Nissan Motor Company Limited

Tetsuya Niikuni

Yasuhiko Kitajima

Masahiro Tsukamoto

Tadayuki Hatsuda

Makoto Iwashima

Kouichirou Yonekura

Tsutomu Tanimoto

A shock absorber has a function of transmitting electric power between sprung and unsprung electrical components. The shock absorber includes a pair of conductive elements. The conductive elements are coupled electrically to each other. One of the conductive elements is attached to the rod of the shock absorber. The other conductive element is mounted within the tube.

Shock absorber with a function of transmission of electric power between sprung and unsprung parts of a vehicle

A malfunction detection circuit that detects a cell malfunction alternately outputs the results of an overcharge detection executed during an overcharge detection period and the results of an over-discharge detection executed during an over-discharge detection period through time sharing based upon a clock signal. When the cell is in the normal range, the signal level of the signal output during the overcharge detection period is different from the signal level of the signal output during the over-discharge detection period. Thus, in the malfunction detection, the signal generated when an overcharge malfunction has occurred in the cell can be distinguished from the signal generated when an over-discharge malfunction has occurred in the cell.

Battery pack malfunction detection apparatus and battery pack malfunction detection method

A drive apparatus basically comprises left and right drive units each including at least a reduction gear, an electric motor without a permanent magnet, and a brake disc. Each of the left and right drive units is housed substantially within a rim of each of rear wheels which are driven wheels. A 4WD control unit is configured to control a pair of inverters to separately drive the electric motors when a vehicle speed is in a range between a standing start speed and a prescribed vehicle speed, and to stop driving the electric motors when the vehicle speed is equal to or greater than the prescribed vehicle speed to place the rear wheels in a driven state. Accordingly, a friction loss due to a cogging torque encountered in a conventional permanent magnet-type motor is eliminated, and a lightweight drive apparatus is obtained. Fuel efficiently is accordingly improved.

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Yokosuka, Japan

Tetsuya Niikuni