Patents Examined by Brian P Monahon
  • Patent number: 10914251
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for diagnosing degradation of an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve. In one example, a method may include, during a vehicle key-off condition, routing compressed air through an EGR passage housing the EGR valve, and indicating degradation of the EGR valve based on a change in an estimated EGR pressure, upon a commanded change in EGR valve position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Aed M. Dudar
  • Patent number: 10801430
    Abstract: Air to fuel ratio management comprises sensing a power output request for the engine and determining a fuel-efficient air to fuel ratio. A current air to fuel ratio is sensed in one or both of an intake manifold and an exhaust manifold connected to the engine. An air to fuel ratio adjustment is determined based on the fuel-efficient air to fuel ratio and based on the current air to fuel ratio. An in-cylinder exhaust gas recirculation technique is selected. The in-cylinder exhaust gas recirculation technique adjusts an oxygen and particulate content of exhaust gas resulting from combustion. A number of cylinders of the multiple-cylinder engine are selected to implement the in-cylinder exhaust gas recirculation technique. The intake valves and the exhaust valves are controlled to adjust the oxygen and particulate content of the exhaust gas by applying a second compression stroke of the respective reciprocating pistons to the exhaust gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Eaton Intelligent Power Limited
    Inventors: James E. McCarthy, Jr., Douglas Nielsen
  • Patent number: 10774931
    Abstract: A piston for an internal combustion engine may include two pin bosses configured to receive a gudgeon pin. The two pin bosses may respectively include a nadir pocket of at least two nadir pockets at ?=180° and extending outward from a piston axis. The at least two nadir pockets may have a respective length that is smaller than a length of a respective pin boss of the at least two pin bosses. The piston may also include a pin boss axis that is axially offset from the piston axis by 0.1-1.0 mm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: MAHLE INTERNATIONAL GMBH
    Inventors: Juergen Rudi, Ralf Braig
  • Patent number: 10774725
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for reducing temperature of an engine or single cylinder(s) of the engine at start/stop events where the engine is stopped from combusting air and fuel, and in response to an overheating engine condition. In one example, a method comprises activating an electric air compressor to direct cooling air flow through a first single cylinder of the engine, to reduce a temperature of the first single cylinder to a desired temperature prior to a request to restart the engine. In this way, a single cylinder indicated to be overheating may be effectively cooled, without employing methodology that would otherwise cool the engine as a whole, which may thus prevent engine degradation and which may conserve power of an onboard energy storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Aed M. Dudar
  • Patent number: 10774756
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for detecting degradation of a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) system valve and a cylinder valve. In one example, a method may include comparing a rate of pressure bleed-up in a PCV system during each of a cold-engine condition and a hot-engine condition to differentiate between the PCV valve and the cylinder valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Aed M. Dudar, Robert Roy Jentz
  • Patent number: 10767572
    Abstract: A supporting arrangement for an eccentric member (8) of an adjusting arrangement (6) of a connecting rod (2) of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine having at least one piston rod (18) that is guided displaceably by a piston (20) and a seal member (24) is connected to the supporting piston (20) in a supporting cylinder (12, 14) which is provided in the connecting rod (2) and has a longitudinal axis (16). The supporting piston (20) enclosing at least one cylinder chamber (22) with the supporting cylinder (12, 14). A side (28) of the supporting piston (20) that is directed toward the cylinder chamber (22) has a brake piston (30) that can be moved in the longitudinal axis (16). The brake piston (30) is mounted on the supporting piston (20) and can be prestressed by a spring (32).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Michael Paul
  • Patent number: 10731614
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to internal combustion engines. Various embodiments may include a fuel injection system for delivering fuel to an internal combustion engine. For example, fuel injector may include a valve body having a cavity; a valve needle with a retainer moving in the cavity; an actuator assembly comprising: a spring element next to the valve needle; an electro-magnetic coil; an armature element movable in the cavity; and an anti-bounce device. The armature element may be between the retainer portion of the valve needle and the anti-bounce device. The anti-bounce device may impose a spring force and a hydraulic force for dampening a movement of the armature element. The anti-bounce device may comprise a spring portion exerting the spring force to close the valve needle and a hydraulic damper portion integrally connected to the spring portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Stefano Filippi, Mauro Grandi, Matteo Soriani
  • Patent number: 10724453
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a valve opening control apparatus and method of a gasoline EGR system. The valve opening control apparatus includes a gasoline engine generating driving power through combustion, an intake line through which an intake gas flows into a combustion chamber of the gasoline engine, an exhaust line through which an exhaust gas is discharged from the combustion chamber, a recirculation line branched off from the exhaust line and connected to the intake line, an EGR cooler, positioned in the recirculation line, cooling the exhaust gas flowing in the intake line, an EGR valve configured to control an amount of the exhaust gas flowing in the intake line, an emergency (EM) filter positioned in one end of the EGR valve, and a flow rate regulator configured to control an opening amount of the EGR valve according to a clogging state of the EM filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Han Sang Kim
  • Patent number: 10718081
    Abstract: A drain pump for a laundry treating apparatus includes a housing, an impeller, a motor, a circulation outlet, and a drain outlet. The circulation outlet and the drain outlet are defined on an outer circumferential surface of the housing, enable communication of the washing water with the housing, and protrude outward in directions tangential to the outer circumferential surface. The housing includes a rib that protrudes from an inner circumferential surface of the housing, that is located between the circulation outlet and the drain outlet, and that is configured to guide the washing water to the circulation outlet or to the drain outlet based on a direction of rotation of the impeller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Hoon Choi, Donggi Shin, Gunho Lee
  • Patent number: 10710705
    Abstract: An open rotor airfoil apparatus includes: an airfoil body having pressure and suction sides extending in span from a root to a tip, and in chord between leading and trailing edges. A majority of the leading edge in an outer portion of the airfoil body has a sweep equal to or greater than a predetermined sweep profile, selected to produce a blade-relative velocity component perpendicular to the leading edge, at a tip radius, of Mach 0.75 or less, and to produce a blade-relative velocity component perpendicular to the leading edge, at 65% of tip radius, of Mach 0.87 or less, with the blade-relative velocity component perpendicular to the leading edge varying linearly between the two limits, in the presence of transonic or supersonic relative velocity conditions. Each of the blades has a leading edge thickness greater than 0.45% of the chord, measured at a 0.5% chordwise location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Daniel Lawrence Tweedt
  • Patent number: 10711683
    Abstract: A method for cooling an engine includes increasing the pressure of a liquid coolant from a first pressure to a second pressure. Thereafter, components of the engine to be cooled are contacted with the liquid coolant so that the liquid coolant at least partially evaporates and forms a vapor with a particular state. Thereafter, the vapor is fed to a throttle to reduce the pressure of the liquid coolant to a third pressure. The particular state of the vapor is determined based on the temperature and the third pressure of the liquid coolant downstream of the throttle, and based on the second pressure of the liquid coolant under an assumption that the throttle is an adiabatic throttle such that enthalpy of the liquid coolant remains constant as the liquid coolant passes the throttle. A desired vapor state adjustment is made based on the determined particular state of the vapor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: IAV GMBH INGENIEURGESELLSCHAFT AUTO UND VERKEHR
    Inventors: Thomas Arnold, Ingo Friedrich
  • Patent number: 10669895
    Abstract: A shroud dampening pin is disclosed including a shaft, a dampening portion at a first end of the shaft, and a cap at a second end of the shaft. The dampening portion includes a bevel having a bevel angle and a contact surface. A turbine shroud assembly is disclosed, including an inner shroud, an outer shroud, the shroud dampening pin, and a biasing apparatus. The outer shroud includes a channel extending from an aperture adjacent to the inner shroud at a channel angle from the aperture. The shroud dampening pin is disposed within the channel. The dampening portion extends through the aperture with the contact surface contacting the inner shroud. The biasing apparatus contacts the cap and provides a biasing force to the inner shroud through the contact surface. The bevel angle is about the same as the channel angle, and the contact surface is about parallel to the aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Glenn Curtis Taxacher, Herbert Chidsey Roberts, III, Randall Gill
  • Patent number: 10648415
    Abstract: An engine-driven working machine according to the present invention has a controller and a muffler. The controller is operated from starting of the engine in a rotational speed limitation mode in which the engine is prevented from rotating at a rotational speed that is higher than the predetermined limitation rotational speed. The controller forces to stop the engine, after a predetermined period has passed, during which the engine operates in the rotational speed limitation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 12, 2020
    Assignee: Yamabiko Corporation
    Inventors: Minoru Kuroiwa, Akihiko Nohira
  • Patent number: 10641190
    Abstract: A method for operating a spark ignited engine, including forming a combustible mixture by mixing generally homogeneously a first fuel and air and introducing this mixture into the at least one cylinder in an intake stroke, and compressing the combustible mixture with a piston in a compression stroke thereby introducing a part of the combustible mixture into a pre-chamber. During the intake and/or the compression stroke, a second fuel is introduced into the pre-chamber at an introduction-time before start of combustion, and the second fuel is of the same or different chemical composition and/or concentration with respect to the first fuel, and a spark ignites in the prechamber. An amount of second fuel and/or the chemical composition of second fuel introduced to the pre-chamber and/or spark timing of the pre-chamber and/or an in-cylinder charge temperature is chosen such that a desired duration of combustion can be achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: INNIO JENBACHER GMBH & CO OG
    Inventors: Friedrich Gruber, Nikolaus Spyra, Christian Trapp, Georg Tinschmann, Ettore Musu, Peter Christiner
  • Patent number: 10634005
    Abstract: A flow metering and retention system includes a first disk that is annular in shape surrounding a centerline and extending axially along the centerline, a first coverplate axially rearward of the first disk with the first coverplate having an axially rearward extending arm, a second disk that is annular in shape surrounding the centerline and rearward of the first coverplate, a second coverplate at least partially between the first coverplate and the second disk; and a ring adjacent to the radially outer side of the slot of the second disk. The second disk has a slot into which the arm of the first coverplate extends with the slot having a radially outer side and a radially inner side, and the ring is configured to meter air flowing between the radially outer side of the slot and the arm of the first coverplate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2020
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventors: Dalton C. Petrillo, Christopher M. Juh
  • Patent number: 10619553
    Abstract: An engine-controlling device includes a coolant passage, a radiator, and a control valve. A coolant discharged from a pump circulates through the coolant passage. The radiator cools the coolant. The control valve includes a first valve that adjusts a flow rate of the coolant to be introduced into the radiator and that includes a valve member driven by an electric actuator, a second valve that is arranged in parallel with the first valve and that includes a valve member that is opened in accordance with a pressure or a temperature, and a malfunction-diagnosing unit that detects a valve-stuck malfunction of the first valve. An output of the engine is limited to an output equal to or less than a limiting value determined on a basis of a maximum flow rate of the coolant introduced into the radiator from the second valve when the valve-stuck malfunction of the first valve occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masaaki Watanabe
  • Patent number: 10612394
    Abstract: Airfoils and airfoil cores for airfoils of gas turbine engines are provided. The airfoils include an airfoil body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, at least two serpentine flow cavities formed within the airfoil body, a resupply cavity fluidly connected to one serpentine flow cavity of the at least two serpentine flow cavities and arranged to supply a resupply air to the one serpentine flow cavity through a resupply bypass hole, a junction defined at a location where the resupply cavity fluidly connect to the one serpentine flow cavity, a separator rib within the airfoil body and fluidly separating part of the at least two serpentine flow cavities, at least one crossover rib located between the resupply bypass hole and the separator rib, and at least one crossover aperture located between the at least one crossover rib and the separator rib.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Charles Thistle, Evan P. Molony, Carey Clum
  • Patent number: 10605182
    Abstract: Systems and methods for operating an engine in response to a condition of an engine air intake throttle being degraded are presented. In one example, the engine air intake throttle is held closed while a position of a fuel vapor storage canister vent valve is adjusted to control air flow into the engine based on a position of an accelerator pedal. In this way, the engine air amount may be adjusted to provide additional torque from an engine while a throttle is degraded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Aed M. Dudar
  • Patent number: 10604087
    Abstract: According to an aspect, the present embodiments may be associated with a heat shield including a sealing member. In an embodiment, the sealing member is positioned along at least a portion of a partially hemmed edge and retained thereby. Thus, the heat shield is capable of providing insulative and/or sealing properties when used, specifically thermal, vibrational and/or acoustical shielding, as well as limiting fluid flow across the edge of the heat shield.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2020
    Assignee: LYDALL, INC.
    Inventors: Gregory M. Slimko, Julien Forgeard, Paul Schlappa, John M Lowry
  • Patent number: 10590873
    Abstract: An object is to provide a control device for an internal combustion engine, at an inexpensive price, whereby it is possible to suppress a decrease in the exhaust gas performance of the internal combustion engine due to an environmental change or damage from aging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2020
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takayuki Yamamoto