Automatic Engine Starter with Preliminary Pinion Gear Engagement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing engine starting technologies generate noise and foreign sounds during restart due to gear meshing issues and do not effectively expand the fuel-saving idle-stop region, leading to suboptimal fuel efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An automatic starting device with a vehicle-speed sensor, accelerator opening-degree sensor, brake opening-degree sensor, crank-angle sensor, and a starter with independent pinion-gear push-out and rotary-driving mechanisms, controlled by a controller that disengages the lock-up clutch and reverses engine rotation to ensure quiet and quick restart by meshing the pinion gear with the ring gear after ensuring proper alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If the starter is driven immediately after the engine rpm becomes equal to or less than the resonance rpm, then the engine can be restarted quickly, but the gears fail to mesh with each other to generate big foreign sounds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pushing out the pinion gear to mesh with the ring gear before driving the starter motor. This ensures proper gear engagement is established in advance, preventing the generation of foreign sounds during engine restart while maintaining quick response
2Loss of energy
If the rotation of the engine is stopped to restart using the starter, then fuel efficiency is improved by preventing idle, but meshing noise is generated in the starter
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pushes out the pinion gear to mesh with the ring gear before initiating starter motor operation. This preliminary gear engagement ensures smooth meshing during engine restart, eliminating the generation of foreign sounds while maintaining the fuel efficiency benefits of preventing idle operation
3Ease of operation
If the pinion gear is pushed out and motor drive are separately performed, then the starter can be controlled precisely, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the pinion gear push-out function and motor drive function into a single integrated starter control system. By combining these previously separate functions, the patent maintains precise control over gear engagement and motor operation while reducing device complexity and eliminating the need for separate control circuits
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution suppresses noise and foreign sounds during engine restart, enabling smooth re-acceleration and expanding the fuel-saving idle-stop region by ensuring quiet and quick engine reactivation, thus enhancing fuel efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a circuit for operating an electromagnetic solenoid for pushing out a pinion gear
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic starting device for the engine, which quietly and quickly restarts the engine when a re-acceleration request is made by a driver, is provided. In a case where it is judged that a vehicle is decelerating and fuel injection is currently stopped, when it is then judged that a brake pedal is released and an engine rpm is smaller than an engine rpm which allows recovery from a fuel-supply stop state, the controller disengages a lock-up clutch. Upon detection of reverse rotation of the engine based on a detection signal of the crank-angle sensor, the controller controls a pinion gear to be pushed out by a lever of a starter to be meshed with a ring gear. After the ring gear is rotated by a predetermined angle, the controller rotary-drives a motor of the starter to restart the engine.