Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Takashi Haga

Yuji Yasui

Shusuke Akazaki

Yoshihisa Iwaki

Masaki Ueno

Masahiro Sato

Hideharu Yamazaki

Tadashi Satoh

Kohei Hanada

Tetsuo Endo

Tadashi Sato

Yasuyuki Miyahara

Kei Machida

Kenji Abe

Ichiro Sakai

Shinichi Sakaguchi

Norihito Watanabe

Yusuke Tatara

Masanori Hayashi

Toru Yano

Go Shimizu

Kenichi Ohmori

Yoshinori Miyake

Eisuke Kimura

Yukihiko Suzaki

Masao Komine

Fumiyoshi Mizutani

Katsumi Saito

Takuji Yamamoto

Hidezo Umiyama

An opening-closing member including an outer panel that faces an outside of a vehicle body, and opening and closing a rear opening of the vehicle body in response to operation of an operation part arranged at a rear end part, the opening-closing member including a bracket member in the operation part, the bracket member including a bracket member body extending along a vehicle body front-rear direction, and a vertical wall extending in a vehicle body vertical direction from at least one end part of the bracket member body in the vehicle body front-rear direction, the vertical wall being fixed to an inner side of the outer panel.

Opening-closing member

A system for purifying exhaust gas generated by an internal combustion engine including a bypass branching out from the exhaust pipe downstream of a catalyst and merging to the exhaust pipe, an adsorber installed in the bypass, a bypass valve member which closes the bypass, and an EGR conduit connected to the bypass at one end and connected to the air intake system for recirculating the exhaust gas to the air intake system. The bypass valve member is opened for a period after engine startup to introduce the exhaust gas such that the adsorber installed in the bypass adsorbs the unburnt HC component in the exhaust gas. The adsorber adsorbs the HC component when the exhaust temperature rises and the adsorbed component is recirculated to the air intake system through the EGR conduit. In the system, the bypass valve is provided at or close to the branching point in the exhaust pipe and a chamber is provided close to the branching point such that the conduit is connected to the bypass at the one end in the chamber. The bypass valve member is combined with an exhaust pipe valve member as a combination valve such that when the bypass valve member closes the bypass, the exhaust pipe valve member opens the exhaust pipe. With the arrangement, the system can effectively prevent the exhaust pipe from being clogged even when a valve for closing a bypass is stuck in the closed position. At the same time, the system can provide a relatively short EGR conduit for recirculating unburnt HC component adsorbed from the adsorber and the adsorption and desorption are conducted optimally.A system for purifying exhaust gas generated by an internal combustion engine including a bypass branching out from the exhaust pipe downstream of a catalyst and merging to the exhaust pipe, an adsorber installed in the bypass, a bypass valve member which closes the bypass, and an EGR conduit connected to the bypass at one end and connected to the air intake system for recirculating the exhaust gas to the air intake system. The adsorber adsorbs the HC component in the exhaust gas when the exhaust gas temperature rises and the adsorbed component is recirculated to the air intake system through the EGR conduit. The bypass valve member is combined with an exhaust pipe vale member as a combination valve such that when the bypass valve member closes the bypass, the exhaust pipe valve member opens the exhaust pipe.

Exhaust gas purification system of internal combustion engine

A system for purifying exhaust gas generated by an internal combustion engine including a bypass branching out from the exhaust pipe downstream of a catalyst and merging to the exhaust pipe, an adsorber installed in the bypass, a bypass valve member which closes the bypass, and an EGR conduit connected to the bypass at one end and connected to the air intake system for recirculating the exhaust gas to the air intake system. The bypass valve member is opened for a period after engine startup to introduce the exhaust gas such that the adsorber installed in the bypass adsorbs the unburnt HC component in the exhaust gas. The adsorber adsorbs the HC component when the exhaust temperature rises and the adsorbed component is recirculated to the air intake system through the EGR conduit. In the system, the bypass valve is provided at or close to the branching point in the exhaust pipe and a chamber is provided close to the branching point such that the conduit is connected to the bypass at the one end in the chamber. The bypass valve member is combined with an exhaust pipe valve member as a combination valve such that when the bypass valve member closes the bypass, the exhaust pipe valve member opens the exhaust pipe. With the arrangement, the system can effectively prevent the exhaust pipe from being clogged even when a valve for closing a bypass is stuck in the closed position. At the same time, the system can provide a relatively short EGR conduit for recirculating unburnt HC component adsorbed from the adsorber and the adsorption and desorption are conducted optimally.

A drive system includes an output shaft of an engine connected to a sun gear of a planetary gear assembly. An electric motor is connected, via gears, to a carrier rotatably supporting a planetary pinion gear that rotates around the outer circumference of the sun gear while rotating on its axis in engagement with the sun gear. An input shaft of a STEPTRONIC&#x2122; transmission is connected to a ring gear that rotates in engagement with the planetary pinion gear. The drive system further includes an engine clutch directly coupling the output shaft of the engine to the ring gear, a ring gear brake that regulates the rotation of the ring gear, and a torque converter clutch and a torque converter for transmitting the driving force of the electric motor to an output shaft of the STEPTRONIC&#x2122; transmission.

Drive system

An exhaust gas purification system of an internal combustion engine having a bypass exhaust gas passage, openable through a switch-over valve, branched from an exhaust pipe at a location downstream of a catalytic converter and again merged into the exhaust pipe at a downstream point, an adsorbent installed in the bypass exhaust gas passage which adsorbs unburned component of the exhaust gas, and an EGR pipe which recirculates the exhaust gas including the unburned components at a location upstream of the catalytic converter, wherein the EGR pipe is made of metal such as stainless steel and is connected to the bypass exhaust gas passage such that the recirculation pipe is brought into thermal contact with the exhaust pipe, thereby enabling to effectively prevent blocking or corrosion of the EGR pipe or switch-over valve from occurring. The inner wall of the recirculation pipe is formed with liquid repellent and oil repellent film so as to overcome moisture-related problems more effectively.

A state determination apparatus for a humidity sensor is provided for accurately determining the state of the humidity sensor, including the responsibility, from a result detected by the sensor itself. The state determining apparatus is configured to determine a humidity sensor arranged in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine for detecting a humidity within an exhaust pipe. The apparatus comprises an ECU which determines whether or not the internal combustion engine is in a predetermined operating condition, calculates a change state parameter indicative of a change state of a value detected by the humidity sensor based on the detected value of the humidity sensor detected when the internal combustion engine is in the predetermined operating condition, and determines the state of the humidity sensor in accordance with the calculated change state parameter.

State determining apparatus for humidity sensor

A catalyst state detector for detecting a state of an exhaust gas purifying catalyst which is capable of accurately detecting the state, including deterioration, of an HC adsorbent contained in the exhaust gas purifying catalyst for adsorbing hydrocarbons in exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, and can be manufactured at a low cost. The exhaust gas purifying catalyst is arranged at an intermediate portion of an exhaust pipe, and the HC adsorbent is capable of adsorbing hydrocarbons and moisture in exhaust gases. The catalyst state detector comprises a downstream humidity sensor arranged at a location downstream of the HC adsorbent in the exhaust pipe for detecting a humidity of the exhaust gases, and an adsorbent state detecting unit (ECU) for detecting the state of the HC adsorbent in accordance with the result of detection made by the downstream humidity sensor.

Catalyst state detector for exhaust gas purifying catalyst

An adsorbent deterioration determining apparatus can accurately determine a deterioration of an adsorbent in a relatively simple configuration. The adsorbent deterioration determining apparatus determines a deterioration of an adsorbent arranged in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine for purifying exhaust gases. The adsorbent is capable of adsorbing hydrocarbons and moisture in exhaust gases. The adsorbent deterioration determining apparatus comprises a humidity sensor arranged at a location downstream of the adsorbent in the exhaust system for detecting the humidity of exhaust gases, and an ECU for determining a deterioration of the adsorbent in accordance with a detected output of the humidity sensor at the time a predetermined time has elapsed from a start of the internal combustion engine.

Adsorbent deterioration determining apparatus

An exhaust gas purification system of internal combustion engine having a branch pipe coupled to the exhaust pipe through a flange and having a first cylindrical case constituting a bypass exhaust gas passage and a second cylindrical case constituting a main exhaust gas passage, whose flow are switched by a switch-over valve by selectively connecting the exhaust pipe to the main exhaust gas passage or the bypass exhaust gas passage, and an adsorbent installed in the bypass exhaust gas passage for adsorbing unburned components of the exhaust gas. The unburned exhaust gas components are recirculated to the air intake system through an EGR pipe. In the system, an inlet of the EGR pipe is formed integrally with the branch pipe flange, thereby enabling to prevent increase in fabrication step and cost and further to facilitate maintenance. Moreover, the first cylindrical case is made displace relative to the second cylindrical case. This can prevent the deformation due to the thermal stress which could occur when they are different in temperature.

Exhaust gas purification system of internal combustion engines

There is provided a temperature control system for a humidity sensor, which is capable of eliminating impurities attached to a sensor element of the sensor efficiently and sufficiently while preventing the sensor element from being cracked due to heat generated by a heater in a state of condensation formed thereon, and suppressing attachment of impurities to the sensor element, thereby making it possible to preserve an excellent detection accuracy of the humidity sensor. The temperature control system controls the temperature of the sensor element of the humidity sensor arranged in an exhaust pipe for detecting humidity within the exhaust pipe. A heater heats the sensor element. The temperature of the sensor element is detected. When the detected temperature of the sensor element is higher than a predetermined temperature, said heater is operated.

Temperature control system for humidity sensor

There are provided an adsorption amount sensor which is capable of accurately detecting an amount of hydrocarbons or water adsorbed by a zeolite of a hydrocarbon adsorber, even during operation of an engine, as well as a coking sensor which is capable of accurately detecting an amount of coke deposition on inner surfaces of a pipe of an internal combustion engine, even during operation of an engine. The adsorption amount sensor has a plurality of electrodes arranged in the vicinity of the hydrocarbon adsorber in a manner opposed to each other and each carrying a zeolite thereon. The amount of hydrocarbons adsorbed is detected by using a parameter indicative of changes in at least one of a resistance value between the electrodes and an electrical capacitance between the electrodes. The coking sensor has a plurality of electrodes arranged within the pipe of the engine in a manner opposed to each other and each having a surface thereof coated with an insulating material. The amount of coke deposition is detected by using a parameter indicative of changes in at least one of a resistance value between the electrodes and an electrical capacitance between the electrodes.

Adsorption amount sensor and coking sensor for internal combustion engine

A failure determination device that detects the humidity of exhaust gases from an internal combustion engine and a control system for an exhaust passage changeover valve, which can switch the changeover valve with appropriate timing, thereby enabling sufficient purification of exhaust gases. An operating condition of the engine is detected. Based on the detected operating condition of the engine, it is determined whether the engine is in an operating condition in which failure determination of the humidity sensor can be executed. It is determined whether the humidity sensor has failed, based on a result of detection by the humidity sensor, when it has been judged that the failure determination of the humidity sensor can be executed.

Failure determination device for humidity sensor and control system for exhaust passage changeover valve

A system for purifying exhaust gas generated by an internal combustion engine having an adsorbent, installed in an exhaust system of the engine, which adsorbs unburned components of the exhaust gas such as hydrocarbons generated by the engine. The system has a first temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of the adsorbent and timer for measuring a time until the detected temperature becomes greater or equal to a predetermined value, when the measured time is less than a threshold value, it is discriminated that the adsorbent deteriorates. With this, the deterioration of the adsorbent can be discriminated accurately.

A system for detecting malfunctions of an exhaust switch-over valve of an internal combustion engine, which opens/closes a bypass exhaust gas passage branched from an exhaust pipe of the engine and storing an adsorbent that adsorbs unburned components of the exhaust gas generated by the engine when the engine is started. In the system, the entrance temperature and the exit temperature in the bypass exhaust gas passage are detected and compared with each other in a first detection period when the passage is opened and in a second detection period when the passage is closed. Based on this comparison, it is determined whether the valve malfunctions. Alternatively, the valve malfunction is determined by comparing the valve opening/closing state with an instruction to operate the valve. With this, little time lag exists in the detection, thereby improving malfunction detection accuracy.

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Wako, Japan

Takashi Haga