Patents by Inventor Shigeki Iwanami

Shigeki Iwanami 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: 6927500
    Abstract: Power generated by an alternator 2 and power generated by an electric motor 12 are controlled such that a power generation amount of either the alternator 2 or the electric motor 12, whichever has a higher power generation efficiency, becomes larger than a power generation amount of either the alternator 2 or the electric motor 12, whichever has a lower power generation efficiency. Consequently, power needed for power generation, that is, power consumed by an engine 1 can be decreased, thereby making it possible to improve the fuel economy of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2005
    Assignees: Denso Corporation, Nippon Soken, Inc.
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Kazuhide Uchida
  • Publication number: 20050109499
    Abstract: A low-cost vehicle air-conditioning apparatus for idle stopping vehicles is capable of performing both cooling and heating operations throughout the year. The air-conditioning apparatus includes an engine-driven compressor and engine-driven pump for a heating unit. The air-conditioning apparatus includes a motor-driven compressor and pump. A control unit drives the motor such that the motor-driven compressor is operated when there is a need for cooling and the motor-driven pump is operated when there is a need for heating when the engine is stopped. Battery power is conserved through various methods.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2005
    Publication date: May 26, 2005
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yasushi Suzuki, Yasushi Yamanaka, Yukio Ogawa, Keiichi Uno
  • Patent number: 6874996
    Abstract: The hybrid compressor apparatus is composed of a compressor in which fluid is compressed by varying a volumetric capacity of a compression space provided between a first compression member and a second compression member, which are movable independently of each other, according to rotation of the first compression member relative to the second compression member, a motor rotatable upon receipt of power of an external electric source, and a driven member rotatably driven by motive force transmitted from an external driving source. The first compression member is connected with the driven member and the second compressor is connected with the motor. If maximum discharge amount is required for the compressor, the motor is driven separately by a control device when the driven member drives the first compression member so that the second compression member is rotated in a direction opposite to that of the first compression member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Shigeki Iwanami
  • Patent number: 6874328
    Abstract: In a hybrid compressor for a vehicle where a vehicle engine is stopped when the vehicle is temporally stopped, a pulley, a motor and a compressor can be driven in independent from each other, and are connected to a sun gear, planetary carriers and a ring gear of a planetary gear. A rotational speed of the motor is adjusted by a controller, so that a rotational speed of the compressor is changed with respect to a rotational speed of the pulley. Accordingly, production cost of the hybrid compressor and the size thereof can be reduced, while a cooling function can be ensured even when the vehicle engine is stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2005
    Assignees: Nippon Soken Inc., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Yasushi Suzuki, Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno
  • Publication number: 20040258539
    Abstract: An object of the invention is to minimize energy loss to be generated at a driving shaft and a shaft seal device, when an electric rotating device is driven by an expansion-and-compressor device. According to a feature of the invention, a first driving shaft is rotationally supported by a housing and transmits a driving force from an engine to a second shaft of the expansion-and-compressor device, wherein a shaft seal device is provided on the first driving shaft for air-tightly sealing the inside of the housing from the outside of the housing. A power transmission control device (electromagnetic clutch or one way clutch) is operatively provided in a path between the first driving shaft and the second shaft, so that power transmission from the second shaft to the first driving shaft is cut off, to suppress any energy loss to be generated between the first driving shaft and the shaft seal device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2004
    Publication date: December 23, 2004
    Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yasushi Suzuki, Keiichi Uno, Kazuhide Uchida, Tadashi Hotta
  • Patent number: 6830438
    Abstract: A controlled compressor apparatus enables a hybrid compressor in an idle-stopping vehicle to operate more efficiently when driven by a motor alone. The controlled compressor apparatus includes a compressor 110, included in a refrigeration circuit 200, of a variable volume type for compressing a refrigerant; a motor 120 powered by a battery 12 to operate; and a controller 130 for selecting the driving force provided either by the engine 10 or the motor 120 to drive the compressor 110 and control its discharge volume. The controller 130 causes the motor 120 to operate the compressor 110 such that the compressor 110 is turned on or off at a discharge volume of the compressor 110 that larger within a variable range than that required for operating the refrigeration circuit 200.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Soken, Inc., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yukio Ogawa, Yoshiki Tada
  • Publication number: 20040247458
    Abstract: The invention relates to a fluid machine, more particularly to a hybrid compressor for a motor vehicle and has an object to reduce vibration and noises thereof.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 25, 2004
    Publication date: December 9, 2004
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Kazuhide Uchida
  • Publication number: 20040231331
    Abstract: A fluid machine according to the present invention has an expansion-and-compressor device selectively operating as an expansion device for collecting waste heat from an internal combustion engine and converting the collected heat energy into mechanical rotational force, and as a compressor device for compressing refrigerant for a refrigerating cycle for air conditioner. The fluid machine further comprises an electric rotating device selectively operating as an electric power generator and as an electric motor. A power transmission device is further provided between the expansion-and-compressor device and the electric rotating device for selectively transmitting the rotational force from the expansion-and-compressor device to the electric rotating device and vice versa. The power transmission device is composed of a planetary gear train so that it can change rotational speed to be transmitted to the expansion-and-compressor device or to the electric rotating device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2004
    Publication date: November 25, 2004
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yasushi Suzuki, Keiichi Uno, Kazuhide Uchida, Tadashi Hotta, Hironori Asa, Yasuhiro Takeuchi
  • Publication number: 20040216483
    Abstract: A vapor-compression refrigerant cycle system with a refrigeration cycle and a Rankine cycle includes a compressor, a radiator, a gas-liquid separator, a decompression device and an evaporator. In the vapor-compression refrigerant cycle system, a liquid pump is disposed for supplying the liquid refrigerant in the gas-liquid separator to a heater for heating the refrigerant, a cooling means is provided for cooling the liquid refrigerant to be sucked into the liquid pump, and an energy recovery unit for expanding the refrigerant flowing out of the heater is disposed to recover thermal energy in the refrigerant from the heater. When the Rankine cycle is set so that the energy recovery unit recovers the thermal energy, the cooling means cools the liquid refrigerant to be sucked into the liquid pump. Therefore, pumping efficiency of the liquid pump can be effectively improved.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2004
    Publication date: November 4, 2004
    Inventors: Atsushi Inaba, Yasushi Yamanaka, Shigeki Iwanami, Koichi Ban, Shigeru Hisanaga, Tadashi Hotta, Yukikatsu Ozaki, Kazuhide Uchida
  • Patent number: 6804969
    Abstract: A composite auxiliary machine for a vehicle has proper startup performance in starting an engine. The composite auxiliary machine has a compressor for compressing a refrigerant inside a refrigeration cycle device, a rotary machine connected to the compressor and rotated together therewith, a drive pulley for operating the rotary machine in response to a driving force from the vehicle engine, and a clutch device for transmitting and terminating the driving force of the drive pulley. The rotary machine functions as a generator and an electric motor. A variable displacement mechanism is provided in the compressor to vary an amount of discharge per revolution. A control unit controls to engage the clutch device in starting the vehicle engine, and actuates the rotary machine as an electric motor to actuate the vehicle engine. Then, an amount of discharge of a refrigerant is controlled to become smaller than that necessary in the refrigeration cycle device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Soken, Inc., DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa
  • Publication number: 20040187506
    Abstract: A waste heat collecting system for an internal combustion engine has an object to collect waste heat from the engine and make most use of the collected waste heat to achieve the maximum effect of improving fuel consumption ratio. The waste heat utilizing system has a waste heat collecting cycle for collecting waste heat from an internal combustion engine and having an expansion device for generating rotational driving force from the collected waste heat, a refrigerating cycle having a compressor device for compressing a refrigerant and a power transmitting means rotationally driven by a driving force generating means and operatively connected to the compressor device to rotationally drive the same. In this system, the expansion device is operatively connected to the compressor device to rotationally drive the same.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 11, 2004
    Publication date: September 30, 2004
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION/NIPPON SOKEN, INC.
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno, Yasushi Suzuki, Shigeru Hisanaga, Atsushi Inaba, Koichi Ban, Takashi Yamanaka, Yasushi Yamanaka, Kazuhide Uchida, Tadashi Hotta
  • Publication number: 20040184923
    Abstract: A check valve is provided to each discharge port, which communicates between a corresponding working chamber and a high pressure chamber in an integrated compressor/expander apparatus. A valve mechanism, which is opened in a motor mode, is provided to communicate between the working chamber and the high pressure chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 27, 2004
    Publication date: September 23, 2004
    Applicants: DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN, INC.
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yasushi Yamanaka, Yasushi Suzuki, Atsushi Inaba, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno, Kazuhide Uchida
  • Publication number: 20040178636
    Abstract: Power generated by an alternator 2 and power generated by an electric motor 12 are controlled such that a power generation amount of either the alternator 2 or the electric motor 12, whichever has a higher power generation efficiency, becomes larger than a power generation amount of either the alternator 2 or the electric motor 12, whichever has a lower power generation efficiency. Consequently, power needed for power generation, that is, power consumed by an engine 1 can be decreased, thereby making it possible to improve the fuel economy of a vehicle.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 5, 2004
    Publication date: September 16, 2004
    Applicant: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Kazuhide Uchida
  • Publication number: 20040165995
    Abstract: In a hybrid compressor for a vehicle where a vehicle engine is stopped when the vehicle is temporally stopped, a pulley, a motor and a compressor can be driven in independent from each other, and are connected to a sun gear, planetary carriers and a ring gear of a planetary gear. A rotational speed of the motor is adjusted by a controller, so that a rotational speed of the compressor is changed with respect to a rotational speed of the pulley. Accordingly, production cost of the hybrid compressor and the size thereof can be reduced, while a cooling function can be ensured even when the vehicle engine is stopped.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2004
    Publication date: August 26, 2004
    Inventors: Yasushi Suzuki, Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno
  • Publication number: 20040163400
    Abstract: In a hybrid compressor for a vehicle where a vehicle engine is stopped when the vehicle is temporally stopped, a pulley, a motor and a compressor can be driven in independent from each other, and are connected to a sun gear, planetary carriers and a ring gear of a planetary gear. A rotational speed of the motor is adjusted by a controller, so that a rotational speed of the compressor is changed with respect to a rotational speed of the pulley. Accordingly, production cost of the hybrid compressor and the size thereof can be reduced, while a cooling function can be ensured even when the vehicle engine is stopped.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 24, 2004
    Publication date: August 26, 2004
    Inventors: Yasushi Suzuki, Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno
  • Patent number: 6755033
    Abstract: A hybrid compressor apparatus for a refrigerant cycle is mounted on a vehicle having an engine that stops in accordance with driving conditions of the vehicle. The apparatus includes an electrical motor, a compressor driven by at least one of the engine and the motor for compressing refrigerant in the refrigerant cycle, a controller for controlling operation of the motor and the compressor and for selecting a driving source between the engine and the motor so as to drive the compressor, and a switch for manually setting a normal mode and an economy mode in the refrigerant cycle. The motor drives the compressor when the economy mode is selected while the engine stops. Therefore, an operation load of the compressor can be reduced in the economy mode, and fuel consumption can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2003
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2004
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Keiichi Uno
  • Patent number: 6742350
    Abstract: In a hybrid compressor for a vehicle where a vehicle engine is stopped when the vehicle is temporally stopped, a pulley, a motor and a compressor can be driven in independent from each other, and are connected to a sun gear, planetary carriers and a ring gear of a planetary gear. A rotational speed of the motor is adjusted by a controller, so that a rotational speed of the compressor is changed with respect to a rotational speed of the pulley. Accordingly, production cost of the hybrid compressor and the size thereof can be reduced, while a cooling function can be ensured even when the vehicle engine is stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 2002
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Soken, Inc., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Yasushi Suzuki, Shigeki Iwanami, Hironori Asa, Keiichi Uno
  • Patent number: 6735962
    Abstract: A composite auxiliary machine for a vehicle and an accompanying control unit to control a compressor. The composite auxiliary machine for a vehicle includes a compressor for compressing refrigerant, a rotary machine that acts as an electric motor and a generator, and a torque and power distributing mechanism for distributing engine torque and power from a drive shaft to a compressor shaft and a rotary machine shaft, and from the rotary machine shaft to the drive shaft and compressor shaft. An intermittent mechanism is provided to the torque and power distributing mechanism so as to connect and disconnect any two of the drive shaft, the compressor shaft, and the rotary machine shaft. A locking mechanism is provided for restricting rotation of the compressor shaft. The compressor includes variable displacement mechanism for varying the amount of discharge per turn of the compressor shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2003
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Soken, Inc., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Tsuneyuki Egami, Takuo Sakai, Hironori Asa
  • Publication number: 20040081561
    Abstract: A dynamotor capable of operating as either a motor or a generator is used with both the armature portion and the field portion thereof capable of being rotated. In the case where a pulley operatively interlocked with the output shaft of the prime mover is mounted on the rotary shaft of the armature portion, the drive shaft of the compressor is mounted on the rotating field portion. Once the dynamotor is operated in motor mode, the rotational speed of the compressor is increased to the sum of the input rotational speed and the rotational speed of the dynamotor. The compressor is stopped by disconnecting a power feed circuit. When the input rotational speed is too high, the dynamotor is operated in generator mode. In this way, the rotational speed is reduced in accordance with the generated electric energy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2003
    Publication date: April 29, 2004
    Inventors: Shigeki Iwanami, Yukio Ogawa, Takashi Inoue, Hironori Asa
  • Patent number: 6688121
    Abstract: A controlled compressor apparatus for idle-stopping vehicles that permits precise variable displacement control of a compressor and reduces power consumption when the compressor is motor-driven. The apparatus includes a battery-powered motor and a control unit for selecting the engine or the motor to drive the compressor and for controlling the displacement of the compressor. A current detector detects the magnitude of a current supplied to the motor. The control unit stores a relationship between the displacement and the current and controls the displacement based on the current detected by the current detector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 10, 2004
    Assignees: Nippon Soken, Inc., Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshiki Tada, Shigeki Iwanami