Patents Examined by Thomas Olszewski
  • Patent number: 9845773
    Abstract: An engine system having a flowpath between a junction upstream of a turbocharger and an intake manifold that includes an ejector and an aspirator connected in parallel relative to one another within the flowpath is disclosed. The motive flow through the ejector is in the opposite direction relative to the direction of the motive flow through the aspirator, and both the ejector and the aspirator have a suction port fluidly coupled to a device requiring vacuum. The engine system also includes a first check valve disposed in control of the motive flow through the ejector and a second check valve disposed in control of the motive flow through the aspirator and may also include a control valve in fluid communication within the flowpath upstream or downstream of the ejector and the aspirator that controls the flow into and/or out of both thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: Dayco IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: David E. Fletcher, Brian M. Graichen, Matt Gilmer, Andrew Niedert, Steve Long
  • Patent number: 9739342
    Abstract: A motorcycle has a crankcase containing a crank shaft and a balancer shaft, and a cylinder and a cylinder head positioned above the crankcase, and an exhaust pipe extends from the cylinder head. The balancer shaft is positioned in front of the crank shaft, and the crankcase has a balancer shaft housing supporting the balancer shaft thereinside, and has a recessed part depressed rearward in a front end center part of the balancer shaft housing. The balancer shaft has balancer shaft weights apart from each other in one side and in the other side in an axis direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ken Shibano, Kunihiko Hiraoka, Takenori Muramatsu, Hidekuni Ota
  • Patent number: 9708967
    Abstract: A fresh gas supply device for an internal combustion engine having an exhaust gas turbocharger includes a charge air inlet for taking in a compressed charge air flow from the exhaust gas turbocharger; an outlet which is connected to the charge air inlet via a valve section, said valve section being closed in a closed position by at least one flap valve which can be pivoted, preferably, about a flap rotational axis; an adjusting device which is coupled to the at least one flap valve for adjusting the same in the closing direction; and a compressed air inlet for taking in compressed air into the outlet. The compressed air inlet is arranged such that the compressed air is directed into a compressed air flow in the direction of the valve section to the at least one flap valve. A corresponding method for operating the fresh gas supply device is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2017
    Assignee: KNORR-BREMSE Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
    Inventor: Eduard Gerum
  • Patent number: 9670881
    Abstract: A supercharger-equipped internal combustion engine in the present invention includes a turbo-supercharger (20) which includes, at some point in an intake passage (26), a centrifugal compressor (20b) having an impeller section (20b4) for housing a compressor impeller (20b3). In the supercharger-equipped internal combustion engine, EGR gas and blow-by gas are introduced into an intake system in such a way as to flow into the centrifugal compressor (20b) via an EGR gas introduction section (40a) and a blow-by gas introduction section (48a). The supercharger-equipped internal combustion engine further includes a partition wall (52) which guides the EGR gas and the blow-by gas toward the centrifugal compressor (20b) so that the EGR gas and the blow-by gas are not mixed with each other until the EGR gas and the blow-by gas enter into the impeller section (20b4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2017
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Jumpei Shioda
  • Patent number: 9644573
    Abstract: A system includes an internal combustion engine, an EGR flow path having an EGR cooler path and an EGR cooler bypass path, a turbocharger, a compressed intake flow path, an EGR bypass valve that selectively divides the EGR flow between the EGR cooler path and the EGR cooler bypass path, a charge air cooler bypass valve that reduces an amount of cooling of compressed intake air out of the compression side of the turbocharger, and an aftertreatment component that receives the exhaust stream from the turbine side of the turbocharger. The aftertreatment component requires at least intermittent exhaust stream temperature elevation. The system includes a controller that determines that an exhaust stream temperature elevation request is present, and provides a charge air cooler bypass valve command and an EGR bypass valve command in response to the exhaust stream temperature elevation request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventor: Adrian P. Dale
  • Patent number: 9611794
    Abstract: Various systems and method for controlling exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in an internal combustion engine are provided. In one embodiment, a method includes during a first operating condition, directing exhaust gas from a first cylinder group into an engine air intake stream and directing substantially no exhaust gas from a second cylinder group to the engine air intake stream. The method further includes during a second operating condition, directing exhaust gas from the second cylinder group through a turbocharger bypass into the engine air intake stream and reducing a fuel injection amount of the first cylinder group relative to a fuel injection amount of the second cylinder group.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Neil Xavier Blythe, Shawn Michael Gallagher, James Robert Mischler, Luke Henry
  • Patent number: 9599044
    Abstract: An control apparatus and method for an engine having a turbocharger may include determining a load condition of the engine by a controller, and opening and closing an intake valve, a throttle valve, and a wastegate valve by the controller according to the load condition of the engine, where a combustion chamber generates power by combusting a fuel, an intake valve adjusts an air/fuel mixed gas flowed into the combustion chamber, a continuously variable valve timing apparatus advances or retards an opening/closing timing of the intake valve, a turbocharger having a turbine and a compressor compressing air flowed into the combustion chamber, a throttle valve adjusting air supplied to the combustion chamber, a wastegate valve adjusting the exhaust gas flowed into the turbine, and a controller controlling the intake valve, the throttle valve, and the wastegate valve according to a load region of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventors: Dong Hee Han, Joowon Lee, Hyun Jun Lim, Nahm Roh Joo, Yoon Joo Kim, Kiwon Park, Kwanhee Choi, Jong Il Park
  • Patent number: 9593624
    Abstract: In a waste gate valve, an annular spacer is provided between a washer and an attachment tongue in an axial direction of a valve shaft of a valve. The spacer is made of a graphite material. An annular guard wall is formed on a back surface of the washer in such a way as to surround the spacer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventor: Kenichi Segawa
  • Patent number: 9587553
    Abstract: The invention relates to a volume-controlled four-stroke reciprocating internal combustion engine comprising a first cylinder, in which a first piston that is operationally connected to a crankshaft via a first connecting rod, is arranged so as to be displaceable in a reciprocating motion, and at least one second cylinder, in which a second piston that is operationally connected to the crankshaft via a second connecting rod is arranged so as to be displaceable in a reciprocating motion. The engine further includes a fresh air tract for the second cylinder, in which an expansion/compression machine is arranged in the direction of flow of fresh air before a gas exchange inlet valve of the second cylinder, wherein the expansion/compression machine is the first cylinder. The volume-controlled internal combustion engine as per the invention has great potential for saving fuel and thereby for reducing CO2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Hubert Fischer
  • Patent number: 9546656
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a fluid machine. A pump integrated expander (29A) includes a pump unit (60) and an expansion unit (50). In the pump unit (60), a casing member (65) supports a gear pump (61), a rotating shaft (28) and a driven crank mechanism (81). In the expansion unit (50), a casing including a main body (51a) and a casing member (54) supports an expander (23) including a fixed scroll (51) and an orbiting scroll (52). The pump integrated expander (29A) is divided into the pump unit (60) and the expansion unit (50) by separating at the fitted portion of a tubular portion (65c) on the pump unit (60) side and a smaller inner diameter portion (54b) on the expansion unit (50) side and by pulling the eccentric bush (83) out of a drive bearing (56).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2017
    Assignee: SANDEN HOLDINGS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shinji Nakamura, Hirofumi Wada, Yuuta Tanaka, Yasuhiro Furusawa
  • Patent number: 9541016
    Abstract: Provided are a throttle control device for an internal combustion engine and a throttle control method for an internal combustion engine, which are capable of avoiding occurrence of overshoot of a supercharging pressure at the time of deceleration to improve durability of components in an engine equipped with a supercharger. The engine equipped with the supercharger includes a bypass passage which bypasses a turbine of the supercharger. In the bypass passage, a wastegate valve for adjusting a flow-path area of the bypass passage by a wastegate actuator is provided. An ECU (50) increases the flow-path area of the wastegate valve for deceleration to be started during a high-load operation and closes a throttle valve after confirming that a throttle-valve upstream pressure becomes lower than a predetermined value. As a result, the overshoot of the throttle-valve upstream pressure can be avoided reliably.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Hashimoto
  • Patent number: 9528429
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for reducing turbo lag in a boosted engine. A boost reservoir coupled to the engine may be charged with compressed intake air and/or combusted exhaust gas. The pressurized charge may then be discharged during a tip-in to either the intake or the exhaust manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 27, 2016
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: John Eric Rollinger, Brien Lloyd Fulton, Freeman Carter Gates, Adam J. Richards
  • Patent number: 9512843
    Abstract: A turbocharger system for achieving both improvement of fuel efficiency by engine downsizing and excellent shock loading resistance. The system includes: a power-assisted turbocharger mounted on a vehicle having an accessory and including a turbine disposed on an exhaust passage of an engine and driven by exhaust, a compressor disposed on an intake passage and driven by a rotational torque of the turbine, and an electric motor that assists a drive force of the compressor; and an electric motor control unit that drives the electric motor when the accessory is being driven.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 6, 2016
    Assignee: ISUZU MOTORS LIMITED
    Inventors: Isao Kitsukawa, Tomohiro Sugano, Yoshiyuki Abe, Haruyo Kimura, Akira Iijima, Naoki Ishibashi, Syougo Sakashita
  • Patent number: 9500119
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a turbocharger (1) for an internal combustion engine (2), having at least one low-pressure exhaust-gas recirculation line (3) which opens out via an exhaust-gas mixing-in opening (12) into an intake line (10) of the internal combustion engine (2); having a turbine (4) and having a compressor (5) which is drive-connected to the turbine (4) and which has a compressor wheel (6) which is arranged in a compressor housing (7) into which the intake line (10) opens out via a compressor inlet (11), and having a mixing device (18) for mixing recirculated exhaust gas (AG) and fresh air (FL), characterized in that the mixing device (18) has an inflow distributor (21) in which the exhaust-gas recirculation line (3), which extends at least substantially along the longitudinal axis (L) thereof, and the intake line (10), which extends at least substantially at right angles to the longitudinal axis (L), open out, and in that, as viewed in the flow direction (R) of the exhaust gases (AG), an im
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventor: Thomas Lischer
  • Patent number: 9494111
    Abstract: A variable geometry turbine for turbochargers in exhaust gas recirculation engines incorporates a turbine housing having an exhaust inlet with a first side receiving exhaust from cylinders having exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and a second side receiving exhaust from non-EGR cylinders. The first side has a first EGR-driving passage and a second EGR-driving passage and the second side having a first non-EGR-driving passage and a second non-EGR-driving passage. A first control valve is associated with the second EGR-driving passage and a second control valve is associated with the second non-EGR-driving passage. A controller is adapted to control the first and second control valves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: KANGYUE TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD
    Inventors: Wang Hang, Steven Don Arnold, Yuan Daojun, Li Yanzhao, Sang Wuhai
  • Patent number: 9482149
    Abstract: A method of and apparatus for operating a supercharger for an automotive engine is disclosed. The supercharger has: an input shaft for coupling to an engine crankshaft, and coupled to the rotor of a first electrical machine and a first component of an epicyclic gear train; and an output shaft connected to a compressor and a second component of the epicyclic gear train; wherein the third component of the epicyclic gear train is connected to the rotor of a second electrical machine. The first electrical machine is selectively operable to supply electrical energy to the second electrical machine. The method includes the steps of: (a) calculating a required speed of the second electrical machine that would give rise to a required pressure at an outlet of the compressor; and (b) setting the speed of the second electrical machine to the calculated required speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignees: NexxtDrive Limited, Integral Powertrain Ltd
    Inventor: Luke Barker
  • Patent number: 9482146
    Abstract: A system, apparatus and method for maintaining power in an internal combustion typically turbocharged aircraft engine is disclosed. During descent, air pressure and temperature in the manifold can fall to dangerous levels. This is because engine power is low and likewise turbocharger output is also low. The system and method provide for a bypass of the heat radiator during low power periods, or with low ambient temperature or both. A parameter is measured, often manifold pressure or temperature and the degree of bypass is adjusted commensurately.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: Continental Motors, Inc.
    Inventors: James C. Ray, Michael T Schaner
  • Patent number: 9476340
    Abstract: In accordance with exemplary embodiments, a Stirling engine is integrated into an exhaust system of a vehicle. The system comprises an engine coupled to a cooling system and an exhaust system. An emission control system is coupled to the exhaust system. A Stirling engine has one end coupled to the cooling system and another end selectively coupled to the exhaust system between the engine and the emission control system, and configured be driven from heat extracted from exhaust gas flow. The Stirling engine drives an electrical energy generator that provides electrical energy for storage in an energy storage system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Mychajlo S. Kobylecky, Harry E. Eustice, Raymond C. Majcher
  • Patent number: 9464582
    Abstract: Various systems and methods are provided for routing exhaust from an engine. In one example, a system includes a high pressure turbine and a low pressure turbine. The system further includes a first passage for routing exhaust from a first subset of cylinders, bypassing the high pressure turbine, to upstream of the low pressure turbine in an exhaust passage of the engine, and a second passage for routing exhaust from a second, different, subset of cylinders to upstream of the high pressure turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Eric David Peters, Chirag Bipinchandra Parikh
  • Patent number: 9458760
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for adjusting a compressor recirculation valve in response to condensate forming conditions in a charge air cooler (CAC). In one example, a compressor recirculation valve may be opened in response to an induction pressure greater than a threshold pressure when the induction pressure is greater than required to produce a manifold pressure required for a torque demand. Further, a wastegate may be opened to further reduce the induction pressure during certain driving conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2016
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Anthony Morelli, Patrick Matthews, Shuya Shark Yamada, David Bell, Erik Thomas Andersen, Jason Eugene DeVries