Patents by Inventor Charles J. Ahern

Charles J. Ahern has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4809803
    Abstract: An electrical drive system is controlled by a microprocessor-based, electronic control unit which is coupled to operator-generated input signals and various feedback signals to individually control the major components of the drive system including a turbine engine, a three-phase alternator, power control units and their respective synchronous AC motors and gearboxes. A combat vehicle which utilizes the drive system includes a vehicle bed on which right and left sets of three wheels are mounted on opposite sides of the centerline of the vehicle in driving engagement with their respective gearboxes. Each of the wheels includes a hollow hub in which its gearbox and its synchronous AC motor is mounted. A torsilastic suspension system supports the wheels on the vehicle bed. The turbine engine drives the alternator which comprises a brushless, synchronous device having a variable three-phase power output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 6, 1987
    Date of Patent: March 7, 1989
    Assignee: General Dynamics-Land Systems
    Inventors: Charles J. Ahern, Bohdan W. Fedorowycz, Martin J. Neumeyer
  • Patent number: 4125374
    Abstract: A wide range combustion mixture air/fuel ratio sensor in which an electrochemical cell supplies hydrogen gas to a palladium sensor element at a rate regulated by the output of a Wheatstone bridge circuit incorporating the sensor element. This generated hydrogen gas combines with any oxygen present in the exhaust gas through catalytic action and also maintains the level of absorbed hydrogen, and therefore the electrical resistance of the palladium sensor element, at a preselected value. The magnitude of the current applied to the electrochemical cell necessary to maintain this balance is a measure of the combustion mixture air/fuel ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 1977
    Date of Patent: November 14, 1978
    Assignee: Bendix Autolite Corporation
    Inventors: James D. Bode, William G. Wolber, Paul A. Michaels, Charles J. Ahern