Patents Examined by Jason R Roberson
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Patent number: 11584353Abstract: A control method for a hybrid vehicle includes a generator and an electric motor, the generator being configured to charge a battery by use of power of an engine, the electric motor being configured to drive driving wheels by electric power of the battery. The control method having driving the engine at a first rotation speed when a charging amount of the battery decreases to a first charging threshold; changing the engine to driving at a second rotation speed larger than the first rotation speed when the engine is driven at the first rotation speed and the charging amount decreases to a second charging threshold smaller than the first charging threshold; and continuing driving of the engine until the charging amount becomes equal to or more than a charging end threshold larger than the first charging threshold.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2017Date of Patent: February 21, 2023Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Tomohiro Ariyoshi, Satomi Eto, Kazuma Sengoku, Junji Miyachi, Tetsuya Shinohara
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Patent number: 11584337Abstract: A regenerative braking apparatus for a motor vehicle (and concomitant method and retrofit kit) comprising a two-piece rim, a power spring inside the rim, a winding apparatus transferring energy into the power spring, a speed reducer that allows for smooth accumulation of tension in the power spring, and a controlled holding brake system that allows for bypassed, autonomous, or on-demand application of the regenerative braking apparatus.Type: GrantFiled: February 17, 2020Date of Patent: February 21, 2023Inventor: Clark Steven Galloway
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Patent number: 11560823Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for regenerating a particulate filter positioned in an exhaust system of an engine of a vehicle. In one example, a method comprises obtaining a first air flow in an intake of the engine and obtaining a second air flow in the intake of the engine, where regeneration of the particulate filter is conducted in response to the first air flow differing from the second air flow by at least a threshold amount, where the first air flow and the second air flow comprise air flow routed from the exhaust system to the intake of the engine. In this way, the particulate filter may be regenerated under conditions where a loading state of the particulate filter is not known.Type: GrantFiled: May 18, 2021Date of Patent: January 24, 2023Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventor: Aed Dudar
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Patent number: 11560138Abstract: A battery discharge limit control system is provided. The system includes a motor driven by receiving the power stored in a battery and a clutch connected to the rotary shaft of the motor. Additionally, an engine includes the rotary shaft connected to the rotary shaft of the motor through the clutch and a transmission changes the rotational speed of the rotary shaft of the motor or the engine based on the input of the shift stage instruction to output the rotational speed to a driving wheel of a vehicle. A controller opens the clutch and drives the motor in the reverse rotation, when the input of the shift stage instruction is a reverse shift stage.Type: GrantFiled: October 21, 2019Date of Patent: January 24, 2023Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors CorporationInventor: Chang Min Lee
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Patent number: 11541779Abstract: A vehicle includes: an engine; an exhaust pipe through which exhaust gas from the engine is released; a battery pack located near the exhaust pipe; and an ECU that executes, during limp-home traveling of the vehicle, control in which the battery pack is not charged and discharged, and output suppression control in which output of the engine is suppressed. In the output suppression control, when the catalyst temperature is above a threshold value, the ECU suppresses the output of the engine, as compared to when the catalyst temperature is below the threshold value, while maintaining a state in which the engine can output power.Type: GrantFiled: August 13, 2020Date of Patent: January 3, 2023Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Nobuyuki Tanaka, Kazuki Kubo, Kimihito Nakamura, Kenta Fujimoto, Takayuki Oshino, Yoshihiro Uchida, Koichi Tsuji
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Patent number: 11535234Abstract: An energy management control module is configured for communication with the vehicle controller. The energy management control module is configured to generate generator command data for the generator in a power command mode. In one embodiment, the energy management control module supports a first mode and a second mode. A first mode comprises the power command mode and a stored power extraction mode that are mutually exclusive modes for any sampling interval. In the power command mode of the first mode, the energy management controller is configured to generate generator command data for the generator based on a commanded motor torque and an energy storage power command (e.g., SOC command data) if the primary rotational energy of the internal combustion engine meets or exceeds the total vehicle load for a sampling interval.Type: GrantFiled: June 26, 2020Date of Patent: December 27, 2022Assignee: Deere & CompanyInventors: Tyler J. Duffy, Dan Li, Long Wu, Eric Vilar, Lauren M. White
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Patent number: 11535237Abstract: An electric device control method controls an electric device that includes an internal combustion engine, a first electric motor that receives a driving force of the internal combustion engine to carry out power generation, and a second electric motor connected to a drive shaft. The method sets a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine to increase as a vehicle speed of the vehicle increases while the power generation is carried out by the first electric motor. Where the driving force required by the second electric motor becomes zero or negative while the first electric motor is carrying out power generation by the driving force of the internal combustion engine, the internal combustion engine is stopped where the vehicle speed is greater than or equal to a first threshold value, and the power generation is continued where the vehicle speed is less than the first threshold value.Type: GrantFiled: June 14, 2019Date of Patent: December 27, 2022Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Hidekatsu Akiyama, Tomoyuki Hanyu
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Patent number: 11527111Abstract: An engine-mounted component life cycle data tracking system is provided. The system includes a plurality of RFID tags associated with, positioned proximate to, and configured to transmit and store identification, repair history, and dynamic data regarding a different engine component of a plurality of engine components, wherein the dynamic data includes engine usage, component usage, and/or component fault information. The system further includes an aircraft-mounted controller that includes non-transient computer readable storage media. The controller is configured to: store identification and repair history data retrieved from the RFID tags in the storage media; store dynamic data for the plurality of engine components in the storage media after each engine cycle; and transmit dynamic data to the RFID tags after each engine cycle for storage.Type: GrantFiled: August 24, 2020Date of Patent: December 13, 2022Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.Inventors: Tim Griffith, Richard Cotter, Richard Douglas
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Patent number: 11521441Abstract: Devices and methods for providing a retrievable record of the times of the actual aircraft movements such as the Gate Out time when the aircraft leaves the gate or parking position, the Wheels Off time when the aircraft takes off, the Wheels On time when the aircraft touches down during landing, and the Gate In time when the aircraft arrives at the gate or parking position (OOOI times). A mobile device for logging data onboard an aircraft comprises: a motion sensor; a clock; a non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium for storing motion data from the motion sensor and associated time data from the clock; and a data processing system configured to identify stored motion data representing respective acceleration/deceleration vectors of the mobile device motions that correspond to aircraft gate departure and arrival and aircraft takeoff and landing. The OOOI times are automatically logged in the non-transitory tangible computer-readable storage medium.Type: GrantFiled: September 4, 2020Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: The Boeing CompanyInventors: Thomas Edward Lonski, Matthew J. Ardrey, William Paul Best
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Patent number: 11518363Abstract: A method for controlling a hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a battery charged with electric power generated by the engine, and a motor as a drive source and having multiple running modes that can be selected through a mode operation. As the running mode, the method for controlling a hybrid vehicle includes a normal mode configured to perform charging of the battery according to a running state; and a charge mode configured to electric power generation by the engine according to a mode operation, the method comprising setting an upper limit of charging electric power based on the generated electric power in the charge mode to be lower than an upper limit of charging electric power based on the generated electric power in the normal mode.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2017Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Shinsuke Higuchi, Hidekatsu Akiyama, Azusa Kobayashi, Keisuke Kawai
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Patent number: 11518246Abstract: An electric drive system is connected to power batteries and includes a bus, a three-level inverter circuit, a direct current (DC)-DC conversion circuit, and a controller. The bus includes a positive bus and a negative bus. The three-level inverter circuit includes a first bus capacitor and a second bus capacitor. The first bus capacitor is connected between the positive bus and a bus neutral point, and the second bus capacitor is connected between the negative bus and the bus neutral point. The DC-DC conversion circuit includes a first conversion circuit and a second conversion circuit, an input terminal of the first conversion circuit is connected in parallel to the first bus capacitor, and an input terminal of the second conversion circuit is connected in parallel to the second bus capacitor.Type: GrantFiled: January 25, 2022Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: HUAWEI DIGITAL POWER TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD.Inventors: Zhiyin Chen, Yue Chen, Xueliang Zhang
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Patent number: 11516957Abstract: A method of maintaining a desired seed population rate during periods of acceleration of the agricultural planter. In one method, if the horizontal acceleration of the planter is greater than a predefined upper threshold, the seed disc is driven at a rotational speed to maintain the desired seed population rate based on a highest stable ground speed. In another method, if the horizontal acceleration is less than a predefined lower acceleration threshold, the seed disc is driven at a rotational speed to maintain the desired seed population rate based on a lowest stable ground speed. In another method, if the horizontal acceleration is less than the predefined upper acceleration threshold and is greater than the predefined lower acceleration threshold, the seed disc is driven at a rotational speed to maintain the desired seed population rate based on an a preferred planter ground speed input.Type: GrantFiled: July 2, 2020Date of Patent: December 6, 2022Assignee: Precision Planting, LLCInventors: Phil Baurer, Keith Beyer, Ben Schlipf, Justin Koch
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Patent number: 11493541Abstract: Various systems, methods, and apparatuses disclosed herein provide for receiving pressure data for an accumulator system, the pressure data providing an indication of a pressure in an accumulator tank of the accumulator system; receiving energy data, the energy data indicating an availability of free energy for use to charge the accumulator tank; and activating a charging source of the accumulator tank to charge the accumulator tank based on at least one of the pressure data and the energy data.Type: GrantFiled: August 1, 2019Date of Patent: November 8, 2022Assignee: Cummins, Inc.Inventors: Martin T. Books, Craig M. Calmer, Robert Dziuba, Mahesh Madurai-Kumar, Praveen Chitradurga Muralidhar, John P. O'Brien, Joseph E. Paquette, Gary L. Parker, Anthony K. Perfetto, Jeffrey S. Rauch, Zachary Schwab, Jon S. Wardlow
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Patent number: 11480421Abstract: An electric powertrain includes a sensor-controller interface, an inverter-controller electrically connected to the battery pack, and an electric machine connected to the inverter-controller and having a rotor with an angular position. The rotor powers a driven load at a torque and/or speed level controlled by the inverter-controller in response to position signals indicative of the angular position. A rotary position sensor is operatively connected to the rotor to generate and output the position signals. The sensor derives the position signals from unmodulated sine and cosine signals, and communicates the position signals and a binary sensor state of health (SOH) to the inverter-controller over the interface. The inverter-controller also decodes the position signals and the binary sensor SOH to generate decoded control data, and controls the torque and/or speed level using the decoded control data.Type: GrantFiled: January 30, 2020Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLCInventors: Suresh Gopalakrishnan, Shuqing Zeng, Chandra S. Namuduri
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Patent number: 11479297Abstract: A vehicle system configured to control a trailer alignment routine includes a hitch mounted on a vehicle and a controller. The controller is configured to identify a coupler position of a trailer and control motion of the vehicle to toward an aligned position. The controller is further configured to control a braking procedure of the vehicle including a plurality of concurrent deceleration control procedures in response to a portion of the vehicle passing a gradual stopping distance. The concurrent deceleration procedures include monitoring an elapsed time following the portion of the vehicle passing the gradual stopping distance and monitoring a remaining distance to the aligned position based on a velocity of the vehicle and comparing the remaining distance to a rapid stopping distance.Type: GrantFiled: September 10, 2019Date of Patent: October 25, 2022Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLCInventors: Luke Niewiadomski, Li Xu, Donald Jacob Mattern, Mohamed El-sawah, Roger Arnold Trombley, Douglas Rogan, Nikhil Nagraj Rao, Arnav Sharma
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Patent number: 11465604Abstract: In a vehicle control method, when drive force which a second electric motor is requested to output increases in a state where an internal combustion engine is stopped, drive force which the second electric motor outputs by using electric power supplied by a battery is limited to a lower level than maximum drive force determined from electric power which can be supplied by the battery to drive an electric-powered vehicle. Then, the drive force which the second electric motor outputs by using the electric power supplied by the battery is increased over time in a period from when the second electric motor outputs the drive force limited to the lower level to when the internal combustion engine is fired up and a first electric motor starts power generation.Type: GrantFiled: December 15, 2017Date of Patent: October 11, 2022Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.Inventors: Takahisa Kurosawa, Satomi Eto
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Patent number: 11453377Abstract: A braking force control apparatus includes: a prediction unit that predicts a time from a present time until a next start of the gear shift operation in the stepped automatic transmission based on a speed of the vehicle; an acquisition unit that acquires a state of a battery charged by a regenerative power generation of the regenerative generator; and a control unit that stops the regenerative power generation by the regenerative generator before the gear shift of the stepped automatic transmission is started, when it is determined, during the regenerative power generation by the regenerative generator, that the regenerative power generation by the regenerative power generator may be stopped due to the state of the battery during the gear shift operation of the stepped automatic transmission, based on a prediction result by the prediction unit and the state of the battery acquired by the acquisition unit.Type: GrantFiled: April 9, 2020Date of Patent: September 27, 2022Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Yuki Matsumiya, Shun Sato, Hiroya Fujiwara, Masahiro Nishiu
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Patent number: 11453391Abstract: The present application relates to a method for performing off road adaptive cruise control in a host vehicle including controlling a vehicle speed at a first speed according to an adaptive cruise control algorithm, detecting an obstacle, using a sensor, within a host vehicle path, reducing the vehicle speed to a reduced speed in response to the detection of the obstacle, detecting a vehicle contact with the obstacle in response to a first inertial measurement unit measurement, applying a brake friction force and increasing an engine torque in response to detecting the vehicle contact with the obstacle, determining a traverse of the obstacle in response to a second inertial measurement unit measurement, and resuming the control of the vehicle speed at the first speed in response to the traverse of the obstacle.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 2019Date of Patent: September 27, 2022Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLCInventors: Brian Mahnken, Jeffrey Louis Brown, Brent T. Deep
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Patent number: 11440414Abstract: An electric vehicle without a propeller shaft including a rotating machine selectively functioning as an electric motor and a generator, configured to serve as a drive force source in the vehicle when the rotating machine functions as the electric motor, and functioning as the generator during running of the vehicle to thereby generate a regenerative brake force, and a wheel brake disposed on a wheel, used as a service brake, and generating a braking force corresponding to a brake request amount during running of the vehicle, the electric vehicle comprising: a third braking device disposed in a power transmission path between the rotating machine and a drive wheel to generate a braking force with a braking method other than regeneration during running of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: October 29, 2019Date of Patent: September 13, 2022Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventor: Shin Kurosaki
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Patent number: 11420628Abstract: A vehicle control device controls a vehicle including a drive motor connected to a rotation shaft of wheels, a battery that supplies electricity to the drive motor, and an internal combustion engine connected to the drive motor. The vehicle is equipped with, as traveling modes, a normal mode, and an eco-mode having a larger regenerative braking force than the normal mode obtained such that rotational energy of the wheels is converted into electrical energy. A controller stops the internal combustion engine and switches from the normal mode to the eco-mode when detecting at least an abnormality in the internal combustion engine during traveling of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: December 13, 2018Date of Patent: August 23, 2022Assignee: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.Inventors: Kiyoshi Hoshi, Naoki Nakada, Kenichi Gotou, Takayuki Shimizu, Yohei Nakamura