Patents Examined by Brian Kirby
  • Patent number: 9850824
    Abstract: A drive circuit (203) of an actuator (2) calculates an actual working angle from an actual operation quantity with reference to a reference table used to calculate a target operation quantity, and transmits the actual working angle and the actual operation quantity to a command unit (4). The command unit (4) determines whether or not the received values of the actual working angle and the operation quantity correspond to the valve working angle and the operation quantity of the reference table stored in the command unit (4), to detect a discrepancy between the operation modes of the actuator (2) and the command unit (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shunsuke Habara, Toyokazu Nakashima
  • Patent number: 9850874
    Abstract: A controller of an engine with a supercharger includes, for each of cylinders, fuel supply system and an ignition plug. The controller includes an electronic control unit that is configured to: (i) set a basic ignition timing depending on an operation state of the engine, (ii) detect, for each cycle, an abnormal combustion generation cylinder in which an abnormal combustion is generated in a supercharged region, (iii) execute a fuel cut to stop a fuel supply by the fuel supply system for the abnormal combustion generation cylinder, (iv) change an ignition timing of the abnormal combustion generation cylinder to expand a crank angle width between a compression top dead center and the basic ignition timing for several cycles after start of the fuel cut, and (v) execute an ignition cut that prohibits a spark from being generated by the ignition plug, further after elapse of the several cycles is executed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Takayuki Demura, Syuuji Yuda, Yasuhiro Ooi
  • Patent number: 9845741
    Abstract: An abnormality detection device is mounted on an engine control device that calculates a target load factor by using a target torque, converts the target load factor to a target throttle opening, calculates a target ignition timing by using a target efficiency, and controls an engine based on the target throttle opening and the target ignition timing. In the abnormality detection device, a target efficiency for monitoring is calculated by using the target ignition timing, a target torque for monitoring is calculated by using the target efficiency for monitoring and the target load factor, a torque deviation between the target torque for monitoring and the target torque is calculated, and the presence or absence of an abnormality is detected by using the torque deviation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shigehiro Sugihira, Naoto Kato, Yoshitaka Ukawa
  • Patent number: 9810171
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for determining an offset of a manifold pressure sensor. In one example, an engine method may include indicating degradation of the manifold pressure sensor based on a sensor offset, the sensor offset based on a manifold pressure measured at a first throttle angle, a barometric pressure at a second throttle angle, a reference manifold pressure at the first throttle angle and reference barometric pressure, and the reference barometric pressure. Further, the method may include adjusting an output of the manifold pressure sensor by the determined sensor offset.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rommel Racelis, John Eric Rollinger, Robert Roy Jentz
  • Patent number: 9803539
    Abstract: An internal-combustion engine includes a cylinder, a piston, a spark plug, and a fuel injection valve. The piston includes a top surface and a cavity provided in the top surface. The cavity includes a bottom surface, a vertical wall, a first sidewall, and a second sidewall. The fuel injection valve includes a plurality of injection ports from which a plurality of fuel mists are to be obliquely injected toward the top surface of the piston in respectively different directions at a predetermined crank angle in a compression stroke. The cavity extends from a position close to a center of the piston toward the fuel injection valve when viewed from above the top surface of the piston. The first and second sidewalls extend toward the fuel injection valve when viewed from above the top surface of the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hiroaki Sato, Yasuhiro Motohashi, Haruya Kitano, Masayoshi Takahashi, Hiromitsu Hirano, Shun Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9803563
    Abstract: A fuel supply apparatus includes a material fuel tank, a separator, a condenser, a first fuel tank, and a first storage device. The material fuel tank is to store a material fuel. The separator is to separate the material fuel supplied from the material fuel tank into a first fuel and a second fuel. The condenser is to condense the first fuel supplied from the separator through a primary-order recovery passage. The first fuel tank is to store the first fuel supplied from the condenser through a secondary-order recovery passage. The first storage device is provided in the secondary-order recovery passage to temporarily store the first fuel supplied from the condenser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2017
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hirotsugu Kudo, Masayoshi Kawaguchi, Hiroshi Chishima, Kenji Shigetoyo
  • Patent number: 9790876
    Abstract: For exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) fueling control, at least one donor cylinder of a plurality of cylinders in an engine provides exhaust gas to an air intake for the plurality of cylinders. A fuel variable restriction initially provides fuel concurrent with an intake stroke for the at least one donor cylinder in response to a transition from withholding the fuel to the plurality of cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: Cummins IP, Inc.
    Inventors: Samuel C. Geckler, Andrea Beck, Anthony Kyle Perfetto
  • Patent number: 9784174
    Abstract: A rail vehicle has a diesel engine, an engine radiator and a cooling circuit that connects the diesel engine to the engine radiator. A cooling liquid is circulated in the cooling circuit, a cooling liquid temperature of the circulated cooling liquid and an outer air temperature of the atmospheric outer air are detected. The outer air temperature is compared with the outer air limit temperature, the cooling power of the engine radiator is set in such a way that the cooling liquid temperature corresponds to a normal operating temperature if the outer air temperature is less than the outer air limit temperature. The cooling power of the engine radiator is set such that the cooling liquid temperature corresponds to a lower operating temperature below the normal operating temperature if the outer air temperature is greater than the outer air limit temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2017
    Assignee: SIEMENS AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventor: Stefan Hintermeir
  • Patent number: 9777697
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for determining a type of spark plug fouling. In one example, a method may include differentiating spark plug fouling due to soot accumulation from spark plug fouling due to fuel additive accumulation based on a current on a control wire of the spark plug following application of a dwell command. Further, exhaust oxygen sensor degradation and/or exhaust catalyst degradation may be determined based on switching frequencies of one or more exhaust oxygen sensors and the type of spark plug fouling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 3, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Chris Paul Glugla, Garlan J. Huberts, Nelson William Morrow, Qiuping Qu
  • Patent number: 9765707
    Abstract: The present invention relates to fuel systems for diesel engines. In particular, the invention relates to a dual fuel supply system (10) for a diesel engine having an indirect-injection system (12). The invention extends to a diesel engine incorporating the dual fuel supply system (10) and to a vehicle that incorporates a diesel engine having the dual fuel supply system (10). The dual-fuel supply system (10) includes a mixed fuel supply system (17) that includes a first stage (14) having a diesel tank (42) and LPG tank (44), and as second stage (16) to supply the fuel mixture to the injection system (12). The dual-fuel supply system (10) also includes diesel supply system (80) for delivering diesel to the injection system (12). Moreover, the dual fuel system (10) is configured to permit selective change over between the diesel supply system (80) and the mixed fuel system (17) to supply the injection system (12) selectively with either diesel or liquid fuel mixture respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: DGC INDUSTRIES PTY LTD
    Inventors: Uwe Alexander Krug, Will Fisher
  • Patent number: 9739243
    Abstract: Various methods and systems are provided for reducing pressure in a fuel tank of a fuel system of an engine. In one example, cooling fluid is routed from an air conditioner of a cooling system to a vapor cooler disposed in a vapor space of the fuel tank such that fuel vapor in the fuel tank may be condensed and routed to a fuel pump for delivery to the engine, thereby reducing a fuel tank pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Gloabl Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Niels Christopher Kragh
  • Patent number: 9719431
    Abstract: A method for operating an internal combustion engine that includes at least two cylinders, includes operating the internal combustion engine in a first operating mode in partial engine operation, in which at least one of the cylinders is not fired, monitoring the internal combustion engine during the partial engine operation for potentially torque-increasing errors, and switching over from the partial engine operation into a full engine operation in which all of the cylinders are fired when a potentially torque-increasing error is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Frank Walter
  • Patent number: 9714616
    Abstract: An engine control system for a vehicle may include a sequence determination module that generates a first set of possible MPC target values and a second set of possible MPC target values. A cost module determines a first cost for the first set of possible MPC target values and a second cost for the second set of possible MPC target values. A selection module that selects MPC target values from one of the first and second sets of possible MPC target values based on the first and second costs. A transition module that receives the MPC target values, compares the MPC target values with a plurality of previous control requests, and selects a set of target values ranging from the previous control requests to the MPC target values that control a plurality of engine functions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Ning Jin, Christopher E. Whitney, Jyh-Shin Chen, Kevin C. Wong
  • Patent number: 9708995
    Abstract: A control device for an internal combustion engine provided with an intake air pressure sensor and an airflow meter includes a calculation unit for calculating a fuel injection quantity on the basis of a negative pressure of intake air measured by the intake air pressure sensor when a cranking motor starts cranking the internal combustion engine, and a switching unit for switching to calculation of the fuel injection quantity on the basis of an intake air flow rate measured by the airflow meter when a change value in an actual intake air quantity becomes smaller than a reference value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shunichi Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 9698334
    Abstract: A multi-layer piezoelectric element includes: a stacked body comprising an active section, and inactive sections disposed at opposite ends in a stacking direction of the active section; an electrically-conductive bonding material disposed on a side surface of the stacked body from the active section to the inactive sections; and an external electrode plate attached, through the electrically-conductive bonding material, to the side surface of the stacked body, a spacing between a side surface of at least one of the inactive sections and the external electrode plate being wider than a spacing between a side surface of the active section and the external electrode plate, and the electrically-conductive bonding material situated between the side surface of at least one of the inactive sections and the external electrode plate being larger in thickness than the electrically-conductive bonding material situated between the side surface of the active section and the external electrode plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: KYOCERA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ken Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9695793
    Abstract: A corona ignition system for igniting fuel in a combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, comprising a oscillating circuit, which contains an ignition electrode, a high-frequency generator, which is connected to the oscillating circuit, in order to produce an AC voltage to excite the oscillating circuit, a converter in order to produce an input voltage for the high-frequency generator from an on-board supply voltage, a voltage controller to stabilize the input voltage produced by the converter for the high-frequency generator, and a control unit for controlling the high-frequency generator, wherein the control unit communicates an imminent load change of the converter to the voltage regulator, before the load change occurs as a result of activation or deactivation of the high-frequency generator. A method for controlling a corona ignition system is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: BORGWARNER LUDWIGSBURG GMBH
    Inventor: Markus Kernwein
  • Patent number: 9689339
    Abstract: An engine assembly includes an internal combustion engine with an engine block having at least one cylinder. An intake manifold and an exhaust manifold are each fluidly connected to the at least one cylinder and define an intake manifold pressure (pi) and an exhaust manifold pressure (pe), respectively. A controller is operatively connected to the internal combustion engine and configured to receive a torque request (TR). The controller is programmed to determine a desired fuel mass (mf) for controlling a torque output of the internal combustion engine. The desired fuel mass (mf) is based at least partially on the torque request (TR), the intake and exhaust manifold pressures and a pressure-volume (PV) diagram of the at least one cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 27, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Jun-Mo Kang, Orgun A. Guralp, Sai S. V. Rajagopalan, Hanho Yun, Chen-Fang Chang, Paul M. Najt
  • Patent number: 9677485
    Abstract: An EGR apparatus includes an EGR passage to allow part of exhaust gas discharged from a combustion chamber to flow in an intake passage and recirculate back to the combustion chamber and an EGR valve to regulate EGR gas in the EGR passage. The EGR valve includes a valve seat, a valve element, and a step motor. An ECU calculates a target correction value corresponding to an operating condition of an engine, cuts off energization to the step motor in order to hold the EGR valve at a predetermined opening degree during operation thereof, and then restarts energization to the step motor, calculates an energization cutoff correction value corresponding to an elapsed time from energization cutoff, and corrects the target correction value by the calculated energization cutoff correction value in order to control the EGR valve to the target opening degree.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: AISAN KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Minoru Akita, Mamoru Yoshioka
  • Patent number: 9677497
    Abstract: A fuel injection control apparatus of a compression ignition type internal combustion engine includes a controller adapted to control an injector so that pre-stage injection and post-stage injection are performed as fuel injection during one cycle. The controller controls an interval between the timing of the pre-stage injection and the timing of the post-stage injection so that an interval ?t1 between the timing of the pre-stage peak and the timing of the post-stage peak approximately satisfies a condition. The condition is that the interval ?t1 is 0.5 times an inverse number of the frequency f0 at which a combustion noise level becomes the maximum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventors: Hiroshi Kuzuyama, Tsutomu Umehara, Takayuki Fuyuto, Masahiro Taki
  • Patent number: 9657669
    Abstract: Proposed is a method for closed loop rail pressure control of a V-type internal combustion engine with an asymmetrical firing order, wherein an actual rail pressure is computed from the measured rail pressure; a system deviation is determined by means of the actual rail pressure and a set rail pressure; and wherein a correcting variable for actuating a pressure actuating element, in particular a suction throttle, for regulating the rail pressure is computed. The invention is characterized by the fact that the actual rail pressure is computed from the measured rail pressure by means of an averaging filter in that below a limit speed (nLi) the rail pressure is averaged over a constant time and in that above the limit speed (nLi) the rail pressure is averaged over a working cycle of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH
    Inventor: Armin Dölker