Patents Examined by John Kwon
  • Patent number: 11828251
    Abstract: A fuel injector for a combustion engine. The fuel injector includes a check valve with a return element that is a magnet, by means of which a magnetic field can be provided or is provided, such that, as a result of the decrease in pressure, a second valve element of the check valve can be moved from an open position back into a closed position and held in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: Daimler Truck AG
    Inventor: Moritz Schumacher
  • Patent number: 11821344
    Abstract: An engine brake rocker arm assembly is operable in an engine drive mode and an engine braking mode and selectively opens first and second exhaust valves. The engine brake rocker arm assembly includes an exhaust rocker arm configured to rotate about a rocker shaft, an engine brake capsule assembly movable between (i) a locked position configured to perform an engine braking operation, and (ii) an unlocked position that does not perform the engine braking operation, and a hydraulically controlled actuator assembly configured to selectively move the engine brake capsule assembly between the first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: EATON INTELLIGENT POWER LIMITED
    Inventors: Santosh Patil, Nikhil Kishor Saggam, Matthew Vance
  • Patent number: 11821383
    Abstract: A control apparatus for an engine includes a crank angle sensor and a processor. The processor acquires a first crank angular velocity difference which is a change in a crank angular velocity in a first region. The first region includes a rotational change correlated with an engine torque output. The processor acquires a second crank angular velocity difference which is a change in the crank angular velocity in a second region. The second region includes a rotational change correlated with a combustion rate attributable to an air-fuel ratio. In a case where the first crank angular velocity difference is less than or equal to a first threshold and the second crank angular velocity difference is less than or equal to a second threshold, the processor performs an increase correction on a fuel amount to be supplied to the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keisuke Katsuta, Tatsuya Ichikawa, Yohsuke Shimoji, Takuya Shidooka, Shinsuke Onodera
  • Patent number: 11821385
    Abstract: A chain cover includes a first member, which is made of a hard plastic, and a second member, which is made of a material different from the hard plastic. The first member is formed by insert molding with the second member as an insert. A first joint surface is formed in a peripheral portion around an insertion hole. The first joint surface is joined to the first member. The first joint surface includes a first joint portion, which includes a lattice-shaped recess portion, and a second joint portion, which includes grooves. The grooves extend in a direction in which the peripheral portion extends, while being arranged in an intersecting direction, which intersects with the extending direction. The second joint portion is provided to be closer to a space adjacent to the peripheral portion than the first joint portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA BOSHOKU KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Kensuke Doi, Yoji Horiuchi, Hideto Morishita
  • Patent number: 11815036
    Abstract: A vehicle, system, and method include a first tank configured to contain compressed gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, and a second tank fluidly couplable to the first tank and an internal combustion engine, the second tank configured to store the gaseous fuel from the first tank in a communal cavity with a non-combustible liquid, such as water, without a bladder or physical separation barrier therebetween, and to selectively deliver the gaseous fuel via a first outlet, and the non-combustible liquid via a second outlet, to the internal combustion engine. A turbine may be disposed between the first and second tanks. One or more condensers may condense water from engine exhaust and/or an air conditioning system and pump the liquid water into the second tank. Pressure within the second tank may be controlled via fuel supplied by the first tank and/or liquid supplied via the condensers and pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Maziar Khosravi
  • Patent number: 11814092
    Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods of increasing functional safety of locomotives. In exemplary embodiments, a locomotive functional safety system is configured to: receive one or more manual control commands from a locomotive control stand and/or a user interface onboard a locomotive; determine whether the one or more manual control commands pass or satisfy one or more predetermined criteria; if the one or more manual control commands pass or satisfy the one or more predetermined criteria, approve the one or more manual control commands and allow the one or more manual control commands to be relayed onward and/or acted upon; and if the one or more manual control commands do not pass or satisfy the one or more predetermined criteria, disapprove the one or more manual control commands and disallow the one or more manual control commands to be relayed onward and/or acted upon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: Cattron North America, Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy Jovenall, Jeremy R. Pearson
  • Patent number: 11815012
    Abstract: A method and apparatus according to the invention is described, which in a first mode operates as an internal combustion engine delivering energy and in a second mode operates as a pulsed compression reactor converting electrical energy in the form of chemical compounds. In the second mode, at least one of the generated compounds is collected and temporarily stored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Inventor: Andreas Doering
  • Patent number: 11815011
    Abstract: An HHO gas second fuel is produced in a pressure-resistant container and distributed at a low volumetric rate at multiple locations about the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2023
    Assignee: HyTech Power, LLC
    Inventors: Evan Charles Johnson, Adam Anthony Filkins, Herbert Daniel Deming, Henry White Dean, Phillip Edward Jennings
  • Patent number: 11808180
    Abstract: An engine valve actuation system includes a lifter sleeve having a control fluid slot formed therein and extending from an outer sleeve surface to an inner sleeve surface. A valve lifter is movable in a sleeve bore in the lifter sleeve and limited from rotation about a longitudinal axis. The valve lifter includes a hydraulically actuated activation-deactivation switch, and a control fluid port in continuous fluid communication with the control fluid slot.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Jeremy C. Adams, Eric D. Wiebrecht
  • Patent number: 11808238
    Abstract: A method for supplying hydrogen-operated internal combustion engines with oxygen, wherein an inert gas is cycled. An economical local supply of pure oxygen for a closed-cycle hydrogen engine with argon cycling is realized by separating the oxygen from the atmosphere without relying on the useful work of the engine. OSM ceramics and exhaust gas heat and low oxygen partial pressure of the exhaust gas are used to generate oxygen. Two reactors filled with OSM ceramics are used, these reactors being alternately purged with exhaust gas and regenerated with air. Losses of inert gases and the entry of atmospheric nitrogen are avoided by intermediate purging with steam. The steam is generated by the heat of the exhaust gas or exhaust air. A mixture of water vapor, inert gas and oxygen is formed during purging. Subsequently, the oxygen content in the gas phase is markedly increased since water vapor is condensed out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
    Inventor: Ralf Kriegel
  • Patent number: 11808232
    Abstract: A port fuel injection system includes a fuel pump configured to produce a flow of pressurized liquid fuel at a pressure between 10 and 50 bar. A fuel rail is connected to receive the flow of pressurized liquid fuel from the fuel pump, the fuel rail. A plurality of fuel injectors, including one fuel injector positioned in the intake port of each engine cylinder upstream of the intake valve for the engine cylinder are connected to receive pressurized fuel from the fuel rail. An engine control unit (ECU) receives signals from sensors on the internal combustion engine and is programmed to actuate the fuel injectors to deliver fuel to each engine cylinder over a full range of engine operating conditions. A port fuel injection system with high pressure and fast acting fuel injectors improves fuel delivery and performance over the full range of engine operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2023
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: Stanadyne LLC
    Inventors: Michael Hornby, Stephen Bugos, Michael Kaput, Srinu Gunturu
  • Patent number: 11807244
    Abstract: A vehicle control device configured to control switching of drive mode of a vehicle including an internal combustion engine and a motor includes a processor configured to switch, in a case where a road surface of a perimeter of a geofencing zone is a road surface on which there is a high probability that the vehicle slips, in a movement route from an outside of the geofencing zone to an inside of the geofencing zone, the drive mode of the vehicle to drive by the motor in a state in which there is a low probability that the vehicle slips, outside the geofencing zone.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2022
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Daiki Yokoyama, Yoshiyuki Kageura, Masanori Shimada, Yoshihiro Sakayanagi, Hiroki Morita
  • Patent number: 11808230
    Abstract: A method for estimating pressure in an intake manifold of an indirect injection combustion engine. A pressure sensor measures pressure in the intake manifold, the intake manifold being in fluidic communication with a combustion cylinder, a piston guided in translation in the combustion cylinder and connected to a rotating crankshaft. The method includes: measuring, with the pressure sensor, a maximum pressure corresponding substantially to a maximum pressure in the intake manifold during a preceding cycle of the engine; measuring, with the pressure sensor, a minimum pressure corresponding substantially to a minimum pressure in the intake manifold during the preceding cycle of the engine; determining a pre-calculated average pressure correction factor from a crankshaft angular position and from an engine speed; and estimating the pressure in the intake manifold for the crankshaft angular position of the current engine cycle from the average correction factor and from the minimum and maximum pressures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2023
    Inventor: Xavier Moine
  • Patent number: 11802533
    Abstract: An autonomous vehicle having a user interface and a computing system that is in communication with the user interface. The computing system may have at least one processor and at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions. When executed by the at least one processor, the instructions may cause the at least one processor to output information through the user interface to inform the passenger of an action that the passenger needs to enact prior to the autonomous vehicle beginning to move and determine, based upon an occurrence of the action that the passenger needs to enact, whether the autonomous vehicle is permitted to begin moving.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: GM Cruise Holdings LLC
    Inventors: Jacqueline Shannon, Stephanie Olivia Engle, Albert Boniske
  • Patent number: 11796231
    Abstract: Proposed is a gas heat-pump system including: a compressor of an air conditioning module; a gas engine generating a drive force of the compressor; and a turbocharger primarily first-level pressure to a fuel-to-air mixture and supplying the fuel-to-air mixture to the gas engine or applying second-level pressure to the fuel-to-air mixture to which the first-level pressure is applied and supplying the fuel-to-air mixture to the gas engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignee: LG ELECTRONICS INC.
    Inventors: Heejoong Jang, Hojong Jeong
  • Patent number: 11794570
    Abstract: A vehicle canister device includes a main canister including an inlet port through which evaporative gas is introduced from a fuel tank, an outlet port through which the evaporative gas introduced during operation of an engine is discharged to an intake side of the engine, and an internal space for filling activated carbon. The vehicle canister device also includes an auxiliary canister mounted in fluid-communication with the main canister and configured to allow external air to flow into the main canister through an atmosphere port provided on the main canister or the evaporative gas to flow therethrough upon stop of the engine. The auxiliary canister includes a plurality of activated carbon layers each filled with an activated carbon and a plurality of air layers disposed between the activated carbon layers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 24, 2023
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Corporation, Korea Fuel-Tech Corporation
    Inventors: Seong Cheol Cho, Sung Won Lee, Tae Kyu Hwang, Hyung Jun Bae
  • Patent number: 11788478
    Abstract: A mass-flow throttle for highly accurate control of the gaseous supplies (fuel and/or air) to the combustion chambers for a large engine in response to instantaneous demand signals from the engine's ECM, especially for large (i.e., 30 liters or greater in size) spark-ignited internal combustion engines fueled by natural gas. With a unitary block assembly and a throttle blade driven by a non-articulated rotary actuator shaft, in combination with tight control circuitry including multiple pressure sensors as well as sensors for temperature and throttle position, the same basic throttle concepts are innovatively suited to be used for both MFG and MFA throttles in industrial applications, to achieve highly accurate mass-flow control even despite pressure fluctuations while operating in non-choked flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2023
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: ECONTROLS, LLC
    Inventors: Justin H. Sanders, Michael T. Hambidge, Timothy J. Westerdale, Kennon Guglielmo
  • Patent number: 11788482
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine, fuel injection is stopped to automatically stop the engine when automatic stop conditions are met. The engine is started in response to a request to restart the engine while an engine speed is decreasing due to an automatic stoppage by resuming fuel injection if the engine speed is equal to or greater than a combustion recoverable rotational speed threshold, and by using an electric motor if the engine speed is less than the combustion recoverable rotational speed threshold. When the engine speed of the internal combustion engine falls below the combustion recoverable rotational speed threshold while the engine speed is decreasing due to an automatic stoppage, an amount of air entering cylinders is reduced to be less than before the engine speed fell below the combustion recoverable rotational speed threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shouta Hamane, Tadashi Iwamoto
  • Patent number: 11788485
    Abstract: A method that includes coupling an external, removable fuel pressurization system to a fuel system of a vehicle. The fuel system of the vehicle is pressurized with the fuel pressurization system while the vehicle is parked and without activating a fuel consumer (e.g., an engine) of the vehicle. Decay of pressure of the fuel system is monitored following pressurization of the fuel system, and one or more of a leak, or a replaceable component, of the fuel system of the vehicle is detected based on at least in part on the decay of pressure that are monitored.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: Transportation IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: David Wright, David Baldwin
  • Patent number: 11780462
    Abstract: Aspects of the disclosure provide for enabling autonomous vehicles to pull over into driveways when picking up or dropping off passengers or goods. For instance, a request for a trip identifying a first location and a second location may be received. The first location may be a location of a client computing device, and the second location may be a starting location or a destination for the trip. A user preference for the trip indicating that a pickup for the trip be in a driveway may be identified. That the first location corresponds with the second location may be identified. Based on the determination that the first location corresponds with the second location, dispatch instructions may be to an autonomous vehicle. The dispatch instructions may identify a polygon for a driveway at the second location in order to cause the autonomous vehicle to pull over into the driveway.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 10, 2023
    Assignee: Waymo LLC
    Inventors: Mishika Vora, Jonathan Lee Pedersen