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We have developed a rear spoiler with built-in antenna. The spoiler has two features. First, the built-in antenna does not protrude from the vehicle contour and has an improved serviceability. Second, the air flow effect provides the driver with a clearer rear view, resulting in an improved safety. This paper discusses characteristics of the rear spoiler with built-in antenna.

The usage of GPS (Global Positioning System) in various fields is growing. The best solution known for GPS outage problems in vehicle navigation systems is DR (dead reckoning). An inertial system based on distance and heading sensors backs up the GPS equipment by relaying information during periods without satellite visibility. Because the DR inertial system delivers relative positions and GPS absolute positions, it seems logical to combine the two to minimize the cumulative drift errors,mainly due to distance and heading sensor resolution. For in-vehicle GPS receiver, there are problems in maintaining the operation performance even in unfavorable environments like an urban area and using antenna layout which does not hinder the vehicle design. In the text,the solutions to these problems and a new type GPS receiving system which is equipped with Toyota Electro-Multivision(1) are described.

Studies of belt tooth breakage have usually been carried out in motoring tests which focused on the load applied on the driven flank of the belt teeth. These studies have generally been done within the context of investigations into timing belt failure. There have been few studies of belt breakage in an internal combustion engine. In this investigation detailed analyses, based on firing test data and the finite element method, were made of belt cord stress. It was found that the main reason for belt breakage was belt cord stress caused by interference between the belt teeth and the pulley teeth due to torque fluctuations. A special device was developed for measuring the maximum cord surface strain during firing when the belt begins to engage with the driven flank belt teeth. Maximum strain was found to be five to ten times larger than the effective tension. Calculations were also made of the belt dimensions for optimum meshing between the belt and pulley.

“Trapless” Trap, which makes possible the effective collecting of particulates in diesel exhaust gas and their simultaneous combustion has been developed by use of a ceramic foam in combination with catalysts containing copper salt. From a TEM photograph, it was observed that the particulate was rapidly oxidized by mobile copper ion, showing worm-eaten like spots. Screening of various base metal salts by TGA presented CUCl2-KCl-NH4VO3 and CuCl2-KCl-(NH4)6Mo7O24 as very active catalysts for diesel particulate oxidation. They had thermal stability up to 900°C when they were supported on titania. The results obtained by measuring the back pressure using 1.8L diesel engine suggest the above trap to be a self-cleaning trapless trap.