Patents Examined by Bradley King
  • Patent number: 9033120
    Abstract: Shock absorber for an at least partially muscle-powered bicycle having a damper device having a first and a second damper chamber assigned thereto which are hydraulically coupled with one another through a damping valve. In the damping valve a flow duct with a field-sensitive, rheological medium is provided. The damping valve has a field generating device assigned to it which serves for generating and controlling a field intensity in the flow duct of the damping valve. The flow duct comprises in the damping valve a collection chamber which is hydraulically connected with the first damper chamber through a plurality of flow apertures, wherein at least one flow aperture is configured as a through hole and at least one flow aperture, as a closable valve opening provided with a one-way valve. The collection chamber is hydraulically connected hydraulically with the second damper chamber via a plurality of fan-type damping ducts each separated from one another by a fan wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: DT Swiss Inc.
    Inventors: Stefan Battlogg, Martin Walthert, Michael Kieber, Juergen Poesel
  • Patent number: 9022181
    Abstract: A brake drum configured for providing an visual indication of braking surface diameter safe operating limits while the brake drum is mounted on a vehicle that includes one or more axially-oriented indentations defined in the braking surface, each of which is defined to a depth that is less than or corresponds to the maximum safe operating diameter of the braking surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: Webb Wheel Products, Inc.
    Inventor: Johnathon Kent Capps
  • Patent number: 9022488
    Abstract: A braking system for a vehicle, particularly a commercial vehicle, includes an operating brake device for providing an operating brake function for braking the vehicle, and a parking brake device for providing a parking brake function independently of the operating brake system. If one of the two braking devices partially or completely fails, the vehicle can be braked automatically by means of the other braking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2015
    Assignee: WABCO GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Beier, Uwe Bensch, Christoph Brockmann, Gerhard Bruns, Henning Förster, Olaf Jantz, Hartmut Rosendahl, Wolfgang Strache, Jens Willms
  • Patent number: 9016445
    Abstract: A light-weight and sound-damped brake rotor for a vehicle braking system includes a rotor hat and a rotor cheek supported by the rotor hat. The rotor hat includes an axially-protruding central hub and a flange that extends radially from and circumferentially around the central hub. The rotor cheek, which provides at least one braking surface, is formed from two or more separate and distinct pieces which are fixedly secured to the flange of the rotor hat. Located within the rotor cheek underneath the at least one braking surface is a vibration damping element. The brake rotor derives its vibration-deadening and sound-damping effects from the vibration damping element through the occurrence of relative frictional contacting movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 28, 2015
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Michael D. Hanna, Mark T. Riefe, Mohan Sundar, Brent D. Lowe, Andrew L. Bartos
  • Patent number: 9010505
    Abstract: A shock absorber is provided. The shock absorber includes: a piston rod; an inner passage having an inlet port at an outer periphery of the piston rod; and a stopper installed at the outer periphery of the piston rod. The stopper is disposed to surround the inlet port of the inner passage, and an outer passage extending from an upper portion of the stopper to the inlet port is formed between the stopper and the piston rod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Mando Corporation
    Inventor: Wan Sang Park
  • Patent number: 9004242
    Abstract: Apparatus for absorbing shock, particularly repetitive shocks, comprises a frame and a shock-absorbing component comprising a shape memory alloy (SMA). In one type of apparatus, one or more SMA rings (65) are mounted on brackets (64) on a frame (62, 63) so that shock received by the frame from one direction changes the shape of the rings into ellipses with major chords in a first direction, and shock received by the frame from the opposite direction changes the shape of the rings into ellipses with major chords in a second direction which is at right angles to the first direction. In other types of apparatus, SMA shock-absorbing components (16, 27, 37, 46, 89) are mounted in a frame (11, 12,13,14,15,17, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32, 34, 35, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47) so that the way in which the shock-absorbing component is deformed is independent of the direction of the shock received by the frame.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Inventor: Darel E. Hodgson
  • Patent number: 9004617
    Abstract: A brake device can prevent deterioration of braking force by applying a predetermined pressure in the drive hydraulic pressure chamber even when an electric system failure occurs. The brake device includes a stroke simulator portion, regulator, a first passage connecting the accumulator and the high pressure port of the regulator, a second passage connecting the reservoir tank and the low pressure port of the regulator, a third passage connecting the stroke simulator portion and the pilot pressure input port of the regulator, a fourth passage connecting the drive hydraulic pressure chamber and the output port of the regulator and a fifth passage connecting the accumulator and the drive hydraulic pressure chamber bypassing the high pressure port. The normally open type pressure decrease control valve is provided in the second passage or in the fourth passage whereas the normally closed pressure increase control valve is provided in the fifth passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Advics Co., Ltd
    Inventor: Satoshi Ishida
  • Patent number: 8998181
    Abstract: In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, an apparatus includes a connection body and a connection element arranged at least partially within the connection body. The connection body is operable to couple to a first element in a link arrangement and the connection element is operable to couple to a second element in the link arrangement. The apparatus further includes a metallic spring system arranged circumferentially around at least a portion of the connection element. The metallic spring system is operable to compress in response to relative movement between the connection body and the connection element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph R. Carpenter, Jr.
  • Patent number: 8991571
    Abstract: In a hydraulic shock absorber, a damping force generating device provided between a piston side oil chamber of a cylinder and a rod side oil chamber is provided with a through-hole which communicates the piston side oil chamber of the cylinder with the rod side oil chamber of the cylinder via an outer flow path of the cylinder. A leading end portion of a piston rod is provided with a needle which can come in and out of the through-hole of the damping force generating device, and an opening degree of the through-hole can be varied by the needle according to a forward and backward position of the piston rod with respect to the oil chamber of the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Showa Corporation
    Inventor: Yosuke Murakami
  • Patent number: 8991564
    Abstract: A disk brake includes a caliper body having a cylinder portion (25) with a cylindrical shape. The cylinder portion (25) has a bore (30) with a bottom (34) formed by integrally joining together an opening peripheral edge (98) at the bottom side of the cylinder portion (25) and a bottom cover member (92) to be fitted to the opening peripheral edge (98) through friction stir welding. The bottom cover member (92) has a disk shape and is friction-stir-welded along the outer periphery thereof. The terminating point of the friction stir welding is within the boundaries of the bottom cover member (92).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shinji Suzuki, Takahiro Tokunaga, Yuichi Kobayashi, Yasuhisa Omata, Jun Watanabe, Seunghwan Park, Akihiro Sato, Satoshi Hirano, Kazutaka Okamoto
  • Patent number: 8985713
    Abstract: Vehicle brake system comprises a hydraulic brake device, a regenerative brake device to drive wheels driven by a generator-motor and a brake control device for cooperatively controlling the hydraulic brake force and the regenerative brake force in response to an operation amount of a brake operation member. This vehicle brake system further includes a differential amount calculating portion calculating a differential amount by subtracting a regeneration execution brake force obtained by execution of the generator-motor from a regeneration request brake force, a regenerative range judging portion for judging whether the regeneration request brake force is within a range of a re-generable brake force which is executable by the generator-motor and a hydraulic pressure restricting portion for restricting increase of the hydraulic brake force when the differential amount is a positive value and the regeneration request brake force is within the range of the re-generable brake force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Advics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masayuki Naito, Masahiro Matsuura, Akitaka Nishio
  • Patent number: 8979082
    Abstract: A vibration damping bushing including: an inner axial member; an outer cylindrical member through which the inner axial member is inserted; a main rubber elastic body elastically connecting the two members; and a stopper member that is fitted onto the inner axial member as a component of a first stopper mechanism that limits relative displacement of the inner axial member against the outer cylindrical member to one side in an axial direction. The inner axial member is formed with a latching depression that opens toward an outer periphery thereof, and the stopper member is provided with a latching piece that protrudes outward in the axial direction. The latching piece is engaged with the latching depression so as to provide a slipping out prevention mechanism for preventing the stopper member from slipping out from the inner axial member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignees: Tokai Rubber Industries, Ltd., Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Makino, Chiharu Tanaka, Akira Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8979217
    Abstract: An electropneumatic pressure regulating module, formed as a structural unit, is described for an electropneumatic brake system of a vehicle, including: at least two separately regulable pressure regulating channels, wherein a regulated working pressure, acting at at least one working pressure port, for at least one brake application device of the brake system is generated for each pressure regulating channel on the basis of working air originating from at least one compressed air store and as a function of braking demand signals of a brake transducer, in which to form pressure regulating channels having separate pneumatic circuits, each pressure regulating channel is assigned at least one dedicated storage pressure port which can be connected to a dedicated compressed air store, and in which the pneumatic flow paths of each pressure regulating channel are formed so as to be pneumatically separate, at least proceeding from the respective storage pressure port as far as the respective working pressure port, fro
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Knorr-Bremse Systeme fuer Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH
    Inventors: Juergen Steinberger, Péter Frank, Michael Herges, Martin Mederer
  • Patent number: 8978842
    Abstract: A bicycle disc brake rotor basically has an outer portion, an inner portion and an intermediate portion. The outer portion is made of a first material. The inner portion is made of the first material. The intermediate portion is disposed between the outer portion and the inner portion. The intermediate portion is made of the first material. The intermediate portion is at least partially laminated by a layer made of a second material. The second material is different from the first material. The layer has a contour tracing a contour of the intermediate portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Shimano Inc.
    Inventors: Toru Iwai, Makoto Souwa
  • Patent number: 8979076
    Abstract: An air spring device having a folding bellows which protects the rolling fold against contaminants, the folding bellows being fastened to that end of the rolling piston which lies opposite the rolling fold, and surrounding the outer guide at least over the length of the latter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG
    Inventor: Holger Oldenettel
  • Patent number: 8978835
    Abstract: Apparatus for controlling the rotational speed of a wheel of a skateboard or other similar wheeled device includes a lug adapter projecting away from a wheel axle, a wheel contact member for engaging the wheel face, wheel contact member engagement structure applying a frictional force to the wheel contact member and manually operable control structure to vary the magnitude of the frictional force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 17, 2015
    Inventor: Jason Mathew Larock
  • Patent number: 8973719
    Abstract: A mounting system for a brake pad in the housings of a disk brake yoke in which the brake pad comprises at its ends two mounting ears (10), each ear being mounted in a housing of a disk brake yoke. The mounting system comprises for each pad ear, a spring (5) of linear or lamella shape, intended to bear, on the one hand, below a lower face (12) of the ear and, on the other hand, on the lower face of the housing of the yoke so as to separate the lower face (12) of the ear from the lower face of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Chassis Brakes International B.V.
    Inventors: Magali Rossignol, Pascal Champion, Daniel Audinay, Thierry Pasquet, Jan Vinck, Matthieu Legendre
  • Patent number: 8974012
    Abstract: An electric autobrake interlock system for an aircraft includes an autobrake power interlock mechanism that prevents inadvertent (uncommanded) application of brakes. The autobrake power interlock removes operating power from the brake actuators whenever the autobrake actuation data does not indicate a legitimate autobrake application condition. The interlock processing occurs in parallel with the autobrake command processing such that even if an inadvertent autobrake command is generated, the brake actuators will be enable to act upon the inadvertent autobrake command. In this regard, the brake actuators are unable to apply brakes automatically unless the following two actions happen concurrently: the operating power is provided to enable the electric brake actuators and autobrake actuation control is commanded in response to the legitimate autobrake application condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: T. Todd Griffith, David T. Yamamoto, Andreea D. Uta
  • Patent number: 8973725
    Abstract: A shock strut includes a relief device that reduces the internal pressure within a sealed chamber of the shock strut when a load condition that exceeds a maximum operating load condition is encountered. The reduced pressure permits a telescopically moving piston of the shock strut to be received into a corresponding cylinder to an amount that increases the structural capability of the shock strut, especially with respect to applied side loads that generate bending and shearing stresses in the shock strut. In one embodiment, the reduced pressure permits the piston to “bottom out” relative to the cylinder, which is a condition not otherwise achievable without the relief device. This additional stroke achievable by the piston reduces or eliminates the need to reinforce and thus add weight to the shock strut because of higher load condition design requirements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Goodrich Corporation
    Inventors: Paul J. Lavigne, Paul Vanderpol
  • Patent number: 8973716
    Abstract: Brake mechanisms for a wheel of non-motorized wheeled vehicle such as, e.g., a shopping cart, are described. In various embodiments, the brake mechanism can provide a variable amount of braking force or torque between zero and an amount sufficient to lock the wheel. In some embodiments, the brake mechanism includes a brake plate that is movable toward and away from a surface of the wheel hub along a direction parallel to the rotation axis of the wheel. The brake plate is configured not to rotate when the wheel and hub are rotating. Frictional engagement between the brake plate and the surface of the wheel hub provides the braking force. The brake plate and/or the surface of the wheel hub can include engagement features such as, e.g., protrusions and slots. In some embodiments, the brake mechanism fits entirely within the wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Gatekeeper Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: John C. McKay, Stephen E. Hannah