Abstract: A battery unit temperature management device may include a battery unit that can be charged and discharged, a heater that operates due to electricity supply from the battery unit and heats a heat exchange medium that exchanges heat with the battery unit, a changing structure that changes a heat transfer capacity between the battery unit and the heat exchange medium, and a controller that controls the heating of the heat exchange medium by the heater and the change of the heat transfer capacity by the changing structure. When a temperature Tw of the heat exchange medium does not reach a first temperature which is equivalent to a temperature of the battery unit while the heat exchange medium is heated by the heater, the controller may make the heat transfer capacity smaller than that when the temperature of the heat exchange medium has reached the first temperature.

Abstract: A side sill constituting a vehicle body comprises a side sill outer and a side sill inner. Each of an upper-side side face portion (upper face portion) and a lower-side side face portion (lower face portion) of the side sill inner comprises a second bending portion (bending portion) being formed by each of the upper face portion and the lower face portion bent toward an inside of the side sill, an upper-side slant face portion and a lower-side slant portion which respectively extend toward the side sill outer in an oblique direction such that a width, in a vertical direction, of the side sill inner gradually increases, and a second upper face portion and a second lower face portion (vehicle-width-direction face portions) which respectively extend in a vehicle width direction toward an inward side, in the vehicle width direction, from the second bending portion.

Abstract: A vehicle door structure that suppresses a situation in which the door window detaches from the above-mentioned guide rail includes a front guide rail that holds a door window while allowing a raising and lowering operation of the door window, and a guide rail support portion that fixes the front guide rail to a door inner panel, wherein the guide rail support portion includes a first section that is fixed to a front face portion of a door inner panel, a second section that extends rearward from a vehicle-width-direction inner side of the first section, and a third section that is provided at a rear end portion of the second section and that is fixed to the front guide rail, and the second section and the third section are configured to be supported in a cantilever manner with respect to the first section.

Abstract: A side sill comprises a side sill outer and a side sill inner. Each of an upper-side side face portion (upper face portion) and a lower-side side face portion (lower face portion) of the side sill outer comprises a first bending portion bent toward an inside of the side sill. The side sill inner comprises an upper-side side face portion with a first upper face portion, an upper-side slant face portion and a second upper face portion and a lower-side side face portion with a first lower face portion, a lower-side slant face portion and a second lower face portion. The side sill inner comprises a pair of upper-and-lower second bending portions which are bent toward an inside of the side sill at respective positions between the second upper face portion and the upper-side slant face portion and between the second lower face portion and the lower-side slant face portion.

Abstract: A lower vehicle-body structure of a vehicle is provided with a frame member having a closed-cross section. The frame member comprises a first portion and a second portion. The first portion comprises a compression face portion and a pair of side face portions. The side face portion comprises a bending portion, a compression-side area which is positioned on a side of the compression face portion relative to the bending portion and where a compressive stress is generated when the bending load is applied, and a tension-side area which is positioned on a side away from the compression face portion relative to the bending portion and where a tensile stress is generated when the bending load is applied. The compression-side area is configured to have higher rigidity than the tension-side area.

Abstract: A cowl grille comprises a member portion which extends in a vehicle width direction below a front windshield so as to receive water dripping from the front windshield, a cover portion which is positioned in front of a member portion and covers over an auxiliary equipment, a partition portion which extends downwardly from the cover portion and partitions a space where an engine is arranged from another space where the auxiliary equipment is arranged, and a cowl seal which extends in the vehicle width direction and contacts a bonnet so as to seal between a vehicle outside space and an engine room. The cowl seal is positioned at a front part of the member portion, and the cover portion is made of a plate member and provided to perform heat insulating between a space positioned above the cover portion and another space positioned below the cover portion.

Abstract: An engine controlling method is provided, which includes, during motoring of the engine, outputting, by an in-cylinder pressure sensor, to a controller a signal indicative of a reference pressure corresponding to a pressure change after an intake valve of a cylinder of the engine is closed when not performing fuel injection, and then injecting, by an injector, fuel for analysis into the cylinder at a specific timing after the intake valve is closed. The method includes, by the controller, acquiring a crank angle period from the intake valve close timing, through the fuel injection, to a timing of the in-cylinder pressure reaching the reference pressure based on signals from the in-cylinder pressure sensor and a crank angle sensor, and determining a property of the injected fuel by comparing the acquired crank angle period with that of a standard fuel based on stored information on a property of the standard fuel.

Abstract: A vehicle is provided which can reduce an influence on an occupant space due to location and arrangement of an inverter. The vehicle includes a longitudinal engine, a motor, a transmission, and an inverter. The motor is located behind the longitudinal engine. The transmission 13 has a transmission casing and is adjacently located behind the motor. The transmission is arranged below a floor tunnel. The inverter is mounted below the floor tunnel and on an upper portion of the transmission casing.

Abstract: An alighting assistance device D of the present disclosure may be a device moving a driver seat rearward in a case where a determination is made that an occupant seated on the driver seat of a vehicle alights. The device may include a reclining mechanism as one example of an angle changer which changes an angle of a seat back of the driver seat with respect to a horizontal plane, a sitting height acquirer which acquires a sitting height of the occupant, and a seat controller as one example of an angle controller which controls the angle changer such that the angle of the seat back becomes closer to be perpendicular as the sitting height acquired by the sitting height acquirer is higher in the case where a determination is made that the occupant alights.

Abstract: A vehicle control method is applied to a vehicle 1 in which a front wheel 2 is driven by an engine 4, and the method includes a basic torque setting step of setting basic torque to be generated by the engine 4, based on an operational state of the vehicle 1; an acceleration torque setting step of setting acceleration torque, based on a reduction in steering angle of a steering apparatus 5 mounted on the vehicle 1; a torque generation step of controlling the engine 4 so that torque based on the basic torque and the acceleration torque is generated; and an acceleration torque changing step of changing the acceleration torque, based on a vehicle-width-direction mounting position of a steering wheel 6 and an operation direction of the steering wheel 6 when the steering angle is reduced.

Abstract: A design method for a vehicle control system includes designing in such a manner that an allowable delay time that is allowed from when operation information is input to an information acquisition unit to when a control signal of an actuator to be operated is output is set in the actuator, and in a case where the allowable delay time is less than a predetermined reference time, an operation-signal generation unit of the actuator is provided in a zone ECU disposed in each predetermined zone of a vehicle and to which the actuator to be operated is connected.

Abstract: An engine system is provided, which includes a main combustion chamber, a subchamber, an injector that injects fuel into the main combustion chamber, a main spark plug that ignites a mixture gas inside the main combustion chamber, a subspark plug that ignites the mixture gas inside the subchamber, an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) device and a control device. In a specific range where EGR is performed, the ignition devices are controlled so that a subignition timing is retarded from a main ignition timing, and an ignition phase difference that is a retard amount of the subignition timing from the main ignition timing becomes larger under a high EGR condition than a low EGR condition, the EGR conditions being conditions in the specific range where engine speeds are the same and EGR rates are different, and the high EGR condition being larger in the EGR rate than the low EGR condition.

Abstract: A microorganism having at least one SPX gene encoding SPX protein responsive to phosphorus deficiency, and characterized in that a function of the SPX protein is decreased or lost by introducing gene mutation into the SPX gene.

Abstract: A travel mode switching device for a vehicle is provided, which is switchable between a plurality of travel modes including a sport travel mode and a towing travel mode. The device includes a travel mode selection interface that allows a driver to select one of the travel modes, a towing detection sensor that detects a towing state, and a processor configured to execute a travel mode switching module to switch the travel mode to the travel mode selected by the travel mode selection interface, and a travel mode regulating module to regulate the selection of the sport travel mode by the travel mode selection interface when the towing state is detected by the towing detection sensor, and regulate the selection of the towing travel mode by the travel mode selection interface when the towing state is not detected.

Abstract: An engine system is provided, which includes a cylinder block, a cylinder head, a piston, a main combustion chamber, a subchamber, an injector that injects fuel into the main combustion chamber, a main spark plug that ignites a mixture gas inside the main combustion chamber, a subspark plug that ignites the mixture gas inside the subchamber, and a controller electrically connected to the injector and the main spark plug and the subspark plug. In a low-load range where an engine load is below a given reference load, the controller controls the main spark plug and the subspark plug so that the subignition is performed after performing the main ignition, and the controller retards the timing of the subignition in a high-speed range where an engine speed is above a given reference engine speed, compared with a low-speed range below the reference engine speed.

Abstract: A trunk structure for a vehicle is provided which can house both a spare tire and a tonneau cover below a floor board in a trunk, and has high operability in housing, removing, and replacing the spare tire and the tonneau cover. A trunk of a vehicle has a spare tire housing and a tonneau cover housing below a floor board. A tonneau cover has a tube portion, a sheet portion, and an extension plate portion. The tonneau cover housing has a portion located between the spare tire and a rear end of the trunk, in which the tube portion of the tonneau cover is stored in a rolled state. The housing also has a portion above a part of the spare tire where the extension plate portion, extending outward from the tube portion when the sheet portion is rolled in the tube portion, is horizontally disposed.

Abstract: A vehicle sound generation device includes a controller that generates a sound signal representing a sound and sets the localization of the sound, and left and right front speakers and left and right rear speakers that output sounds corresponding to the sound signals for which localization has been set by the controller, in which the controller sets the localization of the sounds based on the change amounts (such as the pitch rate, the torque change amount, the roll rate, and steering angular speed) per unit time of the physical quantities correlated with a driving operation by the driver of the vehicle so that the sound image of at least part (low frequency component) of frequency components of the sound is located toward the wheel where the ground load is increasing according to the driving operation.

Abstract: A pipe connection portion of a damper case has an opening opened toward the rear side. In an end surface around the opening in the pipe connection portion, a recess is formed in an inner diameter portion. The recess is recessed to the front side as compared to another portion of the end surface. In an end surface of a pipe member, a groove portion is formed in an outer diameter portion. The groove portion is recessed to the rear side as compared to another portion of the end surface. A first seal member and a second seal member are interposed between the end surface of the damper case and the end surface of the pipe member, and the damper case and the pipe member are sealed by the seal members in a liquid-tight manner.

Abstract: Provided is a start controller for an engine capable of reducing torque of a starter consumed to start the engine. The start controller includes a stop position sensor that detects a position of a piston in each cylinder at an engine stop time, an intake pressure sensor that detects an intake pressure in an intake passage, and a processor that determines whether the position of the piston in each of the cylinders detected by the stop position sensor is within a specified target range after the engine is stopped. In the case where it is determined that the position of the piston in each of the cylinders after the engine stop is out of the target range and the intake pressure detected by the intake pressure sensor is lower than an atmospheric pressure, the engine is started by a motor even when an engine start condition is not satisfied.

Abstract: A driver assistance system enables brake and accelerator operation by an operation bar in a manner close to a sense of a driver of a vehicle, regardless of the degree of operation of the operation bar. Embodiments include an operation bar extending downward toward a vehicle floor panel from a manual operation area where a seated driver manually operates the operation bar, and whose lower portion is supported in a slidingly displaceable manner along an axial direction in a front-down, rear-up tilted state. The operation bar includes a brake actuation section, below the manual operation area, that actuates a brake mechanism by sliding displacement of the operation bar in a front-down direction; and an accelerator actuation section that actuates an acceleration mechanism by sliding displacement of the operation bar in a rear-up direction that is a reverse direction on the same axis from the sliding displacement in the front-down direction.