even if an opening/closing speed of a moving body changes or the foreign object is small. An automatic sliding door device detects that there is an foreign object on a locus of sliding of a door panel , by detecting a pushing reaction force when a pressure sensitive sensor pushes the foreign object at the time of forward sliding of the door panel slides forward. Hence, even if the sliding speed of the door panel changes, or even if the foreign object is small, the foreign object can be detected to thereby prevent the foreign object from being caught in the door. Moreover, with the automatic sliding door device , a code is passed through inside of the door panel and connected to a lower end portion of the pressure sensitive sensor via a circular hole formed at a lower end portion of the door panel . Hence, the detection range on the upper end side of the door panel can be made wider, and management of the code at the time of assembly becomes easy.

Automatic opening and closing device

Pressure sensitive sensor

An automatic sliding door apparatus has a speed-change detecting element for detecting a change in the driving speed of a slide motor above a predetermined value as well as a pressure sensitive sensor disposed in a front end portion of a door panel, and the detecting of a foreign object is effected by the pressure sensitive sensor in regions other than a region in which the door panel slides at a fixed speed. Accordingly, the detecting of a foreign object is made possible in a region where the detecting of a foreign object is difficult in the detection of a change in speed by the speed-change detecting element. Moreover, since the detecting of a foreign object based on a change in speed is not effected in the regions other than the region in which the door panel slides at the fixed speed, it is possible to set to a higher level a reference value in speed change of the speed-change detecting element which determines that the door panel has received a reaction force of pressing from a foreign object in the region where the door panel moves at the fixed speed. The sensitivity can also be enhanced as a result.

Automatic opening/closing apparatus

To improve the detection reliability in the detection of sticking of a foreign matter and minimize a sticking load, a power window is provided with a window frame sensor disposed along the inner peripheral edge of a window frame and a drive motor for advancing and retreating a window glass in accordance with an external signal. A control circuit makes a duty control for a transistor to decrease the operating speed of the window glass when the pressure detected by the window frame sensor becomes larger than a predetermined value during a closing operation of the window glass. Thereafter, when the drive load of the drive motor exceeds a predetermined value, a relay is switched over to operate the window glass reverse in the opening direction.

Power window with detecting function of sticking of foreign matter

When a closing end of a vehicle windowpane is located at the upper side of a preset point P1 while the windowpane is closing, an obstacle pinched between a window frame and the windowpane is detected by a window frame sensor. When the closing end of the vehicle window is located at the lower side of a preset point P2, the pinched obstacle is detected by the window frame sensor and a motor rotation speed sensor, which indicates changes in motor driving load. This prevents a vehicle window control system from operating erroneously when an obstacle is pinched at a slope portion of the window frame.

Vehicle window control system responsive to external force

To provide a power window apparatus which can reliably actuate an anti-pinching mechanism even in a window provided with a side visor, a cord switch operable in response to a specific external force is mounted in a joining part of a side visor between a window frame and the side visor. The cord switch senses the external force acting on the side visor, reliably detecting a foreign object pinched between a window glass and the side visor.

Power window side visor sensing switch arrangement

A cord switch includes an insulating tube, three conductive members respectively having a circular shape in cross-section and insulating members forming an insulating space therebetween. The three conductive members are disposed within the insulating tube in a triangular shape. The insulating members are formed slidably relative to the conductive members, and are disposed alternately in a longitudinal direction of the insulating tube. Thus, the three conductive members are bent by an approximately equal curvature, so that a compressive stress applied in a direction to reduce the insulating spaces formed between the conductive members becomes small, and therefore, the contact of the conductive members by bending can be prevented when the cord switch is attached at a bent portion of a window frame.

Cord switch having alternate insulating members

In a power window apparatus, an external force which develops at the time of catching foreign objects in a window is detected directly by a window frame sensor and indirectly by a motor load detection circuit. Automatic window closing operation is disabled when the external force exceeds a first and a second predetermined levels of the window frame sensor and the motor load detection circuit, respectively. When the window frame sensor fails, the window closing operation is disabled and a warning is provided at the time the external force detected by the load detection circuit reaches a third predetermined level. Alternatively, the automatic window closing operation is disabled when the external force exceeds the first or the second predetermined levels of the window frame sensor or the motor load detection circuit, respectively. When the window frame sensor fails, the window closing operation is disabled and the warning is provided at the time the external force reaches the second predetermined level. In each case, once the window frame sensor fails, the predetermined level used to determine a failure of the window frame sensor may be lowered so that the window closing operation may be disabled earlier.

Power window apparatus with sensor failure detection

A seat belt winding apparatus with a rotation detection unit, for detecting a rotation of a belt winder shaft, and a driving unit, controlled by a detection signal from the rotation detection unit so as to apply a winding force to the belt winder shaft. When the seat belt is pulled by a passenger and a buckle is coupled with a tongue, the driving unit is controlled so that a rotational position of the belt winder shaft in a winding termination state is stored in a storage unit as a reference rotational position, thus establishing a correspondence between a reference rotational position and a count in the storage unit. In the belt fastened state, when the rotational position of the belt winder shaft is shifted from the reference rotational position, the shifted rotational position of the belt winder shaft is compared with the reference rotational position. The belt winder shaft is driven by the driving unit in accordance with the comparison result so as to return the belt winder shaft to the reference rotational position in the belt fastening state. Meanwhile, when the rotational position of the belt winder shaft is shifted from the reference rotational position by the pull-out operation of the seat belt in the condition that the seat belt is not worn by the passenger and the tongue and buckle are not coupled, the winder shaft is driven only in a winding direction so as to return to a reference rotational position in the retracted state.

Method and apparatus for winding seat belt thereof

A retractable safety belt system for restraining a vehicle occupant in a seat comprising a seat belt secured at one end to a reel of an electric-motor driven retractor. The retractor motor is controlled by control means (9) having a drive circuit (92G) and a reverse rotation or protraction rotation detection circuit (94A) which senses the reverse rotation of the motor as the seat belt is protracted and energizes the motor to retract the seat belt, thereby removing any slack in the seat belt. Preferably, the control means includes an increasing voltage circuit (94C) for gradually increasing the voltage applied to the motor, thereby reducing the motor torque at the initial stage of retraction. Also, the control means preferably includes a load sensing circuit (94B) which de-energizes the motor as the load on the motor and, hence, the tension in the seat belt reaches a predetermined level.

Growing community of inventors

Kariya, Japan

Noboru Tsuge