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Researches and developments of electronic transmission control have been made along with the progresses of electronical technologies in order to meet the requirements of decreasing fuel consumption as well as improving drivability. And nowadays many kinds of electronically controlled transmissions have been applied to a variety of cars. In this paper, a history of electronic transmission control from the first control systems mounted on TOYOTA CORONA in 1970s for the first time in the world to the newest ones having a lock-up function for fluid coupling (Torque Converter) as well as progresses of the respective electronical transmissions to their practical uses will be explained.

This paper describes the Nippondenso in-line pump system designed for U.S. 1991 emissions regulation for medium duty diesel engines. With the combined use of the further improved in-line pump, NB-S and the multi-hole nozzle with a smaller orifice diameter, the required injection pressure of 100 MPa to 120 MPa at the nozzle can be achieved. However, some problems to be resolved exist in the subject fuel injection system: (1) secondary injection, (2) cavitation erosion of injection pipe, (3) higher pressure sealing of fuel, (4) undesirable fuel delivery curve vs. pump speed (called “Trumpet Shape” fuel delivery curve) Thus technical measures to cope with those problems are explained in details.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss injection rate control of the nozzle for direct injection engines. This paper will focus on fuel flow analysis of the nozzle, a key component of Fuel Injection Systems (FIS). The optimum designed nozzle improves fuel flow efficiency and controls injection rate. To meet emission regulations in 1990's, FIS are required to produce higher injection pressure and injection rate control which creates better fuel spray atomization and higher utilization of air. But the higher injection pressure makes injection rate control difficult. In particular, injection rate control by needle lift traveling control is difficult because fuel flow characteristics in the nozzle change with injection pressure and needle lift. Furthermore, the forced control of needle lift results in poor fuel spray atomization.

To meet the 1990s' requirements for diesel engines, the realization of innovative fuel injection system has been expected. Thus the fuel injection system named ECD-U2 was newly developed. ECD-U2 is the electronic unit injector system with high pressure common rail of which features are explained as follows; Fully electronic and flexible control in fuel quantity and injection timing. Adjustable injection rate shape Optimum injection pressure control Superior packageability and low drive torque loss. In this paper, design strategies, actual hardware configurations and some test results of ECD-U2 are described.

As a part of a project to develop high performance, compact and lightweight vehicle radiators, a highly corrosion resistive fin has been developed, especially for use in the salt-laden environment. It is a thin plate with a mutual diffusion layer of Cu-Zn formed on either surface. Owing to this composite structure, not only the corrosion resistance is double that of Cu-Sn alloy fins that are currently in use with a thickness over 20% smaller than the latter (38 μm vs 50 μm), but the corrosion of the bonding solder has been reduced to one half because the Cu-Zn diffused layer has brought about substantial reduction in the fin's surface potential.

This paper introduces a new type of radiator that has been developed with the objective being, high performance (compact size), light weight, and high quality in the field of copper/brass radiators that are superior in heat conduction, lower in price, yet there is still more room for improvement. The development of a new copper/brass radiator with the objective being higher performance (more compact), lighter weight, and higher quality has been completed. The synthetic study covered is not only an in-depth analysis of performance and structure, but the new development of materials and production engineering. As a result, the new radiator has a minimum of 10% increased performance, a minimum of 25% weight reduction, and its corrosion resistance is more than twice that of a conventional radiator.

This paper reports on research conducted at Nippondenso Co., Ltd. and Meiji University on nozzles for heavy duty diesel engines. It focuses on fuel flow analysis in the nozzle, a key component of Fuel Injection Systems (FIS). The optimum design nozzle improves fuel flow and spray characteristics. A newer and tougher emission regulation from the EPA for heavy duty diesel engines will be inevitable from 1998 onward. The goal of every company is to design new FIS in advance which meet the regulations of the future rather than paying for expensive developing costs after new laws have come into effect. To meet the regulation, requirements for FIS are higher injection pressure and injection rate control which create better fuel spray atomization and higher utilization of air. In particular, the nozzle must ensure that high injection pressure is effectively converted to fuel spray without pressure losses.

1 Attenuation of acoustic noise from automobile components is important for passenger comfort. Since the alternator is one of the major sources of noise, many manufacturers have studied the various mechanisms which generate noise within an alternator as well as the methods to reduce the noise level. This paper presents the dynamic properties of the alternator with respect to the acoustic noise during current generation, and introduces a vibration damping structure based on experimental modal analysis. Rotating magnetic forces in a magnetic circuit (stator and rotor) can excite numerous structural resonances, resulting in acoustic noise. A modal analysis performed on the major magnetic circuit of the alternator (Nippondenso Co., Ltd.) revealed that the stator has elliptic, triangular and rectangular mode shapes in the radial coordinate plane, while the rotor does not have any significant resonances in the same 0 - 3 kHz region.

Concerns on environmental protection are being intensified throughout the world in recent years. Of those concerns, depletion of the ozone layer in the atomosphere caused by CFC emission into the atomosphere is the target of serious concern as shown in Fig. 1. At present, the use of CFC production is restricted by regulations at the global level, and CFC will be phased out by the end of 1995. In this regard, the authors have developed a new vehicle air conditioner to adapt to a new refrigerant HFC-134a, which is gentle to the ozone layer, and to replace CFC-12. The new refrigerant system was introduced to the market in October, 1991, and the replacement will be almost completed by the end of 1993 for the Lexus and Toyota production vehicles. This paper describes the development of the new compressor lubricant, seal rubber, hose and desiccant by taking into consideration the materials concerned and the number of technological issues involved in the new refrigerant, HFC-134a.

In the diesel engine field, increasingly strict emission regulations and customer requirements have necessitated advanced technology. One important subject for diesel engines is cold startability and white smoke under cold conditions. In this paper, the combustion mechanism of a multi cylinder engine under cold conditions is discussed. First, during a starting condition, it is proved that the cold flame, which is caused by previously misfired fuel during intermittent combustion, promotes good combustion on the following cycle. Secondly, following engine starting, it is estimated that there is minimum fuel quantity above which combustion is carried out. The minimum fuel quantity depends upon the temperature of the combustion chamber. Unbalance between the minimum fuel quantity and actual injection quantity results in white smoke emission.

In recent years, diesel engine exhaust gas regulations become more severe due to environmental concerns. Especially, particulate reduction is one of the biggest concern, and the reduction through high injection pressure has been studied.(1), (2) and (3) However, much is not yet known about the influence of changes in fuel flow inside the nozzle tip on atomization and engine performance, and there would exist a lot of room for exhaust gas reduction through the nozzle modification. In this research we found that changing the shape of the nozzle tip showed a remarkable difference in the smoke emission at low engine speed, analysis showed that difference in the flow rate at the nozzle orifice cause difference in the fuel spray droplet size and therefore the difference in the smoke emission.

In resent years,lower noise has been in high demand in small diesel engines for agricultural and industrial uses as well as automotive engines. Furthermore,emission regulations becomes more severer due to environmental concerns. In order to satisfy these objects,diesel engine combustion needs to be improved. Especially fuel injection system is the key element to control engine combustion and should be improved dramatically. This research is to pursue the ideal fuel injection system to realize optimized diesel engine combustion which creates low combustion noise and clean exhaust emission. Recent progress will be reported in fuel injection technology including injection pressure pattern, injection rate pattern, injection timing and spray pattern, etc.

In recent years, designers have attributed increasing importance to reducing noise in car interiors, and various improvements have led to a steady decrease each year in said interior noise. More recently, there has been abundant research on quantitative and qualitative approaches to interior noise, including studies on improving sound quality, such as elimination of rumbling noise and creating a feeling of linearity. Particularly engine noise, one of the major causes of interior noise, has been studied from various angles and significantly reduced in recent years. This has led in turn to increased interest in air induction noise which was a relatively minor noise source in the past. One method of reducing induction noise is the addition of several resonators to the induction system. Induction system components, including resonators, have a major effect on engine output and fuel consumption.

In the diesel field, innovative technology development has been desired for fuel injection system from the points of severe emission reduction to meet increasingly stringent emission regulation year by year respecting environmental protection and product improvement for various customer requirements including fuel consumption improvement. We have been pursuing the ideal fuel injection system which is called “ECD-U2” to meet above expectations. “ECD-U2” is the injection system of highly pressurized fuel with optimum injection timing by using of the injector controlled by high speed response magnetic valve. This system also has the fuel injection pattern controllability in one injection ( injection rate ) as one of the greatest asset. This report focuses on the new injector structure development to achieve desirable injection rate shaping for diesel engine combustion.

Recently, an increasing demand for comfort has been accelerating the trend toward multifunctional car air conditioners, including zone air conditioning which controls the cabin temperature independently for the driver and the passenger and compensates for the side solar radiation. In addition, the multifunctional air conditioner should be compact to save cabin space and ensure passenger comfort. This report describes the development of a compact and multifunctional car air conditioning unit.

To improve vihicle compartment comfort, there has been a great demand for the development of odor filters which reduce odors, especially external diesel exhaust odors. Therefore, in efficiently developing cabin air filter combining dust removal and deodorant functin, a quantitative formula which enables acquisition of the correlation between sensory evaluation values and instrumental analysis values of odors has been designed and verified. We developed a deodorizing filter that effectively deodorized with minimal use of deodorant, combined with a dust filter based on these figures, to develop a high-performance air conditioning cabin air filter.

This paper describes the development of the two-dimensional semiconductor device simulator called DS2* and its application in automotive power MOSFET design. DS2 clarifies carrier motions in MOSFETs under various operating conditions and calculates the current characteristics in intense electric fields in order to evaluate the device breakdown. Simulation results with p channel power MOSFETs for automotive application indicate that on resistance is significantly dependent on device miniaturization and that device breakdown is caused by one of three mechanisms which are, avalanche from the surface layer, reach through arid punch through.

It is well known that pilot injection is an effective method of reducing diesel knock noise during idling, but no actual system has as yet been commercially produced. With the objective of developing a practicable pilot injection device, simulations were conducted of various simple mechanisms in order to determine the best specifications and analyze the fuel injection characteristics. Based on these results, a chamber expansion type pilot injection device, which enables the injection pump pressure chamber volume to be increased at a given moment during the fuel compression stroke, has been developed and has been found to remarkably decrease knock noise during cold idling. An investigation into the effects of this device on output power, exhaust emissions, cold startability and durability revealed that it is eminently suitable for practical application.

EMI suppresion capacitors and filters are common in automobile electronics today, but they are insufficient for heavy concentrations of wideband electromagnetic radiation. To resolve this problem, a highly-integrated Ceramic Absorber was developed to efficiently shield against frequencies from 1MHz to 1000MHz, which is mountable on the control circuit board easily, as it is the form of a flat plate strip line. This filter provides the signal line with an electromagnetic absorption effect through line transmission characteristics. Research into ceramic materials was required to determine the specific dielectric constants and frequency characteristics of ferroelectric ceramic materials. The development objective was material with optimum dielectric dispersion, as determined from research into energy absorption based on the Debye dielectric dispersion theory.