Patents Examined by Daniel Bernstein
  • Patent number: 9032924
    Abstract: An arrangement of a camshaft phaser (1) which allows a variable pressure boost in that a rotary piston (7) of the camshaft phaser (1) either creates or eliminates a fluid connection between a first pair of working chambers and a second pair of working chambers arranged in the axial direction (23).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventor: Michael Busse
  • Patent number: 9032923
    Abstract: An engine with a variable valve device includes cylinders each provided with a plurality of intake valves, an outer camshaft for driving first intake cams, an inner camshaft arranged coaxially with the outer camshaft for driving second intake cams, and a cam phase change mechanism arranged at one end of the outer and inner camshafts and capable of varying the phase difference between the two camshafts. A first cam sensor for detecting the rotational angle of the outer camshaft and a second cam sensor for detecting the rotational angle of the inner camshaft are arranged close to the one end of the camshafts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2015
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI JIDOSHA KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Daisuke Yoshika, Ayatoshi Matsunaga
  • Patent number: 9004025
    Abstract: A variable valve timing control apparatus has a housing having a plurality of working fluid chambers, a vane member rotatably housed in the housing and dividing the each working fluid chamber into advance and retard oil chambers, the vane member rotating to a most-advanced angle side and to a most-retarded angle side within a predetermined angle range relative to the housing, and a torsion spring, one end of which is retained by the housing and the other end of which is retained by the vane member. When the vane member rotates to the most-advanced angle side and to the most-retarded angle side, an angle formed by a line connecting the both ends of the torsion spring through an axial center of the vane member ranges from an angle positioned at one side to an angle positioned at the other side of a boundary with 180° being the boundary.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd.
    Inventor: Toru Shinomiya
  • Patent number: 9004024
    Abstract: a cam adjuster for adjusting the angle-of-rotation positions of a cam shaft relative to a crankshaft. The cam shaft adjuster has at least two operating chambers to which pressure oil can be supplied to change the angle-of-rotation position. At least one of the operating chambers can be deactivated depending on an operating parameter by blocking the pressure oil supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2015
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Dirk Heintzen, Matthias Friedrichs
  • Patent number: 8997704
    Abstract: An apparatus for variable setting of control times of gas exchange valves of an internal combustion engine which has a drive element an output element and a side cover. The drive element is brought into drive connection with a crankshaft, the output element is brought into drive connection with a camshaft, and the output element is arranged such that it can be pivoted with respect to the drive element. The side cover, which has a sealing cover with an opening and a mating element, axially delimits the output element and/or the drive element, and is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the drive or output element by means of a fastening element. The fastening element reaches at least partially through the opening and interacts with the fastening element producing a rotationally fixed connection between the side cover and output element or drive element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Juergen Weber, Andreas Schulte
  • Patent number: 8991346
    Abstract: A hydraulic pressure control valve is received in a center hole of a vane rotor that is rotatable relative to a housing. A first tubular portion and a second tubular portion are fitted with each other to form an oil accumulation chamber. The oil accumulation chamber accumulates at least one of oil outputted from a gap between the housing and the vane rotor, and oil discharged from an oil passage communicated with the advancing chamber or the retarding chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 31, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Soichi Kinouchi
  • Patent number: 8985076
    Abstract: A lash adjustment device is for a valve train in a marine engine. The lash adjustment device comprises an external hollow body and a ball shaft that is telescopically movable in the hollow body. The ball shaft has a through-bore for receiving oil and having an annular lower end surface and an upper end surface. Oil flow into the hollow body pushes on the lower end surface and forces the ball shaft to telescope outwardly with respect to the hollow body. An absence of oil flow in the hollow body allows the ball shaft to telescope inwardly with respect to the hollow body until the annular lower end surface engages with an internal stop surface formed in the hollow body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Brunswick Corporation
    Inventors: Bo K. Kim, Christopher R. Jenks
  • Patent number: 8985073
    Abstract: An oil supply apparatus includes an oil pump that is driven by an internal combustion engine; a supply passage that is connected to a discharge side of the oil pump; a lubricant passage that leads hydraulic fluid from the supply passage to a portion to be lubricated that is provided in the internal combustion engine; a hydraulic passage that leads hydraulic fluid from the supply passage to a variable valve mechanism; a flow regulating valve capable of regulating a flowrate of hydraulic fluid that flows through the lubricant passage; and a control apparatus that controls the flow regulating valve in a closing direction at startup of the internal combustion engine such that a pressure of hydraulic fluid that is led to the variable valve mechanism when the internal combustion engine is being cranked comes to be equal to or greater than a predetermined target pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hiroshi Kanai
  • Patent number: 8973540
    Abstract: A variable valve system, may include a variable valve apparatus that controls opening/closing timing of an exhaust valve and an intake valve of an engine, and an oil supply device that supplies the variable valve apparatus with a pressured oil, wherein the exhaust valve and the intake valve may be opened/closed by rotation of a camshaft, and the oil supply device engaged with the camshaft may be operated by the rotation of the camshaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2015
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventors: Jungho Kim, Gi Ra Lee
  • Patent number: 8967103
    Abstract: A variable valve timing arrangement for an engine system is disclosed. The variable valve timing arrangement includes a cam follower configured to follow a cam lobe. A pushrod is operably connected with the cam follower and a pushrod rotation mechanism is configured to selectively rotate the pushrod. Further, a cam follower adjustment mechanism is configured to reposition the cam follower based on the rotation of the pushrod.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Derek A. Tanis, Joseph E. Roth, Aaron G. Foege
  • Patent number: 8955480
    Abstract: Provided is a timing adjustment system having improved control for achieving a target rotational phase. The valve timing adjustment system includes a displacement mechanism unit that displaces a rotational phase of a camshaft relative to a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine; a locking mechanism unit that locks the rotational phase at an intermediate locked phase positioned within a displacement range of the rotational phase; a hydraulic pathway that hydraulically drives the displacement mechanism unit and the locking mechanism unit; and a control unit including a control system that controls operations of the hydraulic control valve. The control unit changes a temporal responsiveness of the control system based on a displacement force that displaces the rotational phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Satoshi Kokubo, Yuji Kakuda, Kenji Ikeda, Yuuki Ohta, Masaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 8955477
    Abstract: A camshaft adjuster which has a control valve and at least one pressure-controlled positioning valve which is connected to a pair of control chambers. The control chambers each have an early chamber and a late chamber and one of the control chambers is designed in such a manner that, in an unenergized basic position of the control valve, in order to set a middle position, the smaller of the early and late chambers of the one of the control chambers is connected to a supply line and the larger of the early and late chambers of the one of the control chambers is connected to a removal line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Michael Busse
  • Patent number: 8944028
    Abstract: A valve drive of an internal combustion engine, having a finger lever which acts at one end on a gas exchange valve and which is seated at the other end on a head of a housing of a support element, which housing runs in an axially movable manner in a reception bore of a cylinder head, the finger lever is acted on by a cam from the base circle from which there projects in a fixed manner an additional cam piece for generating an additional lift of the gas exchange valve, a bore extends from a bottom of the housing in the direction of the head, in the lower portion of which bore there runs a pressure piston which is axially movable relative to the housing and via the lower face of which the support element is mounted on a base of the reception bore of the cylinder head, a high-pressure chamber for hydraulic medium is formed between an upper face of the pressure piston and a ring part situated above said upper face and which is fixed with respect to the housing, and to generate the additional lift, the high-press
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2015
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Oliver Schnell, Peter Sailer, Oliver Witter
  • Patent number: 8931445
    Abstract: Provided is an internal combustion engine including two intake valves for each cylinder, the internal combustion engine including: a fixed cam for driving one of the two intake valves with a lift characteristic having a valve opening timing close to a top dead center; a variable valve actuation mechanism capable of changing, in accordance with an engine running condition, lift characteristics between a low-lift characteristic having an event angle and a lift amount each being smaller than an event angle and a lift amount of the fixed cam, and a high-lift characteristic having the event angle and the lift amount each being larger than the event angle and the lift amount of the fixed cam; and a variable cam for driving another of the two intake valves, the variable cam including the variable valve actuation mechanism, in which the variable valve actuation mechanism is configured to set the lift characteristic of the variable cam so as to obtain a valve opening timing on a retard side relative to the valve openi
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Takayuki Hamamoto, Kensuke Tominaga, Youko Yoshioka
  • Patent number: 8925502
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine has at least two exhaust ports and a valve assembly. The valve assembly has first and second connectors, first and second actuator pistons connected to their corresponding connectors, the first and second actuator pistons being disposed in first and second chambers respectively, and first and second valves connected to their corresponding connectors. The first connector, actuator piston and valve are movable together between first and second positions. The second connector, actuator piston, and valve are movable together between first and second positions. A first fluid line supplies hydraulic fluid in the first and second chambers on a first side of the first and second actuator pistons. A second fluid line supplies hydraulic fluid in the first and second chambers on a second side of the first and second actuator pistons. At least one fluid pump supplies hydraulic fluid to the first and second fluid lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: BRP US Inc.
    Inventors: Todd D. Craft, Kenneth Chung, Roger Raetzman, Patrick C. Tetzlaff, Tony Urbanik, Peter Lucier
  • Patent number: 8919310
    Abstract: Provided is a valve open/close timing control device including, a drive-side rotating body, a driven-side rotating body, a fluid pressure chamber, a partition portion, a fluid control valve part, a first locking mechanism which is capable of restraining a relative rotational phase of the driven-side rotating body relative to the drive-side rotating body at a first predetermined phase between a most retarded angle phase and a most advanced angle phase, and a second locking mechanism which is capable of restraining the relative rotational phase at a second predetermined phase on a more retarded angle side than the first predetermined phase, in which the relative rotational phase is changed to the first predetermined phase when a shift lever position is changed to a parking range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2014
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masaki Kobayashi, Kazunari Adachi, Kazuo Ueda
  • Patent number: 8915223
    Abstract: Provided is a valve timing control apparatus that allows relaxation of manufacturing precision of a driving-side rotary member and a driven-side rotary member and that achieves space saving at the same time. An urging member includes at least one trough-folded portion and at least one crest-folded portion, one end side contact portion formed between one terminal end of the urging member and the trough-folded portion and coming into contact with a sealing element, and other end side contact portion formed between the other terminal end of the urging member and the crest-folded portion and coming into contact with a partitioning portion. In association with urging of the urging member, the distance between the one end side contact portion and the other end side contact portion along the urging direction is decreased and the angles of the trough-folded portion and the crest-folded portion are decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignees: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha, Yamani Spring Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Homma, Kazunari Adachi, Yuji Noguchi, Satoshi Nishizawa
  • Patent number: 8915224
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to shims 10, 24 adapted for placement between a rocker shaft 42 and rocker shaft mounts 62, 64. The rocker shaft mounts 62, 64 project from the cylinder head 60 of an internal combustion engine. The shims 10, 24 are composed of a copper alloy, preferably bronze.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2014
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Edwin H. Langewisch, Lloyd E. Thompson
  • Patent number: 8910600
    Abstract: A pressure storage unit (2) for a camshaft, having an integrated controllable pressure storage device for supporting hydraulic engine components, which includes a housing (4) with a piston (14) mounted movably therein having a piston floor (18), and a spacer element (28) being provided on the piston floor (18).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Mathias Boegershausen, Michael Busse
  • Patent number: 8910604
    Abstract: A valve timing control device that enables simplification of the manufacturing process and reduction of the number of parts while suppressing deformation of a driven rotary element. The valve timing control device includes a driving rotary element, a driven rotary element, a plurality of partitions each for dividing a fluid pressure chamber into a regarded angle chamber and an advanced angle chamber, and a connecting element for connecting the driven rotary element to a camshaft. The connecting element includes a press fitting portion having a plurality of fitting segments configured to fit to an inner circumference of a recess of the driven rotary element. At least one of centerlines of the fitting segments extending in a radial direction does not overlap any of the partitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: Aisin Seiki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunari Adachi, Yuji Noguchi, Atsushi Homma, Takeo Asahi