Hitachi, Ltd.

Nissan Motor Company Limited

Hitachi Automotive Engineering Co., Ltd.

Shizuhisa Watanabe

Shotaro Naito

Rintaro Minamitani

Masahiro Komachiya

Keiichi Tokuyama

Tatsunori Sakaguchi

Kazuhiko Sato

Kiyoshi Miura

Seiji Suda

Takao Miwa

Seiji Asano

Atsushi Sakagami

Shigeru Oho

Akio Yasukawa

Kozo Katogi

Toshio Furuhashi

Hisao Sonobe

Osamu Igarashi

Yuichi Kashimura

Mitsuhiro Masuda

Masaru Kugo

Kazumasa Sugiura

Takayuki Fumino

An optical fiber comprising an optical fiber main body and a coat formed therearound and made from a polyimide resin obtained by using as an acid component a tetracarboxylic dianhydride having at least two benzene rings fused or bound directly or via an oxygen atom has excellent resistance to high temperature and high humidity and adhesiveness to the optical fiber main body, and useful in a sensing part in a fiber-optic sensing system comprising at least one sensing part and signal transmitting paths.

Optical fiber and fiber-optic sensing system using the same

An on-vehicle fiber-optic cylinder pressure sensor capable of detecting the pressure within a combustion chamber with precision has an optical fiber capable of converting a change in the pressure within a combustion chamber received on its outer surface on an engine gasket into a change in the light quantity passing therethrough. A light emitting device for emitting the passed-through light; a photosenses or senses the passed-through light of which the light quantity has been changed. A converter converts the light quantity of the passed-through light into an electric signal. A reference pressure setting apparatus sets a reference electric signal. A signal processor includes an apparatus for watching a corresponding reference electric signal to the reference electric signal included in the detected electric signal.

Fiber-optic cylinder pressure sensor

A cylinder pressure sensor is adapted to detect a cylinder pressure by detecting a change in the amount of light being transmitted through an optical fiber in an axial direction. Two support portions support the optical fiber at two points along the length thereof. A diaphragm in contact with the optical fiber causes bending of the optical fiber in dependence upon a change in the cylinder pressure. The position at which a force is applied against the optical fiber by the diaphragm is deviated from a center position between the two support portions. The resulting cylinder pressure sensor is capable of accurately measuring cylinder pressure and knocking over a long period of time with a low cost and reduced initial variations.

Cylinder pressure sensor

In an automobile multiplex data communication system (1000), a fail-safe function is established without providing a specific function switch. The automobile multiplex data communication system (1000) includes: transmission means (3:11:101:901) for transmitting operation data about a plurality of operation units (2a:106:204:704) provided with a plurality of terminal units (1a:202:602:902) corresponding thereto, which are required to operate an automobile; drive means (4:420) for driving a relevant terminal unit (1a:202:602:902) in response to said operation data; detecting means (5:410) for detecting an extraordinary state concerning transmission/reception operations of said operation data to produce an extraordinary-state detection signal; and control means (6:12) for independently controlling the operation of said relevant terminal unit (1a:202:602:902) by AND-gating said extraordinary-state detection signal and each of operation outputs derived from said operation units.

Automobile multiplex data communication system including fail-safe

A system and method for load sharing processing operations between a vehicle mounted station (105) and a stationary base station (25) having a large capacity host computer is described. The vehicle mounted station has detectors for determining operating conditions of a vehicle and controllers (3, 4, 501) for varying the operating conditions. The controllers are connected to a transmitter-receiver (5) which is arranged to communicate over a path (10) with a transmitter-receiver (11) of the base station. The base station has a host computer (18) having a large memory capacity. At predetermined intervals, for example, distance of travel or at engine stop, the vehicle transmitter (5) transmits operating conditions to the base receiver (11) for data processing and the base transmitter (11) then transmits processed data back to the vehicle receiver (5), whereupon the controllers (3, 4, 501) modify the vehicle operating conditions. The vehicle operating conditions may be an indication of life expectancy of fuel injectors or sensors, updating data processing maps. The presence of abnormal operating conditions may be detected by the vehicle mounted station, evaluated by the base station and an emergency warning indication provided back to the vehicle mounted station, or if the abnormal condition is not of an emergency nature then counter measures are transmitted from the base station to the vehicle mounted station.

System and method of load sharing control for automobile

An automatic transmission apparatus for vehicles include a continuously variable transmission of belt type, and a control unit supplied with a plurality of data relating to a vehicle. The control unit computes output data on the basis of the input data, and generates control signals for changing a pulley width of the continuously variable transmission of belt type, for changing an effective diameter of the pulley and for substantially continuously controlling the transmission ratio on the basis of the output data. The control unit comprises a control signal generator for deciding whether the vehicle is started or not and for generating a control signal to temporarily narrow the pulley width when it is decided that the vehicle is started.

Automatic transmission apparatus for vehicle

An electronic control apparatus for use in an automobile has a base of a good thermal conductivity having one side disposed in contact with engine cooling water. Semiconductor devices are disposed on the other side of the base so that the semiconductor devices are maintained at the temperature of the engine cooling water, whereby the influence of high ambient air temperature to the semiconductor devices is reduced.

Automotive liquid-cooled electronic control apparatus

In a circuit for driving a liquid crystal display element, during a latter half part of an indication renewal period a common electrode is supplied with lower maximum and higher minimum voltages than the maximum and minimum voltages supplied during a first half part of the indication renewal period, in order to enhance response speed of the liquid crystal display element.

Driving circuit for liquid crystal display

A vehicle trip computer for detecting the distance traveled by a vehicle and the amount of fuel remaining in the fuel tank and computing and displaying the capable travel distance of the vehicle through the desired computational operations in accordance with the detected data. During the initial period following the connection of the trip computer to the power source, the capable travel distance of the vehicle is computed by using a predetermined initial gas mileage in place of the computed gas mileage. Also, the trip computer does not replace the initial gas mileage with the computed actual gas mileage until the distance traveled by the vehicle exceeds a predetermined distance.

Trip computer for vehicles

Power source system for vehicular electronic device

In the operation of a control computer, an interruption takes place at constant intervals of time, and the driving periods of different kinds of accessory equipment are controlled by utilizing the number of times of interruption occurrence.

Method of controlling automobile equipment and control apparatus

In a display system having one comparator for comparing an input voltage signal with a reference voltage signal, the reference voltage signal is successively changed in accordance with a timing signal from a timing signal generator and the outputs corresponding to the respective reference voltages are applied to the associated display elements in synchronism with the timing signal so that the display elements are successively lit up.

Growing community of inventors

Katsuta, Japan

Shizuhisa Watanabe