Author: claimsbot

1. A positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system comprising:
an oil return line coupled to a PCV oil separator and extending through a crankcase housing; and
a PCV bypass valve positioned in a wall of the oil return line and in fluidic communication with a sealed crankcase chamber, the PCV bypass valve opening when a crankcase chamber pressure exceeds a threshold value and closing when the crankcase chamber pressure falls below another threshold value.
2. The PCV system of claim 1, where the wall of the oil return line is positioned in a cam cover.
3. The PCV system of claim 1, where the wall of the oil return line is positioned in a cylinder head.
4. The PCV system of claim 1, where the wall of the oil return line is positioned in a cylinder block.
5. The PCV system of claim 1, where the wall of the oil return line is positioned in a crankshaft girdle coupled to a cylinder block.
6. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is positioned below a cylinder.
7. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is positioned vertically above a crankshaft.
8. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is positioned between two piston rods.
9. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is in fluidic communication with an intake conduit.
10. The PCV system of claim 1, where the threshold values are equivalent.
11. The PCV system of claim 10, where the threshold values are pre-set.
12. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is a flapper valve.
13. The PCV system of claim 1, where the PCV bypass valve is removably coupled to the wall.
14. A method for operating a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system, comprising:
circulating gas through a sealed crankcase chamber in fluidic communication with a higher and lower pressure intake volume in an intake system; and
when a crankcase chamber pressure exceeds a threshold value, opening a PCV bypass valve in the PCV system, the PCV bypass valve positioned in a wall of an oil return line coupled to an oil separator, the PCV bypass valve in fluidic communication with the sealed crankcase chamber and the lower pressure intake volume.
15. The method of claim 14, where the higher pressure intake volume is positioned upstream of a throttle and the lower pressure intake volume is positioned downstream of the throttle.
16. The method of claim 14, further comprising flowing gas through the oil return line, an oil separator, and to the lower pressure intake volume.
17. The method of claim 14, further comprising closing the PCV bypass valve when the crankcase chamber pressure falls below a threshold value.
18. A positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system comprising:
an oil return line opening into an oil reservoir, extending through a crankcase housing, and coupled to an oil separator; and
a PCV bypass valve positioned in a wall of the oil return line and in fluidic communication with an intake conduit and a sealed crankcase chamber, the PCV bypass valve opening when a pressure in the crankcase chamber exceeds a threshold value, the wall of the oil return line positioned in a crankshaft girdle coupled to a cylinder block.
19. The PCV system of claim 18, where the PCV bypass valve is a flapper valve.
20. The PCV system of claim 18, where the intake conduit is downstream of a throttle.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A blower attachment for a lawnmower comprising:
an impeller attachable to the lawnmower, the impeller including a plurality of blades, the impeller defining an outer impeller diameter; and
a shroud attachable to the lawnmower, the shroud having a bottom portion below the impeller defining an airflow inlet, the airflow inlet having a diameter less than the outer impeller diameter, wherein air is drawn through the airflow inlet in response to rotation of the impeller for discharge from the lawnmower.
2. The blower attachment of claim 1 wherein the shroud includes a discharge chute.
3. The blower attachment of claim 2 wherein the discharge chute extends generally tangentially from the impeller.
4. The blower attachment of claim 1 wherein the bottom portion of the shroud is disk shaped and wherein the airflow inlet is circular.
5. The blower attachment of claim 4 wherein the bottom portion includes an outer diameter that is greater than twice the airflow inlet diameter.
6. The blower attachment of claim 4 wherein the bottom portion includes an outer diameter that is approximately three times the airflow inlet diameter.
7. The blower attachment of claim 1 wherein the shroud is attachable to the lawnmower housing along a lower periphery of the lawnmower housing.
8. A blower assembly for blowing yard debris comprising:
a lawnmower having a lawnmower housing and a blade attachment portion; and
a blower attachment including:
an impeller removably coupled to the blade attachment portion,
a shroud removably coupled to the lawnmower housing, wherein the shroud includes a planar bottom portion defining a reduced-diameter opening that underlies a portion of the impeller, wherein air drawn is drawn through the reduced-diameter opening in response to rotation of the impeller for discharge from the blower attachment.
9. The blower assembly of claim 8 wherein the blower attachment includes a discharge chute extending generally tangentially from the impeller.
10. The blower assembly of claim 8 wherein the planar bottom portion is disk shaped and wherein the reduced-diameter opening is circular.
11. The blower assembly of claim 10 wherein the diameter of the planar bottom portion is greater than twice the diameter of the reduced-diameter opening.
12. The blower assembly of claim 10 wherein the diameter of the planar bottom portion is greater than three times the diameter of the reduced-diameter opening.
13. The blower assembly of claim 8 wherein the shroud is attachable to the lawnmower housing along a lower periphery of the lawnmower housing.
14. A ducted impeller system for blowing debris, the ducted impeller system being adaptable for mounting to a lawnmower cutting deck, comprising:
an underbody shroud attachable to the lawnmower housing, the underbody shroud including a disc-shaped bottom portion defining an airflow inlet through a central portion thereof, the underbody shroud further including a discharge chute; and
an impeller centrally positioned over the airflow inlet, wherein the underbody shroud and the lawnmower housing cooperate to form an impeller chamber, and wherein air is drawn into the impeller housing through the airflow inlet and discharged from the impeller housing through the discharge chute with rotation of the impeller to blow debris from a lawn surface.
15. The ducted impeller system of claim 14 further including at least one of a grate or a screen seated over the airflow inlet.
16. The ducted impeller system of claim 14 wherein the airflow inlet is circular and defines an airflow inlet diameter.
17. The ducted impeller system of claim 16 wherein the airflow inlet diameter is less than the outer diameter of the impeller.
18. The ducted impeller system of claim 16 wherein the airflow inlet diameter is less than one half of the outer diameter of the impeller.
19. The ducted impeller system of claim 16 wherein the airflow inlet diameter is less than one third of the outer diameter of the impeller.
20. The ducted impeller system of claim 14 wherein the underbody shroud is attachable to the lawnmower housing along a lower periphery of the lawnmower housing.

1. A plant control system having a controlling means for determining a control input to a plant such that an output value of the plant coincides with a target output value under a response specifying control that allows a convergent behavior for a difference between a plant output value and a target output value to be variably designated, comprising:
disturbance predicting means for determining a predicted value of disturbance for prediction of a level of disturbance acting on the plant on the basis of an output value of the plant,
wherein the controlling means determines a control input to the plant on the basis of a linear function and the predicted value of disturbance that define a convergent behavior for the difference.
2. The plant control system according to claim 1, comprising:
storage means storing in advance data of a correlation map representing a correlation between output values of the plant and levels of disturbance acting upon the plant,
wherein the disturbance predicting means takes a level of disturbance obtained by applying an output value of the plant to the correlation map as the predicted value of disturbance.
3. The plant control system according to claim 1, wherein the controlling means determines a control input to the plant according to a model equation for calculating an output of the plant in a next control cycle by inputting an output of the plant in a control cycle before the present cycle and a control input to the plant and disturbance for each predetermined control cycle, using a value of a control input in the model equation obtained when the linear function is set to zero.
4. The plant control system according to claim 1, comprising:
disturbance estimating means for determining an estimated value of disturbance that changes according to an error of the predicted value of disturbance relative to a level of actual disturbance acting upon the plant on the basis of the predicted value of disturbance, an output value of the plant, and a control input to the plant,
wherein the controlling means determines a control input to the control plant by using the estimated value of disturbance.
5. The plant control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
the plant comprises a clutching mechanism for switching between transmission and cutoff of motive power from a driving shaft to a driven shaft, and has an actuator for actuating at least one of a clutch disc for the driving shaft and a clutch disc for the driven shaft that are in frictional engagement, and an elastic member generating a drag force or an assisting force applied to the actuator according to an operation of the actuator,
wherein the target output denotes a distance between the clutch disc for the driving shaft and the clutch disc for the driven shaft,
the control input comprises a manipulated variable for the actuator, and
the disturbance predicting means determines, as the predicted value of disturbance, an output level of the elastic member that changes according to a distance between the clutch disc for the driving shaft and the clutch disc for the driven shaft.
6. The plant control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
the plant comprises an engine,
the target output comprises an engine speed,
the control input comprises a manipulated variable for a throttle for adjusting an amount of fuel supplied to the engine, and
the disturbance predicting means determines, as the predicted value of disturbance, a degree of an opening of the throttle that changes according to the engine speed.
7. The plant control system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein
the plant comprises an engine cam phase changing mechanism,
the target output comprises a cam phase angle of the cam phase changing mechanism,
the control input comprises a manipulated variable for an actuator operating a cam of the cam phase changing mechanism, and
the disturbance predicting means determines, as the predicted value of disturbance, a manipulated variable for the actuator that changes according to the cam phase angle.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A fixing method for a first member having a bore and a second member having a cylindrical section together,
the method comprising:
an arranging process in which the cylindrical section of the second member is inserted into the bore of the first member, and the second member is placed relative to the first member, an inner wall of the cylindrical section having a noncircular cross sectional shape;
an inserting process in which a rod-like jig is inserted into the cylindrical section of the second member, the rod-like jig having a noncircular shape in cross section that has the maximum external diameter larger than the minimum inside diameter in the cylindrical section of the second member; and
a turning process that fixes the cylindrical section of the second member in the bore of the first member by turning the rod-like jig in the cylindrical section and thereby forcedly widening the cylindrical section.
2. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the first member includes a through hole as the bore,
the arranging process is a process in which a plurality of the second members are respectively positioned at both ends of the through hole,
the inserting process is a process in which one rod-like jig is inserted into the cylindrical sections of the plurality of the second members positioned at the both ends of the through hole, and
the turning process is a process in which the cylindrical sections of the plurality of the second members are concurrently and forcedly widened.
3. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the arranging process is a process in which a plurality of the second members are respectively positioned on each of a plurality of the first members,
the inserting process is a process in which one rod-like jig is inserted into the cylindrical sections of the plurality of second members positioned on the plurality of first members, and
the turning process is a process in which the cylindrical sections of the plurality of second members are concurrently and forcedly widened.
4. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the second member is a head support member having an extended rod-like shape, on which one end a head accessing information recording media is supported adjacent to or in contact with a surface of the information recording media, and on which other end opposite to the one end, the cylindrical section is provided, and
the first member is an arm member having an extended rod-like shape on which one end, the bore is made, the arm member rotating around a rotary shaft present on the other end side opposed to the one end.
5. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the cylindrical section of the second member has the same thickness at each position in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical section.
6. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the second member includes, as the cylindrical section, a cylindrical section in which a cross-section of an inner wall has a periodic shape in the circumferential direction.
7. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the second member includes, as the cylindrical section, a cylindrical section in which a cross-section of an inner wall has a polygonal shape.
8. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the second member includes, as the cylindrical section, a cylindrical section in which convexes and concaves are made in an inner wall.
9. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the rod-like jig has a cross-sectional shape that is smaller than a cross-sectional shape of an inner wall of the cylindrical section and analogous to the cross-sectional shape of the inner wall.
10. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the rod-like jig has a shape that is uniformly spaced at each position in the circumferential direction relative to an inner wall of the cylindrical section when the rod-like jig is inserted into the cylindrical section.
11. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the rod-like jig has more rigidness than that of the cylindrical section.
12. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the rod-like jig is made of extra-high steel.
13. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the rod-like jig has a thin film coated on a surface thereof.
14. The fixing method according to claim 1, wherein
the second member has a thin film coated on an inner wall of the cylindrical section.
15. The fixing method according to claim 13, wherein the thin film is a lubricative thin film.
16. The fixing method according to claim 13, wherein the thin film is a thin metal film.
17. The fixing method according to claim 13, wherein the thin film is a thin film of titanium nitride.
18. A head support mechanism, comprising:
a head support member having an extended rod-like shape on which one end, a head accessing information recording media is supported adjacent to or in contact with a surface of the information recording media, and on which other end opposed to the one end, a cylindrical section of which inner wall has a noncircular, cross-sectional shape is provided; and
an arm member having an extended rod-like shape on which one end, a bore is made, the arm member rotating around a rotary shaft present on the other end side opposed to the one end, wherein
the cylindrical section of the head support member is inserted into the bore of the arm member to widen the cylindrical section, so that the head support member is fixed to the arm member.
19. An information recording apparatus, comprising:
a medium support member that supports information recording media;
a head support member having an extended rod-like shape on which one end, a head accessing the information recording media is supported adjacent to or in contact with a surface of the information recording media, and on which other end opposed to the one end, a cylindrical section of which inner wall has a noncircular, cross-sectional shape is provided; and
an arm member having an extended rod-like shape on which one end, a bore is made, the arm member rotating around a rotary shaft present on the other end side opposed to the one end, wherein
the cylindrical section of the head support member is inserted into the bore of the arm member to widen the cylindrical section, so that the head support member is fixed to the arm member.