Patents Examined by Carl Stuart Miller
  • Patent number: 5070845
    Abstract: A fuel injection nozzle has a tubular body adapted to receive fuel, a tubular seat member mounted to the body, the seat member having an opening for discharging fuel and a valve seat surrounding the opening, a poppet valve member engageable with the valve seat to interrupt fuel flow through the opening, and an extension spring anchored to the body and to the valve member and biasing the valve member to engage the valve seat. The extension spring is a helically coiled spring with each coil lying close to the adjacent coils and with the coils at one end overlying an end of the body to anchor the spring to the body and to cause fuel flowing through the nozzle to pass between the coils of the spring; the spring thereby acts as a filter for fuel to be discharged by the nozzle. The seat member is axially movable relative to the body to adjust the length of the spring and thus the bias on the valve member whereby the desired valve-opening pressure differential may be established.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1991
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Anatol Avdenko, Richard L. Cooper, Gary J. DeAngelis, Kurt T. Hertzog, Grover W. Preston, Edwin A. Rivera, Jeffrey A. Rock, Roland S. Taylor, Robert A. Zaso
  • Patent number: 5069186
    Abstract: A fuel injection assembly for an internal combustion engine comprises a pair of solenoid valves mounted on a common manifold defining a fuel supply passage which is filled with pressurized fuel at all times during operation of the engine. The solenoid valves discharge into a common chamber having a spray nozzle located at the downstream end thereof. No valve is located between the solenoid valves and the discharge end of the spray nozzle. In use, when the solenoid valves are open, the pressure drop across the solenoid valves is small with substantially the entire pressure drop associated with the assembly occurring across the nozzle. Accordingly a relatively low hold current is required by the solenoid valves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1991
    Inventor: Mario Illien
  • Patent number: 5067468
    Abstract: An apparatus for preventing discharge of fuel vapor to the atmosphere by allowing fuel vapor in a fuel tank to be adsorbed by an adsorbing device when a fuel lid is opened. A switch is secured to a mounting bracket for rotatably supporting a fuel lid opener lever mounted in a vehicle compartment. The switch is turned on by the operation of the remote lever that opens the fuel lid, and fuel vapor is adsorbed by charcoal in a canister. The switch is adjustably secured to the mounting bracket, to facilitate positioning the pushbutton of the switch relative to the lid opening lever.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hidekazu Otowa, Kazuhiro Okada, Hidefumi Sonoda, Tadao Kaneko
  • Patent number: 5067461
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for metering fuel in a diesel engine is suggested wherein the fuel quantity is taken from a multi-dimensional characteristic field in the part-load range, in the full-load range, however, a limitation of the fuel quantity is undertaken with the aid of a lambda control. Minimal value selection stages are used for decoupling the various methods of fuel quantity control. Notwithstanding the dead times present in the system, there results a dynamically satisfying lambda control system since up to a catch curve, a rapid control and thereafter a slower lambda control are used. The use of a lambda control for full-load limiting leads to an exhaust gas almost completely free of particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Ernst-Ulrich Joachim, Hermann Kull
  • Patent number: 5067469
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes an air/fuel ratio control system for providing a desired fuel charge to the engine in relation to a measurement of inducted airflow. The mixture of inducted air and fuel is trimmed in response to an exhaust gas oxygen sensor for maintaining a desired air/fuel ratio. A fuel vapor recovery system is also included for inducting fuel vapors from the fuel system into the engine in proportion to inducted airflow. The desired fuel charge is corrected by a factor approximating response time of a change in vapor flow rate caused by a change in inducted airflow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventor: Douglas R. Hamburg
  • Patent number: 5067464
    Abstract: A mechanically pressurized electronic fuel injector for use in internal combustion engines is actuated by the engine valve train during the injection stroke. A control solenoid is mounted to the injector and has its axis inclined with respect to the axis of the injector. A control valve passage has its axis generally coaxial with the central axis of the control solenoid. Machining of the control valve passage is accomplished through the receiving boss for the control solenoid. High pressure sealing plugs, previously required to seal orifices in the exterior surface of the injector body which were needed to provide access to drill or machine the control valve passage, are completely eliminated. The drilling and machining of the control valve passage is accomplished without drilling through the exterior surface of the injector body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1991
    Assignee: Cummins Engine Company, Inc.
    Inventors: David M. Rix, Martin W. Long, Thomas R. Lee, Douglas E. Dawes
  • Patent number: 5063900
    Abstract: A mechanical speed governor for a fuel injection pump of air-compressing auto-ignition internal combustion engines has a stop bracket effecting the release of the starting quantity and limiting the full-load quantity, a flyweight arrangement with integrated positive adaptation acting in the upper speed range and a rocker lever which is in effective connection with the flyweight arrangement. The stop bracket is shifted from a position corresponding to the full-load speed. The rocker lever alters the control travel of the quantity control member for full load via the stop bracket and a counterstop connected to the quantity control member, and effects a negative adaptation in the lower speed range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: Mercedes-Benz AG
    Inventor: Ulrich Augustin
  • Patent number: 5063891
    Abstract: A fuel supply device for internal combustion engines comprises a constant level chamber, an engine-driven fuel pump having an outlet connected to the constant level chamber and an inlet connected to a fuel reservoir through a pipe provided with a non-return valve. A capacity located on the pipe is defined by a wall movable between a first position where the capacity has a maximum volume and a second position where the capacity has a minimum volume. A spring continuously biases the movable wall towards the first position. The movable wall is drawn to the second position responsive to start up of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: Solex
    Inventor: Guy Noisier
  • Patent number: 5063903
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and arrangement for controlling the fuel metered to an engine and especially to a diesel engine. The engine includes a fuel pump drive by a shaft for which injection start and injection end is fixed by a corresponding control of the electromagnetically actuated valve. The drive pulses for pump-delivery start and pump-delivery end are generated in dependence upon the analog signal of an angle sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 12, 1991
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Josef Wahl, Alf Loffler, Hermann Grieshaber, Wilhelm Polach, Ewald Eblen, Joachim Tauscher, Helmut Laufer, Ulrich Flaig, Johannes Locher, Manfred Birk, Gerhard Engel, Alfred Schmitt, Pierre Lauvin, Fridolin Piwonka, Anton Karle, Hermann Kull
  • Patent number: 5062405
    Abstract: A multiple-runner intake manifold is constructed of upper and lower parts that fit together at a joint. The upper manifold is molded thermoplastic, and the lower part is molded phenolic. The lower part contains an integral fuel rail. The lower part contains a portion of each runner. Those portions are formed as separate through-passages during molding of the lower part in the cavity of a multi-part mold. The fuel passages are molded as through-holes some ends of which are subsequently plugged by closures and other ends of which receive fittings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1990
    Date of Patent: November 5, 1991
    Assignee: Siemens Automotive L.P.
    Inventor: Paul D. Daly
  • Patent number: 5060621
    Abstract: A control system for engines equipped with both a fuel vapor recovery system and an air/fuel ratio feedback control system. The air/fuel ratio feedback control system regulates delivery of fuel in response to an exhaust gas oxygen sensor such that the mixture of air, fuel, and recovered fuel vapor approximates a desired air/fuel ratio. The fuel vapor recovery system includes two parallel solenoid valves which are phased controlled by a phase controller responsive to a measurement of inducted airflow such that total purge flow through both valves is proportional to inducted airflow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventors: Jeffrey A. Cook, Douglas R. Hamburg
  • Patent number: 5060612
    Abstract: A fuel control apparatus for an internal combustion engine comprises an intake air quantity detecting means for detecting an intake air quantity for the engine, a crank angle detecting means for detecting a crank angle of the engine, a sampling means for sampling the intake air quantity every predetermined time, a first calculating manes for calculating the means value of the sampled values every predetermined crank angle, a switching means for changing the crank angle value in accordance with the revolution speed of the engine, and a second calculating means for calculating a fuel injection quantity on the basis of the calculated means value, and a fuel injection means for injecting fuel to the engine at the fuel injection quantity obtained by the calculation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Kondo, Yasuhiko Ishida
  • Patent number: 5060620
    Abstract: A motor vehicle fuel vapor emission control assembly is disclosed to comprise fuel vapor emission control means and structural vehicle support means integral with the motor vehicle, the fuel vapor emission control means comprising: adsorption means for releasably adsorbing fuel vapors; a housing for containing the adsorption means, the housing being positioned within a hollow in a structural member, such as a frame rail, of the structural vehicle support means; and vapor communication means for communicating fuel vapor from a fuel tank or other fuel reservoir in the vehicle to the adsorption means in the housing and for communication fuel vapor from the housing to the vehicle engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 1988
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1991
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventor: Algis G. Oslapas
  • Patent number: 5058557
    Abstract: An apparatus for delivery of fuel from a storage tank to an internal combustion engine of a motor vehicle includes a pot-shaped container secured in the storage tank and a pump for delivery fluid from the storage tank into the container. An electric motor drives the pump. A second pump driven by the same electric motor delivers fluid from the container to the internal combustion engine. The second pump is located with the electric motor in a common housing. A pumping chamber is formed at an outer side of the bottom of the container, and the first mentioned pump has a delivery member located in the pumping chamber and driven by this electric motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Kurt Frank, Hermann Nusser, Willi Strohl
  • Patent number: 5058555
    Abstract: A modular fuel injector pod for holding individual fuel injectors in place on an intake manifold, cylinder head or other support surface associated with an induction system of an internal combustion engine, and for supplying fuel to the injectors. The modular fuel injector pod includes a hollow body, generally configured in four portions of successively decreasing inside diameter adapted to hold a fuel injector. Outwardly projecting tubes supply and take away unused fuel to and from the pod. Fuel used by the associated injector is sprayed into the induction chamber through an outlet in one end of the pod. A modular fuel injector assembly utilizes a pod as described above and includes a retaining clip for holding fuel injector in the pod and o-rings for providing fuel tight seals in the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: Handy & Harman Automotive Group, Inc.
    Inventors: William P. Haboush, II, John G. Schramm
  • Patent number: 5058553
    Abstract: A variable-discharge high pressure pump for pressure-feeding fuel to a common rail for use in a diesel engine. The pump has a plunger, a plunger chamber, a cam for reciprocatively moving the plunger; and opening-out type electromagnetic valve capable of opening and closing one end of the plunger chamber, a fuel reservoir, a check valve communicating with the plunger chamber, and an inlet pipe for supplying fuel to the fuel reservoir. Both the introduction of the fuel into the plunger chamber and the return of the fuel from the plunger chamber to the fuel reservoir are effected through the electromagnetic valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: Nippondenso Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shigeyuki Kondo, Yoshihisa Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 5058554
    Abstract: A fuel injection system for an engine has a plurality of bottom-feed type fuel injection valve assemblies. Each of the assemblies has an outer casing and an injector main body which is accommodated in the outer casing and is electrically operated. The outer casing is provided with a fuel inlet and a fuel outlet in communication with each other. A fuel supply pipe is connected to the fuel inlet of the upstreammost fuel injection valve assembly, and a fuel return pipe is connected to the fuel outlet of the downstreammost fuel injection valve assembly. A connection pipe connects the fuel outlet of each fuel injection valve assembly to the fuel inlet of the next fuel injection valve assembly. A wire harness for supplying power to the injector main body extends through a harness member which has a plurality of valve holders formed integrally therewith. Each valve holder is fixed to the upper portion of the outer casing by a fastener.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Masahiro Takeda, Hideo Shiraishi
  • Patent number: 5056489
    Abstract: A fuel rail for an engine fuel injection system comprises a pair of main tubes on opposite sides of the engine. A baffle is disposed within each main tube, dividing the tube into first and second flow channels. Injectors are fed from the first flow channels. A pair of closely adjacent transverse tubes intercept the main tubes at one end of the main tubes. One transverse tube introduces fuel into the first flow channel of each main tube. The fuel flows through these channels and returns via the second flow channels. The other transverse tube carries return fuel from one main tube to the other main tube where it joins the return flow from the other main tube and the flows enter a pressure regulator. The one main tube contains a twist in its baffle so that its injectors are properly communicated to the inlet fuel entering via the one transverse tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Assignee: Siemens-Bendix Automotive Electronics L.P.
    Inventor: Jack R. Lorraine
  • Patent number: 5056493
    Abstract: A fuel tank, for a vehicle or heating plant, includes a flexible air container therein, forming a fuel space outside the air container. The air container seals the interior of the fuel tank to the exterior and the fuel vapors in the fuel tank are drawn off and directed into the engine and burned. The vapors can be so drawn off by the vacuum produced by the engine, or by a pump. Fresh air from the exterior is drawn into and through the air container and directed into the fuel mixture for combustion, clearing out any vapors that may have collected in the air container. A filter is controllably utilized for adsorbing, or absorbing the vapors, and fresh air is controllably drawn into the filter for clearing those vapors out and directing them into the fuel mixture for combustion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Inventor: Walter Holzer
  • Patent number: 5056494
    Abstract: A device for treating vaporized fuel from a fuel tank of an internal combustion engine, and having a canister. The fuel tank has an inner partition wall which divides the space inside the fuel tank into a first small chamber and a second large chamber, which are separated from each other. A fuel flow is allowed at locations below the fuel levels in the first and second chambers, which are independently connected to the canister device, and a fuel filling pipe is open to the first, small chamber. A pressure control means is provided for maintaining a pressure in the second chamber higher than that in the first chamber, which is near to the atmospheric pressure, whereby fuel vapor is prevented from escaping from the first chamber during a fuel-filling operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 15, 1991
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Nobuaki Kayanuma