The award recognises remarkable achievements related to research and development, and the application of production engineering, production technology, and production systems annually.
Toyota received the prize for a world-first aluminium casting technology for cylinder heads, which affect engine performance.
The cooling water channels of a cylinder head are normally formed using molds made from sand and adhesive, known as a core.
The technology commonly used to make cores at present employs an organic material called phenolic resin as the adhesive. However, the casting process produces strong odours and smoke, giving rise to the issue of large deodorisation equipment required to deal with the odorous gas by-products.
The aluminum casting technology developed by Toyota uses the inorganic material, water glass, which does not cause odours or smoke.
Moreover, this world-first technology enables complex shapes to be created and the sand to be reused. Using water glass, which is not subject to thermal degradation, to adhesive the sand has succeeded in reducing odour concentrations during the casting process to 1/100th or less, thereby reducing the investment required in deodorisation equipment.
The last time Toyota won the award was three years ago. It is also the 12th Okochi Memorial Prize overall for Toyota.
