Nippon Soken, Inc.

Nippondenso Co., Ltd.

Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Toshikazu Ina

Hisasi Kawai

Tokio Kohama

Hideki Obayashi

Takeshi Matsui

Takashi Shigematsu

Akira Nishimatsu

Hidetaka Nohira

Kiyoshi Kobashi

Seiichi Narita

Syuzaburou Tashiro

Daisaku Sawada

Akira Kuno

Setsuo Tokoro

Masahiro Taguchi

Sadahisa Onimaru

Satosi Kuwakado

Toshiaki Shimogawa

Kimitaka Saito

Osamu Nakano

Toshihiko Igashira

Kazuo Sakakibara

Syuzaburo Tashiro

Koji Imai

Seiko Abe

Shinichi Kiribayashi

Yasuhiko Ishida

Katsunori Ito

Ken Nomura

Yurio Nomura

Masayoshi Tokoro

Hiroyuki Aota

Takao Komoda

Koji Mori

Masakazu Yoshida

Makio Hamanishi

Naoki Ishii

Souichi Matsusita

Shigenori Asai

Naoki Kawai

A switch is disposed between a power source and an activating element for activating a passenger protection apparatus. The switch detects a vehicle collision and closes its contacts to supply activating current to the activating element. A capacitor is connected in parallel with the activating element in order to charge momentarily when the switch closes. In this manner, it is possible to activate the activating element accurately because the activating element continues to be supplied with activating current by means of the charging voltage of the capacitor, even when the switch only closes for a time which is insufficient to activate the activating element.

Activating device in a passenger protection apparatus

An internal combustion engine has a plurality of cylinders and intake passages leading to the cylinders respectively. A plurality of intake control valves block and unblock the intake passages respectively. Drive devices open and close the intake control valves mutually-independently. A detecting device serves to detect a predetermined condition of the engine under which a speed of the engine is required to vary. A control device performs a control of closing the intake control valves mutually-independently by use of the drive devices after the detecting device detects the predetermined condition of the engine.

Air intake control system for an internal combustion engine

An electric power transmitting device transmits electric energy from one coil to another coil through an inductive coupling therebetween. One of the coils has an end bent in the axial direction of the coil. When the other coil is to be inserted into said one coil, it can be inserted in not only the axial direction of said one coil, but also a direction transverse to the axial direction through the bent end of the coil. Said one of the coils is typically housed in a holder, and the other coil in the grip of a gun-shaped, hand-held bar-code scanner. When the grip is inserted into a groove defined in the holder, the coils are magnetically coupled to each other, thus providing an inductive coupling. The bar-code scanner can easily be placed on and removed from the holder.

Electric power transmitting device with inductive coupling

A road surface detecting device has a rotary sensor for detecting the passage of teeth formed in an outer surface of a circular plate at regular intervals, which is connected to an axle of a vehicle and rotates thereabout, and generates an output signal pulsing every time when said teeth pass the rotary sensor. The output signal is inputted to a microcomputer. The microcomputer calculates period variations of the pulsing output signal and an average value of a predetermined number of the period variations. When the average value is not less than a predetermined value, the road surface is determined as being in a bad condition and when the average value is less than the predetermined value, the road surface is determined as being in a good condition; when the average value is less than the predetermined value and the most recently calculating period variation is not less than a predetermined period variation, the road surface is determined as being a rough area on a good road.

Road surface detecting device for vehicle

A vehicle seat comprising a horizontal seat cushion, a support shaft projecting upward from the seat cushion, and a rotatable backrest secured on the support shaft. The vehicle seat further comprises a mechanism for regulating the rotational movement of the backrest, which can be controlled in response to a detected driving state of the vehicle. The backrest may be immovably retained at a normal position relative to the seat cushion during the usual forward driving, and allowed to rotate to a suitable position during a stop, reverse, or cornering of the vehicle.

Vehicle seat with rotatable backrest

A drive control device for a seat in a vehicle has a driver entry detection unit, a battery capacity detection unit, a seat drive unit, and a controlling circuit unit for generating a seat drive control signal. The controlling circuit unit has a function of deciding whether or not the capacity of the battery is lower than a predetermined reference value when an entry is detected by the entry detection unit, a function of prohibiting the driving of the seat when the decision of the battery capacity decision function is affirmative, and a function of effecting the driving of the seat when the decision of the battery capacity decision function is negative. The controlling circuit unit can provide a door opening degree monitoring function and a rear monitoring function.

Vehicle seat drive control device

A device for moving up and down and tilting a headrest of a vehicle seat having a driven shaft for moving the headrest up and down and a support member for tilting the headrest. The drive shaft is operatively connected to leg members fixed to the headrest, and provided in a backrest of the vehicle seat. The support member is provided below the driven shaft. A drive mechanism drives the driven shaft to move the headrest up and down relative to the backrest, and a tilting mechanism rotates the leg members about the support member to tilt the headrest to a back of the seat backrest.

Device for moving up and down and tilting a headrest of a vehicle seat

A road surface detecting device has a circular plate connected with an axle of a vehicle so as to be rotated with said axle, and has a large number of teeth at regular intervals in its outer periphery. A rotary sensor detecting the passage of the teeth of the circular plate, and generates a pulse signal, and a microcomputer receive the pulse signal. The microcomputer calculates instantaneous speeds of a wheel from the period of the pulse signal and calculates an average value of a plurality of instantaneous speeds obtained in the predetermined rotations of a wheel another average value of a plurality of instantaneous speeds obtained in the next predetermined rotations of a wheel is also calculated as a presumed speed of a vehicle based on one and another average values. The microcomputer then calculates an absolute value of a difference between the instantaneous speeds in the predetermined rotations after next of a wheel and the presumed speed of vehicle, cancels an absolute value of an oldest difference every time when an absolute value of a newest difference is obtained, and calculates a successive integrated value by adding absolute values of a predetermined number of differences to one another. The microcomputer determines the road surface condition to be a bad condition when the successive integrated value is not less than a predetermined value or as a good condition when the successive integrated value is not more than the predetermined value.

Road surface detecting device

In an apparatus for detecting abnormal variation of wheels of a vehicle, a plurality of rotation sensors detect variations in rotation speeds of a plurality of wheels during running of the vehicle. Detection signals produced from the plurality of rotation sensors are converted into arithmetic operation signals by means of a signal converter. An arithmetic operation processor is responsive to the arithmetic operation signals from the signal converter to compute rates of variations in the rotation speeds. The arithmetic operation processor also compares the computed rates of variations with each other to decide whether wheels exist which have a rate of variation abnormally deviating from rates of variations of the other wheels. An alarm unit is responsive to decision signals from the arithmetic operation processor to alert abnormality of the wheels having the abnormally deviating variation rate.

Apparatus for detecting abnormal variations of wheels of vehicle

The flow rate of intake air in an engine, engine speed, and automobile speed are detected. The speed-change ratio of a transmission is determined and adjusted in response to a signal which is proportional to the detected intake air flow rate and inversely proportional to the detected engine speed, and in response to the detected automobile speed.

Automatic transmission control system for an automobile

An automatic adjuster for automobile driver equipment, such as a seat and mirrors, which sets the equipment at target positions for specific drivers in accordance with preset data. The automatic adjuster includes a plurality of keys having a different number of holes therein representing information indicative of individual drivers and carried by drivers for automobile access, a key sensor mounted in a key cylinder of the automobile for reading information on the keys when used for access to the automobile; a door sensor mounted in a door of the automobile for sensing the opening and closing of the door of the automobile; a computer connected with the key sensor and the door sensor for providing control outputs in response to outputs of the key sensor and the door sensor, the control outputs being responsive to the output of the door sensor indicative of the opening and closing of the door, and to the output of the key sensor indicative of the information read by the door sensor, and an actuator connected with the computer for adjusting the driver equipment based on the control outputs from the computer in such a manner that a moving speed of the driver equipment is switched in accordance with the state of use of the driver equipment.

Automatic adjuster for automobile driver equipment

In an internal combustion engine, a plurality of engine rotational speeds are detected at predetermined timings for every firing stroke in one cylinder of the engine, and an engine speed variation is calculated as a variation between the square of one of the engine rotational speed and the square of another of the engine rotational speed. A process is performed upon the sequence of the engine speed variations, thus determining an engine combustion state by the processed result.

Method and apparatus for detecting combustion variations in internal

Apparatus for controlling a plurality of power seats in a vehicle includes a plurality of power seats, each having adjusting mechanisms for configuring the power seat in a number of different operational states. Operational state detectors then detect the operational state of each power seat. A switching device is provided for adjusting the adjustment mechanisms of the power seats to a desired operational state. Control apparatus is responsive to signals output from the operation state detection devices and the switching device for controlling the adjustment mechanisms of the power seats. The control apparatus causes each power seat to reach its desired operational state in response to the detected operational state of that seat and other power seats to prevent interference among the plurality of moving power seats.

Device for controlling power seats in vehicle

A torque detector for detecting a torque applied to a torque transmission shaft which is connected to a load such as a wheel of an automobile. A first rotating body is connected to one end of a driving shaft of an engine coaxially, and an annular second rotating body is disposed around a boss which projects from the center of the first rotating body so as to be coaxial and parallel with the first rotating body. An elastic member connects the inner peripheral portion of the second rotating body to the boss in the radial direction. The angular phase difference between the first and the second rotating bodies which occurs due to the deformation of the elastic member is detected, and torque is calculated from the obtained angular phase difference.

Torque detector

A plurality of electrical devices are controlled by a single operation switch. A transfer switch selectively connects the operation switch with one of the electrical devices. When a push button switch is actuated, the connection of the transfer switch is controlled so as to connect the operation switch with another of the electrical devices for a predetermined period of time.

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Nagoya, Japan

Toshikazu Ina