Abstract: An electrically heating catalytic apparatus that quickly heats catalyst to an activation temperature even when the engine is started at a low temperature below the catalyst activation temperature. The apparatus employs an electrically conductive catalyst carrier that is electrically heated. The carrier is provided with local hot spots to be energized. Since the heat is locally generated, the heat capacity of the catalyst carrier is small to shorten a temperature increasing time.

Abstract: An engine including at least two digital computers wherein controlled systems each including a switching unit, an ignitor, and a spark plug are independently provided for each cylinder, and controlled systems each including a switching unit, a drive circuit, and a fuel injector are independently provided for each cylinder. The controlled systems are normally controlled by one of the digital computers, but when one of the digital computers malfunctions, the controlled systems are controlled by the other digital computer.

Abstract: A torque sensor which can detect instantaneous output torque of the engine is disposed on the output shaft of the engine, and the output signal thereof is frequency-analyzed to extract a half synchronous frequency component having a frequency equals to a half of the number of the revolutions of the engine per second and a synchronous frequency component having a frequency equals to the number of the revolutions of the engine per second, the electronic control unit (ECU) of the engine determines the misfiring mode of the engine including the number of the misfiring cylinders and the interval thereof in the firing order of the engine based on the amplitude of the frequency components and the waveform thereof, then the ECU determines the misfiring cylinders based on the determined misfiring mode and the phase angle of the frequency components of the torque sensor relative to a reference crank angle signal.

Abstract: A device for heating the passenger compartment and warming up the engine, including a turbo heater having a blower and a turbine driven by the exhaust gas of the engine. The turbo heater is operated as soon as the engine is started. Hot air discharged from the blower is fed into the engine soon after the engine is started, and the hot air discharged from the blower is fed into the passenger compartment. When the temperature of the engine coolant become high, the operation of the turbo heater is stopped.

Abstract: An engine having a rotary valve arranged in the intake port. The valve shaft of the rotary valve is eccentrically arranged relative to the longitudinal axis of the intake port. A projecting wall projects downward from the upper wall of the intake port and surrounds the valve guide of the intake valve. The projecting wall has an air flow guide portion the thickness and width of which gradually decreases in the direction towards the rotary valve. The upstream end of the air flow guide portion is aligned with the valve plate of the rotary valve when the rotary valve is fully open.

Abstract: An electromagnetic rotary driving device including a rotor of a permanent magnet arranged in a hole formed in a bored stator core block of a stator core, made from magnetic material. The air gap formed between the bored block of the stator core and the rotor in the direction parallel with the magnetic path in the stator core is relatively long, while the air gap formed between the bored block of the stator core and the rotor in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic path in the stator core is relatively short. In this device, the angle of rotation of the rotor is continuously changed by the current flowing through the coil of the stator without requiring a spring for return motion.

Abstract: A device molding a link member interconnecting an actuator to arms fixed onto valve shafts of rotary valves arranged in gas passages. The link member includes a control rod connected to the actuator and a plurality of plate springs which extend from the control rod and are outwardly bent. The outer ends of the plate springs are pivotally connected to the tips of corresponding arms.

Abstract: A solenoid valve for opening and closing a fluid passage is disclosed. It includes a valve member supported rotatably within a case and having alternately different magnetic poles formed on the outer periphery of one end thereof and also having a fluid passage formed in the other end thereof; an electromagnetic drive means for creating alternately different and invertible magnetic poles in an opposed relation to the magnetic poles of the valve member to rotate the valve member by a predetermined angle; and plural fluid passages formed within the case and adapted to be brought into communication with each other through the fluid passage of the valve member upon rotation of the valve member at said predetermined angle.

Abstract: A rotary driving apparatus suitable for use for a flow control valve provided with a rotor valve rotatably mounted in a housing. The rotor valve is connected to a permanent magnet member. The permanent magnet member is arranged adjacent to a pair of diametrically spaced ends of a core on which a coil is wound so that the ends are oppositely magnetized to provide a two pole electric motor, stopper means is provided for allowing limited rotary motion of the rotor between a first position and a second position. The permanent magnet member is so arranged with respect to the ends of the core that a torque is, during the de-energization of the coil, generated in order to engage the stopper means. Thus, the first or second position of the rotor valve is maintained without energization of the coil.

Abstract: A solenoid type flow control valve having a valve body formed with an outlet and inlet ports, a cylindrical core disposed in the valve body between the inlet and outlet ports and formed with a suitable number of valve ports for connecting the inlet port with the outlet port, a valve member slidable along the outer surface of the core to cover the valve ports, a linear motor assembly for moving the valve member to uncover the valve ports, and fluid flow passages formed around the linear motor assembly so that the fluid from the inlet port is introduced through the passages into the valve ports.

Abstract: A rotary drive apparatus including a frame having at least three holes; a yoke having a center portion and two side bar portions on opposite sides of the center portion, the center portion having a hole, coils mounted on the side bar portions of the yoke, a collar having a bore and being tightly mounted on the surface of the hole of the yoke, magnetic parameter changing elements being mounted on the surface of the bore of the collar, and a rotor having magnetic poles in the radial direction and being inserted into the bore of the collar with a predetermined clearance. In the apparatus, a first hole of the frame is parallel to a first direction of the apparatus and has a cross-section for tightly receiving the center portion of the yoke, and a second and third holes of the frame are in a second direction perpendicularly intersecting the first direction and being concentric with each other oppositely the first hole, the center portion of the yoke being fit into the first hole.

Abstract: A rotary solenoid actuator for proportionally controlling the flow of fluid, such as air, in a pipe comprises a housing with a rotor rotatably mounted thereon. A stationary coreless coil for generating a magnetic field in response to a control current therethrough is mounted in the housing. A permanent magnet is affixed to a rotatably mounted shaft within the coil, and a return spring is attached to the rotating shaft. Due to low hysteresis in the coreless coil, there is a linear relationship between the control current and the fluid flow.

Abstract: A rotary actuator for driving a fluid control valve comprises a yoke which forms a closed magnetic path an excitation coil which produces a magnetic flux in the yoke, a permanent magnet which is rotatably arranged in a through hole or in a slit formed in the yoke, and a restoring spring which produces a force acting against a rotational torque generated in the magnet by a main magnetic flux which flows through the yoke and the permanent magnet when the excitation coils is energized. Shielding portions are formed on both sides of the ends of the yoke, which ends oppose the permanent magnet, so as to substantially shield the permanent magnet together with the ends of the yoke, whereby a magnetic reluctance of a path of the magnetic flux remains substantially constant irrespective of the rotating position of the permanent magnet with respect to the yoke when the excitation coil is de-energized.

Abstract: A rotation driving device is constructed from a bobbin, a coil wound on the bobbin, a stator inserted in the bobbin, and a permanent magnet arranged inside the stator. The stator consists of a hollow cylindrical body having a first, second, and third recesses. In accordance with the command electrical signal supplied to the coil, the rotation driving device changes the rotational position of the rotor.

Abstract: A valve apparatus of a solenoid drive type having a valve member in a housing defining an inlet port and first and second outlet ports. The valve member connects the inlet port to the second outlet port while closing the first outlet port when no electric current is received by the apparatus. The valve member controls the opening of the first outlet port while maintaining the second outlet port closed when an electric current larger than a predetermined offset value is applied to the apparatus. When the electric current is equal to the offset value, the valve member closes both the first and the second outlet ports.

Abstract: A rotary solenoid motor adapted for use in a flow control valve apparatus. The solenoid motor having a shaft on which a valve member is connected. A torsion bar is connected between the shaft and a housing for generating a torsional force opposite to an electro-magnetic force. The shaft and the housing has a pair of portions for fixing the torsion bar. Each of the portions forms a regular polygonal cross-sectional shape.

Abstract: A proportional solenoid comprises a rotary magnet for causing a rotational displacement within an angle of 180 degrees in proportion to a current supplied to a coil, a torsion bar for damping the rotation of the rotary magnet and a rotary valve driven by the rotation of the rotary magnet.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes an intake system, an exhaust system, and a mixture supply device which supplies primary fuel-air mixture into the intake system. An oxygen sensor assembly detects oxygen concentration at a certain point in the exhaust system and produces a first electrical signal which represents this concentration. A secondary air flow control circuit receives this first electrical signal and produces a second electrical signal according thereto. A secondary air supply system feeds secondary air into the exhaust system upstream of the aforementioned certain point at a flow rate controlled by the second electrical signal. A primary air/fuel ratio correction circuit receives either the first or the second electrical signal and based on it produces a primary mixture control electrical signal.

Abstract: An exhaust gas purifying system for internal combustion engines includes a three-way catalyst disposed in the exhaust system of the engine, and secondary air is supplied to the exhaust system through an air control valve under the control of an air-fuel ratio control circuit. The air-fuel ratio control circuit produces a control signal which increases or decreases stepwisely at every reception of a clock signal depending on whether the air-fuel ratio in the exhaust system is above or below a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio. The air control valve is of the proportional electromagnetic type and controls the secondary air passing therethrough in proportion to the control signal.

Abstract: A method of driving a solenoid-operated proportional control valve is disclosed. The solenoid-operated proportional control valve is of the kind in which a valve member is displaced in proportional relation to current supplied to a solenoid under control of a control signal, and the method comprises adding a predetermined value to the control signal when the valve member starts to move to open the solenoid-operated proportional control valve from its full-closed position or subtracting a predetermined value from the control signal when the valve member starts to move to close the solenoid-operated proportional control valve from its full-open position.