Patents Examined by Charles J Brauch
  • Patent number: 11926208
    Abstract: A reserve fuel tank retention and control (RTRC) module and a method of operating a vehicle including an engine and a main fuel tank containing a fuel, the method including mounting the RTRC module onto the vehicle; fluidly connecting the RTRC module to the engine and to the main fuel tank; actuating a valve of the RTRC module for a predetermined time to purge moisture in a fuel supply hose into the engine; and upon the main fuel tank becoming empty, actuating the valve to allow fuel from the reserve fuel tank to supply the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: S & J 117, LLC
    Inventors: Samuel S. Conte, Jeffrey Britton
  • Patent number: 11927166
    Abstract: A control method is provided for an internal combustion engine which includes a turbocharger, and which is connected to a stepped automatic transmission. The control method includes judging whether or not an upshift of the automatic transmission is performed; performing a first torque down control by an ignition timing retard of the internal combustion engine during the upshift; judging whether or not a predicted torque estimated from a driving condition of the internal combustion engine is greater than a target torque at an end of the upshift; and performing a second torque down control by the ignition timing retard of the internal combustion engine when the predicted torque is greater than the target torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignees: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD., RENAULT S.A.S.
    Inventors: Jooyong Jung, Yuzuru Tohta, Ryouichi Ootaki, Tetsuya Nishiyama, Charlotte Giordano, Tony De-Oliveira
  • Patent number: 11927158
    Abstract: An apparatus and methods are provided for an air cleaner to be mounted onto an air inlet of an internal combustion engine. The air cleaner comprises an air filter that includes a filter medium disposed between a curved base and a cover. The curved base provides an interface between the air filter and the air inlet, and comprises a shape that provides clearance between the curved base and an electric choke installed onto a carburetor comprising the air inlet. The cover secures the air filter and the curved base to the air inlet such that an airstream is drawn through the filter medium and is conducted into the air inlet. A raised portion of the cover is configured to cooperate with the curved base to ensure a desired volume of the airstream is available to the air inlet at substantially all engine speeds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: K&N Engineering, Inc.
    Inventors: Steve E. Williams, Jere James Wall
  • Patent number: 11920565
    Abstract: A method for determining improved control parameters of a number of wind turbines of a wind park is provided. The method considers the impact of individual turbine manufacturing tolerances on the turbine performance, thereby avoiding under-utilization of those wind turbines. The method includes the steps of: receiving, by an interface, one or more actual manufacturing tolerances of characteristic values for each of the number of wind turbines; determining, by a processing unit, for each of the number of wind turbines a power versus wind speed map which is calculated from a given turbine model with the one or more actual manufacturing tolerances of the respective wind turbines as input parameters; and deriving, by the processing unit, the control parameters for each of the number of wind turbines from their associated power versus wind speed map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S
    Inventors: Ziad Azar, Richard Clark, Alexander Duke, Stuart Logan, Arwyn Thomas, Zhan-Yuan Wu
  • Patent number: 11913373
    Abstract: A variable capacity turbocharger includes a housing, a turbine impeller at least partially located in the housing, a scroll flow path located in the housing and encircling the turbine impeller, a first nozzle ring and a second nozzle ring facing each other in the housing, a nozzle flow path located between the first nozzle ring and the second nozzle ring and fluidly coupling the scroll flow path to the turbine impeller, a gap formed between the first nozzle ring and the housing, and a bearing hole located in the first nozzle ring and including an opening adjacent to the gap. The gap is located on an opposite side of the first nozzle ring to the nozzle flow path. Additionally, the gap is connected to the scroll flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 27, 2024
    Inventors: Katsunori Hayashi, Yuji Kobayashi, Takafumi Ueda, Kazuhiro Onitsuka, Fumihiko Fukuhara
  • Patent number: 11905865
    Abstract: An oil change cap and system are described. A removable oil cap kit includes a removable oil cap and an oil retention bag. The removable oil cap incudes a sidewall and an interior surface, the interior surface has an opening extending therethrough. The sidewall includes an inner portion and an outer portion. The outer portion of the sidewall includes a channel formed therein for retaining an oil retention bag. The inner portion of the sidewall includes one or more protrusions to couple the removable oil cap with the oil receptacle of a motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2024
    Inventor: Jed H. Brown
  • Patent number: 11898457
    Abstract: A bearing includes: an annular main body through which a shaft is inserted; a plurality of oil supply grooves included on an inner curved surface of the main body and extending in an axial direction of the main body; a thrust bearing surface included on an end surface of the main body; a plurality of tapered portions included on the thrust bearing surface separated from an outer peripheral edge of the thrust bearing surface at intervals in a circumferential direction of the main body and communicating with the oil supply grooves, the tapered portions each becoming shallower as it extends in the circumferential direction; and an oil discharge groove included on the thrust bearing surface, passing through one tapered portion among the plurality of tapered portions, and connecting an oil supply groove and the outer peripheral edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: IHI Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Ueda
  • Patent number: 11898575
    Abstract: A housing of a centrifugal fan, a centrifugal fan and a clothes dryer; a layered structure is provided within an air duct of the housing, and the layered structure is configured to be able to divide at least a part of the air duct into at least two air layers, the width of an air layer close to a strong air end being greater than the width of an air layer close to a weak air end. Also disclosed are a centrifugal fan having the housing and a clothes dryer having the centrifugal fan. By the layered structure being disposed within the air duct, the air duct is divided into at least two air layers, and the width of the wind layer close to the strong wind end is greater than the width of the wind layer close to the weak wind end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignees: QINGDAO HAIER DRUM WASHING MACHINE CO., LTD., Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tao Li, Long Yang, Jindong Bing, Quan Liang, Dongdong Zhu, Zhenjia Chu
  • Patent number: 11897055
    Abstract: A balance adjustment method for a rotor includes an imbalance acquisition step of acquiring imbalance position and amount of the rotor after a first balance correction step of correcting balance of the rotor by cutting a compressor wheel side, an excision target section determination step of determining, based on the imbalance position and amount of the rotor, an excision target range including an imbalance correction position of the turbine wheel and a removal amount in the excision target range, and a second balance correction step of correcting the balance of the rotor by repeatedly irradiating the excision target range determined in the excision target section determination step with laser light from a laser marker device to remove by the removal amount from the turbine wheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINE & TURBOCHARGER, LTD.
    Inventors: Kazuki Matsushita, Hideyuki Kumagai, Hiroyuki Kadono
  • Patent number: 11898499
    Abstract: An example aircraft engine includes a fan and a gas turbine engine to drive the fan. The gas turbine engine has a low-pressure drive shaft operatively coupling a low-pressure turbine and a low-pressure compressor and a high-pressure drive shaft operatively coupling a high-pressure turbine and a high-pressure compressor. The aircraft engine includes a power transfer system including a differential having an input shaft, a first output shaft in gear with the low-pressure drive shaft, and a second output shaft in gear with the high-pressure drive shaft, and a gearbox between the low-pressure drive shaft of the gas turbine engine and the first output shaft of the differential. The gearbox is configured to provide power transfer through the differential from the low-pressure drive shaft to the high-pressure drive shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventor: Joseph M. Dirusso
  • Patent number: 11891909
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for electric turbochargers. In one example, a turbocharger comprises a shaft coupling a compressor wheel to a turbine wheel, an electric machine including a stator encircling the shaft between the compressor wheel and the turbine wheel, and an oil supply passage formed in a housing of the electric machine and fluidly coupled to a first oil nozzle oriented toward the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: TRANSPORTATION IP HOLDINGS, LLC
    Inventors: Adam Felton, Christopher Homison, Louis Kobielski
  • Patent number: 11891930
    Abstract: A method of operating an exhaust valve of a two-stroke internal combustion engine is disclosed. The engine has a cylinder and a piston movably disposed within the cylinder. The cylinder defines at least one exhaust port for discharging exhaust fluid from the cylinder. The exhaust valve is configured to cyclically obstruct the exhaust port. The method includes: rotating the exhaust valve in a first direction for clearing the exhaust port before the piston uncovers the exhaust port during a downstroke of the piston, the first direction being opposite a direction of rotation of a crankshaft of the engine; and rotating the exhaust valve in the first direction for at least partially closing the exhaust port before the piston fully covers the exhaust port during an upstroke of the piston, said rotating of the exhaust valve relative to the rotation of the crankshaft at least partially counterbalancing the crankshaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: BRP-ROTAX GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventors: Nigel Foxhall, Markus Doppelbauer, Heinz Kusel, Matthias Zarhuber, Roland Kirchberger, Franz Winkler, Andrea Abis
  • Patent number: 11894666
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to a conduit or pipe retention assembly for a vehicle. A vehicle fluid conduit outer perimeter surface includes one or more protrusions mechanically printed on the outer perimeter surface of the conduit or pipe. A mounting clip is mounted to the fluid conduit adjacent to one of the protrusions. The mounting clip includes retention devices for attaching the conduit to a vehicular structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Cooper Standard Automotive, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis G. Kreft, Alex Grant
  • Patent number: 11891180
    Abstract: A seat control system of an air vehicle for urban air mobility (UAM)UAM is provided. When the air vehicle turns strongly to one side during rotor failure of the air vehicle for UAM, side pads and air cells prevent the head and the body of a passenger seated on a seat in the air vehicle from being sharply tilted to the one side. Additionally, air bags of the side pads prevent and cushion impact energy applied to the head of the passenger at the moment when the air vehicle lands on the ground.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation
    Inventor: Jin Hyuck Heo
  • Patent number: 11885026
    Abstract: A component for an electrochemical device, the component including: a metallic substrate; and a plurality of particles bonded to a surface of the substrate by a metallurgical bond, wherein the particles include a metal, carbon, or a combination thereof, wherein the metallurgical bond is between the particles and the substrate, wherein a total projected area of the metallurgical bond is less than 90% of a total projected area of the substrate, and wherein the metallurgical bond has a composition which is a combination of a composition of the metallic substrate and a composition of the particle, a reaction product of the metallic substrate and the particle, or a combination thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: TREADSTONE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
    Inventor: Conghua Wang
  • Patent number: 11879710
    Abstract: A mitigation control system, for performing an active hazard mitigation method, is arranged in an environment containing an energetic material and includes an abnormal temperature sensor for detecting an abnormal temperature of the environment, a power source that is mechanically actuated by the abnormal temperature sensor when the abnormal temperature exceeds a predetermined abnormal temperature threshold, a mitigation controller that is actuated by the power source, and a plurality of local temperature sensors that are communicatively coupled to the mitigation controller and are arranged for detecting critical temperatures in specific regions of the environment. The mitigation controller executes a mitigation action when one of the critical temperatures exceeds a predetermined critical temperature threshold for the corresponding specific region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2023
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: Raytheon Company
    Inventors: Dennis D. Barents, Kim L. Christianson, Aaron C. Lattimore, Andrew K. Knight
  • Patent number: 11879411
    Abstract: A gas turbine engine includes a casing, a rotor assembly rotatably mounted within the casing, the rotor assembly comprising a forward rotor portion defining a forward rotor cavity and an aft rotor portion defining an aft rotor cavity, the aft rotor cavity being fluidly isolated from the forward rotor cavity, and a cooling system. The cooling system includes a forward cooling fluid supply, a forward supply line providing fluid communication between the forward cooling fluid supply and the forward rotor cavity, an aft cooling fluid supply, an aft supply line providing fluid communication between the aft cooling fluid supply and the aft rotor cavity, and a flow control system fluidly coupled to the forward supply line and the aft supply line for regulating a flow of forward cooling fluid and a flow of aft cooling fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Rajesh Kumar, Prateek Jalan, Kudum Shinde, Atanu Saha, Hiranya Kumar Nath, Ravindra Shankar Ganiger
  • Patent number: 11879337
    Abstract: Disclosed is a thermodynamic cycle process, performing transfer between mechanical and heat energies, by changing a state of a fluid, including: an expansion of the fluid, an energy retrieval from the fluid expansion, a step of powering a liquid pump or a gas compressor with the retrieved energy, using a cyclic free piston expander which alternatively changes direction of the free piston sliding: by alternatively: closing the fluidic communication between the both opposite sides of the free piston, to make different from each other the pressures applied respectively thereon, so the free piston slides in a first direction, opening a fluidic communication between both opposite sides of the free piston, to make equal to each other the pressures applied respectively thereon, so the free piston slides in a second direction opposite to the first direction, the free piston sliding, directly and mechanically, opening and closing, the fluidic communication.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2024
    Assignee: SARUS
    Inventors: Quentin Danel, Madhav Rathour
  • Patent number: 11873833
    Abstract: An axial-flow fan includes a hub that is to be rotated and defines a rotation axis, and a vane provided on a circumference of the hub. The vane includes a leading edge, a trailing edge, an outer circumferential edge, and an inner circumferential edge. The vane is shaped such that a first line chart in a first diagram includes a downward convex portion that is convex further downward than a first virtual line chart, the first virtual line chart being a linear line connecting a point representing a size of an outlet angle formed at a point of the trailing edge that is at the inner circumferential edge and a point representing a size of the outlet angle formed at a point of the trailing edge that is at the outer circumferential edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 16, 2024
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuyuki Yamamoto, Takahide Tadokoro
  • Patent number: 11867127
    Abstract: The invention concerns a planetary gear box with a flow guidance device for a planet gear lubricant stream in the planetary gear box, which is directed at least partially along a planet gear after an engagement with a sun gear, characterized by a collecting region of the flow guidance device in which the planet gear lubricant stream between the planet gear and the flow guidance device can be at least partially captured, and wherein the collecting region has an outlet region between the flow guidance device and the tooth face of the planet gear for at least a part of the planet gear lubricant stream, and an edge is arranged at the outlet region for defined constriction of the passage for the planet gear lubricant stream.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2024
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE DEUTSCHLAND LTD & CO KG
    Inventor: Ivo Martin