Secondary air supplying apparatus for internal combustion engine and air heating apparatus thereof
AssigneeMitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMutuo Sekiya, Satoshi Asada, Takakazu Tochimoto, Hidetoshi Okada
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A secondary air supplying apparatus for an internal combustion engine and a gas heating apparatus are provided to enable high-performance exhaust gas purification in a catalytic apparatus of the internal combustion engine, in particular, even at a low-temperature starting time. A secondary air supplying apparatus supplies secondary air to the catalytic apparatus through a secondary air introducing path for communicating the intake side of the internal combustion engine with an exhaust manifold. In the apparatus, a gas heating apparatus having an exothermic body is provided for the secondary air introducing path.
Claims28
A secondary air supplying apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprising:
- an exhaust passage exhausting exhaust gas from said internal combustion engine;
- a catalytic convertor, disposed in said exhaust passage, purifying said exhaust gas;
- a secondary air supply passage, a first end of which is connected to said exhaust passage, supplying secondary air upstream of said catalytic convertor;
- a heater heating said secondary air flowing in said secondary air supply passage;
- and
- a controller controlling said heater based on a temperature of said heater.
A secondary air supplying apparatus for an internal combustion engine, comprising:
- an exhaust passage exhausting exhaust gas from said internal combustion engine;
- a catalytic convertor, disposed in said exhaust passage, purifying said exhaust gas;
- a secondary air supply passage, a first end of which is connected to said exhaust passage, supplying secondary air upstream of said catalytic convertor;
- a heater heating said secondary air flowing in said secondary air supply passage;
- a heat sensor sensing temperature of said heater;
- and
- a controller controlling said heater based on said temperature of said heater detected by said heat sensor.
A secondary air heating apparatus comprising:
- a hollow cylindrical case;
- a positive electrode attached to said case;
- a negative electrode attached to said case;
- and
- at least one exothermic element in a sheet-like form coupled to said positive and said negative electrodes;
- and
- a rod supporting said at least one exothermic element inside said case, said rod being independent from said positive and negative electrodes.
A secondary air heating apparatus, comprising:
- a hollow cylindrical case;
- a positive electrode attached to said case;
- a negative electrode attached to said case;
- and
- a plurality of exothermic elements electrically connected in series to said positive and negative electrodes and being axially disposed at intervals in said case, each of said plurality of exothermic elements being in a sheet-like form;
- a rod connecting center portions of each of said plurality of exothermic elements;
- and
- holders secured to said casing supporting each end of said rod, each of said holders having holes to pass secondary air therethrough.
A secondary air heating apparatus, comprising:
- a hollow cylindrical case;
- a positive electrode attached to said case;
- a negative electrode attached to said case;
- and
- a plurality of exothermic elements in a sheet-like form electrically coupled to said positive and said negative electrodes, said plurality of exothermic elements being disposed in said hollow cylindrical case such that air paths in each of said plurality of exothermic elements are out of alignment with each other.
A secondary air heating apparatus, comprising:
- a hollow cylindrical case;
- a positive electrode attached to said case;
- a negative electrode attached to said case;
- at least one exothermic element in a sheet-like form coupled to said positive and said negative electrodes;
- and
- a convex cone member disposed at a center portion of an air inflow side aperture in said case.
A method for supplying secondary air through a secondary air supply passage to an exhaust passage up-stream of a catalytic convertor, the secondary air supply passage having a heater to heat the secondary air, comprising:
- (a) detecting start of an internal combustion engine;
- (b) initiating a timer;
- (c) detecting a temperature of said heater;
- (d) increasing said temperature of said heater when said temperature is equal to or lower than a first predetermined value;
- (e) decreasing said temperature of said heater when said temperature is equal to or higher than a second predetermined value;
- and
- (f) turning off said heater when a predetermined period of time has elapsed after said start of said internal combustion engine.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.