Denso Corporation

Nippon Soken, Inc.

Shinji Ando

Tsutomu Kamizono

Kazuyoshi Obayashi

Seiji Iyasu

Sadahisa Onimaru

Motohide Hisada

Shinichi Sugiyama

Toshioki Iwai

Kenji Takeda

Masahiro Taguchi

Shigetoshi Fukaya

Shingo Wanami

Yasuyuki Wakahara

Koji Wato

Kuniaki Nito

A terminal cover includes a cover body equipped with a curved portion and a base portion. The curved portion has formed therein a pair of claws diametrically opposed to each other. The claws are arranged at an interval away from each other. The interval is selected to be smaller than the width of the terminal and increased by elastic deformation of the cover body arising from installation of a terminal in the terminal cover, so that the claws retain the terminal. This structure enables the terminal cover to be simple and small-sized and facilitates installation of the terminal in the terminal cover without being scraped by the terminal when inserted into the terminal cover.

Terminal cover

A terminal cover includes a lid and a cover body. The lid is rotatable around a hinge to open or close the cover body. An assembly of the cover body and the lid closed has a first side wall and a second side wall. A shoulder side wall that is at least one of the first and second side walls has a shoulder. The shoulder side wall is equipped with a first snap-fit and a second snap-fit. The first snap-fit is located closer to the hinge than the shoulder is, while the second snap-fit is located farther away from the hinge than the shoulder is. If the second snap-fit is undesirably unlocked, the shoulder serves to block transmission of resultant deflection of a portion of the shoulder side wall to the first snap-fit, thereby eliminating a risk that the first snap-fit may be accidently undone by the undesirable unlocking of the second snap-fit.

A charging device for a battery of a vehicle includes an insulation resistance detecting circuit, a charging circuit, a leak current detecting circuit and a decoupling circuit. The insulation resistance detecting circuit includes a coupling capacitor, and is disposed between the battery and a vehicle body for detecting an insulation resistance between the battery and the vehicle body. The charging circuit converts an alternating current supplied from an alternating current source into a direct current and charges the battery in a state without insulting the input terminal and the output terminal and in a state where the vehicle body is coupled to an earth. The leak current detecting circuit detects a leak current between the charging circuit and the earth. The decoupling circuit decouples the insulation resistance detecting circuit from one of the battery and the vehicle body during a charging of the battery.

Charging device

A power conversion apparatus includes: a bridge circuit between AC and DC ends; a converter circuit between the bridge circuit and the DC end; and a control device for the converter circuit. The converter circuit includes: first and second switches in series between terminals of the bridge circuit; third and fourth switches in series between terminals of the DC end; and a reactor between an intermediate point of the first and second switches and an intermediate point of the third and fourth switches. The control device includes: a first controller defining a part of a cycle of an AC voltage as a stop period and stopping switching the first and second switches during the stop period; and a second controller performing voltage/power factor correction controls over an entire cycle by switching the third and/or fourth switches.

Power conversion apparatus that provides power conversion between AC and DC power

An occupant sensing electrode is embedded in a seat. An empty seat capacitance reducing electrode is placed between the occupant sensing electrode and a seat frame of the seat in an opposed relationship to the occupant sensing electrode. A dielectric base film may be interposed between the occupant sensing electrode and the empty seat capacitance reducing electrode. The occupant sensing electrode may include a plurality of electrode portions. The electrode portions may include high potential electrode portions and low potential electrode portions.

Capacitance-based sensor and occupant sensing system

A passenger detection system for detecting a sitting of a passenger on a seat of a vehicle has a capacitive passenger detection electrode which is embedded in the seat to detect the sitting, a surface unit attached to an upper surface of the seat, a driving unit which applies a voltage between the passenger detection electrode and a vehicle GND, and a detection unit for detecting a capacitance between the passenger detection electrode and the vehicle GND. At least a covering portion of the surface unit is rendered electrically conductive. The passenger detection electrode is covered with the covering portion. Thus, a sitting of the seat can be substantially detected by the passenger detection system.

Passenger detection system

A rotation angle detecting device includes a columnar permanent magnet that has a generally ring-shaped cross-section and a pair of magnetic poles, a pair of semi-cylindrical yokes disposed in a circumferential direction opposite the permanent magnet, a rotary shaft fixed to the permanent magnet at a shifted rotation axis and a magnetic sensor disposed in one of circumferential gaps between the yokes. The rotation axis and the magnetic poles are arranged so that the magnetic flux density becomes maximum at portions of the yoke less than 90 degrees angled from the circumferential gap in which the magnetic sensor is disposed.

Rotation angle detecting device

A starter motor includes an intermediate gear engaging with and driven by a pinion connected to an output shaft of an electrical motor. The intermediate gear is coupled to the pinion by means of a retainer to be shifted in its axial direction together with the pinion. The intermediate gear engages with a ring gear of an engine to crank up the engine when it is shifted in the axial direction. The retainer is connected to a pinion boss by forcibly enlarging a resilient opening of its groove, and the resilient opening recovers its original position after the retainer is connected to the pinion boss. In this manner, the retainer is prevented from dropping off from the pinion boss during an assembling process of the starter motor. The retainer is made of resin to have an enough thickness to secure a sufficient mechanical strength.

Growing community of inventors

Nukata-gun, Japan

Shinji Ando