Denso Corporation

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Shinichi Okabe

Keiji Kanao

Akimitsu Sugiura

Masamichi Shibata

Tohru Yoshinaga

Tetsuya Miwa

Takayuki Inohara

Takanobu Aochi

Tsunenobu Hori

Hiroshi Yorita

Hitoshi Morita

Hideo Hasegawa

Tokio Kohama

Kiyohiko Watanabe

Takehiko Kato

Shota Kinoshita

Yasuyuki Kawabe

Yuya Abe

Kazuaki Takemura

Kaori Sakai

Kengo Takeuchi

Hiroaki Sakurai

Kaori Doi

Yoshihiro Nakase

Ken Hanashi

Fumiaki Aoki

Noriaki Nishio

Tatsushi Nakashima

Atsushi Iwami

Hideaki Kosuge

Kiyohito Watanabe

Akitmitsu Sugiura

Katsuhiko Arisawa

An information processing device includes a processor configured to detect whether or not a vehicle that is about to use a facility is under share ride by a plurality of persons, and permit the vehicle to use the facility or providing an economic merit associated with usage of the facility to the vehicle, when having detected that the vehicle is under share ride.

Information processing device and information processing method

A controller provided at an information processing apparatus is configured to acquire information indicating driving history regarding traveling of a vehicle, specify a traveling section having a distance equal to or longer than a predetermined distance, in which the vehicle repeatedly travels at a frequency equal to or higher than a predetermined frequency, on the basis of the information indicating the driving history, and send a notification to a driver of the vehicle for encouraging the driver to provide ride sharing using the vehicle in the specified traveling section.

Information processing apparatus and information processing method

An ignition apparatus for an internal combustion engine is provided which includes a state-of-discharge determiner working to determine whether a center and a ground electrode of a spark plug are electrically conducting with each other or insulated from each other. When the center and ground electrodes are determined to be conducted with each other, the ignition apparatus alters controlled conditions of a high-frequency power supply which supplies a high-frequency power to the spark plug so as to decrease an average of a primary voltage outputted from the high-frequency power supply to the spark plug, thereby reducing an actual current flowing between the center and ground electrodes of the spark plug. This eliminates the risk of mechanical wear of the center and ground electrodes which usually arises from the flow of high current between the center and ground electrodes, thus resulting in an increase in service life of the spark plug.

Ignition apparatus for internal combustion engine

An ignition device includes: an ignition plug producing plasma discharge between a pair of discharge electrodes of an ignition plug; an ignition coil provided with a primary coil and a secondary coil, the secondary coil applying voltage between the pair of discharge electrodes; a voltage applying unit applying alternating current voltage to the primary coil, a frequency of the alternating current voltage being set to produce voltage resonance in a circuit including the ignition plug and the secondary coil. The voltage applying unit sets an output period of the alternating current voltage to be longer than a first period at which a partial breakdown start to occur at the pair of discharge electrodes, and shorter than a second period at which a total breakdown occurs at the pair of discharge electrodes, when an air/fuel ratio is lower than a predetermined threshold.

Ignition device controlling streamer discharge and arc discharge

An ignition device includes a center electrode, a center dielectric covering the center electrode, a ground electrode disposed so as to form a discharge space with the center dielectric, and a high energy source for applying an AC voltage between the center electrode and the ground electrode to generate a streamer discharge. A distal end portion of the center electrode projects beyond a distal end of the ground electrode to an inside of the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine to make a dielectric discharge portion. The ground electrode is formed with an airflow inlet and en airflow outlet at a lateral portion thereof for enabling an in-cylinder airflow to be introduced into the discharge space. A distal end portion of the ground electrode projects radially inward to make a ground electrode projecting portion so that a discharge space narrow portion is formed with the dielectric discharge portion.

Ignition device

A spark plug for an internal combustion engine includes a ground electrode, an insulator held inside the ground electrode, and a center electrode held inside the insulator. When a segment of a line extending in a plug radial direction to connect an arbitrary start point on a surface of the ground electrode and an outer peripheral surface of the insulator is a line segment H, a point of intersection between the line segment H and the outer peripheral surface of the insulator is an intersection point K, a length of the line segment H is L, and an axial distance between the intersection point K and the distal end of the insulator is L, the ground electrode is provided on the surface thereof with a shortest discharge forming portion as the start point along a plug circumferential direction at which a value of (L+L) becomes minimum.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine that ensures stable and high ignitability when high frequency voltage is applied

A barrier discharge ignition apparatus has a tip end exposed to a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine and, when subjected to a high-frequency high-voltage AC burst, generates streamer discharges for igniting a fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber. A central electrode of the apparatus, covered by a dielectric layer and coaxially enclosed in a ground electrode, extends into the combustion chamber to a greater distance than the ground electrode. An electrode portion close to the tip end of the inner periphery of the ground electrode protrudes towards the dielectric layer, for creating a localized high-density electric field. The streamer discharges thereby enter both the to combustion chamber and also a discharge chamber of the ignition apparatus.

Barrier discharge ignition apparatus for internal combustion engine

A spark plugincludes a housing, an insulator, a center electrodeheld inside the insulatorsuch that a distal end portionprotrudes, a ground electrodeincluding a standing portionand an opposing portion, and a guide memberthat has a guide surfacefacing the standing portionof the ground electrodeand functions to guide a flow of an air-fuel mixture in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine to a spark discharge gap G formed between the center electrodeand the opposing portionof the ground electrode. The opposing portionof the ground electrodehas an opposing surfacethat opposes the center electrode, a back surfaceon the opposite axial side to the opposing surface, and a pair of side surfacesandthat connect the opposing surfaceand the back surface. Of the pair of side surfacesand, at least the side surfaceon the guide memberside is formed so as to make an obtuse angle with the opposing surface

Spark plug for internal combustion engine

An ignition system for an internal combustion engine includes a discharge portion of the center electrode in which a part thereof is surrounded by a bottom portion and a tubular tip portion of the center dielectric, the part of the discharge portion and the tubular tip portion are projected into a combustion chamber of the internal combustion engine from a substantially annular tip portion of the ground electrode that opens to the combustion chamber at a distal end of the ground electrode, a diameter-changing portion formed by reducing a diameter of a part of the tubular tip portion in a radial direction gradually as approaching toward a tip thereof, and a thin-walled portion formed by reducing a thickness of the tip of the tubular tip portion.

Ignition system

A spark plug for an internal combustion engine has a housing, an insulator, a center electrode, a ground electrode, and a tip projecting portion. The tip projecting portion has an air guiding surface. In the spark plug, when viewed from a plug axial direction, a straight line that connects the center, in the plug circumferential direction, of the erect portion of the ground electrode and a center point of the center electrode is a straight line. An extension line of the air guiding surface is a straight line. A distance between an intersection, between the straight line and the straight line, and the center point of the center electrode is a (positive towards the side moving away from the erect portion. An angle formed by the straight line and the straight line is b. A diameter of the housing is D. At this time, all of b&#x2267;&#x2212;67.8&#xd7;(a/D)+27.4, b&#x2266;&#x2212;123.7&#xd7;(a/D)+64.5, &#x2212;0.4&#x2266;(a/D)&#x2266;0.4, and 0&#xb0;&#x3c;b&#x2266;90&#xb0; are satisfied.

In an ignition device, a base section of a discharge chamber is formed by a part of a central dielectric body. A front section of a ground electrode and a front end section of the central dielectric body are projected toward a combustion chamber of a head cylinder of an internal combustion engine by a predetermined height which is measured from a top ceiling wall of the head cylinder. The predetermined height of the front end section of the central dielectric body projected into the inside of the head cylinder is the same or higher than the predetermined height of the front end section of the ground electrode projected into the inside of the head cylinder. The predetermined height of the front end section of the ground electrode is within a range of 3 mm to 25 mm.

A spark plug for internal combustion engines is provided, where the spark plug includes a cylindrical housing, a cylindrical insulation porcelain part, a center electrode, and a ground electrode. The insulation porcelain is housed in the housing and the center electrode is held inside the insulation porcelain. The ground electrode protrudes from a top end portion of the housing. A spark discharge gap is left between the ground and center electrodes. Further, first to third projections are formed on the top end portion. The first projection is opposed to the ground electrode with the center electrode therebetween. The second projection is closer to the ground electrode than to the first projection. The third projection is closer to the first projection than to the ground electrode.

Spark plug for internal combustion engines

A spark plug for an internal combustion engine is provided which is equipped with a tip protrusion disposed on a top of a hollow cylindrical housing of the spark plug. The spark plug also includes a center electrode retained in a porcelain insulator disposed inside the housing and a ground electrode is joined to the housing so as to form a spark gap. The tip protrusion serves to direct a flow of gas to be ignited by a spark produced in the spark gap and is shaped to have a radial width extending in a radial direction of the housing and a circumferential width extending in a circumferential direction of the cylindrical housing. The radial width is greater than the circumferential width. This enhances the efficiency in guiding the flow of gas toward the spark gap.

Spark plug designed to ensure desired degree of ignitability of fuel

A spark plug for internal-combustion engines includes a housing, an insulator, a center electrode, and an earth electrode. A gas guiding sections equipped with slopes that slope inwardly as they approach toward a tip side from a circumference surface of the housing and guide surfaces that are disposed on both sides in a circumferential direction of the slopes are formed in a tip part of the housing. The gas guiding sections are formed in the circumferential direction within a 90-degree range measured relative to the center of the earth joint section, which is a junction of the housing and the earth electrode, in the circumferential direction. When the spark plug is mounted to the engine, it is constituted so that the gas guiding sections are projected into a combustion chamber.

Growing community of inventors

Aichi-ken, Japan

Shinichi Okabe