Patents Represented by Attorney, Agent or Law Firm Tuttle
  • Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle
    Patent number: 7980342
    Abstract: A method for operating a vehicle may include operating a motor and an engine to propel the vehicle, and increasing consumption of fuel as a residence time of the fuel stored on-board the vehicle increases. The residence time of the fuel stored on-board the vehicle can provide an indication of fuel degradation, enabling the duty cycle of the engine to be selectively increased to enforce fuel use conditions, particularly in the context of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle where fuel use may be less frequent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Michael Jon Andri
  • Fabrication of optically smooth light guide
    Patent number: 7976740
    Abstract: Embodiments related to the fabrication of a light guide are provided. One disclosed embodiment comprises extruding a thermoplastic polymer through a die to form an extrusion, machining the extrusion to one or more fixed dimensions, and maintaining a face of the extrusion in contact with a heated mold surface to soften or melt the face of the extrusion while applying pressure to the extrusion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Kurt Allen Jenkins
  • Thermal imaging camera
    Patent number: 7977634
    Abstract: A thermal imaging camera (1) is provided in which the utilization of the energy reserve carried along is improved in a thermal imaging camera. A sensor element (9) is provided at the carrying device of the thermal imaging camera. The sensor element (9) generates a switching signal for switching between a standby phase and an operating phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA
    Inventors: Fritz Thiele, Markus Wansing
  • Linear pneumatic gripper
    Patent number: 7976087
    Abstract: The invention concerns a linear pneumatic gripper that has a gripper body comprising a base element (11), in which a chamber (18) has been provided for a piston (12) and which supports two drive levers (13) oscillating on relative fulcrums or pins (24) and connected to the piston, and a guide head (14) associated with the base element and having a guide groove for two jaws connected to the drive levers. The guide head is fixed to the base element of the gripper body by the oscillation fulcrums or pins (24) of the drive levers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: Gimatic S.p.A.
    Inventor: Giuseppe Maffeis
  • Method for production of responsive glass membrane for ion electrode, responsive glass membrane for ion electrode, and ion electrode
    Patent number: 7976690
    Abstract: Disclosed is a sensitive glass film for a pH electrode, which is not deteriorated in its glass strength or pH-measuring function, which is hardly stained, and from which any stain can be removed easily. Also disclosed is a pH electrode having the sensitive glass film. A microparticle comprising rutile-type or brookite-type titanium dioxide or a microparticle comprising amorphous titanium dioxide is adhered directly on the glass film surface of a sensitive glass film for a pH electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignees: HORIBA, Ltd., Mie University
    Inventors: Yuji Nishio, Yasukazu Iwamoto, Tadanori Hashimoto
  • Friction welding machine and operating method
    Patent number: 7975897
    Abstract: A friction welding machine (1) has two headstocks (5, 6), two spindles (8, 9) with a spindle drive (12, 13) and a workpiece holder (22). The first headstock (5) is arranged stationarily at the frame (2). The second headstock (6) is mounted axially movably at the frame (2) and is connected to a feed drive (25). The spindles (8, 9) have different sizes, the second spindle (9) and its spindle drive (13) being designed to be smaller and weaker.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: KUKA Systems GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Semmlinger, Otmar Fischer, Günter Zott, Rudolf Huber
  • Method of fabricating strips or foils, respectively, from TiAl6V4
    Patent number: 7976649
    Abstract: A method of fabricating a superplastically formable strip or a superplastically formable foil from TiAl6V4 with a thickness of no more than 0.9 mm, preferably less than or equal to 0.5 mm, comprises the steps: a) hot rolling a sheet metal made of TiAl6V4; b) thermal pre-treatment of the hot-rolled sheet metal at a temperature between 650 and 850° C.; and c) cold rolling the hot-rolled and thermally pre-treated sheet metal at a forming rate of at least 30%, wherein the forming rate per single pass amounts to between 1 and 15%, to form a strip or a foil with a thickness of no more than 0.9 mm, wherein the cold-rolled strip or the cold-rolled foil is not annealed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2011
    Assignee: GfE Fremat GmbH
    Inventors: Joachim Klose, Ella Rehtanz, Christiane Rothe, Ines Eulitz, Werner Beck
  • Diesel turbine SCR catalyst
    Patent number: 7971430
    Abstract: A system for treating exhaust gases from an engine is described. The system includes, the exhaust gases routed from the engine to atmosphere through an exhaust passage, the system comprising: an injector directing a spray of reductant into the exhaust gases routed from the engine to atmosphere; an exhaust separation passage that separates an exhaust gas flow received from the engine into a plurality of separate exhaust gas flows; a plurality of oxidation catalysts, each of which receives one of the plurality of separate exhaust gas flows; a flow combining passage that receives the plurality of separate exhaust gas flows and combines them into a re-combined exhaust gas flow; a turbocharger that receives the re-combined exhaust gas flow from the flow combining passage; and a selective catalytic reduction catalyst positioned downstream of the turbocharger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christine Kay Lambert, Yinyan Huang, Harold Huimin Sun, Christopher Oberski
  • Detecting ambient light levels in a vision system
    Patent number: 7973779
    Abstract: The detection of ambient light on an optical touch-sensitive device is disclosed. For example, one disclosed embodiment comprises capturing an image of at least a portion of a display screen with a camera located within the display device, and determined if ambient light in the image is at an acceptable level for display screen operation. Then, a visual representation is displayed representing whether the ambient light level is acceptable for display screen operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Prafulla Masalkar
  • Apparatus for position recognition
    Patent number: 7973626
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for position detection having a magnet and a sensing element which has switched states or parameter values depending on the magnetic field generated by the magnet, with the apparatus furthermore having a means for influencing the magnetic field, with the means being made and arranged such that different switched states or parameter values of the sensing element can be generated in dependence on the position of the magnet, the sensing element and the means for influencing the magnetic field with respect to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Liebherr-Hausgeratte Ochsenhausen GmbH
    Inventor: Herbert Gerner
  • Control device
    Patent number: 7971498
    Abstract: A control device is provided for a technical system (17), e.g. for a shift-by-wire vehicle transmission. The control device includes a control (actuating) element, e.g. a rotary knob (1), with at least two shifting positions. The control element (1), itself, can rotate without limitation, whereas the control device has at least one stop device (2, 3), which can be adjusted in a controlled manner and which limits the angle of rotation (W) of the control element (1).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Joerg Meyer, Andreas Giefer
  • System and method of inhibiting the effects of driveline backlash in a hybrid propulsion system
    Patent number: 7971667
    Abstract: In a hybrid electric vehicle, a motor may be downstream of an engine and transmission. This configuration can be exploited by using the motor to buffer and control torque changes between the engine and the wheels, thereby reducing driveline backlash and clunk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Mark Steven Yamazaki
  • Reductant injection system diagnostics
    Patent number: 7971426
    Abstract: A method is described for controlling operation of a reductant injection system. In one example, a pump of the reductant injection system is operated at a pressure to inject reductant into an exhaust system based on voltage supplied to the pump. The method can allow operation of the reductant injection system during degradation of a pressure sensor that is used to determine reductant flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Michiel J. Van Nieuwstadt
  • System and method for tip-in knock compensation
    Patent number: 7971575
    Abstract: A system for an engine of a vehicle includes methanol and water injection to abate engine knock. The injection is provided directly into the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Donald Lewis, John D. Russell
  • Visual target tracking using model fitting and exemplar
    Patent number: 7974443
    Abstract: A method of tracking a target includes receiving an observed depth image of the target from a source and analyzing the observed depth image with a prior-trained collection of known poses to find an exemplar pose that represents an observed pose of the target. The method further includes rasterizing a model of the target into a synthesized depth image having a rasterized pose and adjusting the rasterized pose of the model into a model-fitting pose based, at least in part, on differences between the observed depth image and the synthesized depth image. Either the exemplar pose or the model-fitting pose is then selected to represent the target.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventors: Alex Kipman, Mark Finocchio, Ryan M. Geiss, Johnny Chung Lee, Charles Claudius Marais, Zsolt Mathe
  • Visual simulation of touch pressure
    Patent number: 7973778
    Abstract: The simulation of touch pressure on a touch-sensitive display is disclosed. In one disclosed embodiment, a touch pressure is simulated on a touch-sensitive display by detecting inputs corresponding to each of an untouched display and two or more measures of touch pressure, and displaying images on the display corresponding to the untouched display and each measure of touch pressure. In this manner, a user may be provided with a richer visual response to a touch-sensitive display input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
    Inventor: Paul Chen
  • Directly injected internal combustion engine system
    Patent number: 7971567
    Abstract: An engine system for a vehicle, comprising of a combustion chamber, a first in-cylinder direct injector configured to deliver a first substance including at least gasoline directly to the combustion chamber at a first pressure; and a second in-cylinder direct injector configured to deliver a second substance including at least an alcohol directly to the combustion chamber at a second pressure less than the first pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Michael W. Zubeck, George Carver Davis, Eric Warren Curtis
  • Helical exhaust passage
    Patent number: 7971433
    Abstract: A system and method for treating exhaust gasses from an engine is described. In one example, the exhaust gasses are routed from the engine to atmosphere through a helical exhaust passage. The helical exhaust passage includes a plurality of spatially separated exhaust passages that separates the exhaust flow into separated smaller flows, wherein the smaller flows are re-introduced into a common passage and re-combined to form a single exhaust flow, and wherein the plurality of spatially separated exhaust passages induces a helical flow pattern within the re-combined exhaust flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Daniel Michael Kabat, Furqan Zafar Shaikh, Bryan Christopher Stoll, Sandro Balestrino, Michael Levin
  • Engine boost control for multi-fuel engine
    Patent number: 7974765
    Abstract: A fuel delivery approach for an engine includes delivering a first fuel blend from a first, lower alcohol fuel tank to a port injector; delivering a second, higher alcohol, fuel to a direct injector, and transferring the first fuel from the first tank to the second tank so that the first tank is emptied before the second. In this way, at least some fuel is available for direct injection even when the higher alcohol fuel is exhausted prior to the lower alcohol fuel. Thus, it is possible to at least obtain charge cooling benefits of direct injection, and therefore the engine may be operated with a greater amount of boost.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Allan J. Lippa, Donald J. Lewis
  • EGR cooler defouling
    Patent number: 7971577
    Abstract: A method to dislodge an adherent residue in an EGR cooler, the EGR cooler installed in an engine. The method comprises switchably flowing the exhaust gas through the exhaust-gas recirculation cooler according to a normal-calibration control mode when a temperature of the coolant is above a threshold temperature, and switchably flowing the exhaust gas through the exhaust-gas recirculation cooler according to an EGR-cooler restoring control mode (with a greater time-averaged flow of the exhaust gas) when the temperature of the coolant is below the threshold temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2011
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Daniel Joseph Styles, David Curtis Ives