Patents by Inventor Atsuyuki Hiruma

Atsuyuki Hiruma 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: 20230014369
    Abstract: In a power conversion system, a power converter includes a power conversion circuit connected to a direct current (DC) source via a DC distribution line and converts and supplies received DC power to a load, and a power conversion control unit. A power stabilizing device is disposed between the DC distribution line and the power converter and stabilizes a DC voltage applied from the DC power source. A control power source of the power stabilizing device performs current control of the current transformer to suppress DC magnetization caused by a DC current component of the primary current while compensating for a varying component of the DC voltage. The control power source acquires current information or voltage information calculated from control information used by the power conversion control unit for control operations related to energization of the load and uses it as control information for the power stabilizing device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2022
    Publication date: January 19, 2023
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Atsuyuki HIRUMA, Yuuki KUBO
  • Patent number: 10837417
    Abstract: A control apparatus controls the operation of a starter such that, after an idling stop is executed and before a request for starting an engine is subsequently issued, the control apparatus executes a preset which causes a pinion to engage a ring gear. A control apparatus controls the operation of a starter such that, after an idling stop is executed and before a request for starting an engine is subsequently issued, the control apparatus executes a preset which causes a pinion to engage a ring gear. It is determined that the preset condition has been cancelled, and the preset is again executed. In that case, the pinion is already engaged with the ring gear at the time point when a request for starting the engine is issued. In that way it is unnecessary for the control apparatus to push out the pinion after a start request is issued.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshitomo Takeuchi, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Akira Yamada, Akihiro Imura, Takuro Nakaoka
  • Publication number: 20190032621
    Abstract: A control apparatus controls the operation of a starter such that, after an idling stop is executed and before a request for starting an engine is subsequently issued, the control apparatus executes a preset which causes a pinion to engage a ring gear. A control apparatus controls the operation of a starter such that, after an idling stop is executed and before a request for starting an engine is subsequently issued, the control apparatus executes a preset which causes a pinion to engage a ring gear. It is determined that the preset condition has been cancelled, and the preset is again executed. In that case, the pinion is already engaged with the ring gear at the time point when a request for starting the engine is issued. In that way it is unnecessary for the control apparatus to push out the pinion after a start request is issued.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2017
    Publication date: January 31, 2019
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshitomo TAKEUCHI, Atsuyuki HIRUMA, Akira YAMADA, Akihiro IMURA, Takuro NAKAOKA
  • Patent number: 9982647
    Abstract: An engine start system has a rotating electrical machine, a starter motor, an engine ECU and an ISG controller. The rotating electrical machine is connected to an output shaft of an engine. The starter motor drives the engine to be restarted. The engine ECU controls the engine operation. The ISG controller instructs an inverter when the rotating electrical machine performs power running and regenerative power generation. The ISG controller communicates with the engine ECU, and adjusts the operation of the starter motor and the rotating electrical machine. When receiving an engine restart request, the ISG controller drives at least one of the starter motor and the rotating electrical machine so as to restart the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro Imura, Takuro Nakaoka, Atsuyuki Hiruma
  • Patent number: 9948220
    Abstract: A rotation angle estimation apparatus includes: a high-frequency voltage setting unit that sets high-frequency voltages; a circuit operating unit that operates an electric power conversion circuit to apply each of the high-frequency voltages to a corresponding one of winding groups of a rotating electric machine; and a rotation angle estimating unit that estimates a rotation angle of the rotating electric machine based on at least one of high-frequency currents that flow in the winding groups upon application of the high-frequency voltages to the winding groups. Moreover, the high-frequency voltage setting unit sets the high-frequency voltages based on the spatial phase difference between the winding groups so that in a fixed coordinate system of the rotating electric machine, the magnitude of a resultant vector of a plurality of high-frequency voltage vectors, which are respectively applied to the winding groups, becomes smaller than the magnitude of each of the high-frequency voltage vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2018
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Kiyoshi Fujii, Atsuyuki Hiruma
  • Publication number: 20180026559
    Abstract: A rotation angle estimation apparatus includes: a high-frequency voltage setting unit that sets high-frequency voltages; a circuit operating unit that operates an electric power conversion circuit to apply each of the high-frequency voltages to a corresponding one of winding groups of a rotating electric machine; and a rotation angle estimating unit that estimates a rotation angle of the rotating electric machine based on at least one of high-frequency currents that flow in the winding groups upon application of the high-frequency voltages to the winding groups. Moreover, the high-frequency voltage setting unit sets the high-frequency voltages based on the spatial phase difference between the winding groups so that in a fixed coordinate system of the rotating electric machine, the magnitude of a resultant vector of a plurality of high-frequency voltage vectors, which are respectively applied to the winding groups, becomes smaller than the magnitude of each of the high-frequency voltage vectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2017
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kiyoshi FUJII, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Publication number: 20170204828
    Abstract: An engine start system has a rotating electrical machine, a starter motor, an engine ECU and an ISG controller. The rotating electrical machine is connected to an output shaft of an engine. The starter motor drives the engine to be restarted. The engine ECU controls the engine operation. The ISG controller instructs an inverter when the rotating electrical machine performs power running and regenerative power generation. The ISG controller communicates with the engine ECU, and adjusts the operation of the starter motor and the rotating electrical machine. When receiving an engine restart request, the ISG controller drives at least one of the starter motor and the rotating electrical machine so as to restart the engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2017
    Publication date: July 20, 2017
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Akihiro IMURA, Takuro NAKAOKA, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Patent number: 9132733
    Abstract: An insulation failure diagnosis apparatus is provided which diagnoses presence/absence of insulation failure between a body of a vehicle and a connection path to a power supply for a traction unit. The apparatus includes a power converter circuit connected to the power supply and supplying power to an in-vehicle auxiliary unit, an outputting unit outputting an AC signal to the connection path, and a diagnosis unit diagnosing presence/absence of the insulation failure based on a current flowing through the connection path when the AC signal is outputted. The diagnosis unit includes a storage unit storing a determination value for determining the insulation failure or information for setting the determination value. The determination value or the information is obtained by measuring an electrical state quantity of the connection path depending on stray capacitance and is dielectric resistance of the connection path obtained when an AC signal is outputted to the connection path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masakazu Tago, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Hiroyasu Kudo
  • Patent number: 9000606
    Abstract: A power supply apparatus for a vehicle supplies/charges electric power to/from a power supply unit. The vehicle includes a first power-inverter circuit, a capacitor, high-resistance and low-resistance electric-paths between the capacitor and a battery, a first switching unit opening/closing the electric-paths, and a unit operating the first switching unit, when connecting between the battery and the first power-inverter circuit, in such a manner that after the high-resistance electric path is closed and the low-resistance electric path is opened, the high-resistance electric-path is opened and the low-resistance electric-path is closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Obayashi, Akira Sakamoto, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Masahito Mizukoshi, Jun Ishii, Mitsuru Fujita
  • Patent number: 8963479
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes an inverter unit and a control unit. The inverter unit includes high SWs and low SWs for each phase of coils of a motor. The control unit, in a case that the on-time of the high SWs and the low SWs is shorter than a predetermined time determined based on a dead time, changes an output voltage average value such that the on-time of the high SWs or the on-time of the low SWs becomes longer than the predetermined time. The voltage use rate can be improved without disposing a special circuit, and distortion of inter-line voltages or distortion of currents can be suppressed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Suzuki, Kazutoshi Shiomi, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Shingo Hayakawa
  • Patent number: 8937400
    Abstract: A power supply apparatus for a vehicle is provided which supplies electric power to a power supply unit and charges electric power from the power supply unit via a power port. The vehicle includes a plurality of power inverter circuits which are connected to a common storage unit in parallel. The plurality of power inverter circuits include an electric power transferring power inverter circuit connected to the power port via an electric power transferring electric path, and are divided into a first category including the electric power transferring power inverter circuit and a second category. The power supply apparatus includes a connection prohibiting unit which realizes a state in which the power inverter circuit included in the first category is electrically connected to the storage unit, and the power inverter circuit included in the second category is disconnected from the storage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuyoshi Obayashi, Akira Sakamoto, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Masahito Mizukoshi, Jun Ishii, Mitsuru Fujita
  • Publication number: 20130265811
    Abstract: A power conversion apparatus converting power from the battery to be supplied to the load includes: a first substrate provided with a power conversion circuit; a second substrate provided with a control circuit; a casing having a casing body accommodating the first and second substrates; an input portion connecting a lead of an input harness connected to the battery; an output portion connecting a lead of an output harness connected to the load; an input connector integrated with the casing body to cover the input portion; and an output connector integrated with the casing body to cover the output portion. The input connector is configured to connect an end portion of the input harness to be mountable and demountable from/to the input connector and the output connector is configured to connect an end portion of the output harness to be mountable and demountable from/to the output connector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2013
    Publication date: October 10, 2013
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazutoshi SHIOMI, Masakazu TAGO, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Publication number: 20130264872
    Abstract: A power conversion apparatus includes a filter circuit, a power conversion circuit, a first casing and a second casing. An input circuit of the filter circuit is connected to a power source to receive power from the power source. A plurality of power conversion circuits are disposed correspondingly to the electrical loads in which every input circuit of the power conversion circuits is connected to an output circuit of the filter circuit and respective output circuits of the power conversion circuits are correspondingly connected to the electrical loads. The power conversion circuit converts the power from the filter circuit and supplies the converted power to the electrical loads. The first casing accommodates the filter circuit and plural second casings are disposed correspondingly to the plurality of power conversion circuits. Each of the second casings accommodates corresponding power conversion circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2013
    Publication date: October 10, 2013
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masakazu TAGO, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Publication number: 20130057061
    Abstract: A power conversion apparatus is provided which includes a plurality of power conversion circuits which individually supply power to a plurality of in-vehicle auxiliary units, a common capacitor which is connected to input terminals of the plurality of power conversion circuits, an operation section which operates respective switching elements of the plurality of power conversion circuits, and a variation section which varies a switching frequency of the switching element configuring at least one of the power conversion circuits, when the operation section turns the switching element on or off. The operation section sets switching frequencies of the switching elements of at least two of the power conversion circuits so as to be different from each other.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 6, 2012
    Publication date: March 7, 2013
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kazutoshi SHIOMI, Masakazu TAGO, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Publication number: 20130021038
    Abstract: An insulation failure diagnosis apparatus is provided which diagnoses presence/absence of insulation failure between a body of a vehicle and a connection path to a power supply for a traction unit. The apparatus includes a power converter circuit connected to the power supply and supplying power to an in-vehicle auxiliary unit, an outputting unit outputting an AC signal to the connection path, and a diagnosis unit diagnosing presence/absence of the insulation failure based on a current flowing through the connection path when the AC signal is outputted. The diagnosis unit includes a storage unit storing a determination value for determining the insulation failure or information for setting the determination value. The determination value or the information is obtained by measuring an electrical state quantity of the connection path depending on stray capacitance and is dielectric resistance of the connection path obtained when an AC signal is outputted to the connection path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 20, 2012
    Publication date: January 24, 2013
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masakazu TAGO, Atsuyuki HIRUMA, Hiroyasu KUDO
  • Publication number: 20130002262
    Abstract: A vehicle-mounted system has a high-voltage supply system having a high-voltage battery and a plurality of vehicle-mounted loads electrically connected to the battery. The high-voltage supply system includes a plurality of load portions, each load portion including one or more electric devices which consume or generate electric power. The vehicle-mounted system has a plurality of diagnosis means for detecting an insulation failure. The diagnosis means has an output portion which is connected to the corresponding load portion, and outputs a diagnosis signal. The diagnosis mean has a detector detects a state signal of the system on the basis of the input of the diagnosis signal, and a diagnosis portion which determines whether or not there is an insulation failure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2012
    Publication date: January 3, 2013
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masakazu TAGO, Atsuyuki HIRUMA
  • Publication number: 20120326507
    Abstract: An apparatus for converting power of a power source used for a main unit mounted on a vehicle includes: a first circuit that converts the power into a first power and supplies the first power to a first auxiliary unit mounted on the vehicle; a second circuit that converts the power into a second power and supplies the second power to a second auxiliary unit mounted on the vehicle; a first board on which the first circuit is mounted; a second board on which the second circuit is mounted; and a connecting member that electrically connects between the first board and the second board to allow the power of the power source to be conducted therebetween.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2012
    Publication date: December 27, 2012
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinji Usami, Masakazu Tago, Atsuyuki Hiruma
  • Patent number: 8285445
    Abstract: An electronic control unit and on-vehicle devices are each connected to a common power supply line via a communication module. The power supply line has positive and negative electrode side core wires. Each communication module is provided with a connection unit and a signal processor. The connection unit has a transformer having two pairs of input-output terminals, a first pair of which is respectively connected to the positive and negative electrode side core wires. The signal processor is connected to the second pair of input-output terminals of the transformer. The signal processor converts analog signals from the power supply line and outputted from the second pair of input-output terminals, converts externally inputted digital signals into analog signals and transmits the converted analog signals to the second pair of input-output terminals so that the converted analog signals are superimposed on the power supply line voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2012
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Atsuyuki Hiruma
  • Publication number: 20120248866
    Abstract: A vehicle power supply apparatus for supplying electrical power from a secondary battery to a prime mover and a plurality of accessories. The apparatus includes a plurality of power converters each electrically connected between a corresponding accessory and the secondary battery and operative to convert electrical power between the secondary battery and the corresponding accessory. The power converters are divided into at least one power-converter group each including at least one power converter electrically connected to a common power supply line connected to the secondary battery. The apparatus further includes at least one power-supply breaker corresponding one-to-one to the at least one group adapted to interrupt power supply from the secondary battery to the corresponding group in response to a command.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Publication date: October 4, 2012
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yoshitomo TAKEUCHI, Atsuyuki HIRUMA, Masakazu TAGO
  • Publication number: 20120139461
    Abstract: A power conversion device includes an inverter unit and a control unit. The inverter unit includes high SWs and low SWs for each phase of coils of a motor. The control unit, in a case that the on-time of the high SWs and the low SWs is shorter than a predetermined time determined based on a dead time, changes an output voltage average value such that the on-time of the high SWs or the on-time of the low SWs becomes longer than the predetermined time. The voltage use rate can be improved without disposing a special circuit, and distortion of inter-line voltages or distortion of currents can be suppressed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Suzuki, Kazutoshi Shiomi, Atsuyuki Hiruma, Shingo Hayakawa