Patents Examined by Lindsay Low
  • Patent number: 10100766
    Abstract: An engine control apparatus includes a temperature sensor configured to detect engine-related temperature information, a first calculator configured to calculate a first limit output value of an engine based on the temperature information inputted from the temperature sensor, an oil pressure sensor configured to detect a pressure of engine oil, a second calculator configured to calculate a second limit output value of the engine based on the oil pressure inputted from the oil pressure sensor, and a determiner configured to determine one of the first and second limit output values inputted from the first and second calculators as an optimal limit output value of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: DOOSAN INFRACORE CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Jin-Hwan Yu, Chung-Min Kim
  • Patent number: 10100773
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for accurately estimating an engine volumetric efficiency in a multi-fuel engine system operating with different fuels and different injection systems. The volumetric efficiency is revised based on the fraction of each fuel in the total fuel injection amount as well as based on the injection type for each fuel. The volumetric efficiency estimate compensates for the partial pressure effect and charge cooling effect of each fuel as well as each injection type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Gopichandra Surnilla, Michael Howard Shelby
  • Patent number: 10100787
    Abstract: An exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler for a vehicle may include an intake pipe through which EGR gas flows; a core unit having an inlet connected to the intake pipe and may have a plurality of channels into which EGR gas flows through the intake pipe; a cooler housing that covers the core unit and through which cooling water flows to cool the cover unit; and a water jacket that covers the intake pipe, is connected to the cooler housing, and through which the cooling water flows to cool the intake pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Seok Beom Jin
  • Patent number: 10100790
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for diagnosing an air filter for a vehicle. In one example, a method may include actuating a motor to flow air through the air filter during engine off, and indicating air filter replacement based on an air pressure measurement while actuating the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Baitao Xiao, David Bell, Julia Helen Buckland, Timothy Stolzenfeld
  • Patent number: 10094354
    Abstract: Diagnosis system, method, and apparatus for a starting system are discloses herein. The method comprises receiving a run condition parameter for a vehicle, receiving a fueling system engagement parameter and an associated time threshold for the fueling system engagement parameter, and receiving an ignition command for turning an engine of the vehicle from an off state to an on state. If the run condition parameter is met, the method receives time data indicative of a time duration from reception of the ignition command to reach or substantially reach the fueling system engagement parameter, compare the time duration to the associated time threshold, and diagnose a starting system of the vehicle based on the comparison.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Cummins, Inc.
    Inventors: Martin T. Books, Jon S. Wardlow
  • Patent number: 10094309
    Abstract: An engine device executes the control of the opening degree of a main throttle valve when engine load is in a low load area. In contrast, when the engine load is in a medium-to-high load area, the engine device sets the main throttle valve to a predetermined opening degree and executes the control of the opening degree of an air supply bypass valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Yanmar Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Ryoichi Hagiwara, Osamu Yamagishi
  • Patent number: 10094349
    Abstract: A fluid valve assembly having a housing with a valve seat which forms a fluid port. A valve is movable along an axis relative to the port between an open and a closed position. This valve includes a protrusion complementary in shape to, but slightly smaller than, the port. The protrusion is at least partially positioned in the port when the valve is in its closed position at which time a clearance space between the port and the protrusion is sufficiently small to prevent fluid flow through the port. A main spring disposed between the housing and the valve resiliently urges the valve towards its closed position. A second spring is also operatively positioned between the valve and the housing which urges the valve away from the valve seat towards its open position and prevents contact between the valve and the valve seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventor: Prashanth Avireddi
  • Patent number: 10087870
    Abstract: A fuel injection controller is applied to a fuel injector injecting fuel to be combusted in an internal combustion engine by an open-valve operation of the valve body according to an electromagnetic suction force generated by an energization of a coil. The fuel injection controller controls an injection state of the fuel injector by controlling a coil current flowing through the coil. The fuel injection controller includes an increasing control portion which increases the coil current to a first target value, a holding control portion which holds the coil current increased by the increasing control portion to the first target value, and a changing portion which changes the first target value according to the operation state of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Keita Imai, Eiji Ito
  • Patent number: 10087893
    Abstract: A water-cooled EGR cooler is to be supplied with exhaust gas from an exhaust line and is to re-circulate the cooled exhaust gas to an intake line. A housing has an exhaust inlet, an exhaust outlet, a coolant inlet, and a coolant outlet. A heat exchange member is disposed in the housing and includes exhaust gas passages from the exhaust inlet to the exhaust outlet at a predetermined interval and also includes a coolant passage through which coolant can flow from the coolant inlet to the coolant outlet between the exhaust gas passages. A pipe member includes a bypass passage formed between an upper surface of the heat exchange member and an inside upper surface of the housing to allow the exhaust gas to bypass the heat exchange member and flow between the upper surface of the heat exchange member and the coolant outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventors: Sung Il Yoon, Dong Young Lee, Seogjin Yoon
  • Patent number: 10087817
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes a piston reciprocally moving in at least one cylinder. An intake valve controls the supply of fresh air into a power chamber defined within the cylinder by the moving piston. An ancillary chamber is fluidly connected with the power chamber via a flow-through valve. An auxiliary piston is reciprocally movable in the ancillary chamber and determines the volume of the ancillary chamber. A fuel supply valve introduces fuel into the ancillary chamber. The flow-through valve, the fuel supply valve and the auxiliary piston are moved such that no fresh air from the power chamber goes into the ancillary chamber and such that fuel is expelled from the ancillary chamber into the power chamber via the flow-through valve for combustion with fresh air compressed in the power chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Inventor: Peter Kreuter
  • Patent number: 10082124
    Abstract: A vehicle control device is provided, which includes an engine including an ignition plug oriented inside a combustion chamber, a component provided in or near an exhaust passage of the engine, a processor configured to execute a vehicle attitude controlling module for controlling an attitude of a vehicle by retarding an ignition timing of the ignition plug to reduce an engine torque so as to decelerate the vehicle, when a condition is satisfied, the condition being that the vehicle is traveling and a steering angle related value that is related to a steering angle of a steering device increases, and a torque reduction restricting module for restricting a reduction amount of the engine torque as at least one of an engine load and an engine speed increases during the vehicle attitude control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichi Hiwatashi, Yasunori Takahara, Daisaku Ogawa, Daisuke Umetsu, Chikako Ohisa, Koichi Kimoto
  • Patent number: 10082092
    Abstract: Various systems and methods are described for generating vacuum within an engine intake. An intake throttle including a hollow throttle plate having a plurality of perforations along its circumference is mounted on a hollow shaft, which in turn may be coupled to a vacuum consumption device. When vacuum is demanded by the vacuum consumption device, the opening of the throttle plate may be decreased and vacuum may be generated by flowing intake air past the perforated edge of the throttle plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Xiaogang Zhang
  • Patent number: 10082075
    Abstract: An oil filter layout structure for an internal combustion engine for a motorcycle. An exhaust pipe connected to an exhaust port extends rearwardly beneath the internal combustion engine along a longitudinal direction of the motorcycle. An oil pan is disposed below the internal combustion engine, the oil pan having one of left and right side walls spaced along a transverse direction of the motorcycle. The one side wall is inclined downwardly toward a center of the motorcycle. The exhaust pipe is disposed closely to the side wall. An oil filter is mounted on the internal combustion engine and disposed below the internal combustion engine in overlapping relation to the oil pan as viewed in side elevation, near the other of the left and right side walls of the oil pan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Hayato Yamashiro, Hidetoshi Wakasa, Takuya Miyamura
  • Patent number: 10082125
    Abstract: In a control apparatus, a discharge control unit controls an igniter unit so that a flow of current from a primary coil towards a ground side is blocked, thereby generating a high voltage in a secondary coil, and controls a spark plug so that the spark plug generates electric discharge. An energy input control unit controls an energy input unit so as to input electrical energy to an ignition coil after the start of control of the spark plug by the discharge control unit. A control unit and an abnormality detecting unit detects an abnormality in the igniter unit or the ignition coil based on a first threshold and a first current value that is a value corresponding to a current detected by a current detection circuit at this time, when a first predetermined period elapses after the start of control of the spark plug by the discharge control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2018
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hidekazu Fujimoto, Makoto Toriyama, Satoru Nakayama, Yasuomi Imanaka, Kanechiyo Terada, Shunichi Takeda, Kaori Doi, Junichi Wada, Hisaharu Morita, Naohisa Nakamura
  • Patent number: 10072624
    Abstract: A starting element (100) for use, for example, in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle, includes a piston (310) which divides a first volume (560) that can be filled with a fluid from a second volume (570) that can be filled with a fluid, wherein the piston (310) comprises at least one fluid passage (640) which allows the fluid at least occasionally to pass through the piston (310) from the first volume (560) into the second volume (570) and/or from the second volume (570) into the first volume (560). The at least one fluid passage (640) comprises a passage component part (650) and a receiving opening (660) in the piston (310). The passage component part (650) is inserted into the receiving opening so that at least one passage opening (670) is formed which allows the fluid to pass through at least occasionally.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG
    Inventors: Ralf Fambach, Peter Frey, Michael Heuler, Reinhard Feldhaus, Horst Zinssmeister
  • Patent number: 10072602
    Abstract: A multicylinder engine includes a plurality of intake ports, a plurality of in-cylinder injectors, and an electronic control unit. The electronic control unit is configured to initially set a value of a control parameter of the multicylinder engine, individually for each of the cylinders, such that there is a common regularity between a distribution among the cylinders, of a difference of the value of the control parameter of each of the cylinders from the value of the control parameter of a reference cylinder, and a distribution among the cylinders, of a difference of the distance of a narrowed portion of each of the cylinders from the distance of the narrowed portion of a reference cylinder. The control parameter is a parameter that determines an air-fuel ratio of an air-fuel mixture around an ignition plug at a time of ignition in stratified charge combustion operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Sakai, Takeshi Ashizawa
  • Patent number: 10072595
    Abstract: A method for ascertaining a mean value of a gas-mass flow in a combustion engine. The method includes measuring a gas-mass flow impinged upon by a pulsation, smoothing a sensor signal obtained by the measurement, applying a correction quantity to the smoothed sensor signal in order to obtain the mean value of the gas-mass flow, and ascertaining the correction quantity as a function of the operating state of the combustion engine with the aid of a data-based, non-parametric function model.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventor: Thomas Schwartzkopff
  • Patent number: 10072594
    Abstract: An exhaust sensor 1 comprises a sensor cell 51, a voltage application circuit 61, a current detection circuit 62 and a concentration calculating part 80a. The current detection circuit detects a first current flowing through the sensor cell when fuel cut control is being performed in the internal combustion engine and a predetermined voltage is applied from the voltage application circuit to the sensor cell, and detect a second current flowing through the sensor cell when normal control is being performed in the internal combustion engine and the predetermined voltage is applied from the voltage application circuit to the sensor cell. The concentration calculating part is configured to calculate the concentration higher with respect to the second current when the first current is relatively low compared with when the first current is relatively high.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Keiichiro Aoki, Yoshihisa Serizawa
  • Patent number: 10072558
    Abstract: A compression-ignition low octane gasoline engine. The engine uses low octane gasoline and a compression-ignition method, does not require a spark plug, and compared with ordinary gasoline engines, increases thermal efficiency by approximately 40% and reduces green-house effects caused by emissions by approximately 45%. The “compression-ignition” of the low octane gasoline engine is a diffusion charge compression-ignition, differing from a homogeneous charge compression-ignition. The compression ratio in a cylinder can be 14 to 22, while an ordinary gasoline engine has a compression ratio of 7 to 11. The low octane gasoline engine has a simple structure, easy combustion control, a low noise level, and a low failure rate. As the low octane gasoline can be free of aromatic hydrocarbons, and not require the addition of antiknock agents such as MTBE and MMT, the present novel gasoline engine is a highly efficient, clean, and environmentally friendly internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2018
    Inventor: Xiangjin Zhou
  • Patent number: 10060396
    Abstract: In this air intake apparatus, a plurality of respective air intake ports include sealing surfaces that include inner wall surfaces with which valve bodies come into contact at the closed positions of the valve bodies, and the rotation angles of valve bodies located on a side relatively close to a drive source from their open positions to their closed positions are larger than the rotation angles of valve bodies located on a side relatively opposite to the drive source when a plurality of valve bodies are rotated from their open positions to their closed positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: AISIN SEIKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Toshiyuki Oiwa, Masato Ishii, Motonobu Hasegawa