Abstract: A sensors casing supports torque sensors and the position sensors and segment magneto-sensitive elements to detect the relative rotation between an input shaft and an output shaft and the angular position of the shaftsin a steering column housing. The sensor casing is removeably attached to the support housing by a mounting flange for detaching the electrical components from the steering column housing assembly.

Abstract: A method of making a fluid cooled microelectronic package in which fluid is circulated through the package in fluid-carrying channels defined at least in part by voids in an encapsulant that surrounds the package components. Preferably, the encapsulant channels are defined in part by heat producing components of the package so that coolant fluid directly contacts such components. The coolant fluid can be electrically conductive or non-conductive depending on the type of components being cooled. The coolant channels are formed by insert-molding a form in the encapsulant, and removing the form following the molding process. Alternately, the encapsulant is formed in two or more pieces that are joined to form the package, and the coolant channels are defined by recesses formed in at least one of the encapsulant pieces.

Abstract: A fuel injector for an internal combustion engine, the injector comprising an injector body having a tip portion defining at least one spray aperture; a pintle extending within the tip portion, the pintle having a head portion engageable with a valve seat to close the spray aperture, the pintle being axially moveable between a closed position wherein the head portion abuts the valve seat and an open position wherein the head portion is spaced from the valve seat; actuating means for selectively urging the pintle towards its open position; guide means being provided within the injector body guiding the pintle for axial movement between its closed and open positions; a fuel supply chamber being defined within the injector body between the spray aperture and the guide means, characterized in that the diameters of the guide means and valve seat are selected such that the pintle is substantially pressure balanced.

Abstract: A receiver includes a channel decoder select circuit, a plurality of communication channels, at least one maximum ratio combiner circuit, and a forward error correction circuit. The plurality of communication channels receive wireless information from channel demodulators and are in communication with respective channel decoder circuits, which are in communication with the channel decoder select circuit. The at least one maximum ratio combiner circuit receives the wireless information from the plurality of communication channels. The output of the maximum ratio combiner is communicated to the forward error correction circuit, the output of which is communicated to the channel decoder select circuit. A pseudo bit error measurement feedback signal communicated to the maximum ratio combiner from one of the plurality of channel decoder circuits. A method for finding wireless satellite signals that minimizes errors in a receiver system is also disclosed.

Abstract: The CAM signal of a four-stroke internal combustion engine that also includes a CRANK signal having a sync feature is decoded by defining an observation window of predefined duration with respect a pulse transition of the CAM signal. The CAM signal is uniquely decoded during the observation window by monitoring for a pulse transition of the CAM signal and the sync feature of the CRANK signal.

Abstract: The invention provides a compressor with a shut off valve disposed between the crank case and the suction cavity. The valve is moveable between an open and closed position in response to the pressure in the discharge cavity of the compressor. The valve is an on/off valve and is operable rapidly depressurize the interior of the crank case when the compressor transitions from a minimum stroke. The valve can define first and second fluid pathways. The first fluid pathway can be larger than the second fluid pathway and be selectively opened and closed. The second fluid pathway can be permanently open and act as a bleed between the crank case and the suction cavity.

Abstract: A circuit board assembly having a laminate construction of multiple layers, such as a LTCC ceramic substrate, with conductor lines between adjacent pairs of layers. A heat sink is bonded to a first surface of the substrate, and a cavity is defined by and between the heat sink and the substrate such that a base wall of the cavity is defined by one of the layers with conductor lines thereof being present on the base wall. A surface-mount circuit device is received within the cavity, mounted to the base wall, and electrically connected to the conductor lines on the base wall. The device is received within the cavity such that a surface of the device contacts a surface region of the heat sink. The surface of the device is bonded to the surface region of the heat sink to provide a substantially direct thermal path from the device to the heat sink.

Abstract: A thermoelectric material having enhanced Seebeck coefficient is characterized by a microstructure comprising nanoscale Pb inclusions dispersed in matrix substantially composed of PbTe. The excess Pb is obtained either by adding Pb in an amount greater than the stoichiometric amount needed to form PbTe, or by adding an additive effective to getter Te so as to produce the desired excess. The method is generally applicable to enhance thermoelectric properties of compounds of Pb, Sn or Ge, and Te, Se, or S.

Abstract: A power assist steering system including a valve housing and a proportional control valve supported within the valve housing, further includes a pressure transducer arranged with respect to the proportional control valve for determining an amount of actuation of the proportional control valve. A pressure signal is sent from the pressure transducer to a control for determining an amount of current to be sent to an electromagnetic apparatus within the power assist steering system for overcoming a pull force.

Abstract: A system, method, and storage medium for determining packaging design for one or more containers are provided. The method includes selecting at least one 3-D CAD model of a manufactured part. The method further includes selecting a first 3-D CAD model of a first container defining a first receiving region. The method further includes automatically generating a first plurality of 3-D part packaging designs for the first receiving region wherein each 3-D part packaging design comprises a distinct orientation or positioning of at least the 3-D CAD model of the manufactured part and a second 3-D CAD model and selecting a first 3-D part packaging design from the first plurality of 3-D part packaging designs. The method further includes generating a first dunnage design based on the first 3-D part packaging design and the first receiving region, wherein a first volume defined by the first 3-D part packaging design and the first dunnage design can be held within the first receiving region.

Abstract: A resonator and method of designing a resonator including a cavity having an effective length that exceeds ?/8 such that a standing wave having an anti-node will form in the cavity. First and second necks each having first ends are attached to and in fluid communication with the cavity, the first neck being positioned adjacent the anti-node and thereby operable to interfere with said standing wave.

Abstract: An electromechanical VVA system for controlling the poppet valves in the cylinder head of an internal combustion engine. The system varies valve lift, duration, and phasing in a dependent manner for one or more banks of engine valves. A rocker subassembly for each valve or valve pair is pivotably disposed on a control shaft between the camshaft and the roller finger follower. The control shaft may be displaced about a pivot axis outside the control shaft to change the angular relationship of the rocker subassembly to the camshaft, thus changing the valve opening, closing, and lift. A plurality of control shafts for controlling all valvetrains in an engine bank defines a control shaft assembly. The angular positions of the individual control shafts may be tuned to optimize the valve timing of each cylinder. The system is applicable to the intake and exhaust camshafts of diesel and gasoline engines.

Abstract: A control method for a fuel injection system having a spill valve (20), a nozzle control valve (22) and a valve needle (12) which is engageable with a seating to control fuel injection, wherein the method comprises applying a first drive current signal (30) to the spill valve (22) to move the spill valve (22) into a closed state and applying a second drive current signal (40) to the nozzle control valve (22) to move the nozzle control valve (22) to an open state, thereby to lift the valve needle (12) from the seating to initiate a main injection of fuel. The first drive current signal (30) is modified so as to move the spill valve (20) to an open state during “a spill valve opening period” during which the second drive current signal (40) is modified to move the nozzle control to valve (22) from the open state to a closed state. As a result the valve needle (12) is seated to terminate the main injection of fuel.

Abstract: The invention provides a method of compensating for the error of a signal indicative of the mass of air flow output from an air mass flow sensor for an internal combustion engine, the method comprising deriving an air mass flow value from an air mass flow sensor output, calculating a compensated air mass flow value based on the air mass flow value and a compensation value, calculating an estimated air mass flow value from engine operating parameter values, calculating a new compensation value based upon the compensated air mass flow value and the estimated air mass flow value and using the new compensation value for subsequent calculations of the compensated air mass flow value.

Abstract: The final rest position of an internal combustion engine crankshaft is determined by counting pulses of a CRANK signal responsive to crankshaft rotation after engine turn-off and evaluating the timing of the pulse edges to detect reversals in the direction of crankshaft rotation. Times are assigned to a given edge of each CRANK signal pulse, and a ratio of specified time intervals is compared to a threshold to detect crankshaft rock-back for controlling the pulse count direction.

Abstract: An object tracking method tracks a target object between successively generated infrared video images using a grey-scale hat filter to extract the target object from the background. The filtered image is binarized, and candidate binary blobs are extracted. The binary blob that minimizes the Euclidian spatial distance to the previous position of the object and satisfies a specified appearance model is selected, and its center of mass is taken as the current position of the object. Where the object is a person's eye, the eye state and decision confidence are determined by analyzing the shape and appearance of the binary blob along with changes in its size and the previous eye state, and applying corresponding parameters to an eye state decision matrix.

Abstract: A bushing assembly adapted for application in vehicle suspension systems includes an embedded position sensor and an embedded speed sensor.

Abstract: An apparatus (10) is set forth for measuring a return signal of a magnetostrictive sensor (20) that detects a force, torque, or pressure. The return signal includes noise, a DC resistance (44), an AC resistance and an inductance and the inductance is shifted ninety degrees from the AC resistance. The apparatus (10) includes a sensor filter (22) to remove the noise from the return signal. A sensor filter (22) shifts the return signal and more specifically, the inductance by an additional angle and the sum of the additional angle and the ninety degrees phase shift is defined as the final detection angle. To detect the inductance at the final detection angle, a wave filter (16) and a reference filter (28) shifts a reference signal by the final detection angle to trigger a first demodulator (26) to detect the inductance at the final detection angle. The inductance detected by the first demodulator (26) varies due to temperature.

Abstract: A system and method are provided for actively illuminating and capturing images of an object, such as a driver of a vehicle to reduce glare. The system includes a video imaging camera orientated to generate images of the subject object (e.g., eye(s)) in successive video frames. The system also includes first and second light sources operable to illuminate the object one at a time. The system further includes a processor for processing the image by performing pixel-wise min operation to combine multiple frames into a single frame to reduce glare in the image. The system may remove glare caused by the illuminators and caused by external energy sources.

Abstract: A method of producing an actuator includes shaping a block of ferroelectric material to provide an active element of the actuator. The element includes a stack of ferroelectric layers with adjacent layers separated by electrodes arranged parallel to end faces of the element. The method includes applying a primary electrode to the end faces, immersing the element and the primary electrode within a dielectric fluid, applying a primary poling voltage to the primary electrode so as to polarize the element in a first polarization direction, applying a secondary external electrode to side faces of the element, and applying a secondary poling voltage to the secondary electrode to polarize alternate layers along the first polarization direction and the other layers along a second, oppositely-directed polarization axis. The method may also include applying a conductive film to the end faces and/or applying heat to help evaporate the dielectric fluid.