Denso Corporation

Soichi Kinouchi

Takuto Kita

Yuusuke Yoshida

Hideyuki Mori

Makoto Otsubo

Tetsuo Hariu

Shinji Komatsu

Kiyoshi Kimura

Etsugo Yanagida

Takehiro Saito

Daisuke Hokuto

Hiroki Takahashi

Kenichi Tomomatsu

Shuhei Yamamoto

Tetsuji Yamanaka

Noriyuki Inagaki

Tadao Ikihara

Kenji Tada

Yuta Fujinaka

Yukihiro Honda

Akira Iwasaki

Nadir Syed

Rika Iwata

An accelerator device includes a pedal lever, a power transmission mechanism, and a control unit. The pedal lever is movable in response to a pedal depression operation, and is biased in a return direction by a pedal biasing member. The power transmission mechanism includes an actuator lever that is contactable with the pedal lever and is biased in the return direction of the pedal lever by an actuator lever biasing member, and is capable of applying a reaction force to the pedal lever, which is a force in the return direction by a driving force of a drive source via the actuator lever. The control unit controls energization of the drive source, and performs a brake control in which a return speed of the actuator lever is reduced when the pedal lever returns to a fully closed direction.

Accelerator device

An actuator is provided in an actuator housing. A lever is provided in the actuator housing, rotates by driving force from the actuator, contacts an arm that rotates together with the pedal, and is capable of imparting a reaction force to the pedal against a driver's depression force. A fixing member is formed so that a pedal housing and the actuator housing are fixed apart from each other, and are attachable to a vehicle. A positioning portion determines a contact position between an arm and the lever and between a rotation axis of the pedal and a rotation axis of the lever.

Reaction force imparting device

An accelerator device includes a pedal lever, a reaction force adjuster and a controller. The pedal lever operates according to a stepping operation. The reaction force adjuster is driven by an actuator, and is capable of adjusting a reaction force that is a force in a direction of pushing back the pedal lever. The controller includes a target operation amount setting unit and a drive control unit. The target operation amount setting unit sets a target operation amount, which is an operation amount of the pedal lever according to a vehicle speed. The drive control unit controls a drive of the actuator. The controller controls the reaction force according to the target operation amount so that the operation amount of the pedal lever is within a target range when switching from an automatic drive to a manual drive.

A pedal device comprises a brake pedal, an accelerator pedal, a support member and an adjusting device. The brake pedal is operated to be depressed by a leg of a passenger, and an operation amount of a depressing operation of the brake pedal is transmitted as an electrical signal. The accelerator pedal is operated to be depressed by a leg of the passenger, and an operation amount of a depressing operation of the accelerator pedal is transmitted as an electrical signal. The support member is connected with the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal, respectively, to support the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal in a rotatable manner. The adjusting device adjusts a position or a posture of the pedal unit including the brake pedal, the accelerator pedal, and the support member.

Pedal device

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever, a lock mechanism, an actuator, and an ECU. The pedal lever operates according to a step-on operation. The lock mechanism can restrict an operation of the pedal lever. The actuator switches between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is not restricted. The ECU includes a lock operation determination unit and an actuator control unit. The lock operation determination unit unlocks the pedal lever when an approaching object from behind is detected during a travel of a vehicle in the locked state.

Accelerator pedal system

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever configured to perform an operation in accordance with a step-on operation, a lock mechanism configured to restrict the operation of the pedal lever, and an actuator configured to switch between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is free from restriction by the lock mechanism. In the accelerator pedal system, a controller configured to change an energization amount to the actuator when a disturbance is detected during a vehicle traveling in the locked state. Thus, the lock state can be suitably controlled.

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever, a lock mechanism, an actuator, and an ECU. The lock mechanism can restrict the operation of the pedal lever. The actuator switches between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is not restricted. The ECU includes a lock operation determination unit and an actuator control unit. The lock operation determination unit resumes the locked state by the drive of the actuator after a release from the locked state due to the step-on operation of the pedal lever during the automatic drive control in the locked state, when (i) the automatic drive control is continued or (ii) a resuming of the automatic drive control is detected.

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever, a lock mechanism, an actuator, and an ECU. The pedal lever operates in accordance with a step-on operation. The lock mechanism is capable of restricting the operation of the pedal lever. The lock mechanism can switch a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is free from restriction by the lock mechanism. The ECU includes a locking operation determination unit, an actuator control unit, and an information acquisition unit. The locking operation determination unit determines switching of a locking operation by the lock mechanism. The actuator control unit controls a driving operation of an actuator. The locking operation determination unit locks the pedal lever when the vehicle is traveling on a specific position in an automatic driving mode.

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever, a lock mechanism, an actuator, and an ECU. The pedal lever operates according to a step-on operation. The lock mechanism can restrict an operation of the pedal lever. The actuator switches between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is not restricted. The ECU includes an actuator control unit and a vehicle drive force control unit. The actuator control unit controls a drive of the actuator. When, during a travel of a vehicle in the locked state, (i) a disturbance is detected and (ii) the locked state is released, the vehicle drive control unit suppresses a vehicle drive force according to an opening degree of the pedal lever than a no disturbance situation.

An accelerator pedal system includes a pedal lever that performs an operation in accordance with a step-on operation, a lock mechanism configured to restrict the operation of the pedal lever, and an actuator configured to switch between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is not restricted by the lock mechanism. A controller includes a locking operation determination unit that determines switching of a locking operation by the lock mechanism, an actuator control unit that controls a driving operation of the actuator, and an information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle speed information. The locking operation determination unit locks the pedal lever when a vehicle is traveling in an automatic driving mode and when a vehicle speed is equal to or more than an activation-determination lower limit value.

A drive-side rotor is rotated synchronously with a crankshaft. A driven-side rotor is rotated integrally with a camshaft. An internal gear section is formed at the driven-side rotor. An Oldham coupling includes: a driven Oldham flange that is formed at the drive-side rotor; a drive Oldham flange that is formed at the planetary rotor; and an Oldham intermediate that is configured to synchronize rotation of the driven Oldham flange and rotation of the drive Oldham flange while permitting eccentricity between the driven Oldham flange and the drive Oldham flange. There is satisfied a relationship of &#x3b8;where: &#x3b8;is a maximum tilt amount of the planetary rotor relative to the driven Oldham flange; and &#x3b8;is a maximum tilt amount of the planetary rotor in a clearance formed at the Oldham coupling.

Valve timing adjustment device

An Oldham coupling includes: a driven Oldham flange that is formed at a drive-side rotor; a drive Oldham flange that is formed at a planetary rotor; and an Oldham intermediate that is configured to synchronize rotation of the driven Oldham flange and rotation of the drive Oldham flange. A thrust section is formed at a rotor plate portion which is a portion other than the Oldham coupling. The thrust section is configured to limit tilting of the planetary rotor relative to the driven Oldham flange when the thrust section contacts the planetary rotor in an axial direction. There is satisfied a relationship of &#x3b8;2&#x3e;&#x3b8;1 where: &#x3b8;1 is a maximum tilt amount of the planetary rotor relative to the driven Oldham flange; and &#x3b8;2 is a maximum tilt amount of the planetary rotor in a clearance formed at the Oldham coupling.

A valve timing adjustment device includes: a first rotatable body that is rotated about a rotational axis synchronously with one of a drive shaft and a driven shaft of an engine; and a second rotatable body that is rotated about the rotational axis synchronously with the other one of the drive shaft and the driven shaft. The first rotatable body includes: a fastening portion, a slide portion and a bearing portion. The fastening portion is fastened to the one of the drive shaft and the driven shaft. The bearing portion includes an outer peripheral surface that is opposed to an inner peripheral surface of the second rotatable body, and the bearing portion rotatably supports the second rotatable body. The fastening portion projects on one axial side of the slide portion and the bearing portion in an axial direction toward the one of the drive shaft and the driven shaft.

A driving rotor is configured to rotate about a rotational shaft center in conjunction with a crankshaft. A driven rotor is configured to rotate about the rotational shaft center in conjunction with the camshaft. A deceleration mechanism is configured to change a relative rotational phase between the driving rotor and the driven rotor by using a driving force of an electric motor. The deceleration mechanism includes an internal gear portion, which includes an internal tooth extending radially inward, and an external gear portion, which includes an external tooth extending radially outward and engaging with the internal tooth. A linear expansion coefficient of the external gear portion is greater than a linear expansion coefficient of the internal gear portion.

Valve timing adjusting device

Each of an external tooth-bottom surface and an external bottom-side contact surface has a cross-sectional shape formed by a hypocycloid curved line. An external front-side contact surface has a cross-sectional shape formed by an epicycloid curved line. An external tooth-front surface is formed at a radial-inside position of a reference epicycloid curved line, that is, a position closer to a first pitch circle of an external gear. A possible contact between a tooth-front portion of the external gear and a tooth-front portion of an internal gear can be avoided. A connecting point between the external tooth-front surface and the external front-side contact surface is located at such a position that a contact surface length of an external tooth-contact surface is larger than twenty percent of a total tooth surface of the external gear.

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Kariya, Japan

Soichi Kinouchi