Patents by Inventor Christopher E. Whitney

Christopher E. Whitney 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: 11941332
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure relate to space model generation. A computing platform may receive space program data identifying parameters of a physical space. The computing platform may load a geometry model defining a plurality of design rules. The computing platform may generate space models for the physical space based on the space program data and the geometry model. Based on the geometry model, the computing platform may produce a score for each space model. Based on the scores, the computing platform may produce a ranked list of space models. The computing platform may generate user interface data comprising the ranked list of space models. The computing platform may send the user interface data comprising the ranked list of space models, which may cause a user computing device to display a user interface including a portion of the ranked list of space models.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: Herman Miller, Inc.
    Inventors: Dudley E. Whitney, James L Van Dragt, Christopher J. Rysko, Cindy Y. Vannoy, Christopher L Taylor
  • Patent number: 11313291
    Abstract: An engine system includes: a first throttle valve; a turbocharger compressor disposed downstream of the first throttle valve; a charge air cooler disposed downstream of the turbocharger compressor; a second throttle valve located downstream of the turbocharger compressor; a purge inlet located downstream of the first throttle valve and configured to introduce fuel vapor from a fuel tank into intake air; and an engine control module configured to: maintain the first throttle valve in a fully open position; and selectively close the first throttle valve relative to the fully open position in response to receipt of a request to at least one of: purge fuel vapor from the fuel tank; and at least one of decrease and prevent icing of the charge air cooler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Andrew A. Raftopoulos, Michael A. Smith, Christopher E. Whitney, Nathan M. Picot, Craig E. Slepicka, Robert Gallon, Darrell W. Burleigh, Vijay A. Ramappan
  • Publication number: 20220034269
    Abstract: An engine system includes: a first throttle valve; a turbocharger compressor disposed downstream of the first throttle valve; a charge air cooler disposed downstream of the turbocharger compressor; a second throttle valve located downstream of the turbocharger compressor; a purge inlet located downstream of the first throttle valve and configured to introduce fuel vapor from a fuel tank into intake air; and an engine control module configured to: maintain the first throttle valve in a fully open position; and selectively close the first throttle valve relative to the fully open position in response to receipt of a request to at least one of: purge fuel vapor from the fuel tank; and at least one of decrease and prevent icing of the charge air cooler.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Inventors: Andrew A. RAFTOPOULOS, Michael A. SMITH, Christopher E. WHITNEY, Nathan M. PICOT, Craig E. SLEPICKA, Robert GALLON, Darrell W. BURLEIGH, Vijay A. RAMAPPAN
  • Patent number: 11092089
    Abstract: A method of selecting a compression ratio in an internal combustion engine having a mechanism configured to vary the compression ratio includes receiving, via an electronic controller, a requested output torque value. The method also includes determining, via the controller, a value of engine speed corresponding to the requested output torque value. The method additionally includes determining, via the controller, a compression ratio value corresponding to the requested output torque value and the determined value of the engine speed. The method also includes determining, via the controller, a position of the mechanism corresponding to the determined compression ratio value. Furthermore, the method includes commanding, via the controller, the determined position of the mechanism and thereby selecting the determined compression ratio value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Justin E. Ketterer, Ryan M. Heinbuch, Nathan M. Picot, Craig E. Slepicka, Pulasti Bandara, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Patent number: 10655550
    Abstract: An engine control system includes a prediction module that, during an exhaust stroke of a first cylinder of an engine, determines a predicted intake manifold pressure at an end of a next intake stroke of a second cylinder following the first cylinder in a firing order of the cylinders. An air per cylinder (APC) module determines a predicted mass of air that will be trapped within the second cylinder at the end of the next intake stroke of the second cylinder based on the predicted intake manifold pressure. A fueling module controls fueling of the second cylinder during the next intake stroke based on the predicted mass of air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, Layne K. Wiggins, Rafat F. Hattar, Gary Robert Cygan, Jr., Ning Jin, Gregory P. Matthews
  • Patent number: 10526992
    Abstract: A method to detect and mitigate sensor degradation in an automobile system includes: collecting output signal data from at least one of a sensor and an actuator which is outputting the signal data related to operational parameters of a vehicle system; placing the sensor or the actuator in communication with a fault box used to purposely corrupt the output signal data; analyzing patterns of the output signal data compared to signal data from a nominal operating sensor or actuator using an artificial intelligence program; identifying when a statistical range of the patterns exceeds a first threshold level; and modifying a control signal to change the operational parameters of the vehicle system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, Kevin C. Wong, Marcus S. Gilbert, Jeffrey M. Hutmacher
  • Patent number: 10450972
    Abstract: A system according to the principles of the present disclosure includes a target area module and a throttle actuator module. The target area module determines a target opening area of a throttle valve of an engine based on a first target pressure within an intake manifold of the engine when the engine is starting. The throttle actuator module actuates the throttle valve based on the target opening area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Klaus Pochner, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Patent number: 10436140
    Abstract: A method of controlling intake and exhaust cam phase in an internal combustion engine includes sensing an engine speed and an engine load of the internal combustion engine, sensing or estimating a wall temperature of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine, utilizing the engine speed and the engine load in one or more lookup tables based on the cylinder wall temperature to determine intake phaser constraint values and exhaust phaser constraint values for cold operation of the internal combustion engine, and transitioning the intake phaser constraint values and the exhaust phaser constraint values for cold operation to intake phaser constraint values and exhaust phaser constraint values based on one or more lookup tables for normal hot operation of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Stephen P. Levijoki, David N. Hayden, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Patent number: 10364765
    Abstract: A control method for selecting an optimal multiple step operating mode for a multiple cylinder motor vehicle engine system having variable lift includes prioritizing each of a full torque capacity (FTC) mode having all cylinders operating at high lift, a first reduced capacity economy mode (RCE1) having all cylinders operating at low lift, and a second reduced capacity economy mode (RCE2) having fewer than all of the cylinders operating at low lift with at least one cylinder deactivated based on predicted fuel economy of each of the modes. Multiple constraints are applied to each of the prioritized modes including incorporating boost as one of the constraints by calculating a maximum torque capacity for each mode that is a function of a current boost pressure. A mode determination arbitration is conducted to identify if a change in mode is required.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: David N. Hayden, Michael Deffenbaugh, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Patent number: 10352253
    Abstract: A method of transitioning between two intake valve lift states while providing constant engine torque output comprehends the steps of receiving a lift change request from an engine control device, determining the current phase angles of the camshafts, and determining whether the intake and exhaust camshafts are at transition positions. The transition positions are experimentally or empirically determined combinations of operating conditions that result in constant engine torque output before and after the intake valve lift transition. If they are, an appropriate, i.e., low to high or high to low cam lift state transition of the intake valves occurs. If they are not, the cam phasers move the intake and exhaust camshafts to transition positions. When the cam phasers have moved the intake and exhaust camshafts to the transition positions, i.e., positions of constant engine torque output, the intake valve lift transitions from high to low or low to high.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, David N. Hayden
  • Patent number: 10273900
    Abstract: A method to determine reference actuator positions for a gasoline engine, includes entering a base torque request, a known spark advance, a known CAM position and a known exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve position into an inverse torque model to generate a first iteration desired air per cylinder (APC) value. The first iteration desired APC value is passed through a deadband filter to produce a filtered first iteration desired APC signal. A Predicted As Cal (PAC) spark advance is calculated for the filtered first iteration desired APC value. The PAC spark advance and the base torque request are modified, and data from a first lookup table is entered to generate a second iteration desired APC value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, David N. Hayden, Gary Robert Cygan, Jr., Stephen P. Levijoki
  • Publication number: 20190048806
    Abstract: A method of transitioning between two intake valve lift states while providing constant engine torque output comprehends the steps of receiving a lift change request from an engine control device, determining the current phase angles of the camshafts, and determining whether the intake and exhaust camshafts are at transition positions. The transition positions are experimentally or empirically determined combinations of operating conditions that result in constant engine torque output before and after the intake valve lift transition. If they are, an appropriate, i.e., low to high or high to low cam lift state transition of the intake valves occurs. If they are not, the cam phasers move the intake and exhaust camshafts to transition positions. When the cam phasers have moved the intake and exhaust camshafts to the transition positions, i.e., positions of constant engine torque output, the intake valve lift transitions from high to low or low to high.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2017
    Publication date: February 14, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, David N. Hayden
  • Patent number: 10167746
    Abstract: A method of phasing the opening and closing of internal combustion engine intake and exhaust valves relative to the rotation of the crankshaft is based upon changes in engine speed, engine load and ambient relative humidity. During certain conditions of higher humidity, in order to maintain good combustion stability and thus overall engine operation, it is necessary to reduce intake and exhaust valve overlap by adjusting the phase of the intake and exhaust camshafts. This is achieved by utilizing a set of cam position reference values and constraints based upon engine speed, engine load and humidity that are contained in lookup tables that adjust and limit cam position and valve overlap. Generally speaking, in order to maintain optimum engine performance, intake and exhaust valve overlap is reduced with higher ambient humidity and vice versa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 1, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, David N. Hayden, Nicola Pisu, Stephen P. Levijoki
  • Patent number: 10125712
    Abstract: A propulsion system, control system, and method are provided that use model predictive control to generate an initial selected engine output torque value. A minimum torque limit is determined by selecting a minimum acceptable engine output torque. A maximum torque limit is determined by selecting a maximum acceptable engine output torque. A desired engine output torque value is set as: a) the minimum torque limit, if the initial selected engine output torque value is less than the minimum torque limit; b) the maximum torque limit, if the initial selected engine output torque value is greater than the maximum torque limit; or c) the initial selected engine output torque value, if the initial selected engine output torque value is neither greater than the maximum torque limit nor less than the minimum torque limit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Michael Livshiz, Bharath Pattipati, James L Worthing, Christopher E Whitney
  • Patent number: 10119481
    Abstract: A propulsion system, control system, and method are provided for optimizing fuel economy, which use model predictive control systems to generate a plurality of sets of possible command values and determine a cost for each set of possible command values of based on a first predetermined weighting value, a second predetermined weighting value, a plurality of predicted values, and a plurality of requested values. The set of possible command values having the lowest cost is determined and defined as a set of selected command values. Arbitration is performed including at least one of the following: A) determining at least one requested value based on arbitrating between a driver requested value and an intervention requested value; and B) determining a desired command value by arbitrating between a selected command value of the set of selected command values and a command intervention value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Inventors: Michael Livshiz, Bharath Pattipati, Christopher E. Whitney, Daniele Bernardini, Alberto Bemporad
  • Publication number: 20180291832
    Abstract: A method to detect and mitigate sensor degradation in an automobile system includes: collecting output signal data from at least one of a sensor and an actuator which is outputting the signal data related to operational parameters of a vehicle system; placing the sensor or the actuator in communication with a fault box used to purposely corrupt the output signal data; analyzing patterns of the output signal data compared to signal data from a nominal operating sensor or actuator using an artificial intelligence program; identifying when a statistical range of the patterns exceeds a first threshold level; and modifying a control signal to change the operational parameters of the vehicle system.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 5, 2017
    Publication date: October 11, 2018
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, Kevin C. Wong, Marcus S. Gilbert, Jeffrey M. Hutmacher
  • Publication number: 20180274473
    Abstract: A method of controlling intake and exhaust cam phase in an internal combustion engine includes sensing an engine speed and an engine load of the internal combustion engine, sensing or estimating a wall temperature of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine, utilizing the engine speed and the engine load in one or more lookup tables based on the cylinder wall temperature to determine intake phaser constraint values and exhaust phaser constraint values for cold operation of the internal combustion engine, and transitioning the intake phaser constraint values and the exhaust phaser constraint values for cold operation to intake phaser constraint values and exhaust phaser constraint values based on one or more lookup tables for normal hot operation of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Stephen P. Levijoki, David N. Hayden, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Publication number: 20180274453
    Abstract: A propulsion system, control system, and method are provided for optimizing fuel economy, which use model predictive control systems to generate a plurality of sets of possible command values and determine a cost for each set of possible command values of based on a first predetermined weighting value, a second predetermined weighting value, a plurality of predicted values, and a plurality of requested values. The set of possible command values having the lowest cost is determined and defined as a set of selected command values. Arbitration is performed including at least one of the following: A) determining at least one requested value based on arbitrating between a driver requested value and an intervention requested value; and B) determining a desired command value by arbitrating between a selected command value of the set of selected command values and a command intervention value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 22, 2017
    Publication date: September 27, 2018
    Inventors: Michael Livshiz, Bharath Pattipati, Christopher E. Whitney, Daniele Bernardini, Alberto Bemporad
  • Publication number: 20180238257
    Abstract: A propulsion system, control system, and method are provided that use model predictive control to generate an initial selected engine output torque value. A minimum torque limit is determined by selecting a minimum acceptable engine output torque. A maximum torque limit is determined by selecting a maximum acceptable engine output torque. A desired engine output torque value is set as: a) the minimum torque limit, if the initial selected engine output torque value is less than the minimum torque limit; b) the maximum torque limit, if the initial selected engine output torque value is greater than the maximum torque limit; or c) the initial selected engine output torque value, if the initial selected engine output torque value is neither greater than the maximum torque limit nor less than the minimum torque limit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 17, 2017
    Publication date: August 23, 2018
    Applicant: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Michael Livshiz, Bharath Pattipati, James L. Worthing, Christopher E. Whitney
  • Publication number: 20180230927
    Abstract: A control method for selecting an optimal multiple step operating mode for a multiple cylinder motor vehicle engine system having variable lift includes prioritizing each of a full torque capacity (FTC) mode having all cylinders operating at high lift, a first reduced capacity economy mode (RCE1) having all cylinders operating at low lift, and a second reduced capacity economy mode (RCE2) having fewer than all of the cylinders operating at low lift with at least one cylinder deactivated based on predicted fuel economy of each of the modes. Multiple constraints are applied to each of the prioritized modes including incorporating boost as one of the constraints by calculating a maximum torque capacity for each mode that is a function of a current boost pressure. A mode determination arbitration is conducted to identify if a change in mode is required.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2017
    Publication date: August 16, 2018
    Inventors: David N. Hayden, Michael Deffenbaugh, Christopher E. Whitney