Engine braking system

Claim 2

An engine braking system for use with an engine provided with a rotatable output shaft, an accelerator, an exhaust passage, and a clutch and transmission coupled with the engine, the system comprising: nozzle means disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine and defining a nozzle throat area; a power turbine disposed in the exhaust passage downstream of the nozzle means; throttling means for changing the nozzle throat area of said nozzle means; and, driving force transmitting means for connecting the output shaft of the engine to the power turbine so as to transmit rotative power of said output shaft to said power turbine when the accelerator is released to decelerate the engine, the clutch is engaged, the transmission is engaged and the nozzle throat area is reduced by the throttling means.

Claim 3

The engine braking system of claim 1, wherein said driving force transmitting means includes a gear train.

Claim 4

The engine braking system of claim 2, wherein said gear train has an input side and an output side and includes a clutch for disconnecting the input side from the output side.

Claim 5

The engine braking system of claim 1, wherein said power turbine is rotatably housed in the exhaust passage which is configured to form a nozzle throat to drive said power turbine and which contains the nozzle throat area.

Claim 6

The engine braking system of claim 1, wherein said throttling means comprises: plural vane shafts and plural movable nozzle vanes each respectively associated with one of the vane shafts and disposed within said exhaust passage spacedly along a circumferential direction of said power turbine, with each nozzle vane being pivotable about its respective shaft to change the area of said nozzle throat; a control lever; a control ring engaged by the control lever and integrally connected to the shafts for said nozzle vanes so as to move said nozzle vanes when the control lever is moved; and drive means for driving said control ring via said control lever.

Claim 7

An engine braking system for use with an engine provided with a rotatable output shaft, an accelerator, an exhaust passage, a clutch, a transmission and an exhaust brake system for throttling the exhaust passage, said engine braking system comprising: nozzle means disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine and defining a nozzle throat area; a power turbine disposed in the exhaust passage downstream of the nozzle means; a throttling means for changing the nozzle throat area of said nozzle means; and, driving force transmitting means for connecting the output shaft of the engine to the power turbine in a manner such that the rotative power of said output shaft is transmitted to said power turbine when the accelerator is released to decelerate the engine, the clutch is engaged, the transmission is engaged, the exhaust brake system is throttling the exhaust passage and the nozzle throat area is reduced by the throttling means.

Claim 8

An engine braking system for use with an engine provided with a rotatable output shaft, an accelerator, an exhaust passage, a clutch, a transmission and an exhaust brake system for throttling the exhaust passage, said engine braking system comprising: nozzle means disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine and defining a nozzle throat area; a power turbine disposed in the exhaust passage downstream of the nozzle means; a throttling means for changing the nozzle throat area of said nozzle means; and, driving force transmitting means for connecting the output shaft of the engine to the power turbine in a manner such that the rotative power of said output shaft is transmitted to said power turbine when the accelerator is released to decelerate the engine, the clutch is engaged, the transmission is engaged, the exhaust brake system is throttling the exhaust passage and the nozzle throat area is reduced by the throttling means.

Claim 9

The engine braking system of claim 6, wherein said driving force transmitting means includes a gear train.

Claim 10

The engine braking system of claim 6, wherein said gear train includes an input side and an output side and a clutch for disconnecting the input side of the gear train from the output side of the gear train.

Claim 11

The engine braking system of claim 6, wherein: said engine includes an exhaust passage; and wherein said power turbine is rotatably housed within said exhaust passage and said nozzle throat area is defined in said exhaust passage upstream of said power turbine.

Claim 12

The engine braking system of claim 6, wherein said throttling means includes: a plurality of nozzle vane shafts and a plurality of movable wing-type nozzle vanes each respectively associated with one of the vane shafts and disposed in said exhaust passage, the nozzle vanes being pivotable about their respective vane shafts and spacedly disposed in a circumferential direction of said power turbine so that the nozzle vanes can change said nozzle throat areas; a control lever which is connected to said shafts of the movable nozzle vanes; a control ring for interlockingly moving said movable nozzle vanes; drive means for actuating said control ring; and a controller for controlling said drive means in accordance with running conditions of said engine.

Claim 13

The engine braking system of claim 10 for use on a vehicle powered by said engine, wherein said controller controls said drive means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus vehicle velocity stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle velocity are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 14

The engine braking system of claim 10 for use on a vehicle powered by said engine, wherein said controller controls said drive means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus vehicle loadage stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle loadage are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 15

The engine braking system of claim 10, wherein said controller controls said drive means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling-engine rotating speed stored in the controller, and the latest data of engine rotating speed are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 16

The engine braking system of claim 10, wherein said controller controls said drive means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus elapsed time stored in the controller, and the latest data of said time are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 17

The engine braking system of claim 10 for use on a vehicle powered by said engine, wherein said controller controls said drive means based on a minimum degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes among degrees of throttling obtained from maps of throttling versus vehicle velocity, throttling versus vehicle loadage, throttling versus engine rotating speed, and throttling versus elapsed time, stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle velocity, vehicle loadage, engine rotating speed, and elapsed time are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 18

An engine braking system for use with an engine provided with a rotatable output shaft, an accelerator, an exhaust passage, a clutch, a transmission, and an engine brake system for throttling the exhaust passage, said engine braking system comprising: nozzle means disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine and defining a nozzle throat area; a power turbine having an axis of rotation and disposed in the exhaust passage downstream of the nozzle means, the power turbine being rotatable in first and second opposite directions of rotation about said axis; driving force transmitting means for connecting the output shaft of the engine to the power turbine and for rotating the power turbine in said first direction in a manner such that the rotative power is transmitted from the output shaft to the power turbine when the accelerator is released, the clutch is engaged, the transmission is engaged, and the exhaust brake system is throttling the exhaust passage, and for otherwise connecting the output shaft to the power turbine to rotating the power turbine in said second direction of rotation in a manner such that the rotative power is transmitted from the power turbine to the output shaft; a fluid passage connected to the exhaust passage between the engine and the power turbine; switching means for throttling said fluid passage to a preselected degree when the power turbine rotates in said first direction of rotation thereof; throttling means for adjusting the nozzle throat area; and, a controller for controlling said throttling means when the power turbine rotates in said first direction of rotation thereof.

Claim 19

An engine braking system for use with an engine provided with a rotatable output shaft, an accelerator, an exhaust passage, a clutch, a transmission, and an engine brake system for throttling the exhaust passage, said engine braking system comprising: nozzle means disposed in the exhaust passage of the engine and defining a nozzle throat area; a power turbine having an axis of rotation and disposed in the exhaust passage downstream of the nozzle means, the power turbine being rotatable in first and second opposite directions of rotation about said axis; driving force transmitting means for connecting the output shaft of the engine to the power turbine and for rotating the power turbine in said first direction in a manner such that the rotative power is transmitted from the output shaft to the power turbine when the accelerator is released, the clutch is engaged, the transmission is engaged, and the exhaust brake system is throttling the exhaust passage, and for otherwise connecting the output shaft to the power turbine to rotating the power turbine in said second direction of rotation in a manner such that the rotative power is transmitted from the power turbine to the output shaft; a fluid passage connected to the exhaust passage between the engine and the power turbine; switching means for throttling said fluid passage to a preselected degree when the power turbine rotates in said first direction of rotation thereof; throttling means for adjusting the nozzle throat area; and, a controller for controlling said throttling means when the power turbine rotates in said first direction of rotation thereof.

Claim 20

The engine braking system of claim 16, wherein said driving power transmitting means includes a gear train.

Claim 21

The engine braking system of claim 17, wherein said gear train includes an input side and an output side and a clutch for disconnecting the input side of the gear train and the output side of the gear train.

Claim 22

The engine braking system of claim 16, wherein said power turbine is rotatably housed by the exhaust passage, which is configured to form a nozzle throat to drive said power turbine.

Claim 23

The engine braking system of claim 16, wherein said throttling means includes: a plurality of vane shafts and movable wing-type nozzle vanes respectively associated with the vane shafts and disposed in said exhaust passage, the nozzle vanes being pivotable about their respective vane shafts and spacedly disposed in a circumferential direction of said power turbine so that the nozzle vanes can change said nozzle throat areas; a control lever connected to said shafts of the movable nozzle vanes; a control ring for interlockingly moving said movable nozzle vanes; and drive means for actuating said control ring.

Claim 24

The engine braking system of claim 16, wherein said passage switching means includes a switching valve for closing said exhaust passage upstream of said fluid passage during engine braking and for opening the fluid passage to a predetermined degree, and a valve activating device for said valve.

Claim 25

The engine braking system of claim 21, wherein said switching valve includes a rotary valve having a first port whose diameter is equal to the diameter of said exhaust passage and a second port whose diameter is smaller than the diameter of said fluid passage, and movable by said valve activating device, to connect said second port and said fluid passage while disconnecting said first port and said exhaust passage during engine braking.

Claim 26

The engine braking system of claim 20 for use in a vehicle including said engine, wherein said controller controls said throttling means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus vehicle velocity stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle velocity are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 27

The engine braking system of claim 20 for use in a vehicle including said engine, wherein said controller controls said throttling means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus vehicle loadage stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle loadage are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 28

The engine braking system of claim 20, wherein said controller controls said throttling means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus engine rotating speed stored in the controller, and the latest data of engine rotating speed are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 29

The engine braking system of claim 20, wherein said controller controls said throttling means based on a degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes obtained from a map of throttling versus elapsed time stored in the controller, and the latest data of time are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.

Claim 30

The engine braking system of claim 20 for use in a vehicle including said engine, wherein said controller controls said throttling means based on a minimum degree of throttling of said movable nozzle vanes among degrees of throttling obtained from maps of throttling versus vehicle velocity, throttling versus vehicle loadage, throttling versus engine rotating speed, and throttling versus elapsed time stored in the controller, and the latest data of vehicle velocity, vehicle loadage, engine rotating speed, and elapsed time are consecutively fed to the controller during engine braking.