Patents by Inventor Noriyuki Maekawa

Noriyuki Maekawa 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: 20090188990
    Abstract: The present invention provides a simplified fuel injector which uses fuel as hydraulic oil to intensify the injection pressure. A pressure intensifier of the fuel injector is provided with a pressurization piston 106, a first fuel chamber 107 that communicates with a fuel inlet passage 101 (or a fuel supply passage), and a fuel pressurization chamber 111. The pressurization chamber 111 is provided inside a valve body 110. The pressurization piston 106 is formed displaceably relative to the valve body 110 and is provided with a first pressure receiving surface 106a and a pressurization piston portion 106b. The first pressure receiving surface 106a is one end surface of the pressurization piston 106 which faces one of the piston displacement directions 106d, that is, faces the first fuel chamber 107.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2009
    Publication date: July 30, 2009
    Applicant: Hitachi Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki ABE, Akiko Komeda, Tohru Ishikawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Noriyuki Maekawa
  • Publication number: 20090188996
    Abstract: An injector used for an internal combustion engine includes a valve needle which closes a fuel passage by contacting a valve seat and opens the fuel passage by separating from the valve seat. A coil and a magnetic core are provided to drive the valve needle, and an anchor is held in a relatively displaceable state with respect to the valve needle. A first biasing device biases the valve needle in a direction opposite to a direction of a drive force, and a second biasing device biases the anchor in the direction of the drive force with a set load smaller than that of the first biasing device. A restricting feature restricts relative displacement of the anchor with respect to the valve needle in the direction of the drive force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2009
    Publication date: July 30, 2009
    Applicant: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Motoyuki ABE, Masahiko Hayatani, Atsushi Sekine, Yasuo Namaizawa, Tohru Ishikawa, Noriyuki Maekawa
  • Publication number: 20090116976
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to reduce the pressure loss in a relief valve employed for a high-pressure liquid supply pump. Disclosed is a high-pressure liquid supply pump for pressurizing a liquid and supplying the pressurized liquid from a low-pressure side to a high-pressure side. The pump includes a relief path which releases the pressurized liquid from the high-pressure side to the low-pressure side, and a relief valve which is positioned in the relief path and equipped with an intermediate chamber, a valve seat positioned toward the high-pressure side of the intermediate chamber, a ball valve that is attachable to and detachable from the valve seat, and a ball valve retainer for pressing the ball valve against the valve seat. The relief path is configured so that an inflow path to the intermediate chamber and an outflow path from the intermediate chamber both produce a restriction effect.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2008
    Publication date: May 7, 2009
    Applicant: HITACHI, LTD.
    Inventors: Shunsuke ARITOMI, Noriyuki Maekawa, Hideki Machimura, Masashi Nemoto
  • Publication number: 20090064972
    Abstract: A fuel injection nozzle for directly injecting fuel into a cylinder of an internal combustion engine is inserted in a connecting pipe extending from a fuel rail and is fixed to the connecting pipe by fastening member. The fuel injection nozzle has a sealing part for sealing a fuel passage to prevent fuel leakage, and a contact part in contact with the fastening member. The contact part is softer than the fastening member, and the contact part undergoes plastic deformation when a bending moment that bends the axis of the fuel injection nozzle acts on the fuel injection nozzle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 18, 2008
    Publication date: March 12, 2009
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki ABE, Masahiko Hayatani, Tohru Ishikawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Noriyuki Maekawa, Yasuo Namaizawa, Yusuke Irino
  • Patent number: 7472839
    Abstract: A heating time period is decreased by that a valve body including a hollow valve shaft is arranged in a slidable manner in a cylindrical part of a casing on which a nozzle body with a valve seat is mounted at a front end thereof, a fuel is introduced from a fuel outlet port opening on a shaft wall of the valve shaft into a fuel path formed by the valve shaft and the cylindrical part, the fuel is heated to be injected from the nozzle body by a heater arranged at an outside of the fuel path of the cylindrical part, and a sleeve is mounted in the fuel path so that a large diameter part thereof closes the fuel path at an upper area of the fuel outlet port, while a fuel inlet port is formed on a small diameter part of the sleeve to introduce the fuel into the fuel path, so that the fuel path is narrowed to decrease an amount of the fuel to be heated by the heater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2009
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yasukawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Nobuaki Sekiya, Masahiro Soma
  • Publication number: 20080276907
    Abstract: An electromagnetic fuel injection valve device for an internal combustion engine is configured to carry out an energization to an electromagnetic coil of an injection valve actuator for a valve opening motion and additionally carry out a mid-term energization at a time interval between both an energization for valve opening of a previous fuel injection and an energization for valve opening of a subsequent fuel injection. A current of the mid-term energization is smaller than a current of the energization for valve opening motion and has the same direction as a direction of the current of the energization for valve opening motion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2008
    Publication date: November 13, 2008
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki Abe, Masahiko Hayatani, Tohru Ishikawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Noriyuki Maekawa
  • Patent number: 7387263
    Abstract: The heating injector in which the fuel is heated within a short time when starting and the size of a fuel atomized particle is very small h as casing 10 for a fuel injection valve which supplies fuel to an engine, orifice member 50 with an orifice through which fuel passes, plunger 20 which carries out switching action of orifice, swirl chip 30 which contacts the orifice member and the casing at a plurality of positions, and forms a fuel passage blocked by a plurality of narrow portions and a fuel heating space channel where entrance side was blocked by the narrow portion in the downstream side, and a heater which is arranged between fuel passage forming member and casing and supported by either of the fuel passage forming member or the casing in a plurality of parts in the fuel passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yasukawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Yoshio Okamoto
  • Publication number: 20080116301
    Abstract: A fuel injection valve comprises a valve seat, a movable valve element which is seated on or separated from the valve seat, and a nozzle member having a plurality of nozzle holes. At least one of the valve element and valve seat has a curved surface at a contact position where they contact with each other when the valve element is seated on the valve seat. Two or more of the nozzle holes are provided outside an intersection line of a virtual extension surface along a tangential line to the curved surface at the contact position and a surface of the nozzle member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2007
    Publication date: May 22, 2008
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yasukawa, Eiji Ishii, Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Hiroshi Yamada, Nobuaki Kobayashi, Takahiro Saito
  • Patent number: 7357123
    Abstract: Information storage element 102 and transmitter-receiver 103 are molded in resin connector part 101 of fuel injection valve 100 which projects outside of the engine by molding. The precise control of an injection amount is enabled by using directly the characteristic of injection amount stored in information storage element 102, and obtaining the width of the injection command pulse corresponding to the injection amount instruction value. Thereby, the minimum injection amount which is the minimum value of the fuel supply amount which can be controlled is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2008
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Kenchiro Tokuo, Takehiko Kowatari, Tohru Ishikawa, Toshiyuki Innami, Kazuhiko Hanawa, Satoshi Shimada
  • Publication number: 20070194152
    Abstract: An injector used for an internal combustion engine includes a valve needle which closes a fuel passage by being contacted on a valve seat and opens the fuel passage by separating from the valve seat, a coil and a magnetic core which are provided as a drive means of the valve needle, an anchor held in a relatively displaceable state with respect to the valve needle, a first biasing means biasing the valve needle in a direction opposite to a direction of a drive force, a second biasing means biasing the anchor in the direction of the drive force with a set load smaller than that of the first biasing means, and a restricting means restricting relative displacement of the anchor with respect to the valve needle in the direction of the drive force.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 18, 2007
    Publication date: August 23, 2007
    Applicant: Hitachi. Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki Abe, Masahiko Hayatani, Atsushi Sekine, Yasuo Namaizawa, Tohru Ishikawa, Noriyuki Maekawa
  • Publication number: 20070080239
    Abstract: A heating time period is decreased by that a valve body including a hollow valve shaft is arranged in a slidable manner in a cylindrical part of a casing on which a nozzle body with a valve seat is mounted at a front end thereof, a fuel is introduced from a fuel outlet port opening on a shaft wall of the valve shaft into a fuel path formed by the valve shaft and the cylindrical part, the fuel is heated to be injected from the nozzle body by a heater arranged at an outside of the fuel path of the cylindrical part, and a sleeve is mounted in the fuel path so that a large diameter part thereof closes the fuel path at an upper area of the fuel outlet port, while a fuel inlet port is formed on a small diameter part of the sleeve to introduce the fuel into the fuel path, so that the fuel path is narrowed to decrease an amount of the fuel to be heated by the heater.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2006
    Publication date: April 12, 2007
    Applicant: Hitachi, LTD.
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yasukawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Nobuaki Sekiya, Masahiro Soma
  • Publication number: 20070075166
    Abstract: A fuel-injection valve includes a fuel-injection hole, a valve element and a valve seat for opening and closing the fuel-injection hole, a force-applying member for applying force to the valve element in a direction of motion of the valve element, and a drive unit for applying force to the valve element in the direction opposite to that of the force applied by the force-applying member; wherein a secondary oscillation system, which interacts with a primary oscillation system including the valve element and the force-applying member, is added to the primary oscillation system, and the phase angle of force applied to the primary oscillation system by the secondary oscillation system is also staggered from that of force applied to the primary oscillation system, which is other than the force applied to the primary oscillation system by the secondary oscillation system, whereby the bouncing of the valve element during opening and closing of the valve is reduced, which in turn makes it possible to achieve very acc
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2006
    Publication date: April 5, 2007
    Inventors: Masahiro Tsuchiya, Tosuke Hirata, Yoshio Okamoto, Tohru Ishikawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Yoshiyuki Tanabe, Atsushi Sekine, Yuzo Kadomukai, Makoto Yamakado, Motoyuki Abe
  • Patent number: 7163162
    Abstract: A fuel-injection valve includes a fuel-injection hole, a valve element and a valve seat for opening and closing the fuel-injection hole, a force-applying member for applying force to the valve element in a direction of motion of the valve element, and a drive unit for applying force to the valve element in the direction opposite to that of the force applied by the force-applying member; wherein a secondary oscillation system, which interacts with a primary oscillation system including the valve element and the force-applying member, is added to the primary oscillation system, and the phase angle of force applied to the primary oscillation system by the secondary oscillation system is also staggered from that of force applied to the primary oscillation system, which is other than the force applied to the primary oscillation system by the secondary oscillation system, whereby the bouncing of the valve element during opening and closing of the valve is reduced, which in turn makes it possible to achieve very acc
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2007
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Tsuchiya, Tosuke Hirata, Yoshio Okamoto, Tohru Ishikawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Yoshiyuki Tanabe, Atsushi Sekine, Yuzo Kadomukai, Makoto Yamakado, Motoyuki Abe
  • Publication number: 20070007363
    Abstract: A valve seat is provided upstream from said fuel nozzle orifice. A first valve rod opens and closes the fuel nozzle orifice with axial movements relative to the valve seat. A spring exerts the first valve rod away from the valve seat. A stopper restricts a lift amount of the first valve rod lifted with a force of the spring. A solenoid produces a magnetic field. A magnetostrictive element extends when current passes through the solenoid and shrinks when no current passes through said solenoid, and having a hysteresis in an axial deformation amount on extending and in an axial deformation amount on shrinking. A second valve rod presses the first valve rod onto the valve seat against the force of the spring when the solenoid is not energized, and for allows the first valve rod to move away from the valve seat with exertions of an extension of the magnetostrictive element and the force of said spring when said solenoid is energized.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2006
    Publication date: January 11, 2007
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanori Mifuji, Noriyuki Maekawa, Tohru Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 7095599
    Abstract: When voltage changes occur in the battery used as a power supply in a fuel injection system, the amount of fuel injection also changes and the required amount of fuel injected cannot be obtained. To eliminate this problem, a fuel injector system is provided which has a fuel injection valve with at least one coil, a power supply, a power supply voltage detector, and a control unit for controlling the fuel injection valve. The control unit sets a reference value of a power supply voltages, and the above-mentioned fuel injection valve is controlled so as to obtain the required ampere-turns by reducing the resultant inductance of the coil when a power supply voltage detection value is less than the above-mentioned reference value, and the resultant inductance of the coil is increased when the power voltage detection value is greater than the reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2006
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Makoto Yamakado, Toru Ishikawa, Kooji Shibata
  • Publication number: 20060180122
    Abstract: Information storage element 102 and transmitter-receiver 103 are molded in resin connector part 101 of fuel injection valve 100 which projects outside of the engine by molding. The precise control of an injection amount is enabled by using directly the characteristic of injection amount stored in information storage element 102, and obtaining the width of the injection command pulse corresponding to the injection amount instruction value. Thereby, the minimum injection amount which is the minimum value of the fuel supply amount which can be controlled is reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2005
    Publication date: August 17, 2006
    Applicant: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Noriyuki Maekawa, Motoyuki Abe, Kenichiro Tokuo, Takehiko Kowatari, Tohru Ishikawa, Toshiyuki Innami, Kazuhiko Hanawa, Satoshi Shimada
  • Patent number: 7082922
    Abstract: In order to provide a fuel injection method of an internal combustion engine having higher combustion stability which can direct a part of concentrated fuel spray toward an ignition plug according to a fuel injection atmosphere, a fuel injection valve thereof, and an internal combustion engine, the present invention provides a fuel injection method of an internal combustion engine for injecting fuel so as to generate a part of high spray concentration and a part of low spray concentration on the cross section of spray by giving swirling force to fuel from an injection hole at the front end of a fuel injection valve, comprising the step of setting a reference indicating the position of a axis of the fuel injection valve indicating the injection direction of the part of high spray concentration in the rotational direction when fuel is injected into an atmosphere under the atmospheric pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2006
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki Abe, Noriyuki Maekawa, Takuya Shiraishi, Hiroshi Fujii, Mamoru Fujieda, Toru Ishikawa, Yoshiyuki Tanabe
  • Patent number: 7021569
    Abstract: A fuel swirler positioned upstream of an injection orifice is disposed at the tip of a nozzle body in a fuel injector, in which the fixed core and the nozzle body are coupled to each other via a non-magnetic cylindrical seal ring press-fitted and welded to the outer circumference of one end on the nozzle body side of the fixed core and the inner circumference of one end of the nozzle body. The inner circumference of the fuel swirler and the inner circumference of the seal ring function serve as a guide for slidably guiding a stroke movement of the needle. The fuel swirler is held between the receiving surface of the nozzle body and the orifice plate, thus defining an annular fuel passage between the outer circumference of the fuel swirler and the inner circumference of the nozzle body, so that fuel flows into a passage groove formed at the lower end surface of the fuel swirler via the annular fuel passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2006
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kiyotaka Ogura, Atsushi Sekine, Eiichi Kubota, Masafumi Nakano, Keiichi Uraki, Noriyuki Maekawa, Mizuho Yokoyama, Yoshiyuki Tanabe, Hiromasa Kubo, Tooru Ishikawa
  • Publication number: 20060027217
    Abstract: The heating injector in which the fuel is heated within a short time when starting and the size of a fuel atomized particle is very small h as casing 10 for a fuel injection valve which supplies fuel to an engine, orifice member 50 with an orifice through which fuel passes, plunger 20 which carries out switching action of orifice, swirl chip 30 which contacts the orifice member and the casing at a plurality of positions, and forms a fuel passage blocked by a plurality of narrow portions and a fuel heating space channel where entrance side was blocked by the narrow portion in the downstream side, and a heater which is arranged between fuel passage forming member and casing and supported by either of the fuel passage forming member or the casing in a plurality of parts in the fuel passage.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2005
    Publication date: February 9, 2006
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yasukawa, Noriyuki Maekawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Yoshio Okamoto
  • Patent number: 6908050
    Abstract: A press-machined fuel induction pipe 40, a hollow tubular type of fixed core 1 with a flange at its upper end, and a nozzle holder 18 that was press-machined into a slender tubular shape and has an orifice plate equipped with a valve seat at the lower end of the nozzle holder, are connected by welding. The upper inner surface of nozzle holder 18 and the outer surface of fixed core 1 are welded after being press-fit. A movable core 14 and a valve body 16 are connected to the welded assembly via a point 15 having a spring function. On the outer surface of nozzle holder 18 is provided an electromagnetic coil 2, the outside of which is provided with a tubular yoke 4 whose upper end is connected by welding to the flange 1a of fixed core 1 and whose lower end is press-fit on the outer surface of nozzle holder 18.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2005
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Sekine, Kiyotaka Ogura, Ryuya Ando, Makoto Yamakado, Noriyuki Maekawa