Patents by Inventor Shigeru Sone

Shigeru Sone 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: 5628286
    Abstract: An improvement of a valve timing control apparatus for an engine is disclosed. The apparatus has an intake valve and an exhaust valve which are alternately opened and closed in a valve timing sequence according to a rotation of a cam shaft. A timing pulley mounted on the cam shaft has a housing accommodating a plunger movable therein and a sleeve secured to the cam shaft. The housing has a first and second pressure chambers defined by the plunger and sealed with respect to each other. The plunger is arranged to move in an axial direction to selectively advance and retard the cam shaft based on differential pressure between the first pressure chamber and the second pressure chamber. A controller controls an electromagnetic valve with a specific control value to adjust the fluid pressure to be supplied to the first and second pressure chambers to maintain the valve timing sequence converged to a target valve timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 13, 1997
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Senji Kato, Nobuhisa Ohkawa, Shigeru Sone, Tadahisa Naganawa, Yoshihito Moriya, Yoshiya Yamashita, Hitoshi Uda, Yuji Yoshihara
  • Patent number: 5590632
    Abstract: Disclosed is a device for calculating an amount of an air introduced to a cylinder of an engine. An air-intake passage introduces the air to the cylinder. An air-exhaust passage exhausts gas from the cylinder. Both passages respectively have an intake valve and an exhaust valve. Both valves are respectively driven by an intake valve drive mechanism and an exhaust valve drive mechanism in accordance with a rotation of a crank shaft to alternatively and selectively open and close, and simultaneously open during a valve overlap period to open the passages to the cylinder. A variable valve timing mechanism controls an operational timing of the valve drive mechanisms with respect to the crank shaft in accordance with a running condition of the engine to vary a timing of the valve driven by the valve drive mechanisms. The calculating device comprises a first detecting device, which detects a rotational speed of the crank shaft. A second detecting device detects an intake pressure in the air-intake passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 7, 1997
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Senji Kato, Kouji Endo, Shigeru Sone, Atsushi Goto, Nobuhisa Ohkawa
  • Patent number: 5529034
    Abstract: A cam shaft of an engine is provided with a timing change mechanism (VVT) which is driven by hydraulic pressure to alter the timing of a intake valve (valve timing). This VVT is controlled to change the valve overlap of the intake valve and an exhaust valve, thereby adjusting the suction and exhaust in and from a combustion chamber. To control the VVT, an electronic control unit (ECU) computes a target value for the valve timing in accordance with the running condition of the engine and controls the supply of the hydraulic pressure to the VVT based on the target value. The ECU determines the level of the actual hydraulic pressure given to the VVT. When the actual valve timing does not lie in a predetermined range with respect to the target value, the ECU determines that an abnormality has occurred in the VVT, and executes a predetermined fail safe routine. When the hydraulic pressure is equal to or smaller than a reference value, the ECU suppresses WT malfunction determinations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 25, 1996
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shigeru Sone, Tadahisa Naganawa, Senji Kato, Kouji Endou, Nobuhisa Ohkawa, Atsushi Gotou
  • Patent number: 5494008
    Abstract: A varying mechanism (VVT) for continuously varying the valve timing of an intake valve in a predetermined range is provided on a cam shaft in an engine. By controlling the VVT, the valve overlap period of the intake valve and an exhaust valve is continuously varied in a predetermined range, thus adjusting the amount of the internal EGR in combustion chambers. When determining that the operational load of the engine is small and intermediate based on the value of a manifold pressure, an electronic control unit (ECU) computes a target value for advancing the valve timing with respect to the rotational phase of a crankshaft based on a throttle angle, an engine speed, etc. The ECU also computes a limit value to restrict the target value in accordance with the value of the manifold pressure. When the target value is smaller than the limit value, the ECU controls the VVT based on the target value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 27, 1996
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Nobuhisa Ohkawa, Tadahisa Naganawa, Kouji Endou, Senji Kato, Shigeru Sone, Atsushi Goto
  • Patent number: 4449371
    Abstract: An air by-pass system in an internal combustion engine with a turbocharger which comprises a compressor driven by an exhaust gas turbine for supercharging suction air fed to the engine through a throttle valve, wherein an air by-pass passage is provided for connecting an area upstream from the compressor and an area downstream from the throttle valve, and an air valve is provided in the by-pass passage for controlling the amount of the by-pass air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 1980
    Date of Patent: May 22, 1984
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shigeru Sone, Yasuhiro Ikuta, Kazuaki Komiya, Kazuhide Kihira, Nobutaka Mizuno
  • Patent number: 4128366
    Abstract: A rotor housing for a rotary engine composed of an annular body member having a plurality of axial through bores arranged along the annulus thereof for receiving through clamping bolts and at least one tubular collar member embedded in the body member co-axially along the through bore so as to define the through bore therethrough, the collar member being made of a material having a lower thermal expansion coefficient than the body member and being firmly engaged with the body member thereby restraining the axial thermal expansion of the body member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1977
    Date of Patent: December 5, 1978
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shigeru Sone