Unisia Jecs Corporation

Atsugi Unisia Corp.

Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.

Norihiro Saita

Tadaharu Yokota

Tatsuyoshi Maruyama

Toshinori Aihara

Yukio Uchida

Takayuki Furuya

Satoshi Doi

Torahiko Koshiba

Kenji Hiraku

Takayuki Yoshida

Shinobu Kakizaki

Ryohei Maruo

Masamichi Imamura

Katsuya Iwasaki

Koichi Komatsu

Toshihiro Koizumi

Keigo Yoshida

Shinichiro Nishida

Yukio Sudou

Taichi Shibata

Toshihiko Seki

Jyunichi Emura

Toshimi Takeshita

Katsuma Tsuruoka

Ryoji Kasahara

Keigo Kajiyama

Shuichiro Shioyama

A hydraulic pressure control apparatus has an electromagnetic valve having a valve body forced to one side by an elastic member and a coil driving the valve body to the other side; a hydraulic pressure control section for calculating a command current value to drive the electromagnetic valve and controlling a hydraulic pressure in a hydraulic circuit by opening/closing the electromagnetic valve; a current detection section detecting a value of the current passing through the coil; and a command current value correction section. The command current value correction section detects a change of an inductance of the coil when the valve body moves from the one side to the other side or from the other side to the one side through the current detection section, and corrects the command current value using the detected inductance change.

Hydraulic pressure control apparatus

A solenoid valve includes a solenoid coil, a yoke of magnetic material, an armature of magnetic material to move in an axial direction of the solenoid coil when the solenoid coil is energized, a plunger to be moved with the armature, a valve seat member including a seat portion formed with a valve hole to be closed and opened by a forward end portion of the plunger, and a coil spring which is disposed between a spring receiving portion of the plunger and the valve seat member, around the plunger. The plunger includes a pressure receiving portion (such as a flat portion) which extends in a radial direction of the plunger at a position between the forward end portion and the spring receiving portion of the plunger, and which faces to the seat portion.

Normally-open solenoid valve including plunger formed with pressure receiving portion

A seal apparatus includes at least one pair of gears; a side plate arranged adjacent to the pair of gears; and a housing sandwiching the side plate. At least one of the side plate and the housing includes a shoulder portion. The seal apparatus further includes a seal member arranged between the housing and the side plate and arranged at the shoulder portion. The seal member separates a low pressure area from a high pressure area in a radial direction of the gear. The shoulder portion is located in the low pressure area. At least a part of the seal member faces the high pressure area. The seal apparatus further includes a backup member reinforcing the seal member and facing a tip portion of the shoulder portion; and a containing portion formed between a root portion of the shoulder portion and the seal member to be capable of containing a part of the seal member at least when the seal member is elastically deformed.

Seal apparatus of gear pump

In a gear pump equipped with a pump assembly formed from a driving gear supported by a driving shaft, a driven gear supported by a driven shaft, a pair of side plates disposed at both sides in an axial direction of driving and driven shafts, and a seal block that seals tips of the gears and forms a first fluid chamber by installation onto the side plates, and a casing that houses the pump assembly and forms a second fluid chamber therein, ribs are provided for at least one member of the side plates or the seal block, and fluid tightness between the first and second fluid chambers is secured by exerting pressure between the side plates and seal block and additionally plastically deforming the ribs. By this, it is possible to provide the gear pump which is capable of achieving improvement of the seal integrity while reducing the parts count.

Gear pump and method of producing the same

Solenoid valve control apparatus and brake control apparatus

A power steering system includes a fluid pump, a steering gear, a high-pressure passage connecting the fluid pump to the steering gear, and a flow control valve having a first chamber forming a part of the high-pressure passage. A metering orifice is disposed in the high-pressure passage between the first chamber and the steering gear. A feedback passage distributes feedback pressure developed in the high-pressure passage downstream of the metering orifice to a second chamber of the flow control valve. An exhaust port communicates with the first chamber. A movable valve spool is disposed in a valve bore and has one end exposed to the first chamber and opposite end exposed to the second chamber. A valve spring is disposed in the second chamber together with a slide coupled with an external actuator. One end of the valve spring is seated on the opposite end of the valve spool and opposite end thereof is seated on the slide. The actuator is responsive to a control signal to position the slide thereby varying force with which the valve spring urges the valve spool. A control unit develops the control signal in response to turning maneuvers.

Flow controlling apparatus for power steering systems

A steering power assist apparatus is comprised of a power cylinder whose operation is controlled by the a flow rate control valve, a first control valve and a second control valve. The flow rate control valve is connected to a discharge side of a hydraulic pump and controls the amount of the hydraulic oil to be supplied to the first and second control valves according to a load pressure. The first control valve constituted by choke valves is disposed downstream of the flow rate control valve and controls the amount of the hydraulic oil supplied to the second control valve according to a steering torque. The second control valve constituted by choke valves is disposed downstream of the flow rate control valve and controls the amount of the hydraulic oil to the power cylinder according to a steering torque. The choke valves of the second control valve are fully closed after the choke valves of the first control valve are fully closed.

Power assist apparatus for steering system

A power assisted steering apparatus for a vehicle has a driving source and an actuator for the vehicle's steering mechanism, to power assist the steering operation. The driving source, such as an engine, continuously drives a pump. A working passage is arranged so that working oil discharged from the pump is introduced into the actuator. A check valve is disposed in the working passage, between the actuator and the pump so that the working oil flows only one way to the actuator. An accumulator is connected to the working passage, between the check valve and the actuator to maintain a predetermined pressure in the working passage. A regulator is connected to the working passage, between the pump and the check valve to regulate flow to the actuator. When the pressure within the working passage reaches the predetermined pressure, the working fluid is dumped to a reservoir, bypassing the check valve, the accumulator, and the actuator.

Power assisted steering apparatus for automotive vehicle

A power steering device includes a hydraulic pump for discharging working fluid, an actuator for producing a steering assisting force by means of working fluid, a hydraulic passage for connecting the hydraulic pump and the actuator, a check valve arranged to the hydraulic passage to allow flow of working fluid from the hydraulic pump to the actuator and preventing flow thereof in the opposite direction, an accumulator connected to the hydraulic passage downstream of the check valve, a pressure switch for detecting a pressure within the hydraulic passage downstream of the check valve, a control unit for controlling the hydraulic pump in response to the pressure switch, and a display for showing an anomaly of the power steering device. When determining the anomaly of the power steering device, the control unit stops the hydraulic pump and/or makes the display show the anomaly.

Power steering devices

A power assisted steering apparatus for a vehicle having a driving source, such as an engine, has an actuator, a hydraulic pump, a working oil pressure passage, and a drive switch. The actuator, which is in the vehicle steering mechanism, receives a supply or exhaust of a working oil to assist the steering operation. The pump is selectively driven by an engine via a clutch mechanism. The working oil discharged from the pump is introduced into the actuator via the passage. The check valve is interposed within the passage to enable flow in one direction away from the pump. The drive switch structure is disposed within the passage, downstream from the check valve. With this arrangement, the drive switch structure can be activated by pressure in the passage downstream of the check valve to control the clutch mechanism.

A flow control device or valve used in a power steering system of an automotive vehicle. The flow control device comprises a housing formed with an axially extending hole in which a spool valve is movably disposed. A first pressure chamber is defined in the hole, with one end of the spool valve. A drain passage is opened to the first pressure chamber and closable with the spool valve. A second pressure chamber is defined in the hole, with the other end of the spool valve. A restricting orifice is provided to be communicated with the first pressure chamber. An introduction passage is formed to be communicated through the restricting orifice with a discharge passage and opened to the first pressure chamber. The pressure in the discharge passage is introduced to the second pressure chamber. A first spring is disposed in the second pressure chamber to bias the spool valve in a direction to close the drain passage. A spring holding member is movably and coaxially disposed in the axially extending hole. The spring holding member has a first end face defining the second pressure chamber, and a second end face which is larger in pressure-receiving area than the first end face. The first spring is disposed between the spool valve and the first end face of the spring holding member. The second end face of the spring holding member defines a pressure control chamber communicated with the second pressure chamber. Additionally, a second spring is provided to bias the spring holding member in a direction to reduce a volume of the pressure control chamber.

Flow control device

In a power steering system which has a fluid pump and a hydraulic actuator, there is used a flow control device which comprises a spool unit slidably received in a spool receiving bore in a manner to partition the bore into first and second pressure chambers. The spool unit comprises a hollow cylindrical outer spool slidably received in the spool receiving bore. The outer spool has a bottom portion exposed to the second pressure chamber. The bottom portion has an aperture formed therethrough. A cylindrical inner spool is incorporated with the outer spool. The inner spool includes a larger diameter portion slidably received in a major part of the outer spool and a smaller diameter portion slidably received in the aperture of the bottom portion of the outer spool. The inner spool is engaged with a control spring to be biased toward the first pressure chamber. A spring member is employed for biasing the outer and inner spools toward the second and first pressure chambers respectively.

Flow control device of power steering system

In a flow control valve, a valve spool is movable for variably controlling an opening area of a port portion of a drain passage so that a necessary flow rate of fluid is conducted from a first pressure chamber to an outlet passage through a control orifice while a surplus flow rate of fluid is returned from the first pressure chamber to the drain passage. A movable sleeve is installed in a valve spool accommodation hole and around the valve spool. The movable sleeve has through holes communicable with the drain passage and an inlet passage, respectively. The movable sleeve has a first axial end portion disposed in the first pressure chamber and a second axial end portion disposed in a low pressure chamber. A spring is disposed in the low pressure chamber for urging the movable sleeve toward the first pressure chamber side. The movable sleeve is movable relative to the valve spool in response to a variation of pressure in the first pressure chamber for varying the opening area of the port portion of the drain passage.

Flow control valve

A gear train of a rear wheel steering arrangement for an automotive vehicle includes a worm gear which is driven by a motor to steer rear wheels. The worm gear is designed to exhibit a reverse rotation efficiency more than zero so that when reverse torque is transmitted from a worm wheel to a worm, the worm is allowed to rotate in a reverse direction.

Gear train arrangement of rear wheel steering system for motor vehicle

A connecting arrangement for an automotive rear wheel steering unit is provided which is adapted for connecting an output shaft of a rear wheel steering gear train and a steering rod for steering rear wheels. The connecting arrangement includes a tapered portion formed on the output shaft, a tapered bore formed in the steering rod for receiving the tapered portion, and a fastener for locking the tapered portion of the output shaft to the tapered bore of the steering rod. With these arrangements, easy connecting operation is established with high mounting accuracy.

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Atsugi, Japan

Norihiro Saita