Patents Examined by Ching Chang
  • Actuator for hydraulic valve of cam phaser and hydraulic valve with actuator for cam phaser
    Patent number: 9567878
    Abstract: An actuator for a hydraulic valve of a cam phaser, the actuator including a magnet housing receiving a magnetized metal sleeve and a coil that is radially enveloped by the magnetized metal sleeve generating a magnetic field, wherein the coil is fixated in a non-magnetizable coil carrier that is positioned in a cavity of the magnet housing, wherein the coil carrier at least partially envelops a pole core and a pole core yoke that is axially offset from the pole core, wherein the pole core and a pole core yoke are positioned so that they radially define a non-magnetic sleeve, wherein the non-magnetic sleeve forms a divider wall between the cavity of the magnet housing and an inner cavity of the non-magnetic sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: Hilite Germany GmbH
    Inventors: Matthias Lang, Dietmar Schulze
  • Valvetrain assembly
    Patent number: 9567881
    Abstract: A valvetrain for translating force and oil between a valve and intermediate member of an engine, including a rocker, a shaft, and a recess. The rocker has an inner surface, a pad for engaging the valve, a socket for engaging the intermediate member, a socket port defined in the surface, and a socket channel extending from the socket port to the socket. The shaft has a bearing surface for supporting the rocker, a channel spaced from the bearing surface, a feed port in the bearing surface, and a feed channel extending from the feed port to the channel. The rocker rotates between: closed, with the socket port and feed port aligned; and open, with the socket port spaced from the feed port. A recess is disposed in the bearing surface adjacent to the feed port and extends to a base aligned with the socket port when the rocker is open.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2017
    Assignee: GT TECHNOLOGIES
    Inventor: John Edmund Brune
  • Engine
    Patent number: 9562446
    Abstract: An engine includes: an oil control valve built in a cylinder head, and configured to control a pressure of oil to be supplied to a variable valve mechanism via a camshaft; and a cam cap fixed to an upper face of the cylinder head, and configured to rotatably support the camshaft between the cam cap and the cylinder head, as a flow passage for the oil to be force-fed from an oil pump to the oil control valve, the cam cap including: a lateral passage formed inside the cam cap, and extended in a direction along the upper face of the cylinder head; and a downward passage extended downward from the lateral passage so as to serve as a downstream side flow passage of the lateral passage, and configured to guide the oil toward the oil control valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Nobuhiro Kawakami, Hayato Sugimura, Toshihiko Oka, Kazuki Yagi
  • Valve timing control device
    Patent number: 9562447
    Abstract: A valve timing control device includes: a driving side rotating body rotating in synchronization with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine (E); a driven side rotating body rotating integrally with a camshaft of the internal combustion engine and capable of rotating relative to the driving side rotating body; a fluid pressure chamber formed by the driving side rotating body and the driven side rotating body; a partition portion arranged in the fluid pressure chamber and partitioned into a retard chamber and an advance chamber an intermediate lock mechanism including a concave portion a lock member; and a phase control unit controlling the supply of a fluid to the retard chamber and the discharge of the fluid from the advance chamber or the supply of the fluid to the advance chamber and the discharge of the fluid from the retard chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2017
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Satoshi Sakata, Masaki Kobayashi, Kazuo Ueda, Shohei Masuda
  • Control valve
    Patent number: 9556758
    Abstract: A control valve includes a valve case, a spool accommodated in the valve case, an electromagnetic solenoid operating the spool along a spool axis extending in a longitudinal direction, the valve case including a pump port, an advanced angle port, a retarded angle port, and an unlocking port, the spool being operated to at least five positions, and a lock control fluid passage formed inside the spool in an attitude along the spool axis, the lock control fluid passage allowing the fluid from the pump port to be supplied only to the unlocking port irrespective of the position of the spool when the spool is operated to any one of the positions at which the fluid is supplied from the pump port to the unlocking port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroki Mukaide, Shigemitsu Suzuki, Naoto Toma
  • Valve timing controller
    Patent number: 9556759
    Abstract: A valve timing controller has a driving rotor, a driven rotor, and a planet gear engaged with the driving rotor and the driven rotor to control a rotation phase of the driven rotor relative to the driving rotor by carrying out planet movement. The driven rotor has a contact surface in contact with a tip end of a chamfering portion of a camshaft, and a feed port passing through the driven rotor in an axial direction to introduce lubricant supplied from the camshaft into the driving rotor. The feed port has an outer edge part located on a radially outer side. The outer edge part, on a side adjacent to the contact surface, is located on a radially outer side of the tip end of the chamfering portion and is located on a radially inner side of an outer circumference part of the journal portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN, INC.
    Inventors: Makoto Otsubo, Hiroki Takahashi, Masaya Misaki
  • Translating roller lifter design for diesel engines
    Patent number: 9556754
    Abstract: A valve lifter assembly for an engine may include a valve lifter body, a roller pin mounted in the valve lifter body and having a crowned barrel portion, and a substantially cylindrical roller mounted about the crowned barrel portion of the roller pin. The roller may have a crowned outer surface with a cylindrical center portion having a constant outer diameter equal to a roller maximum outer diameter, and oppositely disposed variable outer diameter outer portions extending outwardly from either side of the cylindrical center portion toward corresponding roller ends of the roller with a roller outer diameter decreasing as the variable outer diameter outer portions extend outwardly from the cylindrical center portion. The valve lifter assembly may further include a clip having engagement surfaces that are machined to have complimentary shapes to corresponding engagement surfaces of the valve lifter body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Ashwin Ashok Hattiangadi, Terrence Lee Szmania, Brenton William Bush
  • Fuel nozzle and assembly and gas turbine comprising the same
    Patent number: 9557050
    Abstract: A nozzle for assemblies and gas turbines is provided. The nozzle exhibits destabilized flame holding characteristics, i.e., the nozzle is unable to stabilize flame up to an equivalence ratio of about 0.65. As a result, flame heat release is delayed resulting in lower peak flame temperatures and correspondingly lower NOx levels. Flame stabilization capability is retained for higher equivalence ratios to support operation of the combustor in other regions of the load range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christian Lee Vandervort, Joel Meier Haynes
  • Variable valve mechanism of internal combustion engine
    Patent number: 9556762
    Abstract: The present invention provides a variable valve mechanism of an internal combustion engine, which includes a rocker arm that is swingably supported by a single pivot, and a switching device that operates the rocker arm to switch a drive state of the valve, in which the rocker arm is configured such that at least in a predetermined drive state, a pressing force of the cam is applied disproportionately to one side of the rocker arm in a width direction with respect to a center line when the cam presses a portion of the rocker arm located away from the center line in the width direction. The variable valve mechanism further includes a swing guide that abuts against the rocker arm so that the rocker arm is guided in a swing direction so as not to be tilted in the width direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: OTICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masatoshi Sugiura, Naoki Hiramatsu, Koki Yamaguchi
  • Low friction shim surface
    Patent number: 9556760
    Abstract: A variable valve actuating mechanism comprising a camshaft having two concentric cam lobes that may be rotated relative to one another a summation lever engaging with both cam lobes, a valve actuating rocker pivotally connected to the summation lever and engaging with a hydraulic lash adjuster at a first end and with a valve at a second end, and a shim surface movable with the pivot axis connecting the summation lever to the valve actuating rocker for limiting the expansion of the hydraulic lash adjuster to control clearance in the rocker system, wherein, in order to reduce friction, the shim surface abuts with a stationary stop surface that forms part of a camshaft support bearing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: MECHADYNE INTERNATIONAL LTD.
    Inventors: Ian Methley, Timothy Mark Lancefield
  • Ductile compensation layer for brittle components
    Patent number: 9551231
    Abstract: Disclosed is a blade element of a turbomachine, in particular of a gas turbine, which comprises a fastening element (10) with which the blade element is arranged in a receptacle (11) of the turbomachine. In the region of the fastening element, the blade element has a core region (18) and an envelope region (19) which at least partially envelops the core region. The core region is formed from a blade base material which is more brittle than the envelope material of the envelope region, and the envelope region is formed by a coating. The envelope material is a blade base material which has been modified to achieve a higher ductility or is a pseudoelastic or superelastic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: MTU AERO ENGINES AG
    Inventors: Erich Steinhardt, Wilfried Smarsly, André Werner
  • Electric motor driven simple planetary cam phaser
    Patent number: 9551244
    Abstract: A cam phaser (10) dynamically adjusts a rotational relationship of a camshaft (24) of an internal combustion engine with respect to an engine crankshaft (34). A cam sprocket (20) can be driven by an endless loop power transmission member connected to a drive sprocket (36) mounted for rotation with the engine 5 crankshaft (34). The cam phaser (10) can include a planetary gear drive train (12) having a centrally located sun gear (14) connected for rotation with the cam sprocket (20), a ring gear (18) connected for rotation with the camshaft (24), and a plurality of planet gears (16a, 16b) supported by a carrier (22) in meshing engagement between the sun gear (14) and the ring gear (18). A phase adjustment gear (26) can be 10 connected for rotation with the carrier (22). The sun gear (14) can drive the planet gears (16a, 16b) in rotation thereby causing the ring gear (18) to be driven in rotation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventor: Dan J. Showalter
  • Torsion assembly for controllably providing torque to a camshaft
    Patent number: 9551245
    Abstract: A torsion assembly for providing controllable torsion to a camshaft, including: a spring assembly including a first spring; and, a contact element arranged to engage at least one lobe for the camshaft. For a locked mode: the contact element is arranged to be displaced by the at least one cam lobe; the contact element is arranged to compress the first spring; and the first spring is arranged to impart a first torque to the camshaft via the contact element. For an unlocked mode, the contact element is arranged to be displaced by the at least one cam lobe and the contact element is arranged to impart a second torque, less than the first torque, to the cam shaft via the contact element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2017
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Jeffrey Shewell, John Stallmann
  • Variable valve mechanism of internal combustion engine
    Patent number: 9540969
    Abstract: The present invention provides a variable valve mechanism, which includes a rocker arm including an input member and an output member; a switching device that switches a drive state of the valve by displacing the switching pin between a coupling position at which the switching pin extends between the first pinhole in the input member and the second pin hole in the output member and a non-coupling position at which the switching pin does not extend; and a lost motion spring. A displacement clearance is formed between an inner peripheral surface of the first or second pin hole and an outer peripheral surface of the switching pin to permit the relative displacement in a range of the displacement clearance at a coupled time so that a tappet clearance is not formed with the input member urged toward the cam by the lost motion spring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: OTICS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koki Yamaguchi, Masatoshi Sugiura, Naoki Hiramatsu
  • Variable valve timing camshaft
    Patent number: 9540964
    Abstract: A variable valve timing camshaft which may be connected to a continuous variable valve timing apparatus having a rotor and a stator which are adapted to relatively rotate with each other and may be operated so as to vary open/close timing of valve may include a non-control camshaft coupled to the continuous variable valve timing apparatus, having a first drive gear rotating together with the rotor and a second drive gear rotating together with the stator, and rotating according to rotation of an engine without varying a phase along a circumferential direction, a control camshaft having an outer shaft rotating according to one of the first drive gear or the second drive gear, an inner shaft rotating according to the other of the first drive gear or the second drive gear, an outer cam, and an inner cam and a limiting device limiting end play of the inner shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Hyounghyoun Kim
  • System and method for preventing sticking of continuous variable valve timing locking-pin
    Patent number: 9540967
    Abstract: A method of preventing sticking of a CVVT locking pin includes a condition determining step that determines whether a CVVT operation condition is satisfied, an locking-pin unlocking step that unlocks a locking-pin before the CVVT is operated, and a CVVT operating step that operates the CVVT, and a system for preventing sticking of a CVVT locking pin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hyun Kim, Sung Joo Kim
  • Oil control valve system for valve actuation switching
    Patent number: 9540966
    Abstract: An oil control valve system according to one example of the present disclosure incorporates a common or interchangeable oil control valve at distinct locations of an engine to direct operation of switching mechanisms over sets of three cylinders. In another aspect of the present disclosure, four interchangeable oil control valves are used in a six-cylinder engine. Utilizing interchangeable oil control valves minimizes design costs, reduces assembly time, lessens repair or replacement burdens, and allows for enhanced engine performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventor: Austin Robert Zurface
  • Engine cylinder bank-to-bank torque imbalance correction
    Patent number: 9541018
    Abstract: An engine bank-to-bank airflow balancing technique includes calculating current and offset volumetric efficiencies of the engine and calculating a slope representing (i) a difference between the offset and current volumetric efficiencies and (ii) a difference between offset and current intake camshaft positions. Based on the respective exhaust gas oxygen concentrations, the technique involves calculating a volumetric efficiency correction corresponding to each cylinder bank and based on the slope and the volumetric efficiency corrections, calculating target intake camshaft position shifts. The technique further involves controlling offsets of the intake camshafts based on the target intake camshaft position shifts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventors: Ethan E Bayer, Ayman Ismail, David A Lawrence
  • Valve timing control apparatus and variable valve actuating apparatus for internal combustion engine
    Patent number: 9540968
    Abstract: A valve timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes: a power feeding brush including a tip end portion slidably abutted on the slip ring to feed electric power to the slip ring; and a rotation angle sensing mechanism including; a sensed portion provided to the one end portion of the motor output shaft, and a sensing portion provided to the cover member, and arranged to sense a rotation position of the sensed portion; the cover member including a recessed portion formed in an inner surface of the cover member, and recessed in an axially outward direction relative to the position of the opening end of the brush holding hole; and the sensed portion including a tip end portion inserted and disposed within the recessed portion to confront the sensing portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2017
    Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.
    Inventors: Mikihiro Kajiura, Yosuke Iwase
  • Actuator for lobe switching camshaft system
    Patent number: 9534512
    Abstract: Systems and methods for actuating lobe switching in a camshaft system in an engine are disclosed. In one example approach, a method comprises deploying a first pin into a groove of a camshaft outer sleeve while a second pin remains in place due to an absence of a groove in which to deploy, and maintaining the second pin in place with a ball locking mechanism even after the second pin is exposed to a vacated groove in the camshaft outer sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Gregory Patrick McConville, Kim Hwe Ku