Patents Examined by Christopher Schwartz
  • Patent number: 9416533
    Abstract: A device for damping a transmitted vibration by the moment of inertia of a fly wheel and the adjustable resistance force of a viscous magnetic fluid to allow the viscous magnetic fluid exerts its property even under no external power source. A sleeve with an attached ball nut is disposed in a first cylinder so as to reciprocate. The reciprocating motion of the sleeve is converted into a rotational motion by a ball screw to rotate a fly wheel in a second cylinder and a generator rotating shaft. Between the fly wheel and the inner surface of the second cylinder, a sealed space is formed in which a viscous magnetic fluid is sealed. A magnetic field generating unit which generates a magnetic field running across the sealed space with the fly wheel serving as a part of a magnetic circuit is disposed on the inner circumference of the second cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Inventors: Osamu Takahashi, Tetsuya Tomizawa, Kazuhiko Shibata, Yusuke Sato
  • Patent number: 9415830
    Abstract: A bicycle rim brake is basically provided with first and second brake arms and a hydraulic actuation device. The first brake arm has a first coupling portion, a first actuated portion and a first mounting portion. The first coupling portion includes a first mounting fastener defining a first pivot axis of the first brake arm. The first mounting portion mounts a first friction member. The second brake arm has a second coupling portion, a second actuated portion and a second mounting portion. The second coupling portion includes a second mounting fastener defining a second pivot axis of the first brake arm. The second mounting portion mounts a second friction member. The hydraulic actuation device includes first and second pistons movably disposed in a cylinder housing and operatively coupled to the first and second actuated portions on the first and second brake arms, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Shimano Inc.
    Inventors: Shinya Hirotomi, Takaaki Fujiwara, Masahiro Nakakura
  • Patent number: 9416841
    Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for cooling damping fluid in a vehicle suspension damper unit. A damping unit includes a piston mounted in a fluid cylinder. A bypass fluid circuit having an integrated cooling assembly disposed therein is fluidly coupled to the fluid cylinder at axial locations that, at least at one point in the piston stroke, are located on opposite sides of the piston. The cooling assembly may include a cylinder having cooling fins thermally coupled to an exterior surface of the cylinder and made of a thermally conductive material. The bypass channel may include a check valve that permits fluid flow in only one direction through the bypass channel. The check valve may be remotely operated, either manually or automatically by an electronic controller. A vehicle suspension system may implement one or more damper units throughout the vehicle, controlled separately or collectively, automatically or manually.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Fox Factory, Inc.
    Inventor: John Marking
  • Patent number: 9409443
    Abstract: A wheel braking apparatus includes components that inhibit the rotation of a wheel when a ball bearing is placed in a braking position between a bearing wall of a non-rotating component and a bearing barrier of a hub interface component that is at least resistively connected to a hub of the wheel. In response to a wireless signal, the ball bearing is moved from a non-braking position and allowed to travel to a braking position between a bearing barrier of one side of a bearing groove and the bearing wall of the non-rotating component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: Carttronics, LLC.
    Inventor: Thomas K. Khuu
  • Patent number: 9408428
    Abstract: A force limiting device comprises a housing defining an axially extending chamber containing a working fluid. A force transmitting member may be mounted for linear reciprocable movement inside the chamber under the action of external loads. An axial array of plates is floatingly disposed in the chamber between the force transmitting member and an end wall of the chamber. At rest, each plate is spaced from an adjacent plate by a gap occupied by the working fluid. When the force transmitting member is displaced towards the array of plates, the fluid in the chamber causes the plates to be successively pushed against each other, thereby causing some of the fluid to be squeezed out from between the plates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: GAUDET MACHINE WORKS INC.
    Inventor: Martin Gaudet
  • Patent number: 9409556
    Abstract: A brake fluid pressure controlling actuator is equipped with a block, an electric device secured to the block, and a casing attached to the block, and a board support with a stay. The brake fluid pressure controlling actuator is designed to have the board support disposed in the casing and also have a circuit board placed in contact with the stay of the board support. The stay of the board support serves to firmly hold a portion of the circuit board around a through-hole formed in the circuit board when a terminal of an electric device is press-fitted into the through-hole, thereby minimizing the degree of bending of the circuit board to ensure the stability in electrically connecting the electric device to the circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2016
    Assignee: ADVICS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Fumitoshi Koyama, Shin Sasaki
  • Patent number: 9403515
    Abstract: A pressure transmission device for a power-assisted braking system of a vehicle; at its inlet, the pressure transmission device being connectible in a hydraulically operative manner to a master brake cylinder of the power-assisted braking system, and at its outlet, the pressure transmission device being connectible in a hydraulically operative manner to a wheel brake cylinder of the power-assisted braking system; the pressure transmission device including an accumulator and a linkage, which transmits a pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet to the accumulator and stores it in this.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventor: Jochen Mayer
  • Patent number: 9404552
    Abstract: Disclosed is a damping cartridge with a rebound stage damping unit and a compression stage damping unit as well as an compensating volume for a damping medium. According to the present invention the compression stage unit is made up of a three-way unit with a high-speed-, a mid-speed- and a low-speed flow path. Furthermore the compensating volume is made up of a tube bladder, which at least partially encompasses the compression stage unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2016
    Assignee: B-Labs AG
    Inventors: Stefan Sack, Andreas Felsl
  • Patent number: 9399495
    Abstract: The present invention refers to the field of steering dampers for motorcycles in general and in particular it refers to a steering head integrating a magnetorheological type steering damper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2016
    Assignee: UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
    Inventors: Marco Pierini, Niccolo Baldanzini, Alessandro Giorgetti, Simone Piantini, Cosimo Monti
  • Patent number: 9394962
    Abstract: A dust cover comprising a bellows tube portion with a plurality of main valleys being of a concave shape opening towards an outer periphery of the tube portion and arranged in a linked manner. Each of the main valleys includes a pair of slope wall portions that slope to opposite axial outsides while going to an outer peripheral side, and the slope wall portion has a slope angle at its outer peripheral portion smaller than a slope angle at its inner peripheral portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: SUMITOMO RIKO COMPANY LIMITED
    Inventor: Hiroyuki Matsumura
  • Patent number: 9394955
    Abstract: A gray cast iron brake disk has a thermally applied wear-reducing surface coating containing chromium and/or tungsten carbides. The surface coating has a roughness reduced to about 0.5 to 1 ?m to shorten a wearing-in period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Huschenhoefer, Georg Ketteler, Roland Raab, Vincent Dupuis, Olivier Bugada, Hagen Kuckert, Andreas Mayer
  • Patent number: 9394966
    Abstract: The present invention provides a vibration suppression apparatus which includes a first object elastically supported on a base, a second object elastically supported on the first object, and a driving unit configured to drive the first object, and which suppresses a vibration of the second object, comprising a first generation unit configured to generate a first signal, a second generation unit configured to generate a second signal, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit, wherein the control unit controls the driving unit based on the first signal, and after the deviation between the relative distance between the base and the first object, and the first reference distance falls within an allowable range, the control unit controls the driving unit based on the first signal and the second signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tosiya Asano
  • Patent number: 9381783
    Abstract: An air spring for commercial vehicles includes a rolling-lobe flexible member which is made of an elastomeric material and which at one end thereof is fastened to a first attachment part and at the other end thereof is fastened to a second attachment part in the form of a roll-off piston. The ends of the rolling-lobe flexible member each have a fastening bead which is reinforced in each case by a bead core. At least one of the two bead cores consists of plastic material. In order to achieve greater strength of the fastening bead, the bead core or the bead cores include a multiply-wound, flat profile strip made of glass-fiber-reinforced plastic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2016
    Assignee: ContiTech Luftfedersysteme GmbH
    Inventors: Boris Balachonzew, Reinhard Stahmer
  • Patent number: 9376807
    Abstract: A passive structural system includes a structural element which may be subjected to energy which gives rise to vibration in the element. At least one bi-stable sub-structure is coupled to the element. Each bi-stable sub-structure has two stable equilibrium states between which the sub-structure can physically transition when subjected to a sufficient amount of energy which gives rise to vibration in the element, with each bi-stable sub-structure arranged to dissipate at least a portion of the energy and thereby damp the vibration in the structural element when it transitions from one equilibrium state to the other. The passive structural system may also be intentionally mistuned such that when subjected to energy which gives rise to vibration, the vibration energy is substantially confined to localized regions within the system. The bi-stable structures are then located in the localized regions and arranged to dissipate the localized vibration energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: TELEDYNE SCIENTIFIC & IMAGING, LLC
    Inventors: Bing-Chung Chen, Kyle D. Gould, Ten-Luen Liao
  • Patent number: 9377077
    Abstract: A braked spring element includes a first spring mechanism for absorbing and releasing energy, a second spring mechanism for absorbing and releasing energy and a damper assembly held between the first spring mechanism and the second spring mechanism, the damper assembly including a damper piston displaceably disposed in a fluid space and a piston rod connected to the damper piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: Hahn Gasfedem GmbH
    Inventors: Gerhard Fitterling, Hans Christian Intelmann
  • Patent number: 9377078
    Abstract: A first orifice provides a connection between a first liquid chamber and a third liquid chamber that are formed in pairs to cause a volume variation in an opposite direction, and a second orifice provides a connection between a second liquid chamber and a fourth liquid chamber. A first communicating passage communicates between a second liquid chamber side portion of the second orifice and a second liquid chamber neighboring portion of the first orifice. In order of height of an input vibration frequency, a first resonance in the first orifice, a second resonance mainly in the second orifice between an enlarged liquid chamber consisting of the first and second liquid chambers, and the fourth liquid chamber, and a third resonance in a location that the first liquid chamber is connected through the first communicating passage to the second liquid chamber are produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: YAMASHITA RUBBER KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Kadowaki
  • Patent number: 9377074
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device comprising a suspension system, which suspension system comprises a first part to which a mass is applied, a second part and an air spring arranged between said first part and said second part, at least one additional volume means for air being provided, the volume of which can be connected in a controlled manner, and a control means for connecting the volume of the additional volume means, wherein, via the control means, a pressure accumulator and the additional volume means are in fluid communication with the air spring such that a force/displacement characteristic line of the air spring can itself be modified depending on a deflection displacement and/or rebound displacement and/or speed and/or acceleration of the first part in a presettable manner, by connecting the additional volume and/or the pressure accumulator by means of the control means during the deflection and/or rebound of the first part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: GRAMMER AG
    Inventor: Konstantin Lorey
  • Patent number: 9377071
    Abstract: A pad spring for a disk brake includes a mounting portion configured to be elastically mounted onto radial outside portions of pad support members of the disk brake; a pressure portion having a pair of pressure arms configured to elastically press outer circumferential edges of circumferential-direction one-end portions of back plates of pads of the disk brake inwardly in a radial direction of a rotor of the disk brake; and a held plate section formed between torque transmission surfaces of the back plates and torque receiving surfaces of the pad support members. The pad spring is formed by bending an elastic and corrosion-resistant metal plate so as to elastically press the pads in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2016
    Assignee: AKEBONO BRAKE INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenichi Shimamura, Kotaro Mizukoshi
  • Patent number: 9371845
    Abstract: The brake or coupling system (1) comprises a first piston (2) arranged in a first piston cylinder (3) thereby forming a first piston chamber (5) and a second piston (8) arranged in a second piston cylinder (9) thereby forming a second piston chamber (10). The first piston (2) is adapted to be displaced between a braking position and a rest position. The first piston (2) is spring biased in the direction of its rest position, and the second piston (8) is adapted to adjust a distance (X) provided between a friction element (6) and a rotatable element (7) in the rest position of the first piston (2) by means of adjustment of a volume of hydraulic fluid trapped in the second piston chamber (10). At least one spring element is arranged to act between the first and second pistons (2, 8).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Assignee: S.B. Patent Holding ApS
    Inventors: Jakob Bak Japelt, Lars Peter Eriksen, Poul Sejer Nielsen
  • Patent number: 9371874
    Abstract: An Assembly (1) of a fixed caliper and hub bracket (101), comprises a fixed caliper (2) having a first vehicle-side elongated portion (7) that comprises a first disc entry-side tangential end (8) and a second disc exit-side tangential end (9); said portion (7) being suitable for facing an axial inner surface (10) thereof towards a first braking surface (4) of the disc (3); said first portion (7) housing at least one cylinder (11) suitable for receiving a piston; said caliper body (6) also comprises a second wheel-side elongated portion (12) that comprises a first disc entry-side tangential end (14) and a second disc exit-side end (15); said second portion (12) houses at least one cylinder (16); said first and second elongated portions (7, 12) being connected together by at least one bridge (17); said caliper body (6) also comprises at least one first seat (18) arranged in said first vehicle-side elongated portion (7) to receive a first connection element (19) to connect said fixed caliper to a hub bracket (10
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 21, 2016
    Inventors: Alberto Previtali, Luca Gelfi, Carlo Cantoni, Raffaello Passoni, Alberto Comendull