Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a technology that enables detection of a fault of a PM trapper with improved accuracy. In the present invention, a pressure sensor 20 that measures a differential pressure across a PM trapper 11 is provided, and a fault of a PM trapper is determined based on an amount of change in the differential pressure across the PM trapper 11 between two different operation states of an internal combustion engine 1 in which the ambient temperature around the pressure sensor 20 falls within a specific temperature range. Since variations in the offset error of the differential pressure sensor 20 caused by changes in the ambient temperature around the differential pressure sensor 20 is made small, the amount of change in the differential pressure across the PM trapper 11 can be measured more accurately, and a fault of the PM trapper 11 can be detected with improved accuracy.

Abstract: A catalyst deterioration diagnosis system performs a diagnosis of deterioration of the oxidation catalyst based on a high-temperature-inflow-condition exhaust gas temperature and a low-temperature-inflow-condition exhaust gas temperature. The high-temperature-inflow-condition exhaust gas temperature is a temperature detected by a temperature sensor while the temperature of the exhaust gas that flows into the oxidation catalyst is in a high temperature region H while the reducing agent is supplied from the reducing agent supply means into the exhaust gas that flows into the oxidation catalyst. The low-temperature-inflow-condition exhaust gas temperature is a temperature detected by the temperature sensor while the temperature of the exhaust gas that flows into the oxidation catalyst is in a low temperature region L while the reducing agent is supplied from a reducing agent supply means into the exhaust gas that flows into the oxidation catalyst.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to provide a technique of improving exhaust emissions at the time of starting up of an internal combustion engine, without decreasing the performance of a catalyst at the time of the engine starting up. The present invention is provided with the catalyst that is arranged in an exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine in which a plurality of kinds of fuels are able to be used, and serves to adsorb and remove exhaust gas components discharged from the internal combustion engine, wherein in cases where among the plurality of kinds of fuels, a first fuel is used in which unburnt fuel components thereof are easily adsorbed to the catalyst, at the time when a request is made for stopping the internal combustion engine, said first fuel is changed to a second fuel thereby to operate said internal combustion engine until said internal combustion engine is stopped.

Abstract: An inter-cylinder air-fuel imbalance determination apparatus according to the present invention obtains, based on the output value of the air-fuel ratio sensor, an air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount whose absolute value becomes larger as a fluctuation of the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas passing through the air-fuel ratio sensor becomes larger, and further obtains an imbalance determination parameter which becomes larger as an absolute value of the air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount becomes larger. In addition, the determination apparatus obtains an average value of the air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas when the imbalance determination parameter is being obtained, and obtains an imbalance determination threshold which becomes smaller as the average value of the air-fuel ratio is closer to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio.

Abstract: An air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders determining apparatus according to the present invention comprises an air-fuel ratio sensor having a protective cover and an air-fuel ratio detection element accommodated in the protective cover, and imbalance determining means. The imbalance determining means obtains a detected air-fuel ratio abyfs based on an output Vabyfs of the air-fuel ratio sensor every elapse of a constant sampling time ts, and obtains, as an indicating amount of air-fuel ratio change rate, a difference (detected air-fuel ratio change rate ?AF) between a present detected air-fuel ratio abyfs which is newly detected and a previous air-fuel ratio abyfsold which was detected the sampling time ts ago, an average of the detected air-fuel ratio change rate ?AF, and the like.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining an air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders based on an output value of an air-fuel ratio sensor, an imbalance determination parameter which becomes larger or smaller as a difference among air-fuel ratios becomes larger, and performs determining an air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders based on a result of a comparison between the imbalance determination parameter and a imbalance determination threshold. The determining apparatus calculates a purge correction coefficient which compensates for a change in the air-fuel ratio due to an evaporated fuel gas which is generated in a fuel tank, while the evaporated fuel gas is being introduced into an intake passage, and corrects a fuel injection amount with the purge correction coefficient FPG.

Abstract: Provision is made for a catalyst that is arranged in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine and has an oxidation function, downstream side temperature detection means that detects the temperature of an exhaust gas at a downstream side from the catalyst, and addition means that adds a reducing agent into the exhaust gas from an upstream side from the catalyst, wherein there are also provided correlation value calculation means that calculates a correlation value which is correlated with an amount of change of the temperature detected by the downstream side temperature detection means when the reducing agent is added by the addition means and when a transient operation of the internal combustion engine is carried out, and determination means that determines a deterioration of the catalyst by making a comparison between the correlation value and a threshold value which indicates the deterioration of the catalyst.

Abstract: The provision of a feature extracting portion for obtaining sequentially images captured by an x-ray imaging device and for extracting features relating to the densities of the images; an image classifying portion for dividing the images into groups based on the features extracted by the feature extracting portion; a memory portion for storing the images, which have been divided into groups by the image classifying portion, together with imaging time stamps for each group; an image data processing portion for processing, for each group, images stored in the memory portion; and a monitor for outputting images processed by the image data processing portion.

Abstract: An inter-cylinder air-fuel ratio imbalance determination apparatus (determination apparatus) according to the present invention obtains, based on the output value of the air-fuel ratio sensor, an imbalance determination parameter which becomes larger as an air-fuel ratio fluctuation of an exhaust gas passing through a position at which the air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed becomes larger, during a parameter obtaining period. The determination apparatus energizes the heater of the air-fuel ratio sensor in such a manner that a temperature of the air-fuel ratio element during the parameter obtaining period is higher than a temperature of the air-fuel ratio element during a period other than the parameter obtaining period. Accordingly, the imbalance determination parameter is obtained while the responsiveness of the air-fuel ratio sensor is high, and thus, the inter-cylinder air-fuel-ratio imbalance determination having a high accuracy can be made.

Abstract: An inter-cylinder air-fuel ratio imbalance determination apparatus that obtains, based on an output value Vabyfs of an air-fuel ratio sensor, an air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount (AFD) which becomes larger as an air-fuel ratio fluctuation of an exhaust gas passing through a position at which the air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed becomes larger, during a parameter obtaining period. The determination apparatus estimates an air-fuel ratio sensor element temperature (Temps) having a strong relation with responsiveness of the air-fuel ratio sensor during the parameter obtaining period, and obtains a corrected air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount by correcting the AFD based on the estimated Temps.

Abstract: A lithium-ion secondary battery with excellent durability is provided using a two-phase coexisting compound as a positive electrode active material. This lithium-ion secondary battery is provided with an electrode body having a positive electrode containing a positive electrode active material and a negative electrode containing a negative electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte solution containing a lithium salt in an organic solvent. The positive electrode active material is mainly composed of a two-phase coexisting compound containing lithium, and also contains particles of a lithium-transition metal oxide with a layered structure. The particles of the layered oxide have an average particle diameter of 2 ?m or less, and the percentage content thereof in the positive electrode active material is 5 mass % or less.

Abstract: A lithium ion secondary battery provided by the present invention has a positive electrode having a current collector and a positive electrode composite layer provided on the current collector. The current collector contains a metal element A as a main component thereof. The positive electrode composite layer contains a two-phase compound containing lithium as a positive electrode active material. The positive electrode composite layer also contains as an additive a compound having a metal element B, in a composition thereof, that has a higher ionization tendency than the metal element A.

Abstract: An apparatus for determining an air-fuel ratio imbalance among cylinders including an upstream air-fuel ratio sensor, a catalytic converter, and a downstream air-fuel ratio sensor disposed at positions downstream of an exhaust gas aggregated portion, calculates a sub feedback amount to have an output value of the downstream air-fuel ratio sensor coincides with a value corresponding to the stoichiometric air-fuel ratio, and performs an air-fuel ratio feedback control to have an air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to an engine based on the sub feedback amount and the output value of the upstream air-fuel ratio sensor.

Abstract: The present invention provides a mechanical seal sliding member with high lubricating characteristics, in which the coefficient of friction and the temperature of sliding surfaces are lowered and stabilized without excessive leakage. In the mechanical seal sliding member of the present invention, on the sliding surface 2, a plurality of grating sections 5 are formed separately in each of which a plurality of linear shape ridge portions parallel to each other are formed in a predetermined region with a predetermined pitch. The linear shape ridge portions of the plurality of grating sections are formed as inclined at a predetermined angle to a sliding direction of the sliding surfaces 2. Such periodic structure can improve the lubricating characteristics for lubrication.

Abstract: The invention intends to provide a technology which makes it possible to diagnose with higher accuracy whether or not abnormality occurs in a filter regeneration system causing excessive execution frequency of a regeneration process. The filter regeneration system initiates execution of the regeneration process, incase an estimated particulate matter (PM) accumulation amount at the filter reaches a pre-determined regeneration requiring accumulation amount; or in case the pressure upstream of the filter or the differential pressure across the filter reaches a pre-determined regeneration requiring value, the value being larger than the pressure or the differential pressure corresponding to the regeneration requiring accumulation amount. Then, the diagnosis is carried out based on a ratio of an estimated PM accumulation amount at the initiation of the execution of the regeneration process to the regeneration requiring accumulation amount.

Abstract: The present invention is intended to detect a failure of a PM filter with a higher degree of accuracy. The present invention is provided with: a PM trapping efficiency calculation part to calculate a PM trapping efficiency (which is a proportion of an amount of particulate matter trapped with respect to an amount of inflow particulate matter) based on an amount of inflow particulate matter obtained by an inflow particulate matter obtaining part, and an amount of outflow particulate matter detected by a PM sensor; and a failure detection part to make a determination that a failure has occurred in the PM filter, in cases where there has appeared a tendency for the PM trapping efficiency to decrease during a period of time until the execution of the following filter regeneration processing is started after the completion of execution of the filter regeneration processing.

Abstract: A determination is made more simply as to a malfunction of a low pressure EGR device that supplies an EGR gas from a low pressure EGR passage connecting between an exhaust passage at a location downstream of a turbine and an intake passage.

Abstract: An inter-cylinder air-fuel ratio imbalance determination apparatus (determination apparatus) according to the present invention obtains, based on the output value of the air-fuel ratio sensor, an imbalance determination parameter which becomes larger as an air-fuel ratio fluctuation of an exhaust gas passing through a position at which the air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed becomes larger, during a parameter obtaining period. The determination apparatus energizes the heater of the air-fuel ratio sensor in such a manner that a temperature of the air-fuel ratio element during the parameter obtaining period is higher than a temperature of the air-fuel ratio element during a period other than the parameter obtaining period. Accordingly, the imbalance determination parameter is obtained while the responsiveness of the air-fuel ratio sensor is high, and thus, the inter-cylinder air-fuel-ratio imbalance determination having a high accuracy can be made.

Abstract: An exhaust passage (15) of an internal-combustion engine (10) includes a selective reduction NOx catalyst (34) and an after-catalyst NOx sensor (50) for detecting a NOx concentration Cr at the downstream thereof. Reducing agent is selectively added from an addition valve (40) to the NOx catalyst. A NOx concentration Ce at the upstream side of the NOx catalyst is detected or estimated. NOx concentrations Cr and Ce before and after the NOx catalyst, which were detected or estimated during the stoppage of an addition of the reducing agent, are compared to each other to thereby determine an abnormality of the after-catalyst NOx sensor (50). An abnormality diagnosis is executed while the addition of reducing agent is being stopped to remove an influence by the NOx catalyst.

Abstract: An inter-cylinder air-fuel ratio imbalance determination apparatus that obtains, based on an output value Vabyfs of an air-fuel ratio sensor, an air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount (AFD) which becomes larger as an air-fuel ratio fluctuation of an exhaust gas passing through a position at which the air-fuel ratio sensor is disposed becomes larger, during a parameter obtaining period. The determination apparatus estimates an air-fuel ratio sensor element temperature (Temps) having a strong relation with responsiveness of the air-fuel ratio sensor during the parameter obtaining period, and obtains a corrected air-fuel ratio fluctuation indicating amount by correcting the AFD based on the estimated Temps.