2010 R&D 100 Winner
Consumers who have driven a hybrid vehicle have probably noticed its ability to automatically turn off the gasoline engine at idle, such as at a stoplight, and restart it again seamlessly as needed. This function allows the batteries to take control and the car to improve fuel efficiency.
Toyota Motor Corp., Susono, Shizuoka, Japan, with development assistance from a number of companies based in Japan, has engineered the Permanently Engaged Gear Starting Mechanism for Stop & Start system to help streamline the integration of this capability into future vehicles, hybrid or not. The main advance with this technology is the gear engagement. The ring gear and starter pinion gear are kept in permanent engagement to shorten the time between extension of the pinion gear and engagement with the ring gear that occurs in a conventional starter. This allows a restart sequence to begin before the engine has completely stopped, enabling the system to respond to sudden changes in driver intention. Toyota estimates eventual emissions reductions from 3% to 10%.
Technology
Hybrid drivetrain gear starting mechanism
Developers
Toyota Motor Corp.
NSK-Warner K.K.
NSK Ltd.
NOK Corp.
AISIN SEIKI Co.
OTICS Corp.
DENSO Corp.
Development Team
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Front row (l-r): Masatomo Yoshihara, Hiroaki Tabuchi, Shuichi Ezaki, Kazuo Masaki, Yasunori Aihara
Back row (l-r): Daisuke Fujimori, Hirobumi Shirataki, Makoto Ishikawa, Akishi Ogura
Upper left: Masanori Sugiyama
Upper right: Tasuku Yanagimoto, Takayuki Nishigaki
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The Permanently Engaged Gear Starting Mechanism for Stop & Start System Development Team:
Yasunori Aihara, Toyota Motor Corp.
Shuichi Ezaki, Toyota Motor Corp.
Daisuke Fujimori, NSK Ltd
Makoto Ishikawa, OTICS Corp.
Kazuo Masaki, DENSO Corp.
Takayuki Nishigaki, NOK Corp.
Akishi Ogura, AISIN SEIKI Co., Ltd
Hirobumi Shirataki, NSK-Warner K.K.
Masanori Sugiyama, Toyota Motor Corporation
Hiroaki Tabuchi, Toyota Motor Corp.
Toshiaki Tanaka, Toyota Motor Corp.
Tasuku Yanagimoto, Toyota Motor Corp.
Masatomo Yoshihara, Toyota Motor Corp.
