Internal-combustion engines – Starting device – Condition responsive control of starting device
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-08
2002-10-15
Solis, Erick (Department: 3765)
Internal-combustion engines
Starting device
Condition responsive control of starting device
C340S929000, C701S117000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06463900
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automobile engine idling stop apparatus for stopping engine idling of an automobile when an automobile stops at an intersection or the like, a system thereof and a signal display apparatus used for displaying an indication related to idling stop.
More specifically, this invention relates to an automobile engine idling stop apparatus for automatically stopping the idling of an automobile engine when an automobile temporarily stops at an intersection or the like to wait for a traffic signal lamp to change, a system thereof and a signal display apparatus used in the system, wherein the signal display apparatus is connected to a traffic signal device for stopping the automobile on the road, a railroad crossing gate and the like so as to be operated in association therewith to prompt a driver to stop engine idling.
2. Description of the Related Art
When automobiles wait for a traffic signal to change to red for a predetermined period of time, ordinarily, the drivers wait for the change of the traffic signal while keeping engines in an idling state in most cases. By continuing the engine idling, not only the fuel supplied thereto during the idling time is wastefully consumed but also global warming substances such as carbon dioxide (CO
2
) and the like and gases such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and the like which are harmful to human bodies are discharged. To cope with this problem, an “idling stop campaign” is being conducted in some districts to promote the idling stop of automobile engines when automobiles are at rest.
Apparatus for controlling the stop of automobile engines have been proposed. The engine stop control apparatus are arranged for temporary stop of the automobile engines when the automobile stops at a red signal or meets a traffic jam. These apparatuses are proposed in the technologies disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-62650.
According to the technology disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-62650, any one of a normal cruising mode or an idling stop/energy saving cruising mode is previously selected by a mode selection switch. In the case that the idling stop/energy saving cruising mode is selected, it is possible to stop an engine at temporary stoppage of an automobile and then to restart the engine, by the ordinary driving operation such as the depression of a brake pedal and the shift operation of a shift lever. By this operation, an idling-stop-controlled automobile can be realized, whereby fuel consumption is saved and atmospheric pollution is prevented in a global scale.
When a driver waits for signal change from red to green or a driver waits for train passing at a lowered gate of a railroad crossing, the driver usually keeps the engine in an idling state without stopping. The reason is to promptly start an automobile just after the red signal is changed to green or gate arm is lifted after train passing. However, gasoline is wastefully consumed by keeping the engine in the idling state during the automobile stoppage.
In addition to the above, the engine discharges global warming substances such as carbon dioxide (CO
2
) and the like and gases such as nitrogen oxide (NOx) and the like which are harmful to human bodies. Therefore, an “idling stop campaign” is being conducted in some districts to promote the idling stop when an automobile is at rest as described above. However, a major reason why the “idling stop campaign” does not become widespread resides in the nuisance of stopping an engine.
FIG. 13
shows a discharge characteristics of an amount of nitride oxide (NOx) before and after stopping an engine idling. In the figure, “i” shows a NOx discharge level in idling state. Numeral t
1
denotes a time at which idling is stopped and numeral t
2
denotes a time at which an engine is restarted. A slanting-lined region M
1
shows an amount of exhaust gas which is reduced by an idling stop. A slanting-lined region M
2
shows an excess amount of exhaust gas which is increased by highly concentrated exhaust gas at engine restart, in comparison with the continuous idling.
Thus, no NOx gas is discharged for a period of time t by stopping the idling, and the amount of exhaust gas reaches a peak value which exceeds the level of the idling start by restart of the engine and then it is lowered to the level of the idling state as a time passes. In the case that the region M
2
is smaller than the region M
1
, the idling stop is effective to reduce the exhaust gas. Note that curves showing variations of the exhaust gases, which are similar to that of NOx, are also drawn similarly as to CO
2
, CO and THC.
However, there are cases in which it is not always preferable to stop idling when an automobile is stopped at a stop signal (red signal) and the like, for example, as shown below.
(1) When an engine is restarted, the amount of fuel required in a cranking process (a process for restarting the engine by rotating a starter motor) is more than the amount of fuel needed in continuous idling. In this case, fuel is much consumed by the idling stop.
(2) When an engine is restarted, harmful exhaust gas are discharged more than that of the exhaust gases discharged in continuous idling. In this case, the harmful exhaust gas are discharged more than that in the idling stop.
(3) A battery load is excessively increased when the head lamps are turned on at night or air conditioning is carried out. In this case, there may be a possibility that the battery goes dead and an engine cannot be restarted.
In the above cases, harmful effects are caused by the stop of idling.
As a reason why “the idling stop” is not widely popularized even though a driver recognizes the effect of it, there is the conventional custom that the driver cannot instantaneously recall the idling stop and misses a timing for the action, in addition to the driver's bothersome feeling of the idling stop action.
Further, still another reason is that the driver may find it unpleasant to have to promptly run an automobile by restarting the engine idling just before signal changes from red to green or just before a crossing gate is lifted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To solve the above problems, an object of the invention is to provide an automobile engine idling stop apparatus and a system thereof capable of reducing the wasteful consumption of fuel and the discharge of harmful exhaust gases by stopping idling as well as capable of restarting the engine without giving feelings of anxiety to a driver.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an idling stop signal display apparatus as an apparatus effective to make an “idling stop” campaign to become widespread, the apparatus being arranged such that it prompts a driver to stop an engine at a proper timing while a traffic signal device displays a red signal or while the gate arm of a crossing gate is lowered and then notifies the driver of a time at which the engine is to be restarted.
[Means A, to Solve the Theme]
To achieve the above objects, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an automobile engine idling stop apparatus which comprises receiver means for receiving a signal transmitted from a roadside apparatus and indicating a period of time until a traffic signal changes from a present time; detection means for detecting the state of an automobile including the running condition thereof; and control means for controlling idling stop based on the signal received from the receiver means and the state of the automobile detected by the detection means.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the receiver means receives the signal which is transmitted from the roadside apparatus (for example, a traffic controller such as a traffic signal device, a beacon for detecting traffic jam, or the like) and indicates the period of time until the traffic signal changes from the present time (for example, a period of time from a time at which the automobile is stopped by a red traffic signa
Korematsu Koji
Wakabayashi Katsushi
Frank Robert J.
Gluck Jeffrey W.
Solis Erick
Transportation System & Electric Co., Ltd.
LandOfFree
Engine idling stop apparatus, system thereof and signal... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Engine idling stop apparatus, system thereof and signal..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Engine idling stop apparatus, system thereof and signal... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2957873