Author: claimsbot

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps comprising:
headlamps optical axes adapted to tilt vertically relative to a body of a vehicle;
control means for controlling actuators to correct the tilt of the optical axes;
vehicle speed detecting means for detecting speeds of the vehicle;
pitch angle detecting means for detecting pitch angles of the vehicle; and
a storage part for storing pitch angle data of the vehicle detected by said pitch angle detecting means;
wherein said control means is configured to control said actuators based on pitch angle not influenced by a change in posture of the vehicle resulting when the vehicle starts.
2. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, wherein if the start of the vehicle is detected by said vehicle speed detecting means within a predetermined set time after a control of said actuators is carried out, said control means determines that said control and the start of the vehicle substantially coincide with each other.
3. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 2, wherein said predetermined set time is equal to or longer than an interval of time between the depression of an accelerator pedal and the detection of the start of said vehicle.
4. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, wherein if the actuators have been controlled more than once before they are controlled at the time of the start of the vehicle, pitch angle data detected before the start of the vehicle are used for controlling the actuators.
5. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, if the actuators are controlled for the first time, pitch angle data which is detected just previous to the depression of the accelerator pedal while the vehicle is at a stop is used for controlling the actuators.
6. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, if the actuators are controlled for the first time and no pitch angle is detected previous to the depression of the accelerator pedal, said actuators are prevented from being driven.
7. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, wherein said storage part is configured such that older pitch angle data are replaced with newer pitch angle data in the order stored when latest pitch angle data are entered to update the pitch angle data.
8. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claims 1, wherein controlling the driving of said actuators is carried out on condition that said headlamps are illuminated.
9. The automatic leveling system for automotive headlamps as set forth in claim 1, wherein an interval at which said actuators are driven is configured such that said interval becomes longer than a maximum driving time of said actuators needed to perform a single leveling.

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 heat generator for a motor vehicle, which comprises a rotor (1), a stator (13) in which the rotor (1) induces by rotation electrical currents that generate heat in the stator (13), and a coolant duct (16) adjacent to the stator (13) through which flows a liquid for extracting the heat generated in the stator (13), characterised in that the stator (13) is mounted to be pivotal relative to the rotor (1) for changing the distance between them and for regulating the heat generated in the stator (13).
2. The heat generator as claimed in claim 1, in which the stator (13) is mounted to be pivotal on a pivot pin (14) which is essentially parallel to a plane that constitutes the plane of rotation of the rotor (1).
3. The heat generator as claimed in claim 2, in which the pivot pin (14) of the stator (13) is located at a distance from the centre of rotation of the rotor (1).
4. The heat generator as claimed in any one of claims 1-3, in which the coolant duct (16) can pivot together with the stator (13) and is essentially in the shape of a ring.
5. The heat generator as claimed in claim 4, in which the coolant duct (16) is in the form of a broken ring with two ends (17, 18) that are intended to be connected to a cooling loop in the engine (3) of the motor vehicle.
6. The heat generator as claimed in claim 1, comprising an actuator (19) which is arranged to change the pivoted position of the stator (13).
7. The heat generator as claimed in claim 6, in which the actuator (19) is arranged to engage with the stator (13) at a distance from its pivot pin (14).
8. The heat generator as claimed in claim 6 or 7, in which the actuator (19) is intended to be connected to a regulating system in the motor vehicle, which regulating system is arranged to control the pivoted position of the stator (13) relative to the rotor (1) at least dependent upon a parameter for a need for the extraction of heat.
9. A device for regulating the working temperature of a liquid-cooled internal combustion engine, which device comprises
a heat generator which is connected to a cooling loop in the internal combustion engine (3) and comprises a rotor (1), a stator (13) in which the rotor (1) induces by rotation electrical currents that generate heat in the stator (13), and a coolant duct (16) adjacent to the stator (13) which is connected to the cooling loop for extracting the heat generated in the stator (13), and
an actuator (19) for the stator (13) for regulating the heat generated by the stator (13) by changing the distance between the stator (13) and the rotor (1),
characterised in that
the stator (13) is mounted to be pivotal relative to the rotor (1) for changing the distance between them and thus for regulating the heat generated in the stator (13) and for regulating the working temperature of the internal combustion engine (3).
10. The device as claimed in claim 9, in which the pivoted position of the stator (13) is controlled by control electronics for the internal combustion engine (3) for limiting the heat generated in the stator (13) by pivoting the stator (13) to a predetermined position at which the heat generated in the stator (13) is negligible.
11. The device as claimed in claim 9 or 10, in which the heat generator constitutes a mechanically, thermally and electronically integrated part of a system for temperature and emission control of the internal combustion engine (3).
12. A method for regulating the heat produced by a heat generator in a motor vehicle (3), which comprises a rotor (1), a stator (13) in which the rotor (1) induces by rotation electrical currents that generate heat in the stator (13), and a coolant duct (16) adjacent to the stator (13) through which flows liquid for extracting the heat generated in the stator (13),
characterised in that the stator (13) is mounted to be pivotal relative to the rotor (1) for changing the distance between them and thus for regulating the heat generated in the stator (13).
13. The method as claimed in claim 12, in which the pivoted position of the stator (13) is changed by means of an actuator (19).
14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, in which the pivoted position of the stator (13) relative to the rotor (1) is controlled dependent upon at least one parameter for a need for the extraction of heat.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, in which the pivoted position of the stator (13) relative to the rotor (1) is controlled dependent also upon other parameters than the parameter for a need for the conduction of heat.

1. A wavelength agile illumination system comprising:
a laser producing a pulse of light of less than 1000 femtoseconds duration;
a non-linear optical fiber receiving the pulse of light to produce a multi-frequency light pulse; and
a frequency dependent light retarder receiving the multi-frequency light pulse to produce a light signal with time varying frequency and having a center frequency that increases monotonically over time.
2. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 wherein the frequency dependent light retarder is a length of dispersion-compensating fiber optic cable.
3. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 wherein the frequency dependent light retarder is a combination of at least two consecutive lengths of fiber optic cable, a first providing increased delay in lower frequencies of the light pulse and a second providing increased delay in higher frequencies of the light pulse.
4. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 including a spectral filter receiving the light signal with time varying frequency to selectively pass only a range of the frequencies of the light signal with time varying frequency.
5. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 including a test element receiving the light signal with time varying frequency and further including a sensor for providing amplitude measurements of the light signal with time varying frequency, after passing through the test element.
6. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 5 wherein the test element is a chamber positioned between the frequency dependent light retarder and the sensor, the chamber receiving materials to be analyzed by selective attenuation of light of the light signal with time varying frequency.
7. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 5 wherein the test element is a sensor element modifying frequencies of the light signal with time varying frequency according to a sensor parameter to be measured.
8. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 wherein the light signal with time varying frequency includes the wavelength of 1400 nanometers and has a bandwidth of greater than 100 nanometers.
9. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 wherein the light retarder is a length of fiber optic cable providing increased delay in higher frequencies of the light pulse.
10. The wavelength agile illumination system of claim 1 wherein the light retarder is a length of fiber optical cable providing increased delay in lower frequencies of the light pulse.
11. A method of producing high-rate frequency swept light signals comprising the steps of:
(a) producing a multi-frequency pulse of light having less than a 1000 femtosecond duration wherein the light source is a narrow band laser providing a narrow frequency pulse to a non-linear optical cable; and
(b) passing the pulse through a fiber optic cable to selectively delay certain frequencies of light to produce a light signal with time varying frequency having a center frequency that increases monotonically over time.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the fiber optic cable is a length of dispersion-compensating fiber optic cable.
13. The method system of claim 12 wherein the fiber optic cable is a combination of at least two consecutive lengths of fiber optical cable, a first providing increased delay in lower frequencies of the light pulse and a second providing increased delay in higher frequencies of the light pulse.
14. The method of claim 11 including the step of passing the light signal with time varying frequency through a filter to selectively pass only a range of the frequencies of the light signal with time varying frequency.
15. The method of claim 11 including a test element receiving the light signal with time varying frequency and further including the step of sensing amplitude measurements of the light signal with time varying frequency after passing through the test element.
16. The method of claim 11 wherein the light signal with time varying frequency includes the wavelength of 1400 nanometers.
17. The method of claim 16 wherein the light signal with time varying frequency provides a frequency scan rate of greater than 1 nmns.

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 vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus, comprising:
control valve units for switching between communication and shut-off of a fluid path communicated from a hydraulic pressure source to a wheel brake and switching between communication and shut-off of a fluid path communicated from the wheel brake to a reservoir; and
a control section for performing pitching reducing control to reduce occurrence of pitching on a vehicle caused by swinging of a weight, by controlling the control valve units to switch respective brake hydraulic pressures that act on the respective wheel brakes under a pressure decreasing state, a holding state, and a pressure increasing state,
wherein the control section performs the pitching reducing control, based on a weight distribution ratio between front wheels and rear wheels during deceleration, and comprises:
a distribution ratio calculating section for calculating the weight distribution ratio from deceleration of the vehicle detected from an acceleration sensor;
a vehicle speed calculating section for calculating a vehicle speed; and
a determining section for determining whether or not to perform the pitching reducing control,
and wherein the determining section determines to perform the pitching reducing control in case that conditions are satisfied, the conditions including at least that:
the calculated vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined speed at which pitching tends to occur; and
braking operation is being performed.
2. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that:
if the weight distribution ratio is larger than or equal to a predetermined first threshold, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the pressure decreasing state; and
if the weight distribution ratio is smaller than the predetermined first threshold, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the pressure increasing state or the holding state.
3. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 2,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that, if the weight distribution ratio is smaller than the first threshold and larger than or equal to a second threshold that is smaller than the first threshold, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the pressure increasing state or the holding state.
4. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 3,
wherein if the weight distribution ratio is smaller than the second threshold and a conditionconditions required for executing anti-lock brake control are satisfied, the control section performs the anti-lock brake control.
5. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that, when an elapsed time of a control to make the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the holding state has become a predetermined time, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake turns into the pressure increasing state.
6. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 2,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that, when an elapsed time of a control to make the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the holding state has become a predetermined time, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake turns into the pressure increasing state.
7. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 3,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that, when an elapsed time of a control to make the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the holding state has become a predetermined time, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake turns into the pressure increasing state.
8. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 4,
wherein the control section controls the each control valve unit such that, when an elapsed time of a control to make the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake be in the holding state has become a predetermined time, the brake hydraulic pressure acting on the wheel brake turns into the pressure increasing state.
9. The vehicular brake hydraulic pressure control apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a failure deciding section for determining whether or not the acceleration sensor is normally functioning,
wherein the pitching reducing control is performed only when the failure deciding section determines that the acceleration sensor is normally functioning.