Patents Examined by Leonard J Archuleta
  • Patent number: 9873448
    Abstract: In an embodiment of the invention, an end of travel stop is provided for a steering gear assembly having a housing, a rack, and a tie rod. The end of travel stop includes an annular body comprising a plurality of segments defining a first crenellated side of the annular body and a second crenellated side of the annular body. The stop is circumscribed over the rack and is oriented between the housing and the tie rod, and is configured to absorb an impact force transferred through the tie rod and to prevent overtravel of the rack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2018
    Assignee: STEERING SOLUTIONS IP HOLDING CORPORATION
    Inventors: Joshua D. Mullins, James J. Shavrnoch, Andrey A. Sergeyev
  • Patent number: 9765876
    Abstract: A gear mechanism includes a first gear, a second gear, an idler gear and a mover/stopper. The idler gear has an inner circumference with a centrally located inner space and an outer circumference rotatable relative to the inner circumference. The mover/stopper includes a bolt inserted through the inner space in a loosely fitted state and having a shaft part capable of assuming different radial positions relative to the inner space, and a receiving part holding the idler gear via the bolt. The idler gear and the bolt are configured such that the idler gear is allowed to be radially displaced relative to the bolt and to be tightened to the receiving part at a meshing engagement position by the bolt to be radially fixed and such that the inner circumference is allowed to be axially held between the receiving part and the bolt to be fixed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2017
    Assignee: OTICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masafumi Yamauchi, Takayoshi Ota
  • Patent number: 9726138
    Abstract: The engine starter includes a pinion-mobile component which is linked to an output shaft by a helical spline and can be slid in a shaft direction, in a state where the pinion-mobile component includes; an overrunning clutch which is idled when the pinion gear, which is engaged to the ring gear, is driven by the engine via the ring gear so as to be rotated at a rotational speed which is higher than a rotational speed of the output shaft; and a breaking mechanism in which the overrunning clutch breaks a transmission of a torque, which is generated in accordance with a rotation of the motor and is transmitted to the ring gear, when a value of the torque is a predetermined condition value with respect to a direction where the torque is transmitted to the ring gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshihiro Sasaki, Daisuke Mizuno, Hiroaki Kitano, Koichiro Kamei, Kazuhiro Odahara, Takenobu Matsubara
  • Patent number: 9625016
    Abstract: Disclosed is a step actuator. The step actuator includes a housing; a stator installed in the housing; a rotor positioned radially inward from the stator, the rotor rotating and protruding from one side of the housing; a bearing installed at one side of the housing so as to be coupled with the rotor; a bearing cover coupled with one side of the housing to restrain movement of the bearing; a screw member coupled with the rotor to linearly move according to rotation of the rotor; and a mounting member coupled to the bearing cover to support the screw member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: LG INNOTEK CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Hong Kon Lee
  • Patent number: 9618102
    Abstract: An actuator is driven even if a jammed state, a motor stop, or the like occurs. An electromechanical actuator includes: an electric motor attached to a housing; a conversion mechanism portion having a drive portion that is driven to rotate by the electric motor and a driven portion that is driven by the drive portion and advances and withdraws in a predetermined advancing and withdrawing direction, the conversion mechanism portion being accommodated in the housing; a sliding support mechanism that transmits rotational force of the electric motor to the drive portion and allows the drive portion to slide in the advancing and withdrawing direction with respect to the electric motor; and a piston portion controlled so as to be at a predetermined position in the advancing and withdrawing direction with respect to the housing by means of pressure of a fluid supplied to and discharged from the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: NABTESCO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masanori Hirai
  • Patent number: 9605642
    Abstract: A starter includes a motor unit, a drive shaft configured to receive a rotational force of the motor unit and rotate, a transmission pinion gear installed on the drive shaft, an idle shaft extending in a direction parallel to the drive shaft, an idle gear installed on the idle shaft and configured to mesh with the transmission pinion gear, a driving pinion gear installed on the idle shaft and configured to mesh with a ring gear of an engine, a gear cover configured to rotatably support portions of the drive shaft and the idle shaft and accommodate the transmission pinion gear and the idle gear, and a bracket section installed between the motor unit and the gear cover and configured to rotatably support a first end in an axial direction of the idle shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsuba Corporation
    Inventors: Tomohiko Ikemori, Masaaki Oya, Chihiro Horikoshi, Koki Honda, Ken Noguchi, Masaki Ishizeki
  • Patent number: 9592819
    Abstract: A transmission emergency release for an automatic transmission which is mechanically blocked when a parking mode is engaged, includes a manually operable actuating element for the mechanical deactivation of the parking mode, wherein the actuating element has a vehicle-fixed mount (1, 29) with a force transmitting element and an actuating lever (9, 25) which is insertable in the vehicle-fixed mount (1, 29) to disable the parking mode in order to disable the parking mode by means of the force-transmitting element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventors: Georg Scheiblecker, Bodo Wilke, Arya Bhattacharya
  • Patent number: 9579786
    Abstract: A spherical coordinates manipulating mechanism for improving the utility of U.S. Pat. No. 8,579,714 B2 is provided. Four inner and outer arc-links are pivotally connected to the inner and outer frame respectively so as to carry out a three degrees-of-freedom steering motion. At least one effector arc-link set is selectively connected to the inner or outer frame so that the spherical coordinates manipulating mechanism can directly output force or torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Inventor: Wen-Der Trui
  • Patent number: 9541186
    Abstract: A housing accommodates a motor and a deceleration mechanism. The deceleration mechanism includes a support axis extending perpendicularly to an output shaft of the motor. The housing includes a case and a cover. The case is in a bottomed tubular shape to have an accommodation chamber and a holder portion. The holder portion surrounds a bottom of the accommodation chamber and is in contact with the motor. The cover is mounted to the case to surround an opening of the case and to form a hollow portion with the holder portion to accommodate at least the motor. The motor and the deceleration mechanism are mountable into the accommodation chamber through the opening in one direction from a side of a mounting surface of the case, on which the housing is to be affixed to a support portion of an affixing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Shogo Kanzaki
  • Patent number: 9543804
    Abstract: An electric linear drive, in particular for adjusting moveably mounted parts of furniture used for sitting or lying down, includes a drive motor, a threaded spindle, a speed reduction gear arranged between the drive motor and the threaded spindle, a spindle nut placed on the threaded spindle, which can be selectively locked in the direction of rotation and, depending on the direction of rotation of the threaded spindle, moved in the axial direction of the threaded spindle. The linear drive has a lifting element for adjusting the moveable furniture parts, the lifting element being driven by axial movement of the spindle nut. Simple design, easy assembly and operation, and robust mounting of the driving parts are achieved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: DewertOkin GmbH
    Inventor: Andreas Oberndorfer
  • Patent number: 9534684
    Abstract: A shift device for a motor vehicle transmission, in particular for a motor vehicle automatic transmission, includes a shift shaft operatively connected to the transmission and a shift lever for actuating the shift shaft, wherein the shift shaft and the shift lever are connected to one another by way of a spline connection. The spline connection is formed with rotational play, permitting a restricted rotational free travel of the shift shaft when the shift lever is stationary. A motor vehicle transmission having a shift device of this type is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: AUDI AG
    Inventor: Rupert Wagner
  • Patent number: 9534681
    Abstract: With a wave gear device, the gears employ homothetic curve tooth profiles AD, BE. Furthermore, a transposition is applied to the external teeth along the tooth trace such that the movement loci M2, M3 of the external teeth in a section perpendicular to the axis, from the aperture end to the inner end, share the movement locus M1 of the aperture end and bottom portion thereof, and a continuous meshing of the teeth in the tooth trace direction is achieved. Furthermore, the tooth bottom rim thickness of the aperture end of the external teeth is optimized using a modified Goodman diagram, and a tooth bottom rim thickness which takes into account the relationship between the tooth profile and the transmitted torque from the aperture end to the inner end is employed for the flexible external gear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: HARMONIC DRIVE SYSTEMS INC.
    Inventor: Shoichi Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 9528582
    Abstract: An internal-circulation-type ball screw includes a nut, a screw shaft, and two returning members. The nut has an internal-thread groove. The screw shaft passes through the nut and has an external-thread groove. The internally and external-thread grooves are aligned to form a helix channel. The screw shaft has a returning channel and two opposite receiving recesses. Each of the receiving recesses is radially communicated between the external-thread groove and the returning channel. The returning members are received in the receiving recesses of the screw shaft and each have a redirecting channel. The redirecting channel is connected between the helix channel and the returning channel, so that balls are allowed to circulate along the helix channel, the redirecting channel and the returning channel. Thereby, the internal-circulation-type ball screw provides good durability, reliability and smoothness in use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: HIWIN TECHNOLOGIES CORP.
    Inventors: Chang-Hsin Kuo, Sheng-Chih Chang
  • Patent number: 9512898
    Abstract: A worm gear mechanism (44) comprises a worm (70) and a worm wheel (80) meshed with the worm. In the teeth of a hob (90) used for the gear cutting of the worm wheel, at least the addendum surfaces (91c) are formed into arcuate shapes. The radial centers (93) of the arcs of the addendum surfaces are positioned nearer to a center line (WL?) of the hob than a pitch line (94) of the hob. The worm wheel is cut into a gear by the hob. The worm is formed into the same shape as the hob. The recess meshing length (L) of the worm gear mechanism is designed to be greater than the recess meshing length (Llim) of a conventional worm gear mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yosuke Tanaka, Yasuo Shimizu
  • Patent number: 9488147
    Abstract: A starter for an internal combustion engine comprises a starter motor and a starter pinion which can be displaced transversely to the longitudinal axis of the motor. The starter pinion is rotatably mounted in an eccentric component which is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to a rotatable transmission component of a transmission that is disposed between the starter motor and the starter pinion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2016
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Tobias Quack, Gerd-Peter Schmieder, Bernhard Mader, Andreas Jesse
  • Patent number: 9476500
    Abstract: A manual gear shifter assembly includes a shifter housing, a shift lever pivotally mounted to the shifter housing displaceable in a select direction to move between at least a first shift gate and a second shift gate, and in at least one shift direction for shifting the gears of the transmission, a shift cable coupled to the shift lever and the transmission, a blocker mounted in the shifter housing and operatively cooperating with the shift lever, a select lever pivotally mounted to the shifter housing with the select lever cooperating with the shift lever to allow displacement of the shift lever in the select direction to move between the shift gates, and a solenoid disposed in the shifter housing and cooperating with the blocker to physically block the displacement of the shift lever into a predetermined gear for inhibiting shifting of the transmission during a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: KONGSBERG DRIVELINE SYSTEMS I, INC
    Inventors: Kenneth Skogward, Sofie Rydell Wigren, Russell Staniek, Jeff Behounek, Jonathan Warner Love
  • Patent number: 9447865
    Abstract: A transmission operating mechanism includes an operating housing, wherein an inner shifting shaft is provided in the operating housing, and the operating housing is provided with, from left to right, a first position-limiting structure installation hole, a shifting block installation cavity, a second position-limiting structure installation hole and a balancing spring installation cavity; and a shifting block is installed in the shifting block installation cavity and is connected to the inner shifting shaft via a shifting block positioning pin. The spatial position of the operating housing is fully utilized to effectively arrange each functional component, and the requirement for modification is fully considered within the limited dimensional range. Therefore, various operation modes may be achieved by simply providing several modified parts without changing the operating housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: SHAANXI FAST GEAR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Fayong Zhang, Lingli Li, Chongyi Yin, Guojie Xu
  • Patent number: 9435420
    Abstract: A yoke clearance compensator of a vehicle may include: a support yoke for supporting a rack bar; a yoke plug coupled to the support yoke through an elastic part and having a cavity formed therein; a pressurizing unit installed in the cavity of the yoke plug and providing a pressurizing force to the support yoke; and an end plug for fixing the pressurizing unit to the yoke plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: HYUNDAI MOBIS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tae Yoon Kim
  • Patent number: 9423020
    Abstract: In a shift lever device, a width dimension of left ribs and right ribs is set larger than a diameter dimension of a left support shaft portion and a right support shaft portion. In the event of an impact load being imparted to a shift lever in different directions to a control lever axial direction, the left rib and the right rib are broken in this impact load direction since the left rib and the right rib are formed so as to face the whole diameter of the left support shaft portion and the right support shaft portion. Impact load can accordingly be absorbed even in the event that an impact load is imparted to the shift lever in different directions to a control lever axial direction. Namely, impact load can be absorbed for impact load directions within a range of a specific angle. Dependency on the impact load direction is accordingly suppressed when absorbing an impact load imparted to the shift lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Assignees: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI-RIKA-DENKI-SEISAKUSHO, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenji Nakanishi, Daisuke Yamamoto, Ryo Saito
  • Patent number: 9400041
    Abstract: A tunnel raceway type ball screw assembly includes a screw nut having an inner thread groove, a screw shaft inserted through the screw nut and including outer grooves, a mounting groove extending across the outer grooves and a first reflow groove in radial communication with the mounting groove, and a reflow component mounted in the mounting groove of the screw shaft and including a rolling groove connected with the outer grooves to form an outer thread that defines with the inner thread groove a spiral channel therebetween and a second reflow groove that defines with the first reflow groove a reflow channel therebetween in communication with the spiral channel. Thus, multiple balls can be cycled in the spiral channel and the reflow channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: Hiwin Technologies Corp.
    Inventors: Chang-Hsin Kuo, Sheng-Chih Chang