Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Chuo Spring Co., Ltd.

Nobuo Ohmori

Kiyoshi Isogai

Naka Takita

Itsuo Koga

Makoto Okamoto

Masahiko Takeuchi

Katsutoshi Kitagawa

Kazuo Ito

Nobuo Tobi

An elastic supporting and sealing member, for mutually supporting a first body and a second body, and for sealing the gap between the first body and the second body, includes a first portion and a second portion of wire net and a piece of thermal foaming material, between the first and the second wire net portion, which expands and foams when it is heated up. A method of making such a member includes the steps of flattening a tubular shaped piece of wire net, and of introducing a strip shaped piece of such thermal foaming material between the two sides of the flattened tube of wire net, so that the longitudinal directions of the strip shaped piece of thermal foaming material and of the flattened wire net tube substantially coincide.

Elastic supporting and sealing member with thermal foaming strip

A catalytic converter includes a tubular casing within which is held a monolithic catalyst body which is generally of a columnar shape. The ends of the monolithic catalyst body are each engaged with a cushion ring, and each cushion ring is engaged with a retainer ring therefor, which is substantially axially fixed within the casing near to an end thereof. The monolithic catalyst body is supported within the casing by axial compressive force present between the retainer rings on the outside, the cushion rings between the retainer rings, and the monolithic catalyst body between the cushion rings. At least one of the retainer rings is formed with a break in a part of its circumference, the two free ends of the retainer ring on the two sides of the break being movable with distortion of the retainer ring through a certain distance, according to changes of temperature of the retainer ring, with respect to one another in the mutual relative direction which causes the overall circumference of the retainer ring to be diminished, so that expansion of the retainer ring when it heats up is absorbed, and the retainer ring is not subject to kinking or folding when the catalytic converter operates in the hot condition.

Monolithic catalyst catalytic converter with catalyst holding expansible

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Toyota, Japan

Nobuo Ohmori