Patents Examined by Logan M Kraft
  • Patent number: 11300034
    Abstract: A standby generator includes a standby generator enclosure having one or more airflow openings, a first air duct and a second air duct each coupled to at least one of the one or more airflow openings, and an engine and an alternator driven by the engine mounted in the enclosure. An engine cooling fan is driven by the engine to force a first stream of cooling air from the first air duct through the engine in a direction opposite the alternator, and an alternator cooling fan is coupled to the alternator and driven by the engine to force a second stream of cooling air from the second air duct through the alternator in a direction opposite the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 12, 2022
    Assignee: Champion Power Equipment, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark J. Sarder, Russell J. Dopke, Hiroaki Sato, Leigh A. Jenison
  • Patent number: 11293392
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a fuel injector. In one example, a system comprises an injector spool valve having a fuel outlet shaped to flow fuel to different portions of a nozzle inlet based on an actuation of the injector spool valve, thereby adjusting a fuel injection angle of a fuel injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Xiaogang Zhang, Jianwen James Yi, Joseph F. Basmaji, Mark Meinhart
  • Patent number: 11293386
    Abstract: A fuel separation system includes a fuel separator configured to receive a fuel stream and separate the fuel stream, based on a volatility of the fuel stream, into a vapor stream defined by a first auto-ignition characteristic value and a first liquid stream defined by a second auto-ignition characteristic value, the second auto-ignition characteristic value greater than the first auto-ignition characteristic value; and a heat exchanger fluidly coupled between a fuel input of the fuel stream and the fuel separator, the heat exchanger configured to transfer heat from the vapor stream to the fuel stream, and output a heated fuel stream to the fuel separator and a second liquid stream defined by the first auto-ignition characteristic value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Esam Z. Hamad, Ibrahim M. Algunaibet
  • Patent number: 11280683
    Abstract: Herein provided are methods and systems for detecting a high temperature condition of a gas turbine engine. A fuel flow to a combustor of the engine and a compressor outlet pressure of the engine are obtained. A ratio of the fuel flow to the compressor outlet pressure is determined. The ratio is compared to a threshold and a high temperature condition of the engine is detected when the ratio exceeds the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Sylvain Lamarre, Alexandre Charest, Nicolas Des Roches-Dionne
  • Patent number: 11274745
    Abstract: To curb temperature rises in a control device for a supercharger and extend the life of the control device for the supercharger, a work vehicle includes a variable geometry supercharger with variable boost pressure, and a working device driven by pressure oil discharged from a working hydraulic pump, the work vehicle further including: a supercharger control device adapted to control the supercharger; a temperature detection device adapted to detect temperature of the supercharger control device; and a main control device adapted to limit at least one of maximum rotational speed of an engine and maximum vehicle speed of the work vehicle in case the temperature of the supercharger control device is above a predetermined temperature as compared to case the temperature of the supercharger control device is below the predetermined temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Koji Hyodo, Masashi Yamashita, Tetsuji Tanaka, Katsutaka Hara, Masaki Nukii, Isamu Aoki
  • Patent number: 11274616
    Abstract: A negative pressure control valve (44) is disposed in a part of an intake passage (12) upstream of a confluence (30) of an EGR passage (27) and the intake passage (12). When in an EGR region (Regr) where an EGR gas is recirculated to the intake passage (12) through the EGR passage (27), the negative pressure control valve (44) is controlled in a manner to ensure a differential pressure between an exhaust passage (13) and the intake passage (12). When in an operation region (R2) lower in load than the EGR region (Regr), the negative pressure control valve (44) is controlled in a closing direction so as to suppress occurrence of noise.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignees: NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD., RENAULT S.A.S.
    Inventors: Takayuki Hamamoto, Daisuke Suzuki, Kengo Yonekura, Kenji Yasaka
  • Patent number: 11274646
    Abstract: Ignitability of a fuel by a spark plug is improved while an increase in the number of ignition coils is suppressed. A control device for an internal combustion engine includes an ignition control unit 83 which controls energization of an ignition coil 300a and an ignition coil 300b which each provide electric energy to a spark plug which discharges in a cylinder of an internal combustion engine to ignite a fuel, and a discharge amount detection unit which detects an inter-electrode voltage of the spark plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventor: Eiichirou Ohata
  • Patent number: 11260948
    Abstract: An outboard motor includes an engine, a supercharger that compresses air to be supplied to an air intake of the engine, and a cooler that cools the air compressed by the supercharger. The compressed air is cooled by spraying water obtained by condensing water vapor produced by combustion in the engine to the cooler.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 1, 2022
    Assignee: YAMAHA HATSUDOKI KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Katsumi Ochiai
  • Patent number: 11255287
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a first controller configured to generate control signals for controlling an engine or other machine, a second controller configured to generate the control signals for controlling the machine, a transfer circuit, and an arbiter circuit. The transfer circuit is coupled between the machine and the controllers, and is configured to switch from a first state, where the transfer circuit passes the control signals from the first controller to the machine, to a second state, where the transfer circuit passes the control signals from the second controller to the machine, responsive to receiving a first failure signal from the first controller. The arbiter circuit includes three (or more) arbiters, and is configured to control the transfer circuit from the first state to the second state responsive to any two of the three arbiters generating second signals indicative of failure of the first controller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Inventors: Michael Allen Taylor, Kusuma Kumari Maralla, Scott Christopher Poeppel, Vinodh Kumar Sreenivasan, James Robert Connelly, Atul George Tharakan
  • Patent number: 11242835
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for operating a work apparatus having a combustion engine. An ignition device is provided for triggering an ignition spark at a spark plug for igniting a fuel/air mixture in a combustion chamber of the combustion engine. The combustion chamber is bounded by a piston which drives a crankshaft in a rotating manner. In order to avoid the combustion engine stopping in rich mode, the speed (n) of the combustion engine is monitored over the period of time (t, ?T) and the ignition point (ZZP) of the ignition device is advanced if the speed (n) of the combustion engine lies within a predefined speed range (nmin; nmax) within a predefined period of time (t, ?T) and then the speed n drops below a speed limit value (nG).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: Andreas Stihl AG & Co. KG
    Inventors: Jan-Philipp Banzhaf, Karsten Schmidt
  • Patent number: 11230998
    Abstract: A ventilation apparatus of an internal combustion engine of the invention ventilates a chain chamber by recirculating blow-by gas to an intake passage through a blow-by gas recirculation pipe and introducing air into the chain chamber through an air introduction pipe. The air introduction pipe is secured to a head cover wall portion which corresponds to a portion of a head cover wall which defines the chain chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masayuki Chiba, Katsuichi Miyasaka, Satoko Tofukuji, Kenji Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11230969
    Abstract: A coolant diverter system and method of controlling coolant flow are provided. The coolant diverter system includes a coolant diverter body having a coolant inlet opening, a driveline retarder outlet opening and a bypass outlet opening. The coolant diverter system also includes a valve positioned in the coolant diverter body. The valve is configured in a first valve orientation to fluidly couple the coolant inlet opening to the driveline retarder outlet opening in isolation from the bypass outlet opening. The valve is configured in a second valve orientation to fluidly couple the coolant inlet opening to the driveline retarder outlet opening and the bypass outlet opening. The coolant diverter system also includes a valve controller configured to place the valve in the first valve orientation in response to activation of a driveline retarder coupled to the driveline retarder outlet opening for braking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2022
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Steven M. Bellinger, Richard D. Mason
  • Patent number: 11199149
    Abstract: A diagnosis apparatus of a fuel supply system includes an operation state detector, an air-fuel ratio sensor, a fuel injection amount calculator, a threshold value table, an abnormality information acquiring device, and an abnormality determining device. In the threshold value table, operation ranges of an internal combustion engine are provided based on an engine speed and a throttle opening. In the threshold value table, a lean side threshold value and a rich side threshold value of an air-fuel ratio correction factor to determine abnormality of the fuel supply system are set beforehand for each of the operation ranges. The abnormality information acquiring device is configured to determine whether the air-fuel ratio correction factor has exceeded the lean side threshold value or the rich side threshold value extracted from the threshold value table according to an operation state so as to acquire abnormality information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Takano, Ryosuke Ibata, Tetsuya Kaneko, Takahiro Kitamura, Tsuyoshi Takizawa, Shunji Akamatsu
  • Patent number: 11193463
    Abstract: In a pressure regulator, a valve element nozzle is supported by a diaphragm, which partitions between an inlet portion and an outlet portion. The outlet portion includes an inner cover and an outer cover. The inner cover receives an adjusting spring in an inside space of the inner cover. A primary communication hole is formed in the inner cover to oppose the valve element nozzle, and a secondary communication hole is formed in the inner cover at a location, which is on a radially outer side of the primary communication hole. The outer cover covers the inner cover and thereby forms a fuel space, which is communicated with the inside space through the primary and secondary communication holes, at a location between the inner cover and the outer cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Norihiro Hayashi
  • Patent number: 11181036
    Abstract: The cooling water control apparatus of the disclosure includes: a cooling water circuit; a heat accumulator which is arranged in the cooling water circuit and stores high-temperature cooling water flowing out from an internal combustion engine; an on-off valve for opening/closing the cooling water circuit; a heater passage which is connected in parallel to the cooling water circuit; and a flow rate control valve which controls a flow rate of the cooling water inside the heater passage. The cooling water inside the heat accumulator is supplied to the internal combustion engine by closing the flow rate control valve and opening the on-off valve in order to promote warm-up at the start of the internal combustion engine, and thereafter, the on-off valve is closed, and an opening degree of the flow rate control valve is controlled to make the temperature of the internal combustion engine reach a specified target temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanobu Takazawa, Hajime Uto, Masayuki Toyokawa, Naoaki Takeda
  • Patent number: 11174799
    Abstract: A throttle control assembly which includes a housing, an adapter integrally formed with the housing, an anti-rotation feature integrally formed with the housing and the adapter, and a scallop. The scallop substantially surrounds the anti-rotation feature, and the anti-rotation feature and the scallop are integrally formed with the housing and the adapter during a molding process, such as a metal injection molding process, or a casting process. A first groove is integrally formed as part of the adapter, a second groove is integrally formed as part of the housing, and a rib portion is disposed between the first groove and the second groove. A lower wall portion is integrally formed as part of the housing, such that the lower wall portion is adjacent the scallop. A portion of the scallop is integrally formed as part of the housing, and a portion of the scallop is integrally formed as part of the adapter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies USA, LLC
    Inventors: Donald Taylor, Giri Thommandram, Benjamin Nydam
  • Patent number: 11149630
    Abstract: A standby generator having an engine with oil drain tube that facilitates removal of engine oil from the standby generator is disclosed. The standby generator includes an enclosure comprising a plurality of sidewalls, with an opening formed in one of the sidewalls, and an engine positioned within the enclosure. The engine further includes an oil drain and an oil drain tube having a first end coupled to the oil drain and a second end that opens and closes to selectively drain oil from the engine, the oil drain tube being positionable so as to extend out through the opening. The opening in the one of the sidewalls is lower than the oil drain, such that the oil drain tube is positioned with a downward angle when extending from the oil drain and out of the enclosure through the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Champion Power Equipment, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark J. Sarder, Russell J. Dopke, Hiroaki Sato, Leigh A. Jenison
  • Patent number: 11149628
    Abstract: Disclosed is a piston ported two-stroke compression ignition internal combustion engine comprising: a cylinder having a fixed closed end, and a piston for reciprocation within the cylinder, wherein the closed end of the cylinder and the piston together define a combustion chamber therebetween; at least one heater to heat the combustion chamber; and a controller to control the heater to heat the combustion chamber when the controller determines that a temperature of the combustion chamber has fallen below a threshold temperature during reciprocation of the piston within the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: Amaroq Limited
    Inventors: Christian Edward Bucksey, Huw David Powell
  • Patent number: 11149704
    Abstract: A method of testing a fuel injection system or components thereof includes running a high pressure fuel pump to provide fluid under pressure to the fuel injection system or components. The pump flow is controlled via an inlet metering valve by controlling current or voltage supplied to the inlet metering valve dependent on the power to the fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Inventors: Aaron Walsh, Lee Raymond Jacobs
  • Patent number: 11131244
    Abstract: A power transmission system includes a shaft, a stator disposed within the shaft and substantially concentric with the shaft; and at least one supporting element positioned between the stator and the shaft and configured to support the shaft on the stator to reduce a vibration of the shaft and allow the shaft to rotate relative to the stator. A gas turbine engine including the power transmission system is also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Weize Kang, Richard Alan Wesling, Tod Robert Steen, Richard Schmidt