Patents by Inventor Yoshihiro Sukegawa

Yoshihiro Sukegawa has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20120191326
    Abstract: A control device for an internal combustion engine that is capable of easily switching between a stratified operation mode and a non-stratified operation mode is provided for a port injection spark ignition internal combustion engine. Injection directions in which sprayed fuel is injected from a fuel injection valve are defined nearer the center of a cylinder than the centers of two intake valves. Injection timing of the fuel injection valve is controlled by the stratified operation mode completing the fuel injection in the exhaust stroke, and the non-stratified operation mode completing the fuel injection in a range from a compression stroke to the exhaust stroke. The injection end timing of the fuel injection valve in the stratified operation mode is retarded from the injection end timing in the non-stratified operation mode, in which the fuel injection time is equal to or shorter than that in the stratified operation mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2012
    Publication date: July 26, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro SUKEGAWA, Tomoyuki Murakami, Masayuki Saruwatari, Kosuke Kanda
  • Patent number: 8229652
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a cylinder injection type internal combustion engine wherein the variable lift mechanism lessens the lift of the intake valve so as to set the time of opening the intake valve in a retarded angle position, in cold starting of the engine. The time of closing the exhaust valve is accordingly set in a retarded angle position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Natsui, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Yusuke Kihara
  • Patent number: 8224555
    Abstract: In an in-cylinder injection type spark ignition internal combustion engine in which the intake air amount is controlled by use of an intake valve or an exhaust valve, which is provided with mainly a variable valve mechanism, instable combustion during a low-load operation is avoided without an increase in pumping loss (without a decrease in the thermal efficiency). In the in-cylinder injection type spark ignition internal combustion engine, during low-load operation, on the basis of the cooling water temperature of the engine the opening and closing timing of the intake valve is controlled in a retard angle manner and the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve is controlled in an advance angle manner. Furthermore, the fuel injection timing is controlled in a retard angle manner on the basis of the retard angle amount of the intake valve opening and closing timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kengo Kumano, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Shiro Yamaoka
  • Publication number: 20120097126
    Abstract: In a direct injection gasoline engine, at acceleration operation, an amount of internal EGR is increased by advancing exhaust valve closing timing, and also fuel injection pressure is increased. In this case, range of increase in fuel injection pressure is determined on the basis of the exhaust valve closing timing at present.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 15, 2011
    Publication date: April 26, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kengo KUMANO, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Yusuke Kihara, Takashi Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20120097128
    Abstract: In a cylinder injection engine and a control device for the engine, for achieving both of the decrease of a particulate matter by suppression of fuel adhesion on the piston during fast idling of cold start and ignition retard fuel by stratification of a mixed gas around an ignition plug, a closing timing of a suction valve is set to a middle stage of a compression stroke in which a piston moving speed becomes maximum, while the furl adhesion to the piston is decreased by injecting the fuel for stratification onto the ignition plug in the vicinity of a piston bottom dead center, and when the piston is raised in the compression stroke, the mixed gas flows from a combustion chamber to a suction pipe to generate a rising flow, and by this rising flow, the mixed gas is stratified around the ignition plug.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 20, 2011
    Publication date: April 26, 2012
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yusuke Kihara, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Kengo Kumano, Takashi Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8078387
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a control apparatus for a spark-ignition engine that is capable of avoiding knocking at the time of high-load operation. With this control apparatus, a residual-gas suction unit or the like is not used, an exhaust gas does not deteriorate due to injection in a compression stroke, and a thermal efficiency also does not decrease. An engine control apparatus (ECU) 20 is used for the control of a direct-injection type spark-ignition engine. During the high-load operation of the spark-ignition engine, the ECU 20 injects fuel a plurality of times. In addition, the ECU performs first fuel injection toward internal EGR that exists in a combustion chamber of the spark-ignition engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kengo Kumano, Shiro Yamaoka, Hiromu Kakuya, Yoshihiro Sukegawa
  • Patent number: 8033714
    Abstract: A cylinder-shaped flow passage in which a first fluid flows includes an internal cylinder which is smaller in diameter than the flow passage. A swirl-generating stator having four vanes is radially fixed in the internal cylinder. A header space for supplying a second fluid is provided to the outer circumference of a wall surface of the internal cylinder in contact with flow separation areas which are formed along downstream surfaces of the swirl-generating stator as the first fluid runs into the swirl-generating stator. The wall surface of the internal cylinder is formed with openings through which the flow separation areas communicate with the header space. The second fluid supplied into the header space flows through the openings into the flow separation areas, and is diffused along the vanes of the swirl-generating stator to be swirled and mixed into the first fluid applied with swirling force by the swirl-generating stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2011
    Assignees: Hitachi High-Technologies Corporation, Babcock-Hitachi K.K.
    Inventors: Akira Nishioka, Kiyoshi Amou, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Yasunaga Hamada, Ikuhisa Hamada, Toshifumi Mukai, Yoshinori Taguchi, Hiroshi Yokota
  • Publication number: 20110226214
    Abstract: When a direct injection type internal combustion engine is in an operating state, a fuel is split and jetted into a cylinder of the internal combustion engine and split injections are performed in a manner to make a ratio of a piston travel and an injection pulse width of split injection constant in a cycle whereby a rich mixture is not locally generated and a mixture in a cylinder of the internal combustion engine is put in a condition near stoichiometry. Also, when the internal combustion engine is in cold condition, a fuel is split and jetted and split injections are performed so that the ratio of the piston travel and the injection pulse width of split injections monotonously increases in a cycle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 16, 2011
    Publication date: September 22, 2011
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenichiroh Ogata, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Kengo Kumano
  • Patent number: 7983832
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel injection control technique which maximizes engine power according to fuel evaporation characteristics. The fuel injection timing in the intake stroke is delayed according as a physical quantity affecting the fuel evaporation time changes such that the fuel evaporation time decreases. Further, the fuel injection timing when a physical quantity affecting the fuel evaporation time is such that the fuel evaporation time decreases is set closer to the end of the intake stroke than the fuel injection timing when the physical quantity is such that the fuel evaporation time increases. The fuel injection timing is controlled so as to maximize engine power according to fuel evaporation times.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Hiroshi Fujii
  • Publication number: 20110166768
    Abstract: A control device for an engine, capable of accurately estimating the quantity of exhaust heat from the engine and performing engine control which improves the exhaust quality and fuel consumption of the engine in various operating conditions thereof, by using the accurate extimated value of the quantity of exhaust heat. A control device for an engine is provided with an exhaust flow rate sensor for directly sensing the flow rate of exhaust gas discharged from the engine, an exhaust temperature estimating device for sensing or estimating the temperature of the exhaust gas discharged from the engine, and an exhaust heat quantity estimating device for estimating, based on an output of the exhaust flow rate sensor and an output of the exhaust temperature estimating device, the quantity of heat of the exhaust gas discharged from the engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2009
    Publication date: July 7, 2011
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shiro Yamaoka, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Noboru Tokuyasu, Hiroaki Hoshika, Daisuke Terada
  • Publication number: 20110155105
    Abstract: An injection control unit of a fuel is provided, which prevents generation of a nozzle deposit of a fuel injector. In a control unit of a fuel injector capable of controlling a lift height that is a distance between a valve body and a valve seat, after start of fuel injection and before end of the fuel injection, after the lift height is controlled to a first height, a period in which the lift height is controlled to a second height which is lower than the first height is provided for a predetermined period. According to such a configuration, when the lift height of the valve body is lowered to the second height after the fuel is injected at the first height, a fuel velocity in the vicinity of an inner wall of an injection port is increased due to an inertial force of the fuel and reduction in an opening area. By a fuel flow at a high velocity, a contamination substance adhering to a wall surface is washed away.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 21, 2010
    Publication date: June 30, 2011
    Applicant: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro SUKEGAWA, Takuya Shiraishi
  • Patent number: 7954373
    Abstract: There is provided a thermal type flow meter capable of accurately detecting a flow rate even when a fluid temperature varies rapidly or when the fluid temperature is high. A probe includes: a first main heating resistor; a second main heating resistor set at a temperature different from that of the first main heating resistor; and a sub-heating resistor for heating lead wires of the two main heating resistors. A CPU of a sensor control circuit finds a fluid temperature by using the two main heating resistors, and finds a fluid flow rate by using at least one of the two main heating resistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Noboru Tokuyasu, Hiroaki Hoshika, Shiro Yamaoka
  • Patent number: 7866306
    Abstract: A control apparatus of an EGR control valve has an EGR control valve has an exhaust gas recirculation passage to circulate exhaust gas of an combustion engine from an exhaust gas passage to an intake air passage. A measurement unit measures a flow rate of EGR gas flowing in the exhaust gas recirculation passage, and a controller receives an input from the measurement unit and closes the EGR control valve if the EGR-gas flow rate is smaller than a predetermined threshold value when the EGR gas is flowing from the exhaust side to the intake side of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2011
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Eiichiro Ohata, Shiro Yamaoka, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Hiroaki Hoshika, Kaori Kashio
  • Patent number: 7814785
    Abstract: A thermal flow meter corrects flow rate detection errors produced by vaporization of liquid phase components included in a gas to be measured. The thermal flow meter includes a correction circuit 500 that applies respectively different predetermined voltages to heating resistors consisting of first heating resistor Rh1 and second heating resistor Rh2 of a sensor element disposed in the gas to be measured to set a first temperature state and a second temperature state, calculates a first flow rate value Q1 of the gas to be measured in the first temperature state and a second flow rate value Q2 of the gas to be measured in the second temperature state, and calculates a flow rate correction value ?Q based on a ratio (Q1/Q2) between the first flow rate value and second flow rate value or a fourth-power value (Q1/Q2)4 of the ratio to correct a flow rate of the gas to be measured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Noboru Tokuyasu, Hiroaki Hoshika, Kaori Kashio
  • Patent number: 7770556
    Abstract: Improvement of combustion stability in retard ignition at the time of starting in a cold state, high output in a full throttle condition, reduction of smoke, and prevention of wear of the cylinder liner caused by oil dilution, are to be attained. In connection with the flow of fuel into each hole and a fuel inflow angle which is determined by the axis of each hole formed in a plate, the fuel inflow angle of an hole directed to a spark plug is set large to reduce an effective flow path area, thereby making the amount of fuel in the hole smaller than in other holes. A shallow cavity is formed in a piston crown face and a small prominence confronting fuel sprays is formed within the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yusuke Kihara, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Kenji Tsuchita, Sumie Tsuchita, legal representative, Hiroshi Fujii, Atsushi Sekine
  • Patent number: 7726187
    Abstract: A thermal type flow meter has a first heating resistor, a second heating resistor for blocking heat transfer from the first heating resistor to a console, a temperature measuring resistor interposed between the two heating resistors, and a controller for calculating a flow rate unrelated to temperatures of fluid from temperatures of the resistors and currents supplied to the heating resistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Noboru Tokuyasu, Hiroaki Hoshika
  • Patent number: 7725243
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to reduce an HC generated in a so-called fast idle period in which an engine and a catalyst are warmed up, stabilize a combustion and achieve an early activation of the catalyst, at a cold starting time of a cylinder injection type engine. In a control apparatus controlling a cylinder injection type internal combustion engine directly feeding a fuel into a combustion chamber by a fuel injection apparatus attached to a portion near an intake valve, the control apparatus controls the fuel injection apparatus so as to carry out an intake stroke injection, makes a lift amount of an intake valve smaller than a lift amount at a time of a high load, and controls such that an opening timing of the intake valve comes closer to an intake stroke side near an intake top dead center, in a fast idle period of the cylinder injection type internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Natsui, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Yusuke Kihara
  • Patent number: 7715975
    Abstract: An engine that re-circulates its exhaust gas suffers decreased accuracy in estimating an EGR rate real-time especially while the operating state of the engine is in a transitional state, which often results in torque fluctuations and deteriorated exhaust gas. A sensor for directly detecting an EGR flow rate is disposed in an EGR path. An EGR rate and in-cylinder oxygen concentration are calculated from the output value of that sensor. In addition, when this EGR rate calculation method is used, the calculation is properly switched between a steady operation state characterized by a low load and small rotational fluctuations and a transitional operating state including the acceleration and deceleration. This makes it possible to correctly estimate the EGR rate and the in-cylinder oxygen concentration under a wide range of engine operation conditions, and thereby to avoid the fluctuation of torque and the deterioration of exhaust gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shiro Yamaoka, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Noboru Tokuyasu, Hiroaki Hoshika, Kaori Kashio
  • Publication number: 20090299610
    Abstract: In an in-cylinder injection type spark ignition internal combustion engine in which the intake air amount is controlled by use of an intake valve or an exhaust valve, which is provided with mainly a variable valve mechanism, instable combustion during a low-load operation is avoided without an increase in pumping loss (without a decrease in the thermal efficiency). In the in-cylinder injection type spark ignition internal combustion engine, during low-load operation, on the basis of the cooling water temperature of the engine the opening and closing timing of the intake valve is controlled in a retard angle manner and the opening and closing timing of the exhaust valve is controlled in an advance angle manner. Furthermore, the fuel injection timing is controlled in a retard angle manner on the basis of the retard angle amount of the intake valve opening and closing timing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2009
    Publication date: December 3, 2009
    Applicant: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Kengo Kumano, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Shiro Yamaoka
  • Publication number: 20090272187
    Abstract: There is provided a thermal type flow meter capable of accurately detecting a flow rate even when a fluid temperature varies rapidly or when the fluid temperature is high. A probe includes: a first main heating resistor; a second main heating resistor set at a temperature different from that of the first main heating resistor; and a sub-heating resistor for heating lead wires of the two main heating resistors. A CPU of a sensor control circuit finds a fluid temperature by using the two main heating resistors, and finds a fluid flow rate by using at least one of the two main heating resistors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 29, 2009
    Publication date: November 5, 2009
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd
    Inventors: Yoshihiro SUKEGAWA, Noboru TOKUYASU, Hiroaki HOSHIKA, Shiro YAMAOKA