Patents by Inventor Seiji Wataya

Seiji Wataya 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: 5461531
    Abstract: A controller apparatus for an electric vehicle includes a power supply, a power converting section for converting power supplied from the power supply, a motor which receives an output from the power converting section to drive the electric vehicle; an accelerator opening detector for detecting an accelerator opening; a controller section for controlling said power converting section in response to a detected output from said accelerator opening detector; a current detector for detecting the current supplied to the motor from the power supply; and failure decider for deciding that the controller suffers a failure when the output from the current detector is not smaller than the reference value previously determined in accordance with the accelerator opening, thereby stopping the drive of the motor. In such a structure, the torque not smaller than that required by a driver is produced so that it is possible to prevent the electric vehicle from running away.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1994
    Date of Patent: October 24, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Eiji Tuchiya, Seiji Wataya, Masahiro Inoue
  • Patent number: 5421311
    Abstract: In a fuel injection system for an engine, the degree of opening of a throttle valve provided in the suction pipe is detected with a throttle valve sensor. When the load of the engine is smaller than a predetermined value, a control unit operates to close an electromagnetic valve provided in a bypass passageway of the suction pipe, thereby setting the flow rate of air in the bypass passageway to zero or an extremely small value, whereby, when the load of the engine is higher than the predetermined value, the quantities of exhaust gases of hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide are reduced, and when the engine is under a light load, the fuel consumption is reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1995
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5366424
    Abstract: A power train control system for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle. Opening of a throttle valve is electrically controlled in response to an accelerator pedal depression signal generated by an accelerator pedal position sensor and indicating depression depth of an accelerator pedal. A backup operation control of the engine is performed by controlling an auxiliary air flow which bypasses the throttle valve in dependence on the accelerator pedal depression signal upon occurrence of abnormality in a throttle valve control system. During the backup operation, a speed range shift pattern of an automatic transmission is changed over to a backup operation oriented pattern from a normal operation oriented pattern. The power train control system allows the motor vehicle to run even when a failure occurs in the throttle valve or a throttle control system in the fully closed state of the throttle valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1993
    Date of Patent: November 22, 1994
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5355972
    Abstract: A control device for a sucked air quantity of an engine comprises an accelerator pedal opening degree sensor for detecting an opening degree of an accelerator pedal; a throttle valve opening degree sensor for detecting an opening degree of a throttle valve; a throttle valve actuator for controlling the opening degree of the throttle valve in accordance with outputs of both the accelerator pedal opening degree sensor and the throttle valve opening degree sensor; a first fully-closed state detecting switch for detecting a fully-closed state of the accelerator pedal; a second fully-closed state detecting switch for detecting a fully-closed state of the throttle valve; and an abnormality determining means for determining that the control device for a sucked air quantity is abnormal when the throttle valve is not in the fully-closed state in case that the accelerator pedal is in the fully-closed state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5343840
    Abstract: An intake air flow control system for an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle comprises an accelerator pedal depression sensor for detecting depression depth of an accelerator pedal, a throttle actuator for regulating opening degree of a throttle valve in dependence on the depression depth of the accelerator pedal, a bypass intake passage which bypasses an intake pipe at a location where the throttle valve is disposed, a bypass control valve installed in the bypass intake passage, an abnormality detector for detecting abnormality of control of the throttle actuator, and a controller for controlling the opening degree of the bypass control valve in dependence on depression depth of the accelerator pedal in response to detection of abnormality of in the control performed through the throttle actuator. Operation of the engine can be fail-safed even upon occurrence of failure in the throttle control system in the fully closed state of the throttle valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 1993
    Date of Patent: September 6, 1994
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Wataya, Yukinobu Nishimura, Nobutake Taniguchi
  • Patent number: 5257501
    Abstract: A control device for a catalyst having an electric heater: provided at an exhaust pipe of an engine, having a catalyst for purifying exhaust gas and an electric heater for heating the catalyst before and after starting the engine comprises a battery charged by a generator driven by the engine for supplying power to the electric heater and for driving a starter; a current sensor for detecting charged and discharged current of the battery; summing means for summing a value of the charged and discharged current since a current to the electric heater has started flowing until the engine starts operating and until the engine stops operating; and means for comparing the summed value with a predetermined value and for prohibiting the current flowing to the electric heater during a period at least before the engine starts operating when the summed value is equal to or less than the predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 2, 1993
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5199408
    Abstract: An air fuel ratio control system for an internal combustion engine, comprising: an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, and exhaust passages corresponding to the respective cylinders; a plurality of oxygen sensors arranged in the respective exhaust passages to detect the composition of exhaust gas from the respective cylinders; and a control unit for independently controlling an air fuel ratio of the respective cylinders based on outputs from the oxygen sensors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1992
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1993
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki K.K.
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5186148
    Abstract: An abnormality detecting device for an automobile engine in which a controlling device nullifies an alarm to be generated on the basis of the judgment of abnormality in a case that the temperature of the fuel is determined to be higher than a predetermined value from an information of fuel temperature obtained by a temperature sensor after the engine has been re-started while the engine has been in an elevated temperature state after the stopping of the engine, or in a case that a predetermined time set by a timer has not been past after the re-starting of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1992
    Date of Patent: February 16, 1993
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 5058552
    Abstract: An engine control apparatus is provided with a control unit in which a fuel supply quantity Q.sub.f or a ignition timing .theta..sub.i is corrected to maximize an evaluation parameter A=P.sub.i /(Q.sub.a /N) obtained on the basis of a suction air quantity Q.sub.a, an engine speed N and a mean effective pressure P.sub.i in a engine, or to maximize a parameter B=P.sub.i /P.sub.b obtained on the basis of a suction pipe pressure P.sub.b and the mean effective pressure P.sub.i, or to maximize a maximum pressure P.sub.max or a mean effective pressure P.sub.i for every combustion cycle, so that control is performed on the basis of the result of the above correction. The control unit also performs feedback control of the fuel supply quantity Q.sub.f and corrects the ignition timing. Further, the control unit performs feedback control in a predetermined load-operation range of the engine, and stops the feedback control and corrects the fuel supply quantity Q.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki K.K.
    Inventors: Setsuhiro Shimomura, Seiji Wataya, Yukinobu Nishimura, Satoru Okubo
  • Patent number: 5025380
    Abstract: A method and device for controlling an engine mounted on a vehicle substantially suppresses pitching or surging of the body of the vehicle during acceleration even when the driver abruptly depresses an accelerator pedal, thereby markedly improving riding comfort. A valve such as a throttle valve in an engine intake passage is operatively associated with an accelerator pedal such that the opening degree of the valve is changed by operation of the accelerator pedal to control at least one of the amount of intake air and the amount of fuel supplied to the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 18, 1991
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Wataya, Shoichi Washino
  • Patent number: 4991554
    Abstract: A device for controlling ignition timing of an engine has a sensor 10 for reading and storing the pressure of a gaseous mixture within each cylinder of a multiple cylinder engine at a predetermined crank angle in the compression cycle; a calculation unit 11 for calculating a charged air quantity or engine load based on the gaseous pressure and the temperature of an intake air; and a control unit 11 responsive to the engine load and the number of engine rotations to determine the ignition timing for the cylinder to be ignited next or the next cycle in its own cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 1990
    Date of Patent: February 12, 1991
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 4984546
    Abstract: An engine control apparatus is provided with a control unit in which a fuel supply quantity Q.sub.f or a ignition timing .theta..sub.i is corrected to maximize an evaluation parameter A=P.sub.i /(Q.sub.a /N) obtained on the basis of a suction air quantity Q.sub.a, an engine speed N and a mean effective pressure P.sub.i in a engine, or to maximize a parameter B=P.sub.i /P.sub.b obtained on the basis of a suction pipe pressure P.sub.b and the mean effective pressure P.sub.i, or to maximize a maximum pressure P.sub.max or a mean effective pressure P.sub.i for every combustion cycle, so that control is performed on the basis of the result of the above correction. The control unit also performs the feedback control of the fuel supply quantity Q.sub.f and corrects the ignition timing by the above-mentioned correction means. Further, the control unit performs feedback control in a predetermined load-operation range of the engine, and stops the feedback control and corrects the fuel supply quantity Q.sub.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1989
    Date of Patent: January 15, 1991
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Setsuhiro Shimomura, Seiji Wataya, Yukinobu Nishimura, Satoru Okubo
  • Patent number: 4979481
    Abstract: A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine has cylinders each of which is provided with an exclusive fuel injection valve individually driven their openings. Each cylinder has a misfiring detecting means for detecting misfiring of that cylinder. The control apparatus includes a drive stopping means for stopping the driving of the fuel injection valve corresponding to a misfired cylinder so as to stop fuel supply to that misfired cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 25, 1990
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Setsuhiro Shimomura, Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 4969431
    Abstract: A throttle valve control device for an automotive engine is disclosed which comprises, in addition to an actuator for driving the throttle valve, an electromagnetic clutch for disconnectably connecting the actuator to the throttle valve, and control means for driving the actuator and the electromagnetic clutch, an interrupter circuit which, being inserted between the electromagnetic clutch and the driver circuit thereof, interrupts the supply of the driving current to the electromagnetic clutch when the following two conditions are satisfied simultaneously: (1) the brake of the automobile is operated by the operator, and (2) the automobile is running at a speed not less than a predetermined level, e.g. 5 km/h. Thus, even if failures occur in the fail detector or the clutch driver circuit in the control means, the automobile can be safely decelerated and stopped by the operator who operates the brake pedal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 13, 1990
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 4962739
    Abstract: A fuel controller for an internal combustion engine has an air temperature sensor in an air intake pipe and a cylinder pressure sensor which measures the pressure within a cylinder of the engine during a compression stroke. A control unit calculates the air quantity in each cylinder based on the measured intake air pressure and cylinder pressure and controls the fuel injectors of the engine so as to obtain a desired air-fuel ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 16, 1990
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 4933862
    Abstract: As engine control apparatus for electrically controlling a fuel and ignition timing for a multicylinder 4-cycle engine comprises a plurality of first micro-computer each being provided for every one of or for every pair of cylinders in which compression and exhaust strokes are in phase, and a second micro-computer which is arranged to communicate with each first micro-computer. The first micro-computer calculates a fundamental quantity of fuel injection from a rotational signal and a load signal of the engine, a correction quantity according to correction control information from the second micro-computer, and controls the operation of a fuel injection valve, the ignition timing from the rotational signal and load signal, a correction quantity according to correction control information from the second micro-computer, and controls the on/off operation of ignition coils according to the ignition timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 12, 1990
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Seiji Wataya
  • Patent number: 4765298
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio control system for internal combustion engines has an air-fuel ratio sensor mounted in an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine and is adapted to produce an output indicative of the air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to the engine, on the basis of the composition of exhaust gases in the exhaust pipe. The air-fuel ratio sensor is provided with an electric heater for heating the air-fuel ratio sensor. The system further has an engine operation sensor adapted to sense, through detection of the state of the ignition switch, whether the engine has been stopped. When the engine operation sensor has sensed that the engine has been stopped, the electric heater is supplied with power for a predetermined time after the stop of the engine so as to evaporate any water content clinging to the air-fuel ratio sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1988
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinji Kojima, Seiji Wataya, Ryoji Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 4765299
    Abstract: A failure-time control device for a fuel injection controller of an internal combustion engine provided with a failure-time by-pass throttle valve control device to maintain a by-pass throttle valve at a definite aperture on the basis of an output signal from a trouble detecting device for detecting trouble occurred in an intake air flow detecting device; and a failure-time fuel injection valve control device which calculates a fuel quantity on the basis of a relationship of a fuel injection quantity with respect to an aperture of a main throttle valve to be determined by a definite aperture maintained by said by-pass throttle valve and the number of revolution of the engine, based on an output signal from said trouble detecting means, and which feeds by injection the fuel into the internal combustion engine by controlling the fuel injection valve on the basis of the quantity as calculated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 1987
    Date of Patent: August 23, 1988
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Wataya, Yuji Kishimoto
  • Patent number: 4753204
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio control system for internal combustion engines has an air-fuel ratio sensor mounted in an exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine and is adapted to produce an output indicative of the air-fuel ratio of a mixture supplied to the engine, on the basis of the composition of exhaust gases in the exhaust pipe. The air-fuel ratio sensor is provided with an electric heater for heating the air-fuel ratio sensor. The system further has a temperature sensor for sensing the temperature of the internal combustion engine or the ambient air temperature, and an engine operation sensor adapted to sense whether the engine has been stopped, through detection of the state of the ignition switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1987
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1988
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shinji Kojima, Seiji Wataya, Ryoji Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 4739739
    Abstract: A fuel-injection control system for an internal combustion engine capable of ensuring the stable and proper backup operation of the engine in case of a failure of an intake-air sensor without suffering from any substantial influence from the amount of intake air flowing through a bypass conduit which bypasses a part of intake air in an intake passage across a throttle valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1988
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Wataya, Yuji Kishimoto