Patents by Inventor Asahiko Otani

Asahiko Otani 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).

  • Patent number: 6526947
    Abstract: A high-pressure fuel pump accelerates a rise in fuel pressure from engine start-up to shorten an engine start-up time, reduce an exhaust gas substance and improve or increase an engine output. The high-pressure fuel pump is part of a control device which controls an in-cylinder injection engine having a fuel injection valve, a high-pressure fuel pump, and a crank angle sensor. The high-pressure fuel pump is provided with a plunger for pressurizing the fuel placed in the high-pressure fuel pump, a pump drive cam, and a cam angle sensor. A drive signal setting device outputs drive signals to the high-pressure fuel pump at least two or more times from the time of crank angle sensor signal detection to the determination time of the crank and cam angle sensor phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: March 4, 2003
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kosaku Shimada, Hiroyuki Yamada, Takashi Okamoto, Asahiko Otani
  • Publication number: 20010006061
    Abstract: A high-pressure fuel pump control device and an in-cylinder injection engine control device are provided in which a high-pressure fuel pump accelerates a rise in fuel pressure from the start-up of an engine thereby to make it possible to shorten an engine start-up time, reduce an exhaust gas substance and improve or increase an engine output, for example. The high-pressure fuel pump control device and in-cylinder injection engine control device control an in-cylinder injection engine having a fuel injection valve provided in a cylinder, a high-pressure fuel pump for force-feeding a fuel to the fuel injection valve, and a crank angle sensor for detecting the position of a crankshaft of the cylinder. The high-pressure fuel pump is provided with a plunger for pressurizing the fuel placed in the high-pressure fuel pump, a pump drive cam for driving the plunger, and a cam angle sensor for detecting the position of the pump drive camp.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2000
    Publication date: July 5, 2001
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kosaku Shimada, Hiroyuki Yamada, Takashi Okamoto, Asahiko Otani
  • Patent number: 6034500
    Abstract: A stepping motor control apparatus for controlling a stepping motor to drive a fluid flow control valve in an engine includes an operation state monitoring unit for monitoring the operation state of the engine; a step position monitoring unit for monitoring a step position of the stepping motor; a first motor drive direction-determining unit for determining the motor drive direction during normal operations of the stepping motor as determined by a target step position and the present step position of the stepping motor; a second motor drive direction-determining unit for determining the motor drive direction during anomalous operations of the stepping motor; a drive pulse-rate determining unit for determining the pulse generation rate to drive the stepping motor; and a drive unit for driving the stepping motor at the pulse generation rate determined by the drive pulse-rate determining unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2000
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Mitsuru Nagase, Asahiko Otani, Tomoharu Sasaki
  • Patent number: 5867983
    Abstract: A control system for an internal combustion engine capable of improving purification performance of a catalytic converter provides an oscillation amplitude for an air/fuel ratio of an air/fuel mixture to be supplied to an internal combustion engine. The air/fuel ratio oscillation amplitude is variable depending upon an operating condition of the internal combustion engine and/or a purification performance of a catalytic converter. Corresponding to the air/fuel ratio oscillation, an oscillation amplitude of a spark ignition timing is provided. The spark ignition timing oscillation amplitude is variable depending upon the operating condition of the internal combustion engine and/or the air/fuel ratio oscillation amplitude.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 1996
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1999
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventor: Asahiko Otani
  • Patent number: 5727522
    Abstract: In a control system for an ignition timing of an internal combustion engine and a control method for the ignition timing, a basic ignition timing of the engine is set, an engine speed is detected, a target value of the engine speed is set while the engine is in idling condition, an ignition timing correction amount is determined depending upon a difference of the target value and a detected engine speed while the engine is in idling condition, the basic ignition timing is corrected with the correction amount, and after the engine speed becomes higher than or equal to a predetermined value, the engine is controlled with the corrected ignition timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 1997
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1998
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd. and Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Asahiko Otani, Masayoshi Hayasaka
  • Patent number: 4913116
    Abstract: There are provided a first ignition timing table for high-octane fuel and a second ignition timing table for low-octane fuel. When the second table is switched over to the first table, there is at first the difference in between basic ignition timings according to the first and second tables, and then the difference is reduced with time at a constant rate. An actual ignition timing during the switchover of an ignition timing table is determined by subtracting the reducing difference from the basic ignition timing according to the first table. The actual ignition timing when knocking is detected is compared with a predetermined threshold. If the former exceeds the latter, the second table is switched over to the first table, and otherwise the second table is maintained, whereby the actual ignition timing can be changed smoothly even during the switchover of an ignition timing table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1990
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Automotive Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kozo Katogi, Asahiko Otani
  • Patent number: RE34316
    Abstract: There are provided a first ignition timing table for high-octane fuel and a second ignition timing table for low-octane fuel. When the second table is switched over to the first table, there is at first the difference in between basic ignition timings according to the first and second tables, and then the difference is reduced with time at a constant rate. An actual ignition timing during the switchover of an ignition timing table is determined by subtracting the reducing difference from the basic ignition timing according to the first table. The actual ignition timing when knocking is detected is compared with a predetermined threshold. If the former exceeds the latter, the second table is switched over to the first table, and otherwise the second table is maintained, whereby the actual ignition timing can be changed smoothly even during the switchover of an ignition timing table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1993
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kozo Katogi, Asahiko Otani