Patents Examined by Anthony L. Bacon
  • Patent number: 9399978
    Abstract: A motor generator and a power converter are driven by an engine, to supply electric power to a power storage device. ECU causes the engine to start if SOC of the power storage device falls below a first threshold value, and causes the engine to stop if SOC exceeds a second threshold value which is larger than the first threshold value. During a vehicle stop, if SOC exceeds a third threshold value which is larger than the first threshold value and smaller than the second threshold value, ECU causes the engine to stop.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Keisuke Morisaki
  • Patent number: 9383290
    Abstract: A method of determining an air-fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine in real-time includes: calibrating sensitivity of a universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor to a plurality of gases; inputting to a universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor controller a molecular composition of Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, and Nitrogen which comprise a combustion fuel in use in the internal combustion engine; calculating with the universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor controller an air-to-fuel ratio by performing a chemical balance equation calculation based on the universal exhaust gas oxygen sensor sensitivity calibration and the input combustion fuel molecular composition; and transmitting the calculated air-to-fuel ratio to an engine control unit inreal-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: BG SOFLEX LLC
    Inventors: Bruce A. Bowling, Albert C. Grippo
  • Patent number: 9353696
    Abstract: According to one embodiment, an apparatus for controlling combustion in an internal combustion engine having a fuel delivery system includes a cylinder contents prediction module configured to predict at least one condition within a combustion cylinder of the internal combustion engine. The apparatus also includes a fueling parameter selection module configured to generate a fuel command for the fuel delivery system. The fuel command is based at least partially on the predicted at least one condition within the combustion cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Cummins IP, Inc.
    Inventors: Shawn Midlam-Mohler, Jason Meyer, Stephen Yurkovich, Vivek Sujan
  • Patent number: 9347391
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio control device has an open loop controller which controls an air-fuel ratio to be a target air-fuel ratio, a feedback controller that shifts the target air-fuel ratio to a logical air-fuel ratio, and feedback controls the air-fuel ratio to be the logical air-fuel ratio by using a feedback correction coefficient determined based on an output of an O2 sensor, an average value calculator that calculates an average value of the feedback correction coefficient when the output of the O2 sensor reverses from a lean side to a rich side and from the rich side to the lean side in a feedback control by the feedback controller, and a learned value calculator that calculates a learned value based on the average value at a time when the average value calculated by the average value calculator becomes substantially constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masahiro Nanba, Tomohiko Miyaki, Hitoshi Matsumura
  • Patent number: 9334810
    Abstract: A working machine includes a throttle cable for transmitting an amount of operation of a throttle lever to a throttle valve, upper and lower guide rollers for guiding the throttle cable, and a throttle cable tightening/loosening means including a pivotable arm portion having a pressing roller located between the upper and lower guide rollers. The working machine further includes connecting means interconnecting the arm portion and a clutch lever. Operation of the clutch lever moves the pressing roller between a tightening position to tighten the throttle cable and a slackening position to slacken the throttle cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Nobuo Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 9334837
    Abstract: A microcondenser device for an evaporative emission control system includes a housing having an inlet for receiving fuel vapor and a condensation outlet for discharging condensed fuel vapor, and a porous element disposed in the housing and fluidly interposed between the inlet and the condensation outlet for absorbing the fuel vapor received through the inlet. The microcondenser device further includes a thermoelectric element in thermal contact with the porous element for removing heat from the fuel vapor absorbed by the porous element to condense the fuel vapor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Dennis B. Chung
  • Patent number: 9309818
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of controlling operation of an internal-combustion engine using a single-fuel or a multi-fuel combustion mode with at least one fuel type comprising a high octane number and a low energy density and at least another fuel type comprising a low octane number and a high energy density, a method wherein the energy required for the engine to operate in multi-fuel mode is provided by a combination of two fuel types.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2016
    Assignee: IFP Energies nouvelles
    Inventor: Gaetan Monnier
  • Patent number: 9261052
    Abstract: In the engine including an MPL-EGR system having an HPL-EGR mechanism 6 and an LPL-EGR mechanism 7, a pressure difference between upstream side pressure and downstream side pressure of a low pressure EGR cooler 73 provided in the LPL-EGR mechanism 7 is detected by a pressure difference sensor 89. When an actual pressure difference value detected is higher than a reference pressure difference value in a state where no blocking occurs in the LPL-EGR mechanism 7, and the deviation amount therebetween reaches a predetermined amount, it is determined that the blocking occurs in the inside of the low pressure EGR cooler 73. In contrast, when the actual pressure difference value detected is lower than the reference pressure difference value, and the deviation amount therebetween reaches a predetermined amount, it is determined that the blocking occurs in the inside of the pipe members 74 and 75 except the low pressure EGR cooler 73.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hirotaka Saitoh, Yoshitaka Nakamura, Toru Kidokoro
  • Patent number: 9249718
    Abstract: An intercooler for a vehicle that cools a mixture of EGR gas and exhaust gas may include a cooler main body with an inlet portion through which the mixture flows in formed at one side thereof and an outlet portion through which the mixture flows out formed at the other end side thereof, connection tubes that connect the inlet portion with the outlet portion and are arranged from an upper side to a lower side of the cooler main body to cool the mixture, and a condensate storage unit that connects a lower end portion of the inlet portion with a lower end portion of the outlet portion and stores the condensate that is formed in the connection tubes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Company
    Inventors: Sung Il Yoon, Hwan Mook Lim
  • Patent number: 9239022
    Abstract: Disclosed is an internal-combustion engine controller capable of improving emission characteristics at a start of an internal-combustion engine. When injection during an exhaust stroke is controlled in a port-injection engine, the engine controller ECU performs the first fuel injection during t1 to t2 according to a memory-based crank angle as illustrated in FIG. 12(b) at a fuel injection timing before determination of an actual stroke. Thus, the injected fuel has been introduced into a cylinder during the actual stroke. If fuel is not injected during t1N to t3N within the next exhaust stroke as denoted by the solid line, this causes misfire in the cylinder, so that the engine rotation at the start cannot be smooth. Thus, the ECU clears a finished fuel injection flag (F_INJ) at an incorrect crank angle storage determination timing (tJUD) as denoted by the dashed-dotted line, thereby capable of controlling the fuel injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2016
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kanta Tsuji, Atsushi Mitsui, Fumio Hara
  • Patent number: 9239015
    Abstract: An engine control system for a vehicle includes a pressure determination module, an adjustment determination module, a target determination module, and a pump control module. The pressure determination module determines a first pressure for a hydraulic fluid provided to fully flexible intake and exhaust valve actuators of an engine. The adjustment determination module determines a pressure adjustment for the first pressure based on a pressure within a cylinder. The target determination module determines a target pressure for the hydraulic fluid based on the first pressure and the pressure adjustment. Based on the target pressure, the pump control module controls a hydraulic fluid pump for an opening timing of an exhaust valve of the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 19, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Joel Cowgill
  • Patent number: 9222433
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a recreational vehicle genset having an engine and a generator. The apparatus includes a fuel injection system having a primary fuel reservoir, a secondary fuel reservoir, and a fill pump that receives fuel from a primary fuel reservoir and is fluidly coupled to the secondary fuel reservoir at the pump outlet. The apparatus includes a reservoir fuel indicator that provides a fuel amount signal corresponding to the fuel in the secondary fuel reservoir, and a pressure regulator that relieves pressure in the secondary fuel reservoir at a threshold relief pressure. The apparatus includes an injection pump that provides pressurized fuel from the secondary fuel reservoir to a fuel injector for the engine. The apparatus further includes a controller having a pump regulation module that interprets the fuel amount signal, and that selectively provides a fill pump operation command in response to the fuel amount signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: CUMMINS POWER GENERATION IP, INC.
    Inventors: David T. Falkowski, Stephen M. Clancey, Keith M. Schorr, Charlotte E. Wiley, Jeffrey D. Peterson
  • Patent number: 9194356
    Abstract: A stop control system for an internal combustion engine, which is capable of ensuring the comfort of vehicle occupants in a vehicle compartment and improving the fuel economy of the engine along with automatic stoppage of the engine during both a cooling operation and a heating operation of an air conditioner. When the engine is automatically stopped, the stop control system sets a target blowout temperature which is a target value of the temperature of air blown out from the air conditioner into a vehicle compartment, and acquires a fan voltage indicative of the air volume blown by a fan of the air conditioner. Further, the stop control system calculates stop allowable time based on the target blowout temperature and the fan voltage, and restarts the engine when engine stoppage time period (stoppage time period-counting timer value) has reached the stop allowable time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinichirou Wakou, Yoshihisa Tsuchiya, Shinji Yasuno, Masanobu Eguchi, Kanao Kogure, Nobuyuki Akahoshi
  • Patent number: 9181912
    Abstract: Provided with a control device for an in-cylinder injection type internal combustion engine that reduces an amount of fuel attaching to and remaining on a piston crown surface and a cylinder bore wall surface so as to suppress an increase in the number of exhaust particles of PM when fuel injection is performed a plurality of times in one burning cycle. In divided multi-stage injection in which the fuel to be injected in one burning cycle is divided into a plurality of times, an injection amount rate of injection at an early timing among injections divided into the plurality of times is set according to a fuel cut continuous time at a timing when the fuel injection is resumed from a fuel cut state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yoshinobu Arihara
  • Patent number: 9140177
    Abstract: A dual fuel common rail engine supplies pressurized natural gas and liquid diesel fuel at different pressures through a co-axial quill assembly for direct injection from a single fuel injector into an engine cylinder. Pressure waves in the gaseous fuel common rail are damped in a pressure damping chamber of the co-axial quill assembly before the pressure wave can undermine consistent gaseous fuel injection rates and quantities from the fuel injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 22, 2015
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis Henderson Gibson, Shivangini Singh Hazari, Dana Ray Coldren, Daniel Raymond Baldwin
  • Patent number: 9133800
    Abstract: A fuel quill passageway assembly for an engine is disclosed. The engine includes a head pot; a cylinder head having an outer wall situated adjacent to the head pot, an inner wall, and a water jacket situated between the outer wall and the inner wall; and a fuel injector situated adjacent to the inner wall. The assembly may include a first sleeve extending through an aperture in the head pot toward an aperture in the outer wall of the cylinder head. The assembly may also include a second sleeve extending from the aperture in the outer wall of the cylinder head, through the water jacket, to an aperture in the inner wall of the cylinder head. Additionally, the assembly may include a seal joining the second sleeve to the first sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2015
    Assignee: Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert T. MacVicar, Brent Valesano, Frank J. Kalemba
  • Patent number: 9127601
    Abstract: A control system for an engine includes an valve actuator, a cylinder pressure module, and a valve control module. The valve actuator opens a valve of a cylinder at a first target opening timing during a first combustion cycle of the cylinder. The cylinder pressure module receives a cylinder pressure measured by a cylinder pressure sensor of the cylinder and, at a predetermined crankshaft angle after the valve opens during the first combustion cycle, sets a valve opening pressure equal to the cylinder pressure. The valve control module receives a reference cylinder pressure and generates a second target opening timing for a second combustion cycle of the cylinder based on the valve opening pressure and the reference cylinder pressure. The second combustion cycle is after the first combustion cycle. During the second combustion cycle, the valve actuator opens the valve at the second target opening timing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2015
    Inventors: Joel Cowgill, Ben W. Moscherosch
  • Patent number: 9103277
    Abstract: A moment-cancelling, four-stroke engine is disclosed. The engine includes a first cylinder having a first piston and a second cylinder having a second piston, a first crankshaft operably connected to the first piston and a second crankshaft operably connected to the second piston. The first crankshaft rotates in a first direction and the second crankshaft rotates in a second direction that is opposite the first direction to cancel the moments applied to the engine and reduce engine vibration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Inventor: Daniel Sexton Gurney
  • Patent number: 9057337
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio control system for an internal combustion engine has a perturbation control which oscillates the air-fuel ratio with a first frequency. A first difference signal is generated indicative of a difference between a present value and a first past value from an air-fuel ratio sensor detected at a timing of a first specific period which is set to reduce a specific frequency component corresponding to a specific frequency different from the first frequency. A first frequency component is extracted. A second difference signal is generated indicative of a difference between a present value and a second past value detected at a timing of a second specific period which is set to reduce the first frequency component. The specific frequency component is extracted. A failure of the control system is determined by a relationship between intensities of the first frequency component and the specific frequency component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Tooru Sekiguchi, Atsuhiro Miyauchi, Takeshi Aoki, Michinori Tani, Takashi Yanagiura, Seiji Watanabe
  • Patent number: RE45644
    Abstract: The present invention provides an injector-ignition fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine, comprising an ECU controlling a heated catalyzed fuel injector for heating and catalyzing a next fuel charge, wherein the ECU uses a one firing cycle look-ahead algorithm for controlling fuel injection. The ECU may further incorporate a look-up table, auto-tuning functions and heuristics to compensate for the rapid rotational de-acceleration that occurs near top dead center in lightweight small ultra-high compression engines as may be used with this invention. The ECU may further ramp heat input to the injector in response to engine acceleration requests and, under such circumstances, may extend its look-ahead for up to four firing cycles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignee: Transonic Combustion, Inc.
    Inventor: Michael C Cheiky