Abstract: A variable-damping-force shock absorber includes a piezoelectric actuator for producing a displacement, a hydraulic pressure chamber filled with a working oil and having a volume variable in response to the displacement produced by said piezoelectric actuator, and a plunger slidably disposed in a sleeve and reciprocally movable in response to a change in the volume of said hydraulic pressure chamber. The sleeve and said plunger define therebetween a gap communicating with said hydraulic pressure chamber. A supply passage for supplying a working oil from an external working oil source into said hydraulic pressure chamber extends through the gap. A leakage of the working oil from the hydraulic pressure chamber through the gap can automatically be compensated for by working oil supplied through the supply passage. Since the working oil leaks from and is supplied into the hydraulic pressure chamber through the gap, the leakage and supply of the working oil are kept in equilibrium.

Abstract: A porous support of the present invention comprises a laminate which is formed by laminating a corrugated sheet, in which high and low wave portions coexist, and a flat sheet, and which is wound into a spiral form. The porous support is particularly used as a catalyst support for purifying automobile exhaust gas. Appropriate combination of the high and the low wave portions in the corrugated sheet permits the selection of any one of various cross-sectional forms such as a conventional circular form, a race track-like form, a broad bean-like form, a triangular form and other suitable forms. The degree of freedom of the form can be thus increased.

Abstract: In a braking apparatus for use in a motor vehicle which supplies hydraulic pressure from a master cylinder to wheel braking cylinders for front-side and rear-side wheels, a braking force adjusting device is provided in common between the master cylinder and the front-side and rear-side wheel braking cylinders to adjust the hydraulic pressure to be applied to the front-side and rear-side wheel cylinders. A proportioning valve controls the hydraulic pressure to the rear-side wheel braking cylinder to become lower than the hydraulic pressure from the braking force adjusting device by a predetermined ratio. The proportioning valve is adapted to change the predetermined ratio in accordance with a control signal to prevent the rear-side wheel from locking. The control signal to the proportioning valve is determined on the basis of information representing an excessive degreee of braking force obtained in accordance with the states of the front-side and rear-side wheels during the braking operation.

Abstract: An adjustable damping force type shock absorber having a function to detect a damping force generated thereon and a function to adjust the damping force thereof.

Abstract: In a lubricant contamination measuring device, an optical path gap is provided between a light source window at a light source side and a light receiving window at a light receiving element side. A lubricant having an amount of contaminant to be measured in accordance with a light transmittance is present in the optical path gap and the length of the optical path gap is selected to be shorter than a predetermined length. At least one of the light source and light receiving windows has a convex shape, and the center of the convex window is in contact with a surface of the other window. Thus, the amount of contaminant in the lubricant can be measured up to a high contamination range.

Abstract: In order to provide a function of eliminating minute particles in exhaust gas to a control apparatus of an internal combustion engine, a filter temperature sensor, inserted in an exhaust path, for measuring a temperature of a filter for trapping minute particles of an exhaust gas, an electric heater for removing the minute particles deposited on the filter by combustion, and a control circuit are provided. In the control circuit, filter recovery is detected, a preheating instruction for raising the filter temperature is generated in accordance with the detection result, completion of the preheating of the filter is decided, an instruction for changing an injection pattern of the fuel injection valve for preheating the filter is generated, and an ON signal is supplied to the electric heater.

Abstract: A system for measuring amounts of particulates exhausted from a vehicle internal combustion engine, such as a diesel engine, has a dilution tunnel into which exhaust gas is introduced and mixed with and diluted by clear air. One part of the diluted gas is introduced into a first sampling arrangement in which a first filter is provided for collecting particulates of dry soot and another part of the diluted gas is introduced into a second sampling arrangement in which a second filter is provided for collecting particulates of soluble organic fraction (SOF). The amounts of dry soot and SOF are calculated in a real time manner in accordance with the pressure drops across the filters on the basis of the time differential of the signals output from pressure transducers provided for each filter.

Abstract: Carbon particles are effectively removed from contaminated lubricating oil, for example, in a diesel engine by an electrostatic filtering device comprising a porous dielectric inserted between positive and negative electrodes in a container into which the contaiminated lubricating oil in introduced. In particluar, in the preferred embodiment the spaced parallel electrodes sandwich a porous dielectric film for collecting particles and a porous spacer which is disposed between the porous dielectric film and one of the electrodes. The pores of the porous spacer have a size which is considerably larger than that of the pores of the particle-collecting film.

Abstract: A burner device adapted for use in a particulate filter arranged in an exhaust system in a diesel engine for incinerating particles collected by the filter. The device includes a mixing chamber for mixing the fuel and the air, the chamber has nozzles for generating flows of the mixture directed to the combustion chamber. Means are provided for pre-heating the air introduced into the mixing chamber. A trapping vaporizer is provided for improving the vaporization of the fuel in the mixing chamber.

Abstract: Particle-laden exhaust gases flow through a first stage consisting of a filter cake so the particles of sizes of the order of microns are trapped over the surface of the filter cake and agglomerated or granulated and the agglomerated or granulated particles are entrained by the flow of exhaust gases into an inertia type particle collector or separator in which they are separated from the exhaust gases and the collected particles are burned out by an electric heating element.

Abstract: A system for measuring particulate discharge from a vehicular internal combustion engine has a dilution tunnel into which exhaust gases are introduced and mixed with and diluted by clean air. A part of the diluted gases is introduced through a sampling probe into a sampled gas line in which a filter is provided to collect particulates contained in the sampled gases. A differential pressure transducer is provided to detect the pressure drop across the filter and convert the detected pressure drop into an electric signal which is fed into an operator which is operative to compute the quantity of particulate content of the engine exhaust gases on the basis of the time differential of the electric signal from the differential pressure transducer.

Abstract: A catalyst-type exhaust gas purifying device utilizing a monolithic catalyzing element defining a plurality of exhaust gas passages therein. The catalyzing element is disposed within a cylindrical housing. Heat insulating spaces are provided by at least one circumferential row of bores disposed near the outer periphery of said catalyzing element and closed at the opposite ends.