Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing, Inc.

Taehwa Lee

Hideo Iizuka

Xiaopeng Li

Ziqi Yu

Danil V Prokhorov

Ercan Mehmet Dede

Ryohei Tsuruta

Jae Seung Lee

Yuyang Song

Masaki Nakaoka

Shailesh N Joshi

Michael Paul Rowe

Umesh N Gandhi

Tsuyoshi Nomura

Takumi J Jinmon

Michio Yasunishi

Hiroshi Yoshimoto

Kenichi Yatsugi

Daniel Hashemi

A thermal diode includes: a dielectric enclosure having a top surface, a bottom surface, a first side, and a second side; a first Weyl semimetal nanoparticle disposed on the first side; a second Weyl semimetal nanoparticle disposed on the second side; a nanograting disposed on the bottom surface; and a voltage source configured to provide a voltage bias to the nanograting to suppress surface waves from the first Weyl semimetal nanoparticle to the second Weyl semimetal nanoparticle and to modify surface waves from the second Weyl semimetal nanoparticle to the first Weyl semimetal nanoparticle.

Nano thermal diode based on polarization control of nanoparticles on graphene nanograting

A sound-absorbing device includes a resonator. The resonator includes a flexible, tube-shaped resonator body having a first end, a second end, and a channel fluidically connecting the first end and the second end. The resonator body is wrapped completely around a hub of a vehicle wheel at least one time and is configured to absorb sound produced within a cavity of a tire of the vehicle wheel.

Sound-absorbing device for a vehicle wheel

Described are systems for absorbing flexural waves acting on a structure. In one example, the system includes a first resonator connected to a structure at a first location and a second resonator connected to the structure at a second location. The distance between the first location and the second location is based on a frequency of a flexural wave acting upon the structure and an orientation of the first resonator and the second resonator with respect to each other.

System for absorbing flexural waves acting upon a structure

A light-activated acoustic resonator and associated methods are described herein. One embodiment measures the level of ambient light in the environment of the light-activated acoustic resonator; causes a moveable member of an electromagnet disposed within a Helmholtz resonator of the light-activated acoustic resonator to be in an extended position that places the Helmholtz resonator in a first acoustic state, when the level of ambient light is less than a predetermined amount; and causes the moveable member to be in a retracted position that places the Helmholtz resonator in a second acoustic state different from the first acoustic state, when the level of ambient light is at least the predetermined amount.

Light-activated acoustic resonator and associated methods

Systems described herein relate to sensing pressure. In one arrangement, a pressure sensor is disclosed. The pressure sensor includes a circuit including a resistor, an inductor, and a capacitor. The circuit generates an electrical resonance. The resistor is an elastomer having a resistance and connected to an outer surface of an inflatable. The pressure sensor also includes a resonator connected to the circuit. The resonator generates a mechanical resonance coupling with the electrical resonance to create a detuning frequency having a sublinear dependence on the resistance of the elastomer. A pressure of the inflatable correlates with the detuning frequency.

Pressure sensor for an inflatable structure

A system and related method can self-adaptively absorb a flexural wave acting on a beam. The method includes the steps of receiving an input signal representing a frequency response of a flexural wave acting on the beam, determining a spring constant for absorbing the flexural wave based on the input signal, a damping value of a damper acting on the beam, and a mass value of a mass acting on the beam, and applying a spring constant voltage based on the spring constant to a piezoelectric device connected to the beam. The piezoelectric device has a variable spring value that varies based on the voltage applied to the piezoelectric device. The piezoelectric device's variable spring value is approximately equal to the spring constant value when the spring constant voltage is applied to the piezoelectric device.

Self-adaptive flexural wave absorbing system and related method

Embodiments described herein relate to a bi-functional thermal cooling system. The bi-functional thermal cooling system includes a first body, a second body, and a third body. The second body has a first plurality of Weyl semimetal nanostructures. The second body is spaced apart from the first body. The third body has a second plurality of Weyl semimetal nanostructures. The third body is spaced apart from the second body. The second body and the third body are each configured to independently rotate with respect to the first body to change an optical property of the first plurality of Weyl semimetal nanostructures of the second body and an optical property of the second plurality of Weyl semimetal nanostructures of the third body.

Bi-functional thermal cooling systems and methods thereof

Systems for magnetoacoustically transferring sound across an acoustic barrier include first and second acoustic resonators positioned on opposite sides of the barrier. Each of the first and second resonators includes an attached magnet. Via magnetic coupling between the magnets, an acoustic oscillation at the first resonator induces an oscillation of the same frequency at the second resonator. Thus sound waves absorbed at the first resonator are magnetically transferred across the barrier to the second resonator, from which they are emitted.

Magnetic coupling for sound transmission

A flexural wave absorber includes a metasurface with an inner portion, an outer portion, and a plurality of beam strips extending between the inner portion and the outer portion. The metasurface also includes a plurality of coupled resonators disposed on the plurality of beam strips. The plurality of coupled resonators can include a lossy resonator and a lossless resonator, two lossy resonators and a lossless resonator, or a lossy resonator and two lossless resonators. In addition, each of the plurality of beam strips can have multiple pairs of coupled resonators disposed thereon that work at or absorb different frequency ranges.

Flexural wave absorbers for wave and vibration isolation in thin walled structures

A sound absorbing device includes an acoustic resonator with an opening and at least one fabric layer extending across the opening. The at least one fabric layer includes reversible actuatable liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) fibers such that an average pore size of the at least one fabric layer increases with decreasing temperature and decreases with increasing temperature. The sound absorbing device also includes at least one of a heater configured to heat the at least one fabric layer such that the average pore size of the at least one fabric decreases and a cooler configured to cool the at least one fabric layer such that the average pore size of the at least one fabric increases. And in some variations a controller configured to command the heater to heat to the at least one fabric layer and command the cooler to cool the at least one fabric layer is included.

Sound absorbing devices and acoustic resonators decorated with fabric

Embodiments described herein relate a tunable heat transfer system. The tunable heat transfer system includes a controller, a first body, and a second body. The first body is communicatively coupled to the controller. The second body is communicatively coupled to the controller and spaced apart from the first body. The second body has a plurality of semimetal layers and a dielectric portion positioned between each of the plurality of semimetal layers. Each of the dielectric portions has a thickness to define a gap between each the plurality of semimetal layers in an expanded state and permitting each of the plurality of semimetal layers to abut each other in a contracted state. The controller is configured to change a near-field radiative heat transfer between the first body and the second body by changing the thickness of each of the dielectric portions between the expanded state and the contracted state.

Near-field radiative heat transfer systems and methods of use thereof

A flexural wave absorption system includes a base member connected to a beam that may be subject to flexural waves, an arm member, connected to the base, disposed substantially in parallel alignment with the beam, a mass member connected to a distal end of the arm member, a piezoelectric patch, connected to the arm member, that generates electricity in response to a flexural wave propagating through the beam, and a shunting circuit, connected to the piezoelectric patch, that dissipates electricity generated by the piezoelectric patch to absorb the flexural wave.

Systems and methods for adaptive flexural wave absorber

A device for canceling acoustic noise generated includes, in one example, an inlet channel configured to be fluidly connected to an inlet port of a pump and an outlet channel configured to be fluidly connected to an outlet port of the pump. The device also includes an inlet resonator and an outlet resonator, both having open ends and closed ends. The open ends of the inlet and outlet resonators are fluidly connected to the inlet and outlet channels, respectively. When in operation, the inlet and outlet resonators can cancel noise generated by the operation of the pump.

Device for canceling acoustic noise generated by a pump

A multi-mode heat transfer system includes an emitter device with an inner core surrounded by an outer core having an outer surface and an emission surface disposed on the outer surface. The emission surface includes a thermal metamaterial configured to direct heat from the inner core in at least two desired directions to an object other than the emitter device. The object can include a thermal receiver devices, for example two receiver devices and the emission surface can direct heat to two different receiver devices spaced apart from the emitter device.

Thermal metamaterials for directional emission in heat transfer systems

A device for superscattering a target acoustic wave may include a body having an outer surface, at least one resonator being defined within the body and extending to an opening defined within the outer surface and configured to cause the superscattering of the target acoustic wave impinging upon the body, and a motor connected to the body and configured to selectively rotate the body.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Taehwa Lee