Patents by Inventor Yasushi Kusaka
Yasushi Kusaka 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).
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Publication number: 20090152027Abstract: There is provided a hybrid vehicle capable of attaining excellent acceleration response and reducing pumping loss. When an engine combustion stop demand is issued, the engine is associatively rotated by carrying out a fuel cut-off operation and controlling the speed of a generator to control the engine in such a way that the speed of the engine becomes a predetermined speed NE1. During the associative rotation, intake and exhaust valves are held at their fully closed positions.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 14, 2006Publication date: June 18, 2009Inventors: Yasushi Kusaka, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Shuichi Ezaki
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Patent number: 7513231Abstract: There is provided a valve gear (11) with a motor (12), a cam mechanism (14) which converts a rotational motion of the motor (12) into a linear motion of an intake valve (2) by a cam (21), and a motor control apparatus (30) which controls the motor (12) such that an acceleration characteristic during a lift of the intake valve (2) changes in correspondence to a rotation number of an internal combustion engine.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2004Date of Patent: April 7, 2009Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Shuichi Ezaki, Toshiaki Asada, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka
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Publication number: 20080017151Abstract: A valve driving device (10), that converts rotational motion outputted from a valve-driving source to linear motion through cam mechanisms (13) provided to respective cylinders (2) and drives valves (3) in respective cylinders through the linear motion, the valve driving device is equipped with electric motors (11, 12) that are shared as the valve-driving source in a group of cylinders comprising a plurality of cylinders in which open-valve periods of the valves do not overlap; and motion-transmission mechanisms (14, 15) that transmit rotational motion of the electric motors (11, 12) to cams (16) in respective cam mechanisms (13) in the group of cylinders.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 2, 2005Publication date: January 24, 2008Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Yasushi Kusaka, Shuichi Ezaki, Toshiaki Asada, Kimitoshi Tsuji
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Publication number: 20070261668Abstract: The present invention has an object of providing a technology capable of stopping and starting an internal combustion engine more preferably by restraining vibrations when the internal combustion engine stops and a scatter in crank angle when the internal combustion engine stops. For a period till an actual stop of the internal combustion engine since a stopping condition of the internal combustion engine was established, an air quantity of air flowing into a cylinder of the internal combustion engine is decreased when a number of revolutions of the engine is higher than a specified number of revolutions (S102) and is increased when the number of revolutions of the engine is equal to or lower than the specified number of revolutions (S106).Type: ApplicationFiled: June 10, 2005Publication date: November 15, 2007Applicants: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA, DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN INC.Inventors: Kenji Kataoka, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Toyoaki Kurita, Masaki Takeyama
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Patent number: 7267088Abstract: A valve-driving system which is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders for driving an intake or exhaust valve provided in each cylinder, including a plurality of valve-driving apparatuses provided for driving valves of different cylinders of the internal combustion engine, wherein each valve-driving apparatus includes an electrical motor as a driving source for generating rotation motion; and a power transmission mechanism for converting the rotation motion of the electric motor into opening and closing motion of the valve to be driven and for transmitting the opening and closing motion to the valve through a cam or a link.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2003Date of Patent: September 11, 2007Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Shuichi Ezaki, Toshiaki Asada, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka
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Patent number: 7263959Abstract: At a time of stopping an internal combustion engine, inertia energy of the engine is kept constant, for example, by controlling a number of engine revolution constant, while controlling combustion of the engine. By utilizing the controlled inertia energy, the engine is stopped at a predetermined crank angle position. Since the engine is stopped at the predetermined crank angle position by utilizing the controlled inertia energy, a large amount of energy for controlling the stop position of the energy is not needed, and the energy needed for the stop control can be reduced. Since the inertia energy utilized for the stop control is always controlled in a predetermined state, the engine can be stopped at a proper position reliably each time.Type: GrantFiled: January 23, 2004Date of Patent: September 4, 2007Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Kataoka, Yasushi Kusaka, Hiroki Tasaki
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Publication number: 20070113806Abstract: There is provided a valve gear (11) with a motor (12), a cam mechanism (14) which converts a rotational motion of the motor (12) into a linear motion of an intake valve (2) by a cam (21), and a motor control apparatus (30) which controls the motor (12) such that an acceleration characteristic during a lift of the intake valve (2) changes in correspondence to a rotation number of an internal combustion engine.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 15, 2004Publication date: May 24, 2007Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Shuichi Ezaki, Toshiaki Asada, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka
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Publication number: 20070068473Abstract: There is provided a valve gear of an internal combustion engine converting a rotational motion of a motor into a linear motion by a cam, and driving an intake valve or an exhaust valve of a cylinder so as to be opened and closed based on the linear motion, a motor control apparatus which can actuate the motor in a rocking drive mode in which a rotating direction of the cam is changed during a lift of the valve. The motor control apparatus controls a motion of the motor such that the cam starts rotating before the valve starts lifting in the rocking drive mode.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 8, 2004Publication date: March 29, 2007Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Yasushi Kusaka, Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji
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Publication number: 20060221200Abstract: A display device having a display unit that is equipped with a display element having pixel arrangement conforming to delta arrangement and that is configured to indicate display data including non-image information and image information. The display device further includes a display controller configured to divide display data indicated by one-time screen display into an odd-numbered field and an even-numbered field, and to superimpose the non-image information with the image information at different timing between the odd-numbered field and the even-numbered field for indication of the superimposed information on the display unit.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 21, 2006Publication date: October 5, 2006Inventors: Yasushi Kusaka, Takuya Kishimoto
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Patent number: 7111599Abstract: A valve-driving system, which is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, for driving an intake or exhaust valve provided in each cylinder, comprising: a plurality of valve-driving apparatuses, each of which is provided for at least each one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve, each valve-driving apparatus having an electrical motor as a driving source for generating rotation motion and a power transmission mechanism provided with a transmitting section for transmitting the rotation motion generated by the electrical motor and a converting section for converting the rotation motion transmitted from the transmitting section into opening and closing motion of the valve to be driven; and a motor control device which controls operations of electric motors of the respective valve-driving apparatuses in accordance with the operation state of the internal combustion engine.Type: GrantFiled: January 12, 2006Date of Patent: September 26, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka
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Patent number: 7098624Abstract: To a neutral point of a motor is connected a positive electrode of an auxiliary battery and an auxiliary load. Voltage on a power supply line to the auxiliary load, a neutral point voltage, is detected, and disconnection of the auxiliary battery is determined when an increase of ripples in the neutral point voltage is detected. When a voltmeter cannot be used, control of the neutral point voltage is continued by measuring current of the auxiliary battery and performing control such that the current value becomes 0. A resolver is further provided on the motor for detecting the rotor angle with high accuracy. A control circuit generates, in accordance with an output of the resolver, a voltage control signal for each phase current having the same amplitude as the carrier amplitude during startup, and compares the voltage control signal to carrier to obtain a gate signal having the same frequency as the carrier frequency.Type: GrantFiled: July 1, 2003Date of Patent: August 29, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventor: Yasushi Kusaka
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Patent number: 7096840Abstract: In a method of starting an internal combustion engine, a combustion energy is generated by combusting a fuel that has been injected into a cylinder in an expansion stroke when the internal combustion engine is stopped. In the aforementioned method, the combustion energy generated by combusting the fuel is obtained based on a state of an air/fuel mixture within the cylinder to which the fuel has been injected. Based on the obtained combustion energy, a kinetic energy to be supplied to the internal combustion engine from a primary energy supply source is estimated. A difference between a predetermined target kinetic energy required for starting the internal combustion engine subsequent to the start of combustion and the estimated kinetic energy to be supplied from the primary energy supply source is obtained. The kinetic energy corresponding to the obtained difference is supplied from a secondary energy supply source in the form of a starter motor.Type: GrantFiled: September 2, 2003Date of Patent: August 29, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Toshiaki Asada, Shinichi Mitani, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka
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Patent number: 7082911Abstract: A valve-driving system for an internal combustion engine is provided with: an electric motor for generating a rotational driving force to drive a valve for intake or exhaust mounted on a cylinder in the internal combustion engine so as to open and close the valve in synchronization with a piston motion in the internal combustion engine; a transmitting device capable of changing between (i) a first condition to transmit therethrough the rotational driving force to the valve from said electric motor and (ii) a second condition to stop an opening or closing operation of the valve or to make the valve driven by a low lift amount; a judging device for judging whether or not synchronization between the opening or closing operation of the valve and the piston motion is abnormal; and a fail-safe device for changing said transmitting device to the second condition if it is judged by the judging device that the synchronization is abnormal.Type: GrantFiled: July 23, 2004Date of Patent: August 1, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Shuichi Ezaki, Toshiaki Asada, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka
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Patent number: 7079939Abstract: A stop position control apparatus of an internal combustion engine is applied to a vehicle having of a motor or a generator connected to a crankshaft of the engine, such as an economic-running vehicle and a hybrid vehicle. A rotation position of a motor generator is detected by a motor angle sensor, and a crank angle of the engine is detected by a crank angle sensor. A stop position of the internal combustion engine, at the time of stoppage is estimated based on the rotation position of the motor generator and the crank angle. By utilizing the results, the stop position of the internal combustion engine can be accurately estimated. By detecting a rotation direction of the crankshaft, the stop position of the engine can be accurately estimated even when the engine is rotated in the reverse direction at the time of the engine stopping.Type: GrantFiled: January 16, 2004Date of Patent: July 18, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Kataoka, Yasushi Kusaka
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Patent number: 7059297Abstract: A stop control apparatus for an internal combustion engine is provided with a valve mechanism capable of operating at least one of an intake valve and an exhaust valve independently a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine, and a valve controlling device for controlling an operation of the valve mechanism so that the internal combustion engine is stopped in a predetermined state.Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 2003Date of Patent: June 13, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Kataoka, Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka
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Patent number: 7055480Abstract: There is provided a valve gear of an internal combustion engine, comprising a cam mechanism for converting rotational motion of an electric motor into linear motion to drive a valve for opening and closing a cylinder against a valve spring, and a torque reduction mechanism for adding an opposite torque, which serves so as to reduce a torque applied to the cam mechanism from the valve spring at the time of driving the valve, to the cam mechanism.Type: GrantFiled: November 16, 2004Date of Patent: June 6, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Yasushi Kusaka, Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji
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Publication number: 20060112919Abstract: A valve-driving system, which is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, for driving an intake or exhaust valve provided in each cylinder, comprising: a plurality of valve-driving apparatuses, each of which is provided for at least each one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve, each valve-driving apparatus having an electrical motor as a driving source for generating rotation motion and a power transmission mechanism provided with a transmitting section for transmitting the rotation motion generated by the electrical motor and a converting section for converting the rotation motion transmitted from the transmitting section into opening and closing motion of the valve to be driven; and a motor control device which controls operations of electric motors of the respective valve-driving apparatuses in accordance with the operation state of the internal combustion engine.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 12, 2006Publication date: June 1, 2006Applicant: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka
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Patent number: 7047922Abstract: A valve-driving system, which is applied to an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, for driving an intake or exhaust valve provided in each cylinder, comprising: a plurality of valve-driving apparatuses, each of which is provided for at least each one of the intake valve and the exhaust valve, each valve-driving apparatus having an electrical motor as a driving source for generating rotation motion and a power transmission mechanism provided with a transmitting section for transmitting the rotation motion generated by the electrical motor and a converting section for converting the rotation motion transmitted from the transmitting section into opening and closing motion of the valve to be driven; and a motor control device which controls operations of electric motors of the respective valve-driving apparatuses in accordance with the operation state of the internal combustion engine.Type: GrantFiled: December 3, 2003Date of Patent: May 23, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Toshiaki Asada, Shuichi Ezaki, Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka
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Patent number: 7028656Abstract: A start control apparatus for an internal combustion engine according to the present invention is characterized by that in a port injection type internal combustion engine, fuel is supplied in the interior of a cylinder that is in its compression stroke or expansion stroke upon stoppage of the internal combustion engine, and upon the next start of the internal combustion engine, the fuel in the interior of the aforementioned cylinder is burned to rotate the engine output shaft utilizing the pressure generated when the fuel is burned. Thus, the torque required for cranking the internal combustion engine is reduced and the load applied on a starter apparatus such as a starter motor is reduced.Type: GrantFiled: December 30, 2004Date of Patent: April 18, 2006Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kimitoshi Tsuji, Yasushi Kusaka, Kenji Kataoka, Toshiaki Asada, Shinichi Mitani
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Publication number: 20060048734Abstract: At a time of stopping an internal combustion engine, inertia energy of the engine is kept constant, for example, by controlling a number of engine revolution constant, while controlling combustion of the engine. By utilizing the controlled inertia energy, the engine is stopped at a predetermined crank angle position. Since the engine is stopped at the predetermined crank angle position by utilizing the controlled inertia energy, a large amount of energy for controlling the stop position of the energy is not needed, and the energy needed for the stop control can be reduced. Since the inertia energy utilized for the stop control is always controlled in a predetermined state, the engine can be stopped at a proper position reliably each time.Type: ApplicationFiled: January 23, 2004Publication date: March 9, 2006Applicant: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki KaishaInventors: Kenji Kataoka, Yasushi Kusaka, Hiroki Tasaki