System for suppressing noise due to exhaust gas from motor vehicle

Claim 2

In an automotive vehicle: a vehicle cabin; an engine having an even number of cylinders, said engine having a first group of half of the cylinders connected to a first exhaust manifold and a second group of the remaining cylinders connected to a second exhaust manifold, said first and second exhaust manifolds are joined at a predetermined portion and having different fluid flow paths in length down to said predetermined portion; a silencer connected to said first and second exhaust manifolds at said predetermined portion, said silencer including selector valve means whereby the exhaust resistance of silencer is altered; means for detecting engine revolution speed of said engine and generating a first output signal; means for detecting engine load on said engine and generating a second output signal; control means responsive to said first and second output signals for normally closing said selector valve means, but opening same when the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeds a first predetermined engine revolution speed value when a predetermined order component of exhaust noise coincides with a predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle cabin when said second output signal indicates that the vehicle is at acceleration, said control means being operative to normally close said selector valve means, but opening the selector valve when the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeds a second predetermined engine revolution speed value when a second predetermined order component of the exhaust noise coincides with said predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle cabin when said second output signal indicates that the vehicle is at deceleration.

Claim 3

An engine noise suppression system in an automotive vehicle, comprising: an engine having an even number of cylinders, said engine having a first group of half of the cylinders connected to a first exhaust manifold and a second group of the remaining cylinders connected to a second exhaust manifold, said first and second exhaust manifolds joined at a predetermined portion and having different fluid flow paths in length down to said predetermined portion; a silencer connected to said first and second exhaust manifolds at said predetermined portion, said silencer including selector valve means whereby an exhaust resistance of said silencer is altered; means for detecting an engine revolution speed of said engine and generating a first output signal responsive thereto; means for detecting an engine load on said engine and generating a second output signal responsive thereto; control means responsive to said first and second output signals for closing said selector valve means and for opening said selector valve means responsive to simultaneously detecting (a) the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeding a first predetermined engine revolution speed value, (b) a predetermined order component of exhaust noise coincides with a predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle and (c) said second output signal indicating that the vehicle is accelerating, said control means further operative to open said selector valve means in response to simultaneously detecting (a) the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeding a second predetermined engine revolution speed value, (b) a second predetermined order component of the exhaust noise coinciding with said predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle and (c) said second output signal indicating that the vehicle is decelerating.

Claim 4

An engine noise suppression system in an automotive vehicle, comprising: an engine having an even number of cylinders, said engine having a first group of half of the cylinders connected to a first exhaust manifold and a second group of the remaining cylinders connected to a second exhaust manifold, said first and second exhaust manifolds joined at a predetermined portion and having different fluid flow paths in length down to said predetermined portion; a silencer connected to said first and second exhaust manifolds at said predetermined portion, said silencer including selector valve means whereby an exhaust resistance of said silencer is altered; means for detecting an engine revolution speed of said engine and generating a first output signal responsive thereto; means for detecting an engine load on said engine and generating a second output signal responsive thereto; control means responsive to said first and second output signals for closing said selector valve means and for opening said selector valve means responsive to simultaneously detecting (a) the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeding a first predetermined engine revolution speed value, (b) a predetermined order component of exhaust noise coincides with a predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle and (c) said second output signal indicating that the vehicle is accelerating, said control means further operative to open said selector valve means in response to simultaneously detecting (a) the engine revolution speed indicated by said first output signal exceeding a second predetermined engine revolution speed value, (b) a second predetermined order component of the exhaust noise coinciding with said predetermined resonance frequency within said vehicle and (c) said second output signal indicating that the vehicle is decelerating.