Patents by Inventor Thomas Nied-Menninger

Thomas Nied-Menninger 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: 9086065
    Abstract: An adjustable rotary vane pump configured to reduce pressure pulsations during hydraulic fluid discharge includes a housing having two side plates positioned in parallel. Each side plate has multiple grooves formed in its surface. A rotor mounted between the side plates has multiple vanes extending radially outward. A lift ring surrounds the rotor, pivotally connected to the housing to swivel between positions eccentric to the housing. During rotation of the rotors, the vanes divide the annular region between the rotor and the lift ring into multiple cells, which alternately position themselves between a suction zone and a pressure zone of the pump. In a transition region between the suction and pressure zone, when the lift ring is between pre-determined angular positions, the grooves within lift ring and the side plate substantially align to create an overflow channel, which transfers the hydraulic fluid from the suction zone to the pressure zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Holger Siebertz, Dirk Sickert, Klaus Becker, Thomas Nied-Menninger, Axel Fassbender
  • Publication number: 20130121863
    Abstract: An adjustable rotary vane pump configured to reduce pressure pulsations during hydraulic fluid discharge includes a housing having two side plates positioned in parallel. Each side plate has multiple grooves formed in its surface. A rotor mounted between the side plates has multiple vanes extending radially outward. A lift ring surrounds the rotor, pivotally connected to the housing to swivel between positions eccentric to the housing. During rotation of the rotors, the vanes divide the annular region between the rotor and the lift ring into multiple cells, which alternately position themselves between a suction zone and a pressure zone of the pump. In a transition region between the suction and pressure zone, when the lift ring is between pre-determined angular positions, the grooves within lift ring and the side plate substantially align to create an overflow channel, which transfers the hydraulic fluid from the suction zone to the pressure zone.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2012
    Publication date: May 16, 2013
    Applicant: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Holger Siebertz, Dirk Sickert, Klaus Becker, Thomas Nied-Menninger, Axel Fassbender
  • Patent number: 6641380
    Abstract: A pump is proposed, in particular a vane pump, for a liquid or gaseous medium, which can be driven with the help of a motor, in particular an electric motor, and which comprises a rotor (15) that can be coupled to a drive shaft (29) of the motor and is arranged in an operating chamber and at least one pressure plate (25) that closes the operating chamber (11) in the axial direction and on its lateral face (27) facing away from the rotor (15) is connected to a pressure chamber (23), and also a coupling element (47; 47′) which surrounds part of the drive shaft (29), cooperates with at least one seal and contributes to sealing off the pressure chamber (23) with respect to the motor, the drive shaft (29) extending through a through opening (35) in the pressure plate (25). The pump (1) is characterized in that the coupling element (47; 47′) has a sleeve-like section (49) which engages in the through opening (35) in the pressure plate (25).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Luk Fahzeug-Hydraulik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Thomas Nied-Menninger, Hans-Jürgen Lauth
  • Patent number: 6263909
    Abstract: A valve assembly for a hydraulic discharge device and including a piston displaceable in a bore of a housing of the discharge device against a biasing force and having an outer surface, which sealingly engages an inner wall of the housing bore and blocks a channel opening into the bore so that the piston functions as a slide valve for this channel, the valve assembly further including a valve seat which, together with the piston, forms a seated valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 31, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2001
    Inventors: Van Doan Nguyen, Yuejin Gong, Randolf Körtge, Hans Jürgen Lauth, Gerhard Overdiek, Willi Parsch, Thomas Nied-Menninger
  • Patent number: 6123532
    Abstract: A vane pump is proposed which has a rotor which accommodates a number of vanes that can move in the radial direction, has a cam ring which surrounds the rotor and forms at least one suction region and one pressure region, and has at least one pressure plate, which forms a lateral boundary surface of the suction and pressure regions and, when the vane pump is operating, is loaded by pressure on its side facing away from the suction and pressure regions, the pump being defined in that that surface (17; 19) of the pressure plate (13; 15) which faces the rotor (5) is designed to be concave--when there is no pressure in the vane pump (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 1998
    Date of Patent: September 26, 2000
    Assignee: Luk Fahrzeug--Hydraulik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Hans-Jurgen Lauth, Thomas Nied-Menninger
  • Patent number: 5989002
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a blocking-vane pump having a casing which contains a rotor and in the wall of which there are arranged grooves which receive in each case one blocking vane and which are pressed by a spring against a circumferential surface of the rotor which has control surfaces separated from each other by separating regions. According to the invention, at least four blocking vanes (30) are provided and, distributed over the circumferential surface (20) of the rotor (16), a number of control surfaces (22) amounting to a multiple of 2, two control surfaces (22) being in each case arranged opposite each other and developed identical and the number of control surfaces (22) being greater than the number of blocking vanes (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1999
    Assignee: Luk Fahrzeug-Hydraulik GmbH
    Inventor: Thomas Nied-Menninger
  • Patent number: 5702242
    Abstract: A vane pump including a rotor, which is arranged within a cam ring located in the pump housing, and which carries a plurality of radially displaceable vanes which are also displaceable along the inner double-symmetrical contour of the cam ring, with the inner contour defining two diametrically opposite pump chambers and with each chamber being divided in three sections forming, respectively, a suction region, a pressure region, and a separation region between the suction and pressure regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 30, 1997
    Assignee: Luk Fahrzeug-Hydraulik GmbH & Co.
    Inventors: Thomas Nied-Menninger, Randolf Kortge, Bernd Denfeld
  • Patent number: 5513672
    Abstract: A valve assembly for controlling volume flow from a discharge device to an actuator and including a discharge throttle, and a flow control valve for controlling flow through the throttle and having a piston, and end portion of which overlaps a channel for returning excess fluid to a suction side of the discharge device and has an end region forming a seated valve preventing leakage past the end region, when the end region completely overlaps the return channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1996
    Assignee: LUK Fahrzeug-Hydraulik GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Van Doan Nguyen, Yuejin Gong, Randolf Kortge, Hans-Jurgen Lauth, Gerhard Overdiek, Willi Parsch, Thomas Nied-Menninger