Patents by Inventor Masato Nodera

Masato Nodera 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: 11118527
    Abstract: A control unit controls a combustion state of an internal combustion engine in accordance with a drive torque requested by a driver. The control unit performs a switching control to switch at least a combustion state between lean-burn combustion and stoichiometric combustion. A monitor unit performs torque monitoring to determine abnormality of a request torque, which is requested to the internal combustion engine, and a generated torque of the internal combustion engine based on the request torque and an estimation torque, which is an estimation value of an actual torque of the internal combustion engine. A combustion state determining unit determines whether the combustion state in the control unit is the lean-burn combustion or the stoichiometric combustion. A computing unit computes the estimation torque in accordance with the combustion state determined by the combustion state determining unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masato Nodera
  • Publication number: 20200355138
    Abstract: A control unit controls a combustion state of an internal combustion engine in accordance with a drive torque requested by a driver. The control unit performs a switching control to switch at least a combustion state between lean-burn combustion and stoichiometric combustion. A monitor unit performs torque monitoring to determine abnormality of a request torque, which is requested to the internal combustion engine, and a generated torque of the internal combustion engine based on the request torque and an estimation torque, which is an estimation value of an actual torque of the internal combustion engine. A combustion state determining unit determines whether the combustion state in the control unit is the lean-burn combustion or the stoichiometric combustion. A computing unit computes the estimation torque in accordance with the combustion state determined by the combustion state determining unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2020
    Publication date: November 12, 2020
    Inventor: Masato NODERA
  • Patent number: 10767589
    Abstract: A crank angle sensor that outputs a crank angle signal at a predetermined crank angle by synchronizing rotation of a signal rotor fixed on a crank shaft of an internal combustion engine, an interval of the crank angle signals being longer at a specific crank angle corresponding to a position of a crank position reference part of the signal rotor, includes a backward rotation detecting function that outputs different crank angle signals in a forward rotation of the crank shaft and in a backward rotation of the crank shaft, and a control part disallows the detection of the crank position reference part when a stop request to the internal combustion engine is generated or when the backward rotation of the crank shaft is detected based on the crank angle signal, and controls the internal combustion engine by calculating the crank angle based on the crank angle of the crank position reference part detected before the detection of the crank position reference part is disallowed and the crank angle signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masato Nodera
  • Publication number: 20170234256
    Abstract: A crank angle sensor that outputs a crank angle signal at a predetermined crank angle by synchronizing rotation of a signal rotor fixed on a crank shaft of an internal combustion engine, an interval of the crank angle signals being longer at a specific crank angle corresponding to a position of a crank position reference part of the signal rotor, includes a backward rotation detecting function that outputs different crank angle signals in a forward rotation of the crank shaft and in a backward rotation of the crank shaft, and a control part disallows the detection of the crank position reference part when a stop request to the internal combustion engine is generated or when the backward rotation of the crank shaft is detected based on the crank angle signal, and controls the internal combustion engine by calculating the crank angle based on the crank angle of the crank position reference part detected before the detection of the crank position reference part is disallowed and the crank angle signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 2, 2015
    Publication date: August 17, 2017
    Inventor: Masato NODERA
  • Patent number: 8798886
    Abstract: If it is determined that a brake pedal is pressed while an accelerator pedal is pressed, accelerator position limit control for bringing an accelerator position for engine control to a limit value corresponding to vehicle speed is performed, thereby securing safety at the time when both of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are pressed. If it is determined that the accelerator pedal is pressed after the brake pedal is pressed, the accelerator position limit control is prohibited, thereby responding to driver's intention to accelerate. If it is determined that the pressing of the brake pedal is cancelled during execution of the accelerator position limit control, accelerator position recovery control for returning the accelerator position for the engine control to an actual accelerator position is performed, thereby recovering normal running corresponding to the driver's intention to accelerate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Masato Nodera, Yoshifumi Murakami
  • Publication number: 20110295479
    Abstract: If it is determined that a brake pedal is pressed while an accelerator pedal is pressed, accelerator position limit control for bringing an accelerator position for engine control to a limit value corresponding to vehicle speed is performed, thereby securing safety at the time when both of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal are pressed. If it is determined that the accelerator pedal is pressed after the brake pedal is pressed, the accelerator position limit control is prohibited, thereby responding to driver's intention to accelerate. If it is determined that the pressing of the brake pedal is cancelled during execution of the accelerator position limit control, accelerator position recovery control for returning the accelerator position for the engine control to an actual accelerator position is performed, thereby recovering normal running corresponding to the driver's intention to accelerate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masato NODERA, Yoshifumi MURAKAMI
  • Publication number: 20090120174
    Abstract: An engine speed variation after one power stroke from a misfire has an opposite sign (plus or minus) relative to an engine speed variation at a misfire. A computer determines whether the misfire exists in the subject cylinder based on the engine speed variation between the subject cylinder and the subject cylinder after one power stroke. In order to detect any kinds of misfire, the computer computes a difference value between a current engine speed variation and an engine speed variation before 360° CA or after 360° CA, a difference value between a current engine speed variation and an engine speed variation before 720° CA or after 720° CA, and a difference value between a current engine speed variation and an engine speed variation before 720/(cylinder number)° CA or after 720/(cylinder number)° CA. These three difference values are respectively compared with a misfire determination value to perform a misfire detection.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 13, 2008
    Publication date: May 14, 2009
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masato Nodera, Jonathan Saunders