Internal-combustion engines – Engine speed regulator – Open loop condition responsive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-13
2001-12-25
Solis, Erick (Department: 3747)
Internal-combustion engines
Engine speed regulator
Open loop condition responsive
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332451
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary valve actuator arrangement for an automobile engine, and more particularly to a throttle valve actuator arrangement useable for variably controlling an amount of intake air induced to the engine depending on an amount of manipulation of an accelerator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,165 discloses an electric-driven throttle valve actuator arrangement. The arrangement includes a casing having an intake air passage, a valve shaft rotatably disposed within the casing, a valve body rotatable with the valve shaft to open and close the intake air passage, an electromagnetic actuator for driving the valve body via the valve shaft, and a pair of springs for biasing the valve body toward the closed position or the intermediate position between the closed position and the full open position. The electromagnetic actuator includes a stator disposed on the casing and a rotor disposed on the valve shaft. The stator includes a stator core and a pair of coils wound on the stator core in opposite directions. The rotor includes a disk fixed to one end of the valve shaft, a permanent magnet fixed to the disk in an opposed relation to the stator core. The stator core, the rotor and the respective coils cooperate to generate opposite magnetic fields acting for moving the valve body toward the full open position and the closed position when the coils are energized, respectively. The rotation of the valve body is restricted at the closed position and the full open position by contact of a stopper piece of a lever attached on the valve shaft with two stoppers projecting from the casing. When one of the coils is activated with a pulse current in a variable duty ratio, the valve shaft can be rotated depending on an opening degree of the valve body corresponding to the duty ratio. The valve body thus rotates with the valve shaft to open and close the induction passage in the casing so that the amount of the intake air can be variably controlled.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Permanent magnets used in such a conventional electromagnetic actuator as described above are expensive because of the great magnetic power. Further, since the disk is used for attaching the permanent magnet to the valve shaft, the number of components of the electromagnetic actuator is increased so that the cost performance is reduced.
Furthermore, for example, in the assembly line of the throttle valve actuator, a plurality of permanent magnets tend to be gathered by the attraction therebetween to form a mass. The permanent magnets must be separated from each other by the line workers against the large attraction, and then be mounted onto the valve shaft side. This leads to the troublesome assembly work.
The present invention contemplates to solve the above-described disadvantages or problems in the conventional technique. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary valve actuator arrangement capable of reducing the number of parts of the rotary valve actuator and therefore saving the production cost, and improving efficiency in the assembly work.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary valve actuator arrangement, comprising:
a casing having an intake air passage;
a rotary valve disposed within said casing, said rotary valve including a valve shaft rotatable about an axis and a valve body disposed on said valve shaft and rotatable therewith to open and close the intake air passage, said valve body having a closed position and a full open position; and
an electromagnetic actuator moving said valve body toward the full open position, said electromagnetic actuator including a stator core, a coil wound on said stator core, and a rotor opposed to said stator, said rotor being fixed to said valve shaft, said rotor having a valve-closing position corresponding to the closed position of said valve body and a valve-opening position corresponding to the full open position of said valve body;
said stator core and said rotor cooperating to generate a magnetic field passing therethrough upon said coil being energized, said rotor being rotatably moved toward the valve-opening position by a magnetic attraction caused by the magnetic field.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rotary valve actuator arrangement, comprising:
a rotary valve including a valve shaft rotatable about an axis and a valve body disposed on said valve shaft for unitary rotation therewith, said valve body having a closed position and a full open position; and
an electromagnetic actuator actuating said rotary valve, said electromagnetic actuator comprising:
a coil;
a stator core supporting said coil and having a first surface; and
a rotor rotatable about said axis between a valve-closing position corresponding to the closed position of said valve body and a valve-opening position corresponding to the full open position of said valve body, said rotor having a second surface opposed to said first surface to define a continuously variable area that forms a magnetic path upon energization of the coil.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5275141 (1994-01-01), Tsunoda et al.
patent: 5752584 (1998-05-01), Apel
patent: 5823165 (1998-10-01), Sato et al.
patent: 5996554 (1999-12-01), Tojo et al.
patent: 6116215 (2000-09-01), Soleanicov
patent: 6239562 (2001-05-01), Turner
Araki Tomoaki
Kai Keiichi
Kumagai Masato
Sato Hisaaki
Foley & Lardner
Solis Erick
Unisia Jecs Corporation
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