Apparatus for controlling angular displacement of a throttle valve for an automotive vehicle

Claim 1

An apparatus comprising: (a) a throttle valve for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said throttle valve is in a fully closed position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said throttle valve to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing an electrical signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said third means for driving said throttle valve with a first force according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said throttle valve when said second means is released from manual actuation and said throttle valve reaches a predetermined position immediately before said fully closed position; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said throttle valve from said predetermined position to said fully closed position with a second force thereby preventing said throttle valve from impinging upon a wall of the throttle chamber of the engine after the fourth means ceases to drive the throttle valve.

Claim 2

An apparatus comprising: (a) a throttle valve for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said throttle valve is in a fully closed position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said throttle valve to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing an electrical signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said third means for driving said throttle valve with a first force according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said throttle valve when said second means is released from manual actuation and said throttle valve reaches a predetermined position immediately before said fully closed position; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said throttle valve from said predetermined position to said fully closed position with a second force thereby preventing said throttle valve from impinging upon a wall of the throttle chamber of the engine after the fourth means ceases to drive the throttle valve.

Claim 3

An apparatus comprising: (a) first means for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said first means is in a first position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said first means to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing a signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said second means for actuating said first means according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said first means when said second means is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from said third means; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said first means to said first position when said second means is released; wherein said first means is a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber and a rotational axis of said throttle valve is linked with said fourth means and wherein said fifth means is a return spring attached to the rotational axis of said throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve toward the first position; said second means is an accelerator pedal and wherein said fourth means drives the throttle valve to a second position near said first position when said accelerator pedal is released; and sixth means for detecting whether the throttle valve has reached the second position and outputting a signal indicative thereof to said fourth means.

Claim 4

An apparatus comprising: (a) first means for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said first means is in a first position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said first means to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing a signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said second means for actuating said first means according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said first means when said second means is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from said third means; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said first means to said first position when said second means is released; wherein said first means is a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber and a rotational axis of said throttle valve is linked with said fourth means and wherein said fifth means is a return spring attached to the rotational axis of said throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve toward the first position; said second means is an accelerator pedal and wherein said fourth means drives the throttle valve to a second position near said first position when said accelerator pedal is released; and sixth means for detecting whether the throttle valve has reached the second position and outputting a signal indicative thereof to said fourth means.

Claim 6

An apparatus comprising: (a) first means for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said first means is in a first position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said first means to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing a signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said second means for actuating said first means according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said first means when said second means is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from said third means; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said first means to said first position when said second means is released; wherein said first means is a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber and a rotational axis of said throttle valve is linked with said third means and wherein said fifth means is a return spring attached to the rotational axis of said throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve toward the first position; said second means is an accelerator pedal and wherein said fourth means drives the throttle valve to a second position near said first position when said accelerator pedal is released; and said fourth means comprises a reversible stepping motor and detects whether the throttle valve has reached the second position from a rotational direction and number of turns of the stepping motor.

Claim 7

An apparatus comprising: (a) first means for regulating engine speed according to its position, the engine being forced to idle when said first means is in a first position; (b) second means manually actuable to order said first means to a desired position; (c) third means for detecting a position of said second means and producing a signal according to the position of said second means; (d) fourth means responsive to the signal from said second means for actuating said first means according to the position of said second means, said fourth means ceasing to drive said first means when said second means is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from said third means; and (e) fifth means for gradually driving said first means to said first position when said second means is released; wherein said first means is a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber and a rotational axis of said throttle valve is linked with said third means and wherein said fifth means is a return spring attached to the rotational axis of said throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve toward the first position; said second means is an accelerator pedal and wherein said fourth means drives the throttle valve to a second position near said first position when said accelerator pedal is released; and said fourth means comprises a reversible stepping motor and detects whether the throttle valve has reached the second position from a rotational direction and number of turns of the stepping motor.

Claim 8

An apparatus, comprising: (a) a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber of an internal combustion engine; (b) an accelerator pedal manually actuable to order the throttle valve to a desired angular position; (c) first means for detecting a position of the accelerator pedal and producing a signal according to the position of the accelerator pedal; (d) second means responsive to the signal from said first means for actuating said throttle valve according to the position of the accelerator pedal, the second means ceasing to drive the throttle valve when the accelerator pedal is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from the first means, said second means driving the throttle valve until the throttle valve is directed toward a position immediately before a fully closed position of the throttle valve when the accelerator pedal is released, the position of the throttle valve being detected by an actuation amount of the second means itself; and (e) third means for gradually driving the throttle valve to the fully closed position when the accelerator pedal is released, the third means being a return spring attached to the rotational axis of the throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve to the fully closed position.

Claim 9

An apparatus, comprising: (a) a throttle valve located within a throttle chamber of an internal combustion engine; (b) an accelerator pedal manually actuable to order the throttle valve to a desired angular position; (c) first means for detecting a position of the accelerator pedal and producing a signal according to the position of the accelerator pedal; (d) second means responsive to the signal from said first means for actuating said throttle valve according to the position of the accelerator pedal, the second means ceasing to drive the throttle valve when the accelerator pedal is released from manual actuation and no signal is received from the first means, said second means driving the throttle valve until the throttle valve is directed toward a position immediately before a fully closed position of the throttle valve when the accelerator pedal is released, the position of the throttle valve being detected by an actuation amount of the second means itself; and (e) third means for gradually driving the throttle valve to the fully closed position when the accelerator pedal is released, the third means being a return spring attached to the rotational axis of the throttle valve so as to bias the throttle valve to the fully closed position.