Patents Assigned to Showa Corporation
  • Patent number: 10612546
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device. In the vane pump device, vane grooves of a rotor include columnar grooves which accommodate oil, and support the vanes. An inner-plate low pressure side recess portion is provided in an end surface of an inner plate along a rotation direction of the rotor, and supplies oil to the columnar grooves. It includes a low pressure side upstream recess portion, a low pressure side downstream recess portion, and a low pressure side connection recess portion that connects the low pressure side upstream recess portion and the low pressure side downstream recess portion. The width of the low pressure side downstream recess portion is narrower than that of the low pressure side upstream recess portion. The width of the low pressure side connection recess portion is equal to that of the low pressure side downstream recess portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa
  • Publication number: 20200094646
    Abstract: A vehicle height adjusting apparatus includes: a cylindrical body internally partitioned into a plurality of oil chambers by a partition wall provided along an axis, the oil chambers filled with oil, and respectively provided with cylindrical body oil holes to be connected to an outside; one operating portion rotatably provided on the cylindrical body, and rotated to be moved along the axis; pistons moved along the axis by the operating portion, and received in the oil chambers respectively; and a plurality of damper devices respectively provided with damper oil holes into which the oil flowing out of the cylindrical body oil holes when the pistons move flows, the damper devices that can adjust a vehicle height by amounts of the oil filled into the damper devices through the damper oil holes, and that can absorb impact energy inputted on a wheel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 26, 2019
    Publication date: March 26, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Yukihiro HOSHINO, Takafumi ITO, Hidenori SHIRABE, Toshitaka AOKI
  • Publication number: 20200088262
    Abstract: A suspension apparatus includes: a damping device; an operating section; and a determination section. The determination section uses a base damping force determined based on a change velocity and an extension occasion adjustment value, or the base damping force, the extension occasion adjustment value and a zero occasion adjustment value to determine a target value of an extension occasion damping force. The determination section uses the base damping force, a compression occasion adjustment value and the zero occasion adjustment value, or the base damping force and the compression occasion adjustment value to determine a target value of an compression occasion damping force. The determination section uses the base damping force and the zero occasion adjustment value to determine a target value of a zero occasion damping force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 19, 2019
    Publication date: March 19, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Kota SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20200080612
    Abstract: The hydraulic damper 1 includes: a cylinder 11 storing oil; a piston unit connected to a rod moving in an axial direction and configured to move within the cylinder 11; an outer cylinder body 12 outside of the cylinder 11 and forming a communication path L through which oil flows along with movement of the piston unit; a damper case 13 outside of the cylinder 11 and forming a reservoir chamber R to retain oil; a damping force changer 52 external to the cylinder 11 and configured to generate a damping force by throttling flow of oil along with movement of the piston unit and configured to change magnitude of the damping force; and a joint piece 61 forming a channel 61R of oil from the communication path L to the damping force changer 52 and including an external valve to control flow of oil flowing through the channel 61R.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2019
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Gota NAKANO, Kunio SHIBASAKI
  • Publication number: 20200080613
    Abstract: The hydraulic damping device includes: a cylinder storing fluid; a piston configured to form a channel through which the fluid flows along with relative movement of a rod relative to the cylinder in a specific direction; a valve having elasticity, the valve being configured to open and close the channel in the piston; a movement permitting part configured to permit the valve to move between a contact position and a spaced position, the contact position being a position where the valve contacts the piston, the spaced position being a position where the valve is spaced from the piston; a restricting part configured to restrict bending of the valve at the spaced position; and a pressing part having elasticity, the pressing part being configured to press the valve against the piston.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2017
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Gota NAKANO, Kazunari MAEDA, Hiroshi ENDO, Seiryo KONAKAI
  • Patent number: 10584703
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device includes multiple vanes; a rotor that includes vane grooves which movably support the vanes and which are formed with columnar grooves accommodating oil on rotation center side, and that rotates due to a rotating force received from a rotation shaft; a cam ring that surrounds the rotor; and an inner plate that is disposed on one end portion side of the cam ring in a direction of a rotation axis to cover an opening of the cam ring. The inner plate includes a first portion that is provided to face the grooves, and supplies low pressure oil to the grooves, and a second portion which is provided to face the grooves, supplies high pressure oil to the grooves, and has a width in a radial direction of rotation which is different from that of the first portion in the radial direction of rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa
  • Publication number: 20200070613
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus, includes: a vehicle speed acquiring section which acquires a vehicle speed as a speed of a vehicle; an acquisition section which acquires a stroke velocity of the suspension apparatus; a contribution ratio determining section which determines a contribution ratio between a first parameter and a second parameter based on the vehicle speed, the first parameter serving for controlling a damping force in a first speed region of the vehicle, the second parameter serving for controlling the damping force in a second speed region which is a speed region higher in speed than the first speed region; a change amount restricting section which restricts a change amount of the contribution ratio; and a damping force controlling section which controls the damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the restricted contribution ratio and the stroke velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 31, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Masato TOKUHARA
  • Patent number: 10578102
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device. In the vane pump device, vane grooves of a rotor include columnar grooves which accommodate oil, and support the vanes. An inner-plate low pressure side recess portion and an inner-plate high pressure supply region are provided along a rotation direction of the rotor. The inner-plate low pressure side recess portion supplies oil to the columnar grooves at a first pressure, and the inner-plate high pressure supply region supplies oil at a second pressure higher than the first pressure. A size from an inner-plate low pressure side recess portion downstream end to an inner-plate high pressure side through-hole upstream end in the rotation direction is different from that from an inner-plate high pressure side recess portion downstream end to an inner-plate low pressure side recess portion upstream end in the rotation direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa
  • Publication number: 20200062070
    Abstract: A suspension apparatus includes: a damping device which damps a force generated between a vehicle body and a wheel; and a control section which controls a damping force of the damping device. The control section includes a multiplication section which multiplies a longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle body detected by a longitudinal acceleration sensor and a differential value of the longitudinal acceleration to thereby obtain a multiplication value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Taiji FUKAZAWA, Kota SUZUKI
  • Publication number: 20200063283
    Abstract: The masking jig includes a contact member and a support unit. The contact member includes a through-hole allowing for insertion of a rod-like piston rod, and a deformation part around the through-hole configured to get elastically deformed by insertion of a male thread of the piston rod into the through-hole and contact the outer peripheral end face of the piston rod. The support unit supports the contact member such that the contact member moves in a direction intersecting an axial direction of the piston rod.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Yuki KOIKE, Kenji SUZUKI, Masami KURAMOCHI, Kenji TAKAHASHI
  • Patent number: 10564071
    Abstract: Provided is an examination method for a damping force variable mechanism, the examination method including: an operation step of operating a damper in a state in which the damper is installed in a vehicle, the damper being provided with a damping force variable mechanism that changes a damping force according to an input current (an example of a signal); and a detection step of detecting an induction current (an example of an output from the vehicle) from the damping force variable mechanism of the damper installed in the vehicle, wherein a detection device that performs the operation of the detection step is provided. Thus, the damping force variable mechanism of a pressure damping device can be examined in a state in which the damping force variable mechanism is installed in the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignees: Showa Corporation, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiryo Konakai, Ken Issiki, Ryoma Kanda, Yukihiro Orimoto, Koichi Shibusawa, Tomohiro Yamazaki
  • Publication number: 20200039574
    Abstract: The failure detection device includes: a failure detection unit configured to detect failure of a torque detection unit, the torque detection unit detecting torque applied to a rotary shaft with plural torque sensors; and a controller configured to control drive of a motor such that the motor outputs continuous torque in an event that the failure detection unit detects failure of the torque detection unit, the continuous torque continuously generating torque that is, if at least one of the plural torque sensors is working properly, detectable by the at least one of the plural torque sensors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 10, 2019
    Publication date: February 6, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Hiroaki KURIHARA
  • Patent number: 10550840
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device includes multiple vanes; a rotor that includes vane grooves which support the vanes so that the vanes can move in a radial direction of rotation and which form columnar grooves accommodating oil on a rotation center side, and that rotates due to a rotating force received from a rotation shaft; a cam ring that includes an inner circumferential surface facing an outer circumferential surface of the rotor, and surrounds the rotor; and an inner plate that covers an opening of the cam ring. The inner plate includes a first recess portion that supplies low pressure oil to the columnar grooves, a second recess portion that is formed away from the first recess portion, and supplies high pressure oil to the columnar grooves, and an inner-plate first groove connected to the first recess portion and the second recess portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa
  • Publication number: 20200009935
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a suspension apparatus includes: an acquisition section which acquires a stroke amount of the suspension apparatus disposed between a vehicle body and a wheel to damp vibration propagated from the wheel; a calculation section which calculates a stroke velocity based on the stroke amount; and a damping force control section which controls damping force of the suspension apparatus based on the stroke velocity. The calculation section includes a first calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a first stroke velocity, and a second calculation section which differentiates the stroke amount by use of a second time constant larger than the first time constant as a time constant, to thereby calculate a second stroke velocity, and calculates the stroke velocity based on the first stroke velocity and the second stroke velocity.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Junya NAKAMURA
  • Publication number: 20190390731
    Abstract: The hydraulic damping device includes: a cylinder storing fluid; a piston configured to form a channel through which the fluid flows along with relative movement of a rod relative to the cylinder in a specific direction; a valve having elasticity, the valve being configured to open and close the channel in the piston; a movement permitting part configured to permit the valve to move between a contact position and a spaced position, the contact position being a position where the valve contacts the piston, the spaced position being a position where the valve is spaced from the piston; a restricting part configured to restrict bending of the valve at the spaced position; and an imparting part having elasticity, the imparting part being configured to impart, to the valve, a load that is uneven in a circumferential direction of the valve and directed toward the piston.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2017
    Publication date: December 26, 2019
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Gota NAKANO, Kazunari MAEDA, Hiroshi ENDO, Seiryo KONAKAI
  • Publication number: 20190368568
    Abstract: This hydraulic damping device comprises a cylinder for containing oil; a reservoir chamber R which is provided in the outer part of the cylinder and in which liquid accumulates; a piston provided so as to be axially movable within the cylinder and dividing the space within the cylinder into a first oil chamber and a second oil chamber, which contain oil; a baffle member provided as a separate element from the cylinder, the baffle member having a body which is provided in the reservoir chamber R, and also having a protrusion which protrudes from the body, the baffle member preventing the waving of the surface of oil in the reservoir chamber R; and a limiting section (first section to be held) provided to the baffle member and limiting the movement of the baffle member on both one side and the other side in the axial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Nobuyuki MURAGUCHI, Satomi HOJO, Gota NAKANO
  • Publication number: 20190346005
    Abstract: A suspension includes: a cylinder; a piston rod including a piston provided at one end-side, and inserted in the cylinder together with the piston; an outer tube part opened at the one end-side, a position of which relative to the piston rod is fixed at the other end-side, and configured to receive therein at least a part of the cylinder; and a tubular rolling diaphragm having one end disposed at the cylinder and the other end fixed to the outer tube part, and configured to roll in conjunction with displacement of the piston rod with respect to the cylinder. The rolling diaphragm becomes convex toward the other end-side of the outer tube part and is accommodated in the outer tube part, upon contraction of the suspension.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2019
    Publication date: November 14, 2019
    Applicant: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Katsushi TANAKA, Kojiro YOSHIDA
  • Patent number: 10457109
    Abstract: A vehicle height adjustment device includes an actuator, a detector, and a controller. The actuator is driven when supplied with a current and is configured to change a relative position of a body of a vehicle relative to an axle of a wheel of the vehicle. The detector is configured to detect the relative position. The controller is configured to control the current supplied to the actuator to make the relative position a target value so as to adjust a vehicle height of the body. When a detection value of the detector is smaller than the target value of the relative position, the controller is configured to alternately supply an increase current and a maintenance current to the actuator. The increase current increases the relative position to increase the vehicle height. The maintenance current maintains the relative position to maintain the vehicle height.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventors: Yosuke Murakami, Fumiaki Ishikawa, Hiroyuki Miyata
  • Patent number: 10451062
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device includes multiple vanes; a rotor that rotates and includes vane grooves for supporting the vanes and accommodating oil; a cam ring that includes an inner circumferential cam ring surface provided with a high pressure region and a low pressure region, and that surrounds the rotor; and an inner plate that covers an opening of the cam ring. The inner plate includes a first portion that supplies high pressure oil to the vane grooves, and a second portion that supplies low pressure oil to the vane grooves. Among vane grooves which support vanes positioned in the high pressure region of the cam ring, the first portion supplies high pressure oil to vane grooves, the number of which is less than the number of vanes positioned in the high pressure region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa
  • Patent number: 10443598
    Abstract: An embodiment provides a vane pump device. In the vane pump device, vane grooves of a rotor include columnar grooves which accommodate oil, and support the vanes. An inner-plate low pressure side recess portion is provided in an end surface of an inner plate along a rotation direction of the rotor, and supplies oil to the columnar grooves. It includes a low pressure side upstream recess portion, a low pressure side downstream recess portion, and a low pressure side connection recess portion through which the low pressure side upstream recess portion is connected to the low pressure side downstream recess portion. The width of the low pressure side upstream recess portion is equal to that of the low pressure side downstream recess portion. The width of the low pressure side connection recess portion is narrower than that of the low pressure side upstream recess portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Toshio Nishikawa