Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Nec Home Electronics, Inc.

Takushi Matsuto

Atsuo Ota

Tsutomu Hayashi

Osamu Suzuki

Yoshihiro Nakajima

Kazuhiko Nakamura

Tatsuo Hayashi

Kaoru Wachigai

Mitsuru Saito

Chiaki Kumagai

Nobuyuki Yakigaya

Takeshi Sakurai

Kenji Sakakibara

Keishin Tanaka

Atsuo Hojo

Masatoshi Suzuki

Toshio Yamamoto

Toshio Shimada

Keiichiro Niizuma

Kiyoshi Katahira

Yoshinobu Tateshima

Naoto Hara

Ryo Kubota

Katsumi Yamazaki

Tetsuya Ichikawa

Akinori Akai

A piston slidably fitted in a cylinder is connected to an auxiliary piston slidably fitted in an auxiliary cylinder coaxial with the cylinder through a first connecting rod. The left and right crankshaft halves are disposed outside of a piston sliding range of the cylinder with respect to the radial direction thereof. The increase of the volume of a combustion chamber corresponding to the increase of the crank angle with reference to top dead center of the piston is suppressed, and it is therefore possible to enhance the equal volume degree at the time of combustion of a mixture gas and to enhance thermal efficiency. This arrangement also enhances thermal efficiency, and simplifies the structures of intake systems and valve mechanisms when employed in horizontally opposed type internal combustion engine.

Internal combustion engine

In a motorcycle power unit, a crank shaft (,) and a clutch shaft (,) disposed on the right side (in the figure) from a body center (,) and a cylinder head (,H) is disposed on the left side from the body center (,). Since the crank shaft, the clutch shaft and a transmission shaft are disposed on one of right and left sides with respect to the body center and the cylinder is disposed on the other side with respect to the body center, it becomes possible to make a favorable lateral balance of the power unit.

Power unit arrangement structure for motorcycle

Motorcycle with hybrid drive system

To provide a compact water-cooled four cycle engine suitable for a hybrid type power unit. The tension of a belt is increased by loosening bolts, turning an eccentric tube fitting, and moving a common pulley. After the tension of the belt is thus adjusted, the bolts are fastened. A water pump, which is supported by a shaft portion fitted in a guide groove and by the two bolts, are not moved except for the step of adjusting the tension of the belt 122. Since the tensioner serves as the pump pulley, it is possible to reduce the number of pulleys and hence to simplify the layout of the pulleys and reduce the number of parts. In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a thermostat is mounted in a water jacket near an intake port of a cylinder head and is covered with an intake manifold. It is therefore unnecessary to provide a case and a lid for mounting the thermostat.

Water-cooled four cycle engine

To provide a power unit less affected by the length of the cylinder of an engine. A cam shaft drive mechanism is composed of a cam shaft drive pulley, a belt, a pair of cam shaft pulleys, and a tensioner disposed on the front surface of a power unit. Since the cylinder is disposed in the width direction of the vehicular body with its cylinder axis substantially in the horizontal direction (for example, a tilt angle .alpha. with respect to the ground is set at +10), the center of gravity of the vehicle is lowered and also the cylinder length can be set within the vehicular width. This increases the degree of design of the vehicle.

Power unit for motorcycle

The ABS is provided with a modulator, and when the ABS is activated, control of the caliper pressure by the driver, is modified by the operation of the modulator having the aforementioned inlet valve (normally closed to a pressurized fluid source) and aforementioned outlet valve (normally open to a fluid exit), both controlled by the above-described control logic circuit. The modulator increases or decreases the caliper pressure, in response to changes in the pressurized fluid, regulated by such valves. Depending on the operation of the control logic circuit described above, three events may occur. When the inlet and outlet valves are not operated (i.e. their normal state), the modulator releases pressurized fluid through the output valve, and increases caliper pressure, to increase braking up to a predetermined maximum. If only the outlet valve is operated (i.e. both the inlet and outlet valves are closed), the modulator remains in a constant state and likewise, the caliper pressure is kept constant. If both the inlet and outlet valves are operated (i.e. opened and closed respectively), then in response to the increased pressurized fluid, the modulator effects a decrease in caliper pressure to reduce braking. The above is summarized in FIG. 2. Thus it is seen that the brake control is effected by setting a threshold value for each of the slip ratio .lambda. and the acceleration/deceleration .alpha., and determining whether the actual state of each wheel (i.e. .lambda.and .alpha.), is at their respective threshold value or above (less). It is thus necessary to set processing times as short as possible to improve the operating speed of an actuator which executes the process referred to above. However, there are limitations on the operating speed of the actuator, and an improvement is actually difficult to achieve. In another prior art system, the modulator comprises an input hydraulic chamber which communicates with a master cylinder, for

Method of and system for controlling brakes

A method and apparatus for controlling brakes using a reciprocating cut valve actuated by an expander piston that is moved via a crank pin on a crank shaft. The cut valve cuts off caliper pressure and adjusts the volume and pressure of an output hydraulic chamber to effectuate antilock braking. When changing from antilock braking to normal braking, the movement of the expander piston is controlled by repeatedly changing a crank angle of the crank pin during specified time intervals. The rate of increase in caliper pressure can be set according to (1) detected brake operation which is detected from a present crank angle and a target crank angle and (2) the frictional state of the road surface which is estimated from vehicle acceleration/deceleration.

The liquid pressure controller includes an operating piston directly operated by a mechanical member such as a brake or clutch. An acting piston is connectable to the operating piston and directly acts for producing a liquid pressure of a portion to be operated. A liquid pressure controller connects the acting piston to the operating piston or releases the connection and actuates only the acting piston.

Liquid pressure controller

A system for monitoring and controlling a running condition of a motor vehicle such as a motorcycle has a wheel speed sensor and first and second CPUs. The first and second CPUs effect in a first mode, i.e., when an anti-lock brake control mode is not effected, the same calculations to produce calculated data to monitor the running condition of the motor vehicle, and compare the calculated data from each other to check the effected calculations. In a second mode, i.e., when the anti-lock brake control mode is effected, the first CPU continues the calculations to produce calculated data to monitor the running condition of the motor vehicle, and the second CPU performs an auxiliary controlling function for controlling the running condition of the motor vehicle by controlling a brake mechanism in the anti-lock brake control mode.

System for monitoring and controlling motor vehicle running condition

A method of and an apparatus for estimating a vehicle velocity, which are suitable for use in a vehicle. Velocities of drive wheels and follower wheels of the vehicle are determined and the fastest one of the so-determined velocities is selected. The velocity of the vehicle is estimated based on the fastest wheel velocity thus selected. The above respective processes are repeatedly executed at given time intervals. Thus, when the estimated vehicle velocity is faster than each of the velocities of the follower wheels and lower than the fastest wheel velocity, the estimated vehicle velocity determined immediately before the above estimating process is set as a desired estimated vehicle velocity. Accordingly, a high-accuracy estimated vehicle velocity corresponding to an actual vehicle velocity can be obtained, thereby making it possible to control brakes and driving forces with high accuracy using the estimated vehicle velocity.

Method of estimating vehicle velocity and method of and system for

Disclosed herein is a method of and a system for controlling brakes. In the brake control system, grounding loads on front and rear wheels are determined and a correction value for the braking of a predetermined wheel is computed based on the grounding loads thus determined. A braking force is determined inclusive of the computed correction value. A correction value for the braking of the front wheel is computed based on the determined grounding loads. Thus, the optimum brake control can be made without being affected by a variation in the distribution of the loads of the front and rear wheels relative to the ground.

Disclosed is a method of and a system for controlling antilocking brakes employed in a vehicle such as a motorcycle. The position of an expander piston which constitutes an antilocking modulator is detected and the torque of a rotative drive source for actuating the expander piston is detected. A braking force used for each of the brakes is then computed from the detected position of the expander piston and the detected torque of the rotative drive source at the detected position. Further, friction coefficients of a road surface are estimated from the braking force thus computed and a target slip ratio is estimated from the estimated friction coefficients so as to carry out the optimum braking. Accordingly, the optimum target slip ratio can be estimated depending on high and low .mu. roads, thereby making it possible to provide satisfactory braking.

A power transmission system comprises a hydrostatic continuously variable transmission constituted by integrally and coaxially coupling a pump cylinder of a swashplate type hydraulic pump with a motor cylinder of a swashplate type hydraulic motor. The transmission is rotatably supported at its opposite ends on a bearing. A first transmission device connected to an engine is connected to an input member of the pump from one side of the transmission, and a second transmission device connected to a load member is connected to an output member of the pump on the radially opposite side of the transmission. The first and second transmission devices are disposed adjacent each other near one end of the continuously variable transmission. This permits the points of action of loads on the input and output members from the first and second transmission devices to be placed in close vicinity to each other, thereby reducing the swinging moment and the flexing moment acting on the transmission due to these loads.

Power transmission system

In a hydrostatic continuously variable transmission, a pump cylinder of a swashplate type hydraulic pump is integrally and coaxially coupled with a motor cylinder of a swashplate type hydraulic motor. A number of distributor valves are radially arranged for reciprocal movement between radially inner and outer positions to put a large number of pump ports in the hydraulic pump into communication with the higher and lower pressure oil passages, and an eccentric ring circumscribed about the distributor valves is connected to an input member of the hydraulic pump for movement between a clutch OFF position and a clutch ON position. A clutch spring is connected to the eccentric ring for biasing the eccentric ring toward the clutch OFF position, and a weight is added to the eccentric ring and adapted to exhibit a centrifugal force for moving the eccentric ring toward the clutch ON position against a spring force of the clutch spring.

Hydrostatic continuously variable transmission

In a motorcycle with a pair of left and right steps mounted in a projecting manner on a lower portion of a vehicle body, a pair of left and right brake pedals capable of independently operating the rear wheel brake are pivoted on the vehicle body in close vicinity to the left and right steps, respectively. When a driver turns the motorcycle in either left or right direction with his one foot being placed on the ground, the driver can operate the rear wheel brake using the opposite foot.

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Wako, Japan

Takushi Matsuto