The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 20, 2006
Filed:
Dec. 19, 2002
Masaki Ueno, Saitama-ken, JP;
Kei Machida, Saitama-ken, JP;
Tetsuo Endo, Saitama-ken, JP;
Hideharu Yamazaki, Saitama-ken, JP;
Masaki Ueno, Saitama-ken, JP;
Kei Machida, Saitama-ken, JP;
Tetsuo Endo, Saitama-ken, JP;
Hideharu Yamazaki, Saitama-ken, JP;
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A temperature control apparatus for a humidity sensor is provided for preventing impurities from sticking on a sensor element, while protecting the sensor element from cracking due to the humidity sensor heated by a heater in the presence of condensation, to maintain a high detection accuracy of the humidity sensor. The temperature control apparatus is configured to control the temperature of a sensor element of a humidity sensor disposed in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine for detecting the humidity within the exhaust passage. The temperature control apparatus comprises a heater for heating the sensor element, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the sensor element, and an ECU for controlling a heating amount of the heater to bring the detected temperature of the sensor element to a first predetermined temperature during an operation of the internal combustion engine.