Ngk Spark Plug Company, Limited

Yoshikuni Sato

Noboru Ishida

Takafumi Oshima

Daisuke Nakano

Takeo Sasanuma

Hideki Ishikawa

Hiroyuki Kameda

Daisuke Kasahara

Naofumi Yamamura

Keigo Banno

Takashi Yamamoto

Masashi Ando

Norihiko Nadanami

Satoshi Sugaya

Tatsuo Okumura

Yuichi Yamada

Toru Nakamura

Yasuhisa Kuzuya

Takaki Otsuka

Masashi Sakamoto

Nobuyuki Hotta

Kenji Nunome

Hisashi Sasaki

Takeshi Morita

Yasushi Sato

Hiroaki Yagi

Akihiro Yoshida

Takaki Ootuka

Shinji Kumazawa

Iwao Kunitomo

Satoru Toda

Morio Onoda

Yuki Mizuno

Takashi Yamomoto

Shunsuke Tamura

Katsuya Otake

Naohumi Yamamura

Hitoshi Nakano

A fuel cell including a pair of connectors (); a single cell () having an electrolyte layer () and electrode layers (); and current-collecting members () disposed between the electrode layers and the connectors, respectively. The current-collecting members () corresponding to at least the one electrode layer () has connector contact portions () in contact with connector (), cell contact portions () in contact with electrode layer (), connection portions () connecting corresponding connector contact portions () and cell contact portions (), and a spacer () disposed between connector contact portions () and cell contact portion (). An end of the spacer () located opposite the connection portions () protrudes from at least the ends of the cell contact portions () located opposite the connection portions () or the ends of the connector contact portions () located opposite the connection portions ().

Fuel cell and fuel cell stack

A fuel cell including a pair of connectors (); a single cell () having an electrolyte layer () and electrode layers (); and current-collecting members () disposed between the electrode layers and the connectors (), respectively. The current-collecting members () corresponding to at least the one electrode layer () has connector contact portions () in contact with the connector (), cell contact portions () in contact with the electrode layer (), connection portions () connecting corresponding connector contact portions () and cell contact portions (), and a spacer () disposed between the connector contact portions () and cell contact portion (). An end of the spacer () located opposite the connection portions () recedes from the ends of the cell contact portions () located opposite the connection portions () and from the ends of the connector contact portions () located opposite the connection portions ().

An ignition plug providing excellent ignition performance that can be maintained over a long period of time by restraining channeling. The ignition plug includes a ceramic insulator having an axial bore, a center electrode inserted into the axial bore, a metallic shell, and a ground electrode fixed to the metallic shell, and has a cavity defined by an inner circumferential surface of the axial bore and the forward end surface of the center electrode. The axial bore includes a first straight portion and a diameter-reducing portion. As viewed on a section which contains an axis (CL) of the ignition plug, a relational expression &#x3b1;&#x2267;10 is satisfied, where &#x3b1; (&#xb0;) is an acute angle formed by a straight line orthogonal to the axis (CL) and the outline of the diameter-reducing portion.

Plasma jet ignition plug

A plasma jet ignition plug including a wire-wound resistor for restraining the radiation of noise while allowing application of a sufficiently large current for generation of plasma to a spark discharge gap at the time of ignition. The wire-wound resistor having an inductance of 1 &#x3bc;H to 100 &#x3bc;H inclusive and a resistance of 1&#x3a9; or less, and is provided on at least one of a center electrode and a ground electrode. The wire-wound resistor restrains current which is generated by the influence of stray capacitance present in the plasma jet ignition plug, thereby reducing noise.

A plasma jet spark plug capable of preventing a channeling progress and having excellent heat conduction. The plasma jet spark plug comprised of: a ceramic insulator having a small diameter portion which assumes a linear shape in an axial direction, and a center electrode has an outer diameter increasing in the order of a frontmost portion, a step portion, a front end portion and a body portion.

Plasma jet spark plug

A current of sufficient size to form plasma at ignition of a plasma jet ignition plug flows to a spark discharge gap while suppressing noise occurrence. There is provided an ignition apparatus of a plasma jet ignition plug, which includes a resistor R, with one end connected to a diode Ddisposed between the plasma jet ignition plugand a high-voltage generation circuitand with the other end electrically connected to a center electrodeof the plasma jet ignition plug, and a capacitor C, with one end connected to the center electrodeof the plasma jet ignition plugand with the other end grounded.

Ignition apparatus of plasma jet ignition plug

A control system for controlling the ignition of a plasma-jet spark plug provided in an internal combustion engine senses an operating condition of the internal combustion engine, and determines an ignition mode of the plasma-jet spark plug in accordance with the sensed operating condition. The control system performs an ignition control of breaking down the insulation across a spark discharge gap by applying a first electric power to the plasma-jet spark plug, and producing plasma in the vicinity of the spark discharge gap by applying a second electric power to the spark discharge gap in a state of dielectric breakdown. The control system performs this ignition control according to the ignition mode determined as mentioned above.

Plasma jet ignition plug ignition control

A spark plug comprising a center electrode, a first noble metal tip joined to the center electrode, an insulator, a metallic shell, a ground electrode joined to the metallic shell and including an outer layer and an inner layer, and a second noble metal tip joined to the ground electrode by way of a melted portion, wherein in a cross section of the ground electrode, the protrusion height A of the second noble metal tip is 0.4mm or more, the ground electrode includes a substantially flat joining surface to which the second noble metal tip is joined and an outwardly curved surface, the inner layer has at the joining surface side a substantially flat surface or recessed surface, and the minimum distance F between the melted portion and the inner layer is 0.1mm or more.

Spark plug

A plasma jet spark plug for igniting an air-fuel mixture in a conventional combustion device such as an internal combustion engine.

A plasma jet ignition plug having high ignition performance and high durability. The plasma jet ignition plug comprises a center electrode wherein at least a front end portion including a front end surface of the center electrode contains an oxide of at least one of the rare earth elements in a total amount of 0.5% by mass to 10% by mass inclusive and tungsten (W) in an amount of 90% by mass or greater, or contains iridium (Ir) in an amount of 0.3% by mass to 3% by mass inclusive and W in an amount of 97% by mass or greater.

A plasma jet ignition plug including an insulator having an axial hole extending therethrough in the direction of an axis CL, a center electrode inserted into the axial hole, and a ground electrode disposed frontward of the front end of the insulator. The insulator has a cavity defined by the wall surface of the axial hole and the front end surface of the center electrode and opens frontward. The ground electrode has a through hole for establishing communication between the cavity and an ambient atmosphere. A front end portion of the center electrode is formed into a taper portion whose diameter reduces frontward in the direction of the axis CL. The outside diameter of a front end of the taper portion is smaller than the diameter of the through hole. The cavity has a substantially constant diameter with respect to the direction of the axis CL

Plasma-jet spark plug and ignition system

A spark plug having a center electrode; an insulator having an axial hole extending in the direction of an axis; a metallic shell; a ground electrode extending from a front end portion of the metallic shell; a center-electrode-side noble metal chip joined to a distal end surface of the center electrode; and a ground-electrode-side noble metal chip joined to a distal end surface of the ground electrode, the ground-electrode-side noble metal chip having a distal end surface facing toward a side surface portion of the center-electrode-side noble metal chip, and the ground electrode being bent at an angle that falls within a range of 120&#xb0; to 140&#xb0; inclusive.

Spark plug for internal combustion engine

A urea sensor includes a detecting portion which, in use, is immersed in a liquid accommodated in a urea solution tank for detecting the thermal conductivity of the liquid to detect whether the liquid accommodated in the urea solution tank is an aqueous urea solution; and an enclosing member enclosing a periphery of the detecting portion and including one or more vents penetrating the enclosing member. At least one of the vents is a lower vent being of a configuration and size such that a first hypothetical circle having a diameter of not less than 3.5 mm can be wholly contained within the lower vent. At least a portion of the lower vent is positioned below the detecting portion when the urea sensor is positioned for installation in the urea solution tank.

Urea sensor

A sensor for detecting a state of liquid contained in a container comprising an outer tubular electrode made of an electrically conductive material, an inner electrode made of an electrically conductive material and disposed concentrically within the outer tubular electrode, a base end support member supporting base end portions of the outer tubular electrode and the inner electrode in a way as to provide insulation therebetween, and a leading end support member elastically supporting a leading end portion of the inner electrode on an inside of a leading end portion of the outer tubular electrode.

Liquid state detecting sensor

A plasma jet ignition plug capable of inhibiting occurrence of channeling while reducing removal of energy of plasma through a ground electrode at the time of emission of plasma. A ground electrode of a plasma jet ignition plug projects inward from a front end face of a metallic shell toward an opening end of a cavity which is open at a front end face of an insulator. A projecting distal end which forms a spark discharge gap between the same and a center electrode within a cavity is located inward, with respect to a diametral direction P orthogonal to an axis O, of a position which is located 0.5 mm radially outward from the opening end of the cavity.

Growing community of inventors

Nagoya, Japan

Yoshikuni Sato