Patents Examined by Diem Tran
  • Patent number: 9676594
    Abstract: An anti-rotation system for an elevator system that includes an elevator shaft, elevator suspension cables, and a mechanical room includes a hitch plate disposed on a floor of the mechanical room and at a top of the elevator shaft, a plurality of cable shackles, each cable shackle including a cable locking mechanism on a first end thereof configured to lock one of the elevator suspension cables and a threaded rod on a second end thereof configured to extend through the hitch plate from the elevator shaft to the mechanical room, and a plurality of anti-rotation devices, each anti-rotation device being fixed to the threaded rod of one of the plurality of cable shackles in the mechanical room, and each anti-rotation device being connected to at least one other anti-rotation device, whereby rotation of cable shackles is prevented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: LML LIFTS, LLC
    Inventor: Jesse D. Marshall
  • Patent number: 9677493
    Abstract: A system for reducing environmentally harmful emissions from an internal combustion engine. The system may incorporate an exhaust after-treatment device. The exhaust after-treatment device may use selective catalytic reduction to remove certain emissions from the exhaust of the engine. Urea solution may be inserted into the exhaust emissions, which is decomposed to ammonia to become a reduction agent for reduction of NOx in the emissions. The engine may be managed by a controller and the exhaust after-treatment device may be managed by another controller. These controllers may be cascaded, or be managed by a third controller that provides hierarchical or coordinated control of engine performance and emissions reduction. The engine and the exhaust after-treatment device may be modeled to aid in designing and building a system for coordinated control of an actual engine and a selective catalytic reduction after-treatment device. The controllers may be predictive model controllers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: Honeywell spol, s.r.o.
    Inventors: Greg Stewart, Jaroslav Pekar, Daniel Pachner
  • Patent number: 9677484
    Abstract: A fuel reformer includes a reforming-fuel injection valve and a fuel reformer catalyst disposed in an EGR pipe and performs a catalyst recovery control when a preset fuel cut execution condition is satisfied. In the catalyst recovery control, a fuel reforming capacity of the fuel reformer catalyst is recovered by stopping an injection of a main fuel and an injection of a reforming-fuel, while supplying additional air to the catalyst by maintaining both of an EGR valve and a throttle valve in a valve open state. Further, in the catalyst recovery control, temperature and a carbon deposit amount of the fuel reformer catalyst are estimated or detected based on which of an opening of the EGR valve and an opening of the throttle valve are adjusted. As a result, fuel reforming capacity is recovered without decreasing a fuel consumption rate improvement effect and a worsening of exhaust emission or drivability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 13, 2017
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Inuzuka, Hideki Obayashi, Takeshi Mizobuchi
  • Patent number: 9670950
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a mechanism and method for rigidly mounting a handrail to the interior of an elevator cab. The mechanism includes a threaded rod having a pivoting member at one end for passing through an existing or new opening in an elevator cab wall. Upon passing through the wall, the pivoting member can rotate to provide a brace against the exterior of the elevator cab wall. A base portion having a number of grooves on its exterior surface and threads on its interior surface threads onto the rod to create a solid connection to the cab's wall. The handrail, having a base portion receiver, is then securely attached to the cab by sliding over it the sleeve and having set screw(s) inserted through the handrail's receiver at points adjacent to the corresponding grooves in the sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Inventor: Michael Anderson
  • Patent number: 9670820
    Abstract: A duct arrangement for an internal combustion engine comprises an exhaust duct, an inlet duct and a cooling air duct. The exhaust duct is contained within the cooling air duct for substantially its whole length and the cooling air duct is contained within the inlet duct for substantially its whole length, so that in use the cooling air duct provides a barrier to limit heat transfer between gas flowing in the exhaust duct and gas flowing in the inlet duct. The invention avoids the need for separate inlet and exhaust ducts with their attendant disadvantages. The separation of the inlet and exhaust ducts by the cooling air duct allows the inlet air to be kept as cool as possible, as is necessary for efficient engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventor: Geoffrey Vincent Cheater
  • Patent number: 9664085
    Abstract: An exhaust purification system includes a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) catalyst disposed at an exhaust system of an engine for using ammonia that is generated from urea water as a reducing agent to reduce NOx contained in exhaust gas, a device that injects urea water to the SCR catalyst, an inlet-side electrode that detects capacitance within the SCR catalyst at least from a vicinity of an inlet of the SCR catalyst to a vicinity of an intermediate section in an exhaust gas flowing direction, an outlet-side electrode that detects the capacitance within the SCR catalyst at least from the vicinity of the intermediate section to an outlet of the SCR catalyst in the exhaust gas flowing direction, and a calculation unit that calculates an ammonia adsorption amount within the SCR catalyst on a basis of the capacitances detected from the inlet-side and the outlet-side electrodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED
    Inventors: Tadashi Uchiyama, Hidekazu Fujie, Naoto Murasawa, Satoshi Hanawa
  • Patent number: 9664099
    Abstract: An apparatus for discharging exhaust gas of a vehicle may include an exhaust port forming a first confluence part at which at least two runners among runners of an exhaust manifold connected with a cylinder are joined, and a second confluence part at which the remaining runners are joined, and a connector member having an inlet port through which exhaust gas discharged through the exhaust port is introduced, and having a partition which is formed toward the exhaust port in the inlet port so as to partition the first confluence part and the second confluence part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Dong Ho Chu
  • Patent number: 9664084
    Abstract: An emission reduction system is provided. The emission reduction system includes a tank configured to store a reductant. The emission reduction system also includes a pump configured to draw the reductant from the tank and supply the reductant to an exhaust system. The pump is further configured to draw in air from an ambient air source. The emission reduction system further includes a control assembly disposed in fluid communication with the ambient air source and the pump. The control assembly is configured to selectively allow the pump to access the ambient air source for purging the pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Xinyu Ge, Yun Guo
  • Patent number: 9650962
    Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed that includes a gas turbine engine including a first rotor blade axially adjacent a second rotor blade and an aperture formed in one of the first rotor blade and the second rotor blade and structured to emit a fluid therefrom. A fluid source is in flow communication with the aperture and configured to flow the fluid through the aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce Corporation
    Inventor: Michael Abraham Karam
  • Patent number: 9650932
    Abstract: An insulated reductant tank that is arranged so that it has an insulated upper portion and a tapered lower portion, the reductant tank configured to allow frozen reductant to move into the insulated upper portion and reduce the damage that frozen reductant can cause to a reductant tank when the frozen reductant expands. The insulated reductant tank can include at least one header configured to draw reductant from the reductant tank and supply the reductant to an exhaust aftertreatment system, an insulation layer lining an upper portion of the reductant tank, a tapered lower portion, and at least one baffle configured to control a flow of reductant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Theron Cassidy, Umakanth Sakaray, Brian Cole
  • Patent number: 9643820
    Abstract: An exemplary device for preventing travel of an elevator car when a car door is open includes a receiver that remains in a fixed position relative to a hoistway wall. A stop member moves responsive to the car door moving toward an open position such that the stop member engages the receiver to prevent movement of the elevator car when the door is open.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Otis Elevator Company
    Inventors: Hideki Arai, Yasunobu Uchino, Shunji Imai
  • Patent number: 9637364
    Abstract: A car lift for motor vehicles, having at least a first and a second lift element, each having at least one hydraulic cylinder/piston assembly (9, 9?, 10) for lifting motor vehicles, with each cylinder/piston assembly including an inlet (9a, 9a?, 10a) for feeding and an overflow for draining hydraulic fluid when the motor vehicle is raised. The first cylinder/piston assembly (9, 9?) is embodied as the master assembly, by its overflow being connected in a fluid-guiding fashion to the inlet (10a) of the second cylinder/piston assembly (10) embodied as a slave assembly. At least one of the cylinder/piston assemblies (9, 9?, 10) has an overflow channel (9c, 10c) arranged and embodied such that only in an area of the end position at maximally raised or maximally lowered vehicles the inlet (9a, 9a?, 10a) of the cylinder/piston assembly is connected in a fluid-conducting fashion to the overflow channel (9c, 10c).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Otto Nussbaum GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Hans Nussbaum
  • Patent number: 9638125
    Abstract: A control system of an engine is provided. The control system includes a deceleration fuel cutoff module for performing a deceleration fuel cutoff when a deceleration fuel cutoff condition is satisfied in an engine decelerating state, a purge unit for purging by supplying a purge gas to an intake passage during the deceleration fuel cutoff, an exhaust emission control catalyst provided in an exhaust passage, an O2 sensor provided at a position of the exhaust passage downstream of the exhaust emission control catalyst, an abnormality determining module for determining an abnormality of the exhaust emission control catalyst, and a purge restricting module for restricting the purge during an immediately previous deceleration fuel cutoff.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuaki Tanaka, Yuusou Sakamoto, Hiroshi Tsuboi
  • Patent number: 9638168
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting ice on a rotor blade of a wind turbine are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method may include releasing a pitch brake of a pitch adjustment mechanism associated with the rotor blade, controlling the pitch adjustment mechanism so as to maintain the rotor blade at a fixed pitch angle, monitoring a pitch-related parameter of the wind turbine while the rotor blade is maintained at the fixed pitch angle, and analyzing the monitored pitch-related parameter to determine whether ice is present on the rotor blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Jorge Gonzalez Castro
  • Patent number: 9631538
    Abstract: A system includes a filtering module that filters a first signal that indicates an amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in exhaust gas upstream from a catalyst, and that filters a second signal that indicates amounts of NOx and ammonia (NH3) in exhaust gas downstream from the catalyst. A slip determination module determines whether NH3 is present in exhaust gas downstream from the catalyst based on a frequency response of the first and second signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Kevin Andrew Gady, Amin Abboud
  • Patent number: 9630805
    Abstract: A roller apparatus is provided. The roller apparatus may include a bearing wheel configured to rotatably couple the roller apparatus to a roller shaft, and a resilient member radially disposed about the bearing wheel and configured to contact a guiderail at different magnitudes of loads. The resilient member may include a first section of a first diameter and a second section of a second diameter. The first section may be caused to deflect in response to loads within a first load range, while the second section may be caused to deflect in response to loads within a second load range. The resilient member may exhibit a stepwise increase in stiffness with a gradual increase in load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY
    Inventors: Richard N. Fargo, Brad Guilani, James L. Hubbard, Adrian D. West
  • Patent number: 9623375
    Abstract: A method for purifying exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, including chemically reducing NOx that is contained in the exhaust gas when a concentration of hydrocarbons flowing into an exhaust purification catalyst is made to vibrate within a predetermined range of amplitude and within a predetermined range of period, wherein, during the chemical reduction, the NOx contained in the exhaust gas is reacted with reformed hydrocarbons to produce a reducing intermediate containing nitrogen and hydrocarbons, a reducing action of the reducing intermediate chemically reduces the NOx, and the NOx is chemically reduced without storing nitrates or with storing a fine amount of the nitrates in a basic layer of the exhaust purification catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Bisaiji, Kohei Yoshida, Mikio Inoue
  • Patent number: 9624805
    Abstract: An aftertreatment system is provided for an engine. The aftertreatment system may have at least one exhaust passage and a plurality of reductant injectors that are controllable to dose reductant into the at least one exhaust passage. The aftertreatment system may also have at least one sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of an exhaust parameter and a controller in communication with each of the plurality of reductant injectors and the sensor. The controller may be configured to dynamically adjust the dosing of the plurality of injectors, wherein adjusting the dosing includes adjusting at least one of an injector timing, an injector sequence, and a grouping of the plurality of injectors that are simultaneously injecting based on the signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Daniel Robert Wentzel, Brian Michael Cole
  • Patent number: 9624879
    Abstract: The condensed water processing device determines (S2) whether the pH of condensed water stored in the condensed water tank is smaller than a threshold value (t). When the pH of condensed water is smaller than the threshold value (t), the supply quantity of urea water being supplied to the upstream side of the NOx catalyst is increased (S7) so that the supply quantity is larger than that in normal control (S4) executed when the pH of the condensed water is equal to or more than the threshold value (t).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Noriyuki Takada, Takeshi Hashizume
  • Patent number: 9624856
    Abstract: An exhaust gas purification system with a diesel particulate filter in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine. A surface filtration cake layer formation enhancement control or a particulate matter generation amount reduction control is temporarily performed immediately after a forced regeneration treatment on the diesel particulate filter. The system and a method are directed to a particulate matter slip-through phenomenon in which the particulate matter slip-through amount temporarily increases immediately after particulate matter re-combustion in a forced regeneration treatment on the diesel particulate filter. The diesel particulate filter is disposed in the exhaust passage of the internal combustion engine and reduces the total amount of particulate matter emitted to the atmosphere immediately after the particulate matter re-combustion in the forced regeneration treatment on the diesel particulate filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED
    Inventors: Daiji Nagaoka, Takayuki Sakamoto