Patents Assigned to KA GROUP AG
  • Patent number: 11827093
    Abstract: A throttle assembly (26) for a vehicle (20) having a handlebar (22) with a grip (36) extending along a grip axis (GA). A housing (42) is adapted for attachment to the handlebar (22) adjacent to the grip (36) and defines a housing axis (UA) adapted to be substantially parallel to the grip axis (GA). A link (48) is slidably supported by the housing (42) between a first link end (48A) and a second link end (48B). A thumb trigger (44) is coupled to the first link end (48A) and moves with the link (48) between first and second trigger positions (44A, 44B). A track mechanism (50) operatively attached to the housing (42) and to the second link end (48B) of the link (48) guides the link (48) along a curvilinear path (54A) such that movement of the thumb trigger (44) to the second trigger position (44B) slides the thumb trigger (44) away from the housing (42) with the thumb trigger (44) traversing the housing axis (UA) during at least a portion of the movement between the first and second trigger positions (44A, 44B).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Jean-Francois Hetu, Lionel Thiebault
  • Patent number: 11820067
    Abstract: A method for making a preformed thermoplastic tube having a tube wall and including at least one bend formed by thermoforming, characterized in that on an inner curve of the bend the tube wall is provided with a pattern of corrugations with minimal dimensions in terms of number of and heights of corrugations such that a wall length reduction resulting from the corrugations along the inner curve is kept at a minimal value necessary to absorb overlength on the inner curve resulting from forming the bend, and in that on an outer curve of the bend the tube wall is smooth and free of corrugations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: KA GROUP AG
    Inventor: Laurentius Andreas Gerardus Mentink
  • Patent number: 11661978
    Abstract: A pneumatic clutch actuator is described herein. The pneumatic clutch actuator includes a piston housing and a piston slidably received within the piston housing and configured to selectively change a clutch state between an engaged state and a disengaged state. The piston includes a self-adjustment mechanism that is configured to adjust an axial length of the piston. The self-adjustment mechanism includes a position locking assembly that includes a locking member and a positioning member. The locking member includes a plurality of locking flanges spaced along an outer surface of the locking member. The positioning member includes a plurality of positioning slots that are spaced along the positioning member. The position locking assembly is positionable between an unlocked state with the locking member spaced a distance from the positioning member, and a locked state with at least one locking flange inserted into a corresponding positioning slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 30, 2023
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventor: Christer Kobbevik Oldeide
  • Patent number: 11529901
    Abstract: A grab bar assembly includes a support beam adapted to be mounted to a vehicle and defining a longitudinal axis, a grab bar having an inner beam disposed within the support beam and movable relative to the support beam in first and second directions along the longitudinal axis. The assembly further includes a locking plate attached to the inner beam and a locking mechanism coupled to the support beam and having a latch movable between a lock position engaging the locking plate to fix the grab bar in a location relative to the support beam and a release position disengaging the locking plate to permit adjustment of the grab bar and the inner beam along the longitudinal axis in one of the first and second directions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Timothy Clayton Smith, Jesse L. Henrikson, Reyna Lynn Wygant
  • Patent number: 11511617
    Abstract: An electric axle for a vehicle including a first support member having a first end, a second end and an intermediate portion supporting a first axle receiver, and a second support member including a first end portion, a second end portion and an intermediate section supporting a second axle receiver. A torsion member extends between the first support member and the second support member. A first drive unit including a first transmission is mounted to the first support member, and a first electric motor is operatively connected to the first transmission. A second drive unit including a second transmission mounted to the second support member, and a second electric motor is operatively connected to the second transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 29, 2022
    Assignee: KA GROUP AG
    Inventors: Christer Kobbevik Oldeide, Abel Bajay, Henrik Haugum, Sindre Abrahamsen, Sven Bjørkgård, Simen Johnsen
  • Publication number: 20220349762
    Abstract: A torque sensor assembly including a shaft configured to receive an applied torque. The shaft includes at least one region being magnetoelastic and configured to generate a magnetic field in response to the applied torque. A plurality of sensors, circumferentially positioned around the at least one region, configured to generate a plurality of signals that are indicative of the magnetic field. Each of the plurality of signals includes multiple harmonic components. A controller is connected with the plurality of sensors and being configured to receive the plurality of signals and determine (i) an average of the plurality of signals in order to cancel at least one of the harmonic components of the multiple harmonic components for each of the plurality of signals, and (ii) a magnitude of the applied torque based on the average of the plurality of signals.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 13, 2019
    Publication date: November 3, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Jean-Francois Veillette, Serge Kaldany
  • Patent number: 11472282
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a frame, a first support member including a first end, a second end and an intermediate portion supporting a first axle receiver, a first bellows mounted to the first end of the first support member, a second bellows mounted to the second end of the first support member, a second support member including a first end portion, a second end portion and an intermediate section supporting a second axle receiver, a third bellows mounted to the first end portion of the second support member, a fourth bellows mounted to the second end portion of the second support member, a first drive unit including a first transmission mounted to the first support member, and a first electric motor connected to the first transmission, and a second drive unit including a second transmission mounted to the second support member, and a second electric motor connected to the second transmission.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: KA GROUP AG
    Inventors: Christer Kobbevik Oldeide, Abel Bajay, Henrik Haugum, Sindre Abrahamsen, Sven Bjørkgård, Simen Johnsen, Kent Hall
  • Publication number: 20220205456
    Abstract: The invention relates to a housing (1) for a fluid machine, in particular for a radial fan (2), comprising at least one housing part (3), wherein the housing pail (3) has at least one inlet opening (7), wherein the housing part (3) can at least partially delimit a fluid chamber (8) for receiving at least one fan wheel (9), and wherein the inlet opening (7), at least in part, has a coned inlet surface (11) To produce a housing (1) for a fluid machine, in particular a housing (1) for a radial fan, preferably for use in a car seat and offering reduced noise emission together with good performance, the curved inlet surface (11) has at least in part the furan of a logarithmic spiral in cross-section, aridly at least one guide element (21) extends from the inlet surface (11) towards a central axis of the inlet opening (7), and/or on the inside (17) of the housing part (3) there is provided a circumferential recess (25) which at least partially circumferentially
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2021
    Publication date: June 30, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Florian Weinzierl, Dumitru-Cristian Leu, Winfried Helmenstein
  • Publication number: 20220196086
    Abstract: A pneumatic clutch actuator is described herein. The pneumatic clutch actuator includes a piston housing and a piston slidably received within the piston housing and configured to selectively change a clutch state between an engaged state and a disengaged state. The piston includes a self-adjustment mechanism that is configured to adjust an axial length of the piston. The self-adjustment mechanism includes a position locking assembly that includes a locking member and a positioning member. The locking member includes a plurality of locking flanges spaced along an outer surface of the locking member. The positioning member includes a plurality of positioning slots that are spaced along the positioning member. The position locking assembly is positionable between an unlocked state with the locking member spaced a distance from the positioning member, and a locked state with at least one locking flange inserted into a corresponding positioning slot.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 13, 2020
    Publication date: June 23, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventor: Christer Kobbevik Oldeide
  • Patent number: 11352046
    Abstract: A lever assembly (20) has a lever (24) mounted to a lever housing (22), a plunger (26), an auto-return housing (28) pivotable relative to the lever housing (22), a trigger mechanism (30) movable relative to the auto-return housing (28), and a yoke member (32) pivotable relative to the auto-return housing (22) independent of the auto-return housing. The trigger mechanism (30) is movable to an extended position in response to movement of the plunger (26) for engaging a cam element (12) of the steering column (10) for auto-return of the lever to a rest position. The yoke member (32) interacts with the plunger (26) when the plunger (26) pivots with the lever (24) to cause the yoke (32) to pivot toward an engaged position, and the yoke (32) interacts with the trigger mechanism (30) when the yoke (32) is pivoted to move the trigger mechanism (30) toward the extended position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Timothy Clayton Smith, Christopher Glenn Turney, Kenichi Miyagi
  • Patent number: 11346456
    Abstract: A valve assembly for use in an actuation assembly, with the actuation assembly including an actuation housing, includes a valve support adapted to be coupled to the actuation housing. The valve support has a body portion defining a plurality of solenoid bores. The valve assembly also includes a plurality of solenoids with each one of the plurality of solenoids disposed within a corresponding one of the plurality of solenoid bores and directly mounted to the valve support for controlling a flow of fluid. The valve assembly further includes an electrical power distribution device at least partially coupled to the valve support and connected to each of the plurality of solenoids. The valve assembly also includes a tray coupled to the body portion of the valve support to support a portion of the electrical power distribution device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Vincent Kehl, Bertrand Mallette, Simon Riverin-Gaudreau, Rémi Tétreault, Bryan McKenzie
  • Patent number: 11333274
    Abstract: A hose connector assembly for connecting a hose to a port of a pressurized fluid system, the system including a socket and an adapter tube in fluid communication, with an end portion of the socket adapted to be connected to a port and having a receiving opening. The adapter tube has a plug-in end portion to be pushed into the receiving opening which is adapted to cooperate with the plug-in end portion to form a plug-in connection mechanism. The adapter tube has a hose connector end fitting adapted to be received in, hold and retain a hose end portion. Complementary locking surfaces of the receiving opening and plug-in end portion are engaged when the plug-in end portion is connected by the plug-in connection mechanism to the socket to lock the adapter tube with respect to the socket against rotation about the longitudinal axis of the adapter tube within the socket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Odvar William Lundby, Kjell Villanger, John Magnus Daehlin, Jens Mühlmeister
  • Publication number: 20220136572
    Abstract: A rotary shifter assembly for changing gears in a vehicle transmission includes a shaft (16) that is rotatably supported in a housing (12) and movable between radial positions for indicating a gear change. A shift knob (10) is coupled to a first end of the shaft for actuation by a user. A plurality of flexible locking fingers (40) extend from the second end, and an overload wheel (18) is disposed about the fingers. The fingers engage the wheel to couple it with the shaft for concurrent rotation. A locking mechanism (64) engages the wheel to selectively prevent and allow concurrent rotation of the wheel and shaft during normal operation. The fingers move relative to the wheel to permit temporary rotation of the shaft relative to the wheel when a force applied to the shaft is beyond a maximum torque threshold, and automatically return to concurrent rotation with the wheel once the force is below the threshold.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2020
    Publication date: May 5, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventor: David Blank
  • Publication number: 20220081095
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and devices for enhancing steering control of a personal watercraft. An electrically actuated device is coupled to the steering system of the personal watercraft and applies torque to the steering system. At least one sensor is positioned adjacent the steering system and generates operational data of the personal watercraft. At least one controller is coupled to the electrically actuated device and the at least one sensor, and is configured to determine a first torque to apply to the steering system based on the operational data responsive to a second torque being applied to the steering system. The at least one controller is further configured to operate the electrically actuated device to apply the first torque to the steering system for providing enhanced steering control of the personal watercraft, with the first torque being applied only by the electrically actuated device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Publication date: March 17, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Alexandre Blackburn, Jean-François Lahaye, Lionel Thiebault, Simon Bédard, Luc St-Pierre
  • Patent number: 11268580
    Abstract: The invention relates to an electrically driven clutch actuators (1) for actuating the clutch of a transmission of a vehicle. An actuator comprises a spindle nut (11) on a spindle (9) and a pressure piece (13) displaceable relative to the spindle nut (11) and coupled to the spindle nut by a biasing spring (15). By rotation of the threaded spindle under a driving force of an electric motor (5), the spindle nut (11) compresses the biasing spring (15) and displaces the pressure piece (13) to disengage the clutch. A latching mechanism (16) is configured to limit displacement of the spindle nut away from the pressure piece under the force of the expanding biasing spring when the driving force is reduced below a predetermined level. Further, a control unit is described that reduces the driving force in response to a trigger condition to reduce power consumption in the clutch disengaged state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventor: Jimmy Engman
  • Publication number: 20220034734
    Abstract: A torque sensor including a shaft that receives an applied torque is disclosed. The shaft includes a magnetoelastic region that generates a non-negligible magnetic field responsive to the applied torque and null regions that generate a negligible magnetic field. The torque sensor includes null region sensors that generate a null region magnetic field measure corresponding to an ambient magnetic field. The torque sensor includes a magnetoelastic region sensor that generates a magnetoelastic region magnetic field measure corresponding to the ambient magnetic field and the non-negligible magnetic field. The torque sensor includes a controller that determines whether a null region sensor has entered an intense ambient magnetic field condition and whether a magnetoelastic region sensor has entered a magnetoelastic region sensor saturation condition. The controller also calculates a magnitude of the applied torque based on the null region magnetic field measures and the magnetoelastic region magnetic field measure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 15, 2021
    Publication date: February 3, 2022
    Applicant: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Jean-Francois Veillette, Serge Kaldany
  • Patent number: 11225976
    Abstract: The invention relates to a housing (1) for a fluid machine, in particular for a radial fan (2), comprising at least one housing part (3), wherein the housing part (3) has at least one inlet opening (7), wherein the housing part (3) can at least partially delimit a fluid chamber (8) for receiving at least one fan wheel (9), and wherein the inlet opening (7), at least in part, has a curved inlet surface (11).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 18, 2022
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Florian Weinzierl, Dumitru-Cristian Leu, Winfried Helmenstein
  • Patent number: 11209109
    Abstract: A crimp coupling includes a crimping ferrule for connecting a hose to a fitting. The fitting includes an outwardly projecting stop collar and a groove which extends circumferentially around the fitting at a constant axial distance to the stop collar. The crimping ferrule, which can be slid onto the fitting, includes a flange, a tapering hinge section, and a cylindrical section. A distance between the stop collar and the groove of the fitting is dimensioned such that the flange, when abutting the stop collar, has a lower edge facing away from the stop collar above the groove. Due to a diameter reduction of the cylindrical section and the tapering hinge section, during crimping, the flange is pivoted such that the lower edge of the flange is turned into the groove by the pivotal movement of the flange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventor: Laurentius Andreas Gerardus Mentink
  • Patent number: 11149849
    Abstract: The invention relates to a linear actuator (1) for an automobile transmission comprising an electric motor (6) for moving a transmission control member (5) between a plurality of shift positions, a spring (15) for driving the transmission control member (5) to an end position of the shift range in case of electric power failure, and a worm screw (7) to drive a displaceable worm wheel (10) with a pinion (11) meshing with a displaceable gear rack (12). The transmission control member (5) is displaceably coupled to the worm wheel (10). The gear rack (2) is blocked by an electrically activated lock against linear displacement with the spring (15) in a compressed state such that upon interruption of power supply to the lock the gear rack (12) is released and linearly displaced by the spring (15) thereby shifting the transmission control element (5) to its end position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventors: Bengt Cyrén, Jasmin Insanic
  • Patent number: D917354
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: KA Group AG
    Inventor: Jesse L. Henrikson