Patents by Inventor Christopher Polonowski

Christopher Polonowski 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: 11480143
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a ducted fuel injector. In one example, the ducted fuel injector comprises a plurality of passages, with at least one of the passages configured to receive an oxygen poor gas from a reservoir or an adjacent cylinder to decrease a likelihood of pre-ignition in the duct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Polonowski
  • Publication number: 20220042484
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a ducted fuel injector. In one example, the ducted fuel injector comprises a plurality of passages, with at least one of the passages configured to receive an oxygen poor gas from a reservoir or an adjacent cylinder to decrease a likelihood of pre-ignition in the duct.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 10, 2020
    Publication date: February 10, 2022
    Inventor: Christopher Polonowski
  • Patent number: 11092106
    Abstract: Methods and systems for operating an engine responsive to filtered cylinder pressure data are disclosed. In one example, fuel injection timing may be advanced in response to filtered cylinder pressure data that is indicative of onset of combustion in a cylinder being delayed from an expected timing. The filtered cylinder pressure data may be generated via a digital filter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Polonowski
  • Patent number: 10823045
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a piston. In one example, a system may comprise a plurality of first protrusions and a plurality of second protrusions working in tandem to confine an injection to a radial zone defined by the protrusions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Eric Kurtz, Nan Robarge, Daniel Kantrow, Christopher Polonowski
  • Publication number: 20200309057
    Abstract: Methods and systems for operating an engine responsive to filtered cylinder pressure data are disclosed. In one example, fuel injection timing may be advanced in response to filtered cylinder pressure data that is indicative of onset of combustion in a cylinder being delayed from an expected timing. The filtered cylinder pressure data may be generated via a digital filter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Publication date: October 1, 2020
    Inventor: Christopher Polonowski
  • Publication number: 20200149465
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a piston. In one example, a system may comprise a plurality of first protrusions and a plurality of second protrusions working in tandem to confine an injection to a radial zone defined by the protrusions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2018
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventors: Eric Kurtz, Nan Robarge, Daniel Kantrow, Christopher Polonowski
  • Patent number: 10641160
    Abstract: Systems are provided for cooling combustion chamber gasses and increasing an amount of air entrained in an injected fuel spray. In one example, a cooling passage may be included in an internal combustion engine, the cooling passage positioned exterior to a cylinder bore of the engine and coupled to the cylinder bore at a first opening and a second opening. The cooling passage may receive gasses from the cylinder bore via the first opening, and may cool the gasses as they travel through the cooling passage before returning the gasses to the cylinder bore via the second opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow, Jianwen James Yi
  • Patent number: 10508615
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for actively heating pistons in combustion chambers to decrease a torque imbalance in an engine. In one example, a method for operation of an engine includes determining a variation between compression ratios in a first combustion chamber and a second combustion chamber and operating a piston heating system to apply a targeted amount of heat to a first piston assembly based on the variation between the compression ratios, the first piston assembly including a first piston positioned within the first combustion chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2019
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow
  • Patent number: 10487760
    Abstract: A method may comprise: positioning a pressure control valve (PCV) at an outlet of a fuel rail; positioning a volume control valve (VCV) at an inlet of a high pressure pump; and in response to an exhaust particulate matter (PM) level deviating from a target PM level, adjusting a fuel ratio of a first fuel and a second fuel delivered to an engine, and opening one of the PCV and the VCV. In this way, the fuel oxygen content may be adjusted to maintain a PM at or below a target level without a DPF over a broad range of engine designs and operating conditions, while maintaining fuel economy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Eric Matthew Kurtz, Christopher Polonowski, James Eric Anderson, Werner Willems, Nan Robarge
  • Publication number: 20190128212
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for actively heating pistons in combustion chambers to decrease a torque imbalance in an engine. In one example, a method for operation of an engine includes determining a variation between compression ratios in a first combustion chamber and a second combustion chamber and operating a piston heating system to apply a targeted amount of heat to a first piston assembly based on the variation between the compression ratios, the first piston assembly including a first piston positioned within the first combustion chamber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Publication date: May 2, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow
  • Publication number: 20190003371
    Abstract: Systems are provided for cooling combustion chamber gasses and increasing an amount of air entrained in an injected fuel spray. In one example, a cooling passage may be included in an internal combustion engine, the cooling passage positioned exterior to a cylinder bore of the engine and coupled to the cylinder bore at a first opening and a second opening. The cooling passage may receive gasses from the cylinder bore via the first opening, and may cool the gasses as they travel through the cooling passage before returning the gasses to the cylinder bore via the second opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Publication date: January 3, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow, Jianwen James Yi
  • Publication number: 20180266339
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a fuel injector coupled to mixing passages for entraining combustion chamber gases with a fuel injection to decrease formation of soot throughout a range of engine operating parameters. In one example, a method includes decreasing a combustion chamber temperature in response to an amount of sensed light.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 16, 2017
    Publication date: September 20, 2018
    Inventors: Eric Matthew Kurtz, Christopher Polonowski, Daniel William Kantrow, Daniel Joseph Styles, Paul Joseph Tennison
  • Patent number: 10077724
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a fuel injector coupled to mixing passages for entraining combustion chamber gases with a fuel injection to decrease formation of soot throughout a range of engine operating parameters. In one example, a method includes decreasing a combustion chamber temperature in response to an amount of sensed light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Eric Matthew Kurtz, Christopher Polonowski, Daniel William Kantrow, Daniel Joseph Styles, Paul Joseph Tennison
  • Patent number: 10060334
    Abstract: Systems are provided for cooling combustion chamber gasses and increasing an amount of air entrained in an injected fuel spray. In one example, a cooling passage may be included in an internal combustion engine, the cooling passage positioned exterior to a cylinder bore of the engine and coupled to the cylinder bore at a first opening and a second opening. The cooling passage may receive gasses from the cylinder bore via the first opening, and may cool the gasses as they travel through the cooling passage before returning the gasses to the cylinder bore via the second opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow, Jianwen James Yi
  • Patent number: 9903307
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for improving engine performance at high load conditions with reduced combustion phasing while maintaining in-cylinder peak pressures within limits. Following a pilot fuel injection, a main fuel injection is split into multiple smaller injections, the smaller injections spread around a timing of the main fuel injection so that peak cylinder pressures for each injection are within cylinder pressure limits. In this way, more enthalpy is created for expediting warming of exhaust catalysts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Andrew Lauri, Michiel J. Van Nieuwstadt, Paul Joseph Tennison, Jonathan Finchum
  • Publication number: 20170350308
    Abstract: Systems are provided for cooling combustion chamber gasses and increasing an amount of air entrained in an injected fuel spray. In one example, a cooling passage may be included in an internal combustion engine, the cooling passage positioned exterior to a cylinder bore of the engine and coupled to the cylinder bore at a first opening and a second opening. The cooling passage may receive gasses from the cylinder bore via the first opening, and may cool the gasses as they travel through the cooling passage before returning the gasses to the cylinder bore via the second opening.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2016
    Publication date: December 7, 2017
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Daniel William Kantrow, Jianwen James Yi
  • Publication number: 20170298850
    Abstract: A method may comprise: positioning a pressure control valve (PCV) at an outlet of a fuel rail; positioning a volume control valve (VCV) at an inlet of a high pressure pump; and in response to an exhaust particulate matter (PM) level deviating from a target PM level, adjusting a fuel ratio of a first fuel and a second fuel delivered to an engine, and opening one of the PCV and the VCV. In this way, the fuel oxygen content may be adjusted to maintain a PM at or below a target level without a DPF over a broad range of engine designs and operating conditions, while maintaining fuel economy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 14, 2016
    Publication date: October 19, 2017
    Inventors: Eric Matthew Kurtz, Christopher Polonowski, James Eric Anderson, Werner Willems, Nan Robarge
  • Publication number: 20170191442
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for improving engine performance at high load conditions with reduced combustion phasing while maintaining in-cylinder peak pressures within limits. Following a pilot fuel injection, a main fuel injection is split into multiple smaller injections, the smaller injections spread around a timing of the main fuel injection so that peak cylinder pressures for each injection are within cylinder pressure limits. In this way, more enthalpy is created for expediting warming of exhaust catalysts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2016
    Publication date: July 6, 2017
    Inventors: Christopher Polonowski, Eric Matthew Kurtz, Andrew Lauri, Michiel J. Van Nieuwstadt, Paul Joseph Tennison, Jonathan Finchum