Patents Examined by John Fox
  • Patent number: 10240656
    Abstract: A valve arrangement controls a flow of damping medium in a shock absorber. A radial column is provided with an axial failsafe flow such that the fail safe flow is not dependent on the exact axial position of the control valve member for creating the fail safe restriction, and less turbulence arise affecting the axial position of the control valve member. Thereby a valve arrangement is provided which has a more stable and reliable failsafe operation, resulting in a more dependable valve arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: ÖHLINS RACING AB
    Inventors: Benny Ewers, Fredrik Larsson, Simon Ivarsson
  • Patent number: 10227999
    Abstract: An example valve includes a sleeve having a plurality of openings. A spool is rotatable within the sleeve and includes a respective plurality of openings corresponding to the plurality of openings of the sleeve. A rotary actuator coupled to the spool is configured for rotating the spool within the sleeve to one of at least eight rotary positions. The rotary actuator can rotate the spool to a given rotary position in a clockwise or a counter-clockwise direction to cause at least a partial alignment between a subset of the respective plurality of openings of the spool and a subset of the plurality of openings of the sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Boston Dynamics, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven D. Potter, John Aaron Saunders
  • Patent number: 10221981
    Abstract: A universal high-speed rotary union including an input manifold having passageways, an input distributor fixedly coupled to the input manifold and having passageways fluidly connected with the passageways of the input manifold, a valve plate fixedly coupled to the input distributor and having passageways aligned with the passageways of the input distributor, an output manifold rotatably coupled to the input manifold by a first bearing and having passageways and an internal housing; an output receiver slidably coupled to and disposed within the internal housing of the output manifold, and having passageways aligned with the passageways of the output manifold, a bore defined along a common axis of the input manifold, the input distributor, the valve plate, the output manifold, and the output receiver, and a shaft rotatably coupled within the bore by at least a second bearing. The valve plate and the output receiver have a metal to metal interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Inventor: Joshua Zulu
  • Patent number: 10215293
    Abstract: Provided are a three-way valve for flow rate control and a temperature control device using the three-way valve for flow rate control. The three-way valve for flow rate control is capable of controlling a mixture ratio between two kinds of fluids with higher accuracy, as compared to a three-way valve including an inflow port which allows inflow of a high-temperature heat-medium circulating liquid, an inflow port which allows inflow of a low-temperature heat-medium circulating liquid, an outflow port which allows outflow of a constant-temperature heat-medium circulating liquid, and a control valve configured to control the flow rate ratio between the high-temperature heat-medium circulating liquid and the low-temperature heat-medium circulating liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: SHINWA CONTROLS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Katsumichi Hiraoka
  • Patent number: 10209049
    Abstract: A fabrication and monitoring device for micro probe ball tips includes a magnetic field generator, a 3-dimensional displacement adjusting mechanism, a wire supplier and an image monitoring system. The magnetic field generator includes a U-shaped electromagnet. The 3-dimensional displacement adjusting mechanism includes a 2-dimensional moving platform, a 1-dimensional moving platform, a guiding tube, and a sparking plug. The wire supplier includes a transmission wheel, a pressing roller, a wire feeding roller and a tungsten wire material supplier. The image monitoring system includes a micro objective, a third-generation infinite beam structure lens and a supporting frame. The present invention overcomes an eccentric problem of a tungsten ball and a tungsten rod, and also overcomes a sphericity problem caused by gravity, so as to improve sphericity, eccentric accuracy and enable monitoring of dynamic manufacturing process of the probe ball tips.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: HEFEI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Ruijun Li, Zhenying Cheng, Chen Chen, Kuangchao Fan
  • Patent number: 10208868
    Abstract: The invention is a divider block assembly suitable for use at high fluid pressures. Applicant has found that a sufficiently deep counterbored hole allows a mounting bolt to apply the sealing pressure well below the divider block surface, which can reduce or eliminate the compressive force on the metal around the piston bore, thereby reducing or eliminating distortion of the piston bore of the divider block and providing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: COMPRESSOR PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL LLC
    Inventor: Curtis Roys
  • Patent number: 10184498
    Abstract: An inner oil passage (45) is formed inside a slidable spool (22). The slidable spool (22) defines, in its circumferential face, a first opening (46), a second opening (47) and a third opening (48). The first opening (46), the second opening (47) and the third opening (48) are communicated to the inner oil passage (45). When the slidable spool (22) is switched to a floating position (F), the first the first opening (46) is aligned with a first port end portion (25a), the second opening (47) is aligned with a second port end portion (26a), and the third opening (48) is aligned with a fourth port end portion (24a), respectively, and a first cylinder port and a second cylinder port are communicated to a tank port (24) via the inner oil passage (45).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Kubota Corporation
    Inventors: Haruka Kitahara, Seimei Nishikawa
  • Patent number: 10183334
    Abstract: A selection system, comprising: a sheath defining an internal housing extending in a longitudinal direction; a link rod disposed in said internal housing, and extending in the longitudinal direction; and a selection slide mounted to slide in the internal housing, about the link rod; the link rod being held stationary relative to the sheath against movement in translation in the longitudinal direction by stop means; the system being characterized in that the stop means comprise: a base that is a body of revolution and includes a conical portion; and a shell comprising two shell portions each including a conical portion configured to come to bear in plane manner against the conical portion of the base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: POCLAIN HYDRAULICS INDUSTRIE
    Inventors: Loic Bonnard, Dominique Costaz, Julien Viard
  • Patent number: 10161535
    Abstract: A fluid control valve for mixing hot and cold water has an inlet for cold water, an inlet for hot water and at least two outlets for temperature controlled water. The valve further has a flow control device comprising a pair of control members that are relatively movable to control flow of water at the inlets and outlets of the valve for selecting flow to an individual outlet or a combination of at least two outlets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: KOHLER MIRA LIMITED
    Inventors: Nigel P. Sansum, Simon Westgate, Benjamin Lea, Richard James Mead
  • Patent number: 10161424
    Abstract: A hydraulic rotary manifold has a core manifold having a barrel and a rotatable spindle inserted in the barrel. The core manifold is common to a variety of different configurations involving removable spindle-mounted and barrel-mounted manifolds, which may be removably mounted on the core manifold and exchanged for other removable manifolds to provide different hydraulic fluid flow paths in the rotary manifold using the common core manifold. The rotary manifold permits retrofitting a secondary fluid flow path to use a secondary fluid in conjunction with a work tool mounted on the rotary manifold. The rotary manifold permits mounting a rotary position encoder on a barrel-side of the rotary manifold permitting the use of the common core manifold when a rotary position encoder is desired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Inventors: Stephan E. Bohner, James Luong
  • Patent number: 10126762
    Abstract: A bypass flow valve is provided. The bypass flow valve includes a valve piston and a first annulus disposed on a first end of the valve piston. The first annulus has an inlet and an outlet and surrounds a first valve sleeve. The first valve sleeve contains an arrangement of a first plurality of ports providing fluid communication to the valve piston. The arrangement of the first plurality of ports includes a first region of the first valve sleeve in line with the inlet of the first annulus and a second region of the first valve sleeve in line with the outlet of the first annulus. The second region has fewer ports than the first region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2018
    Assignee: Woodward, Inc.
    Inventors: Jordan L. Loos, Mike L. Hahn, Steve McLevige, Brian Lawver
  • Patent number: 10119478
    Abstract: A trip block is provided. The trip block includes a single housing which commonly houses multiple valve assemblies. Each valve assembly includes a rotary valve member arrangement. The rotary valve member arrangement includes a spool and a sleeve with a predefined radial clearance between the spool and sleeve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 6, 2018
    Assignee: Woodward, Inc.
    Inventors: John J. Been, Michael S. Zrubek, Jonathan P. Workman
  • Patent number: 10105666
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for metering a fluid medium by means of a metering device in the form of a piston pump having a cylinder (Z) and a movable piston (3), wherein the cylinder (Z) and the piston (3) form a working space (A), characterized in that in a first method step a given filling quantity of the fluid medium is conveyed into the working space (A), wherein the filling quantity is greater than the predefined quantity to be metered, and in that in a further method step the piston (3) reduces the size of the working space (A) to such an extent that the quantity to be metered remains in the working space (A), wherein at the same time a valve (18, 18?) is opened so that the gas volume separated in the working space (A) and/or the excess fluid medium can flow out of the working space (A) through the piston, wherein to this end the piston (3) has at least one axially running through-channel (17, 17?) which is connected to a return line (19, 19?), and at least the controllable valve (18, 18?) and
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: PROMERA GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventor: Thomas Schütze
  • Patent number: 10100938
    Abstract: A gas control valve and method of controlling a gas control valve to provide infinite adjustability is provided. The gas control valve defines a fluid flow path. A flow adjustment arrangement within the fluid flow path has a plurality of discrete open configurations. Each discrete open configuration establishes a different flow rate through the fluid flow path. A controller operatively cyclically alternates the flow adjustment arrangement between different ones of the discrete configurations to provide an average flow rate through the fluid flow path that is between the flow rates permitted by the different ones of the discrete open configurations. The controller establishes residence times at the various ones of the discrete open configurations such that the resultant flow rate is the desired flow rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: ROBERTSHAW CONTROLS COMPANY
    Inventor: Michael J. Millius
  • Patent number: 10087959
    Abstract: A Hydraulic Manifold Control Assembly for use in connection with surface blowout preventers and diverter control systems. Said Hydraulic Manifold Control Assembly incorporates design elements and methods which reduce overall envelope dimensions, improving maintenance accessibility, thereby reducing overall installation and manufacturing time and ultimately contributing to a more robust, cost effective end-product. Said design elements and methods include: the use of intrinsically safe I/O modules and components; the employment of a removable valve assembly rack installation method; the use of a removable face plate for identification of flow control valves; the implementation of a digital automatic diverter sequence; the use of integrated manifold assemblies; and the integration of a wide-range function count.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Stella Maris, LLC
    Inventors: Ryan A. LeBlanc, Paul W. Stutes, Ryan S. Gary, Michael P. Menard, Jacob R. Denison, Luis A. Chinchilla, Calvin R. Williamson, Devi Satish Chandra Mallavalli, Ryan J. Dugas, James G. Ray, Clay S. Hulsey
  • Patent number: 10077833
    Abstract: A fluid pressure control circuit for a transmission, includes plural electromagnetic valves each switching one of engagement elements between an engaged state and a disengaged state, plural passages configured to connect the engagement elements to a fluid pressure source, a first electromagnetic valve corresponding to one of the electromagnetic valves and switching one of the engagement elements between the engaged and disengaged states, a second electromagnetic valve corresponding to another of the electromagnetic valves and switching another of the engagement elements between the engaged and disengaged states, and a shut-off valve, when the first electromagnetic valve and the second electromagnetic valve are open, closing the passages among the first electromagnetic valve, the engagement elements switched by the first electromagnetic valve and the fluid pressure source with the use of the fluid pressure to establish a closed state, and maintaining the closed state with the use of the fluid pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Eiji Sugiura, Noriyoshi Kondoh
  • Patent number: 10077545
    Abstract: A dual-adjustment flow limiting device includes an outer shell, an inner shell, a flow limiting member, and an adjustment mechanism. The outer shell defines a plurality of external ports. The inner shell defines a flow chamber and a plurality of internal ports communicating with the flow chamber and is fitted into the outer shell such that a communicating area is formed between the internal and external ports. The flow limiting member is disposed in the flow chamber of the inner shell and can be deformed in response to the pressure of a water flow entering the flow chamber to partially block the internal ports, so that the water flow entering the flow chamber can be restricted. The adjustment mechanism is provided at the outer and inner shells to adjust the communicating area, so that the water flow can be further restricted.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2018
    Assignee: Fujian Xihe Sanitary Ware Technology Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Xiaofa Lin, Xiaoshan Lin, Qiqiao Liu, Xiaoqing Deng, Qun Yu
  • Patent number: 10072761
    Abstract: A rotationally adjustable valve is disclosed whereby the user is able to control the flow of fluids from complete shutoff to maximum flow by rotating the adjustment means of the valve, said rotation being axial to the flow of the fluid. Additionally, the user is able to attach high and low pressure test probes directly to the valve, as it is rotatably adjusted, so that additional equipment is not required next to the valve. An embodiment of this invention includes the use of an adjustable Cv disk to set the maximum flow of the valve, rather than just create a simple 180° on/off, very similar to a current 90° ball valve that this device will replace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: Griswold Controls, LLC
    Inventors: Stefan I. Tuineag, Bryan Holloway
  • Patent number: 10060540
    Abstract: Disclosed is a dual flow switching device, comprising a valve body, a valve element, a spring, an inner valve seat and an outer valve seat, wherein the valve element is arranged through the valve body; the middle part of the valve element is provided with an axial liquid channel and a radial liquid channel; the valve element is provided with upper and lower sealing elements; the outlet of the radial liquid channel is located between the upper and lower sealing elements; the outer valve seat is provided in a corresponding position of the upper sealing element and the inner valve seat in a corresponding position of the lower sealing element; the spring is sleeved on the valve element, and a spring seat is provided on the valve element at the upper end of the upper sealing element. The present utility model boasts a dual-outflow channel and dual-flow outflow function.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: Kylin Sanitary Technology (Xiamen) Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kyle William Cutler, Qingshuang Li, Hui Huang
  • Patent number: 10054261
    Abstract: The invention is directed to a divider block assembly made from one piece of material. Traditional divider blocks require modular sections so that piston alignment can be calibrated precisely. The current invention uses replaceable pistons and sleeves that are suitable for use at high fluid pressures. The use of these pistons also allows for a single, bodied, one-piece, metal divider body, rather than the conventional multiple block divider blocks, which allows for a more efficient manufacturing method and stronger, more reliable, and more efficient lubricant dispensing system. The use of any of these aspects separately can improve performance, and not all are required in every embodiment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Inventor: Curtis Roys