Patents Examined by John T. Kwon
  • Patent number: 7775187
    Abstract: A glow plug includes a glow plug body (2), a pressure sensor arranged inside the glow plug body (2), a threaded portion (6) on the outside of the glow plug body (2) and gripping elements (12), generally of cylindrical form with a hexagonal section, enabling the body (2) to be gripped and screwed into a corresponding tapping, the gripping elements (12) being made from synthetic material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignees: Continental Automotive France, Federal-Mogul Ignition Srl
    Inventors: Michel Boucard, Bernd Last, Cyrille Patri, Alain Ramond, John Burrows, Sandro Goretti
  • Patent number: 7778765
    Abstract: A fuel injection control apparatus includes a computing unit that calculates a pulse width for a pulse signal which drives the valve of a fuel injector, based on the operational state of the internal combustion engine and fuel pressure detected by a fuel pressure sensor. After a valve-opening command has turned on and a high valve-opening current has been supplied to open the fuel injector valve, a fuel injector driving signal waveform command unit discharges the current and supplies a small hold current Ih2 to maintain the injector's valve-open state. After the elapse of a predetermined rapid-discharge starting time from the turn-on of the valve-opening command, the fuel injector driving signal waveform command unit rapidly discharges the current until the hold current Ih2 has been reached.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masahiro Toyohara, Takao Miyake, Masahiro Sasaki, Takuya Mayuzumi
  • Patent number: 7770558
    Abstract: An intake air control system for an internal combustion engine having at least one intake valve and a valve operating characteristic varying mechanism which continuously varies a lift amount of the at least one intake valve of the engine. A target intake air flow rate of the engine is calculated along with a command value of the lift amount according to a target engine rotational speed set in an idling condition of the engine and the target intake air flow rate when the engine is determined to be in an idling condition. The valve operating characteristic varying mechanism is controlled according to the calculated lift amount command value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideharu Takamiya, Isao Komoriya
  • Patent number: 7770559
    Abstract: A diaphragm carburettor comprises a diaphragm dosager (2) provided with a diaphragm (3) that separates a first chamber at constant pressure (4) from a second fuel dosaging chamber (5) intercepted by a valve controlled by the diaphragm, said valve being operatively connected with said diaphragm (3), the aforementioned carburettor also foreseeing an electromagnetic actuator (1) associated with said diaphragm (3) to control the opening and closing of said valve, where said actuator (1) also comprises at least one mobile coil (6) directly fixed to the diaphragm, and a fixed magnetic field generator (7) suitable for guiding said coil (6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Selettra S.R.L.
    Inventor: William T. Cobb, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7774124
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for determining the composition of a fuel blend from a first and at least a second fuel to operate an internal combustion engine with at least one combustion chamber, wherein fuel blends of different composition combust at different optimal ignition angles ZWmax with an optimal degree of efficiency ?max. Provision is thereby made for the ignition angle ZW of the internal combustion engine to be altered, for the degree of efficiency ? of the internal combustion engine or a parameter, which is a function of it, to be determined as a function of the ignition angle ZW and for the composition of the fuel blend to be determined from the change in the degree of efficiency ?? or the parameter, which is a function of it, when the ignition angle ZW is altered and/or from the ignition angle ZW as a function of the degree of efficiency ? or the parameter, which is a function of the degree of efficiency ?.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Martin Streib, Nikolas Poertner
  • Patent number: 7765974
    Abstract: This body (8) has on its outer surface both a screw thread (16) adapted for fixing the body (8) into a corresponding tapping in an engine (4), as well as a gripping zone (28), generally of cylindrical form with a hexagonal section, enabling gripping of the body (8) for screwing the glow plug (2) into the corresponding tapping. The outer diameter of the portion of the body between the thread (16) and the gripping zone (28) is throughout its entire height of a diameter at least equal to the outer diameter of the threaded portion (16). Application to internal combustion engines, in particular Diesel type engines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignees: Continental Automotive France, Federal-Mogul Ignition Srl
    Inventors: Michel Boucard, Bernd Last, Cyrille Patri, Alain Ramond, John Burrows, Sandro Goretti
  • Patent number: 7762237
    Abstract: A method for determining degraded valve operation. According to the method, valve degradation can be determined from the duration of a spark event. This method allows for the determination of both intake and exhaust valve degradation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Alex O'Connor Gibson, Jeffrey Allen Doering, Nelson William Morrow, Jr., James Donald McCoy, Michael Damian Czekala
  • Patent number: 7765054
    Abstract: A method for operating an internal combustion engine has the steps: (a) during an overrun phase of the internal combustion engine, activating an injector of a first combustion chamber for a predetermined activation time ?inj with a predetermined activation voltage Ui=1, (b) measuring a torque variation, (c) determining, from the torque variation, a fuel quantity mi=1 of the fuel injected by the injector during the activation time ?inj, (d) varying the activation voltage to a value Ui+1 which differs from Ui, (e) repeating steps (a) to (d) with further incrementation of i until i has reached a preset value N or the internal combustion engine is no longer in the overrun phase, and (f) determining an injector characteristic value of the injector of the first combustion chamber from the fuel quantities m1, m2, . . . , mN and the activation voltages U1, U2, . . . , UN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Uwe Jung, Janos Radeczky, Michael Wirkowski
  • Patent number: 7757665
    Abstract: A method of regulating a throttle opening of an engine in a hybrid electric vehicle system includes initiating a fuel-cut off operating mode of the engine, monitoring an engine speed during said fuel cut-off operating mode and regulating the throttle opening based on the engine speed during the fuel-cut off mode to maintain a manifold absolute pressure (MAP) of the engine above a threshold MAP.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Inventors: Goro Tamai, James L. Worthing
  • Patent number: 7761218
    Abstract: An engine revolution number is controlled by operating opening and closing of a throttle valve by an engine revolution number control means on the basis of a deviation between a detected engine revolution number and a target engine revolution number, and air-fuel ratio control means applies the engine revolution number and the intake air flow rate to a predetermined numerical formula which is derived from a plurality of sets of data groups including the intake air flow rate and air-fuel ratio, which are obtained from a predetermined experiment model, and expresses the relationship between each data, to thereby calculate a fuel injection time for realizing a target air fuel ratio. A target air fuel ratio is thus realized while minimizing any delay of a response even during a transient operation, and thus, good engine operability is always acquired.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Nikki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Umerujan Sawut, Buso Takigawa, Tohti Gheyret
  • Patent number: 7753029
    Abstract: Internal combustion engine with variable actuation of the valves that provides electronic control means that considers the activation delays of the cylinders so that new operating conditions are assigned for the first time to a cylinder which firstly, following an engine operating variation request, is effectively able to satisfy such new operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: C.R.F. Societa Consortile per Azioni
    Inventors: Fabio Borean, Pasquale Ceres
  • Patent number: 7753016
    Abstract: A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a variable valve mechanism that changes the duration of an intake valve, and a controller that controls the variable valve mechanism to change the duration based on the operating state of the internal combustion engine. If a determination that there is a possibility of engine stalling is made when the internal combustion engine idling, the controller controls the variable valve mechanism so that the duration of the intake valve is made shorter than the duration which is achieved when the determination is made, only during the period until several four-stroke cycles of the internal combustion engine have elapsed after the determination is made. Thus, it is possible to appropriately suppress occurrence of engine stalling when the internal combustion engine is running at a low speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Takuya Ikoma, Kazutaka Fujioka
  • Patent number: 7748363
    Abstract: Internal combustion engine with variable actuation of the valves providing electronic control means which, when the engine is subject to an operating variation request from a first operating condition to a second operating condition, are adapted to select a cylinder to which to assign said second operating condition based on a determined programming delay only as a function of the engine speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2010
    Assignee: C.R.F. Societa Consortile per Azioni
    Inventors: Fabio Borean, Pasquale Ceres
  • Patent number: 7747378
    Abstract: An integrative control method and device for controlling gas engines is proposed which is improved load responsivity of the engine while maintaining air fuel ratio control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
    Inventors: Masataka Shiraishi, Yoshitaka Kakuhama, Kei Sakai, Yosuke Kitamura
  • Patent number: 7742870
    Abstract: A dead time in the case where an output of an air-fuel ratio sensor changes in a lean direction and a dead time in the case where the output changes in a rich direction are sensed respectively. The number of elements constituting data of past feedback correction amounts used for calculating a present feedback correction amount is changed in accordance with the larger one of the dead times. A lean direction response time and a rich direction response time are sensed respectively. A control gain is corrected in accordance with the lean direction response time when the output of the air-fuel ratio sensor changes in the lean direction. The control gain is corrected in accordance with the rich direction response time when the output changes in the rich direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Hisayo Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 7740446
    Abstract: A serial fan includes a frame, a plurality of rotor vanes, a support connected to the frame through a plurality of connecting parts. The plurality of rotor vanes are arranged in series in the frame along an axial direction and the plurality of connecting parts are disposed therebetween to minimize space occupied by the serial fan in the axial direction, and effectively increase the blast pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2010
    Assignee: Delta Electronics, Inc.
    Inventors: Kuo-cheng Lin, Wen-shi Huang, Shun-chen Chang, Pohao Yu
  • Patent number: 7735472
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine provided with a high-pressure fuel pump, if the discharging rate of the high-pressure fuel pump is greater than the injection quantity of fuel injected from a injector with the high-pressure fuel pump remaining uncontrollable due to failure or the like, it is probable that the fuel pressure in a common rail unintentionally rises to affect the injector. A high-pressure fuel supply apparatus is provided to solve such a problem. A high-pressure fuel supply apparatus according to the present invention is configured such that if the high-pressure fuel supply apparatus or a control apparatus thereof causes malfunction to increase the pressure in the common rail, the pressure in the common rail does not exceed pressure affecting the flow characteristic and spray characteristic of the injector after recovery from the malfunctioning state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Takashi Okamoto, Shinsaku Tsukada, Hideharu Ehara, Masahiro Toyohara
  • Patent number: 7735465
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes a cylinder (2) wherein a combustion chamber (5) is formed. The engine also includes devices for metering fuel and combustion air as well as an ignition device for igniting the mixture in the combustion chamber (5). A method for operating the internal combustion engine provides that fuel and combustion air are supplied to the engine and the mixture is ignited in the combustion chamber (5). The combustion chamber (5) is delimited by a piston (7) which drives a crankshaft (25) rotatably journalled in a crankcase (3). A control is provided which controls the supply of fuel and the ignition of the mixture in the combustion chamber (5). The internal combustion engine is so controlled in at least one operating state that the number of combustions is less than the number of engine cycles in the same time span. To avoid the formation of self ignitions, the operating state is a high rpm range wherein the rpm lies above the rated rpm and below the rpm in a regulating range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Nils Kunert, Jan Borchardt, Andreas Bähner, Predag Ostojic, Andreas Lingen
  • Patent number: 7735467
    Abstract: An engine wherein a progressive throttle body includes two side by side throttle bores with throttle blades of equal size. A primary throttle opens from closed to an idle position with slowly increasing flow providing excellent idle and low engine speed air control. A secondary throttle opens slightly after the idle airflow position of the primary throttle and then opens more quickly, equaling the primary throttle opening near half throttle. Thereafter, the throttles open together, raising the airflow to maximum when both throttles are fully open. Both throttles are driven by a single electronically controlled motor or other actuator through two gearboxes that provide the varying flow curves. Throttle position sensors on both throttle shafts feed back throttle positions to an electronic controller to provide needed data for electronic throttle control in response to throttle commands. Additional features are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations, Inc.
    Inventor: Kevin C. Wong
  • Patent number: 7726276
    Abstract: In a method for adapting variations in cylinder-selective injection quantities of a direct injection system of an internal combustion engine with a plurality of cylinders, factorial and additive adaptive values are determined in order to be able to reliably adjust a given lambda value for the entire engine even in the event of a multiple injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Reza Aliakbarzadeh, Stephan Wenzel