Patents Examined by Michael A Kessler
  • Patent number: 10907554
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine in which when the gas temperature of a fuel reformation chamber when a piston in a fuel reformation cylinder reaches the compression top dead point is estimated to be equal to or higher than a soot generation lower limit temperature set according to an equivalence ratio of the fuel reformation chamber, a reaction gas temperature adjusting operation for suppressing or reducing an increase in the reaction gas temperature in the fuel reformation chamber is executed. Further, a closing timing of an air-intake valve is changed to reduce an effective compression ratio of the fuel reformation chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: YANMAR POWER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Go Asai
  • Patent number: 10907559
    Abstract: A control device to be applied to an internal combustion engine having a fuel reformation cylinder and an output cylinder, wherein the compression end gas temperature of the fuel reformation cylinder is adjusted by changing an EGR gas amount, an effective compression ratio, or a polytropic number according to an equivalence ratio in the fuel reformation cylinder so as to achieve a target concentration of a specific gas component in reformed fuel generated in the fuel reformation cylinder. The target concentration is defined according to a required engine power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: YANMAR POWER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Go Asai, Hideyuki Ogawa, Gen Shibata, Kenji Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 10859025
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for operating a lift pump of an engine fuel system. In one example, a method may comprise predicting when a fuel rail pressure will decrease below a threshold assuming that a lift pump remains off. The method may further comprise powering on the lift pump before the fuel rail pressure decreases below to the threshold to prevent fuel rail pressure from decreasing below the threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Justin Trzeciak, Joseph Norman Ulrey, Ross Dykstra Pursifull
  • Patent number: 10851726
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine in which an output from a fuel reformation cylinder is obtained based on a cylinder internal pressure and a rotational speed of the fuel reformation cylinder, and an output adjusting operation for adjusting an output from an output cylinder is executed so that a sum of the output from the fuel reformation cylinder and the output from the output cylinder matches with a required engine power. In this output adjusting operation, during a transient operation in which the required engine power is increased, the output from the output cylinder is increased by increasing the fuel supply amount to a combustion chamber. Then, the fuel supply amount to a fuel reformation chamber is gradually increased while the fuel supply amount to the combustion chamber is gradually reduced, so that a heat source is shifted from the fuel to the reformed fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: YANMAR POWER TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Go Asai
  • Patent number: 10837408
    Abstract: For an optimized metering of fuel and water for the operation of an internal combustion engine in which a direct injection and an intake manifold injection are provided for metering fuel into the internal combustion engine, and in which the internal combustion engine is assigned a system for water injection, a same intake manifold injector is used for both water and fuel injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2020
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Rainer Ecker, Thomas Kuhn, Timm Hollmann, Udo Schulz
  • Patent number: 10830186
    Abstract: A premixed compression ignition engine system includes an engine, a fuel injector, a water injector, and a controller. The controller conducts: a compression-stroke mid-period injection that causes a fuel injector to inject fuel to form a fuel-air mixture in a surrounding space of a combustion chamber; a compression top-dead-center injection that causes the fuel injector to inject fuel to form a fuel-air mixture in the central space of the combustion chamber after the compression-stroke mid-period injection; and a water injection that causes a water injector to inject water to the surrounding space of the combustion chamber at a timing from commencement of the compression-stroke mid-period injection to commencement of the compression top-dead-center injection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Tohru Hokazono, Kota Maekawa, Yoshihisa Nakamoto, Masaharu Marumoto, Yusuke Koike, Ryohei Ono
  • Patent number: 10816059
    Abstract: A balance weight having one or more journals with a reduced mass portion disposed between a pair of journal portions that define circumferentially extending bearing surfaces. The reduced mass portion has a body, which defines a circumferentially extending bearing surface that is concentric with the bearing surfaces on the journal portions, and at least one stiffening structure that is configured to resist flexing of the journal portions relative to one another due to the transmission of bending loads through the balance shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc.
    Inventors: Stephen A. Clark, John C. Geis, Carl E. Holmblad, Craig Lawrence McEachran
  • Patent number: 10815870
    Abstract: A control method for a cooling system includes determining, by the controller, whether the output signal of the ambient temperature sensor satisfies a predetermined an ambient low temperature driving condition, determining, by the controller, whether the output signal of the first coolant temperature sensor satisfies a predetermined first low temperature driving condition when the output signal of the ambient temperature sensor satisfies the predetermined the ambient low temperature driving condition and controlling, by the controller, the operation of the coolant control valve unit to open the first coolant passage and the third coolant passage and to close the second coolant passage when the output signal of the first coolant temperature sensor satisfies the predetermined first low temperature driving condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yonggyu Lee
  • Patent number: 10815945
    Abstract: An engine component includes an intake manifold of stratified layers defining a plurality of runners each having a gas outlet leading to a cylinder head, and a plenum including partial walls that form channels radiating from a common gas inlet and transitioning into the runners such that there is no seal between the plenum and runners. The partial walls form endoskeletal structure configured to support the intake manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Christopher Donald Wicks
  • Patent number: 10801392
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for rapidly cooling an engine system of a vehicle at vehicle-off events. In one example, a method may include cooling the engine system via selecting whether to rotate a cooling fan in a first direction or a second direction based on an indication of whether temperature of the engine system decays at a faster rate under conditions where the cooling fan is rotated in the first direction as compared to the second direction, or vice versa. In this way, diagnostics that rely on static, low-noise conditions may be conducted for vehicle-off conditions that are not sufficiently long to allow for sufficient engine system cooling in a timeframe of the vehicle-off condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 13, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Aed M. Dudar
  • Patent number: 10794243
    Abstract: There is provided a lubrication structure of an internal combustion engine. A transmission chamber is arranged adjacently at the rear of a crank chamber. An oil chamber communicates with a bottom part of the transmission chamber. A feed pump supplies oil in the oil chamber to a lubrication target part. A scavenging pump sucks the oil in the crank chamber and discharges the oil to the transmission chamber. The feed pump and the scavenging pump are arranged coaxially in a width direction of the internal combustion engine. At least a part of the scavenging pump is arranged higher than a lower end of the crank chamber. A rear end of the scavenging pump is arranged at the same position as a rear end of the crank chamber or in front of the rear end of the crank chamber in a front and rear direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Koichi Tanaka, Kunio Arase
  • Patent number: 10794340
    Abstract: A first engine fuel, for example diesel fuel, is reformed (preferably via steam reforming) to produce syngas for use as a second engine fuel, with the fuels then both being used in an internal combustion engine to perform Reactivity Controlled Compression Ignition (RCCI). The syngas is produced and supplied to the engine as a supercritical fluid, thereby avoiding the pumping losses that would occur if syngas was pressurized for supply/injection. The reforming is done by a reformer which is provided as a unit with the engine (e.g., both the engine and reformer are onboard a vehicle), thereby effectively allowing use of a single fuel for RCCI engine operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
    Inventors: Sage Kokjohn, David Wickman, Flavio Dal Forno Chuahy
  • Patent number: 10787958
    Abstract: The present invention refers to a system, a method and a device to optimize the efficiency of the combustion of gases for the production of clean energy comprising a magnetic nucleus (30) and inlet and outlet ducts (41a, 42a), the inlet and outlet ducts (41a, 42a) being configured to receive gases, the gases alternately establishing flows between the inlet ducts (41a) and the outlet ducts (42a) and vice-versa, the magnetic nucleus (30) being configured to generate and to expose the gases within the inlet and outlet ducts (41a, 42a) to magnetic fields (35), the alternation of flows between the inlet and outlet ducts (41a, 42a) and the exposure to magnetic fields (35) promoting acceleration of the hydrogen atoms and ions of oxygen and argon, promoting the reduction of the radii of the orbits of the electrons of the hydrogen around their nuclei and provoking the release of potential energy of the electrons and corresponding increase of the kinetic energy of the nuclei of the gas molecules, in such a way to optim
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: The Bluedot Alliance B.V.
    Inventor: Marcelo Fernando Pimentel
  • Patent number: 10774790
    Abstract: A purge system malfunction diagnosis device is configured to diagnose a malfunction in a purge system mounted on a vehicle configured to execute an idling stop control. The system includes a canister, a purge passage, a purge valve capable of opening and closing the purge passage, an outside air passage that causes the canister to communicate with an outside air opening, an outside air valve capable of opening and closing the outside air passage by being driven using an electric power supplied from a battery, and a system pressure sensor that detects a pressure in the purge system. In a state where the outside air passage is closed, a diagnosis mode is executed on a basis of a relationship between the pressure in the purge system and an integrated value of flow rate estimates of a purge gas, and the diagnosis mode is prohibited on a basis of a voltage of the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 15, 2020
    Assignee: SUBARU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Daisuke Kugo, Naoki Matsumoto, Atsushi Kaneko, Yoshitaka Ono
  • Patent number: 10767586
    Abstract: A method, computer program product and apparatus for the pilot control of a mixture preparation for an internal combustion engine are disclosed, which include determining a configuration of the internal combustion engine. The configuration is determined by a combination of discrete positions of a plurality of actuators which influence at least one operating parameter of the internal combustion engine. The method, computer program product and apparatus additionally determine a constant adaptation component of the mixture preparation which is fed back by an exhaust gas probe of the internal combustion engine, and store the constant adaptation component and the associated configuration in memory. The pilot control of the mixture preparation is performed with the constant adaptation component when the internal combustion engine is operated in the same configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies GmbH
    Inventors: Jan-Richard Lenk, Sebastian Viehöver
  • Patent number: 10759266
    Abstract: The description relates to a method for operating a drive unit comprising an internal combustion engine, which is at least drive-connectable to an electric machine which delivers power to a drive train or receives power, and comprising at least one automatically actuable clutch, wherein the electric machine is at least drive-connectable to a manually shiftable transmission of the drive train, the manually shiftable transmission is shiftable without actuation of a clutch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Harald Stoffels, Christian Hofmann, Stefan Quiring, Moritz Klaus Springer
  • Patent number: 10760540
    Abstract: An arrangement for supplying fuel from a fuel pressure source located on an outside of an engine enclosure to a fuel injector located on an inside of the engine enclosure includes a fuel pipe for transporting fuel from the fuel pressure source to the fuel injector via an opening in the engine enclosure, and a seal for sealing the fuel pipe at the opening. The seal includes a first part configured for a sealing contact around the fuel pipe and a second part configured for a sealing contact around a sleeve extending around the opening. An internal combustion engine provided with such an arrangement and a method for providing an internal combustion engine with such an arrangement are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sergi Yudanov, Jan Arnell
  • Patent number: 10746023
    Abstract: An engine block for an opposed-piston engine includes a first center section and a second center section. The first center section defines a first cylinder half bore having a first longitudinal axis and a first plurality of fastener bores. The second center section defines a second cylinder half bore having a second longitudinal axis and a second plurality of fastener bores that extend from a first end thereof to a second end thereof. The second center section is configured to abut the first center section such that: the first and second cylinder half bores are in fluid communication with one another to collectively form a single cylinder; the first and second longitudinal axes are offset from one another; and the first and second pluralities of fastener bores are aligned with one another for receiving a first plurality of fasteners to join the first and second center sections to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2020
    Assignee: AVL Powertrain Engineering, Inc.
    Inventor: Vasile Frasinel
  • Patent number: 10731599
    Abstract: A piston for an internal combustion engine has a piston head and a piston skirt. The piston head has a circumferential ring part and a circumferential cooling channel in the region of the ring part. The piston skirt has piston bosses with boss bores and which are arranged on the lower face of the piston head via boss connections. The piston bosses are connected to one another via running surfaces. At least one bore is provided which is closed towards the outside and which is arranged between a running surface and a boss bore. The at least one bore opens into the cooling channel, and the cooling channel and the at least one bore contain a coolant in the form of a low-melting metal or a low-melting metal alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: MAHLE INTERNATIONAL GMBH
    Inventor: Ulrich Bischofberger
  • Patent number: 10724406
    Abstract: An engine assembly includes an air-cooled engine and an external oil reservoir. The engine includes a vertically-oriented crankshaft a crankcase cover having a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the front portion of the crankcase cover and the cylinder head are located forward of a vertical plane that includes the crankshaft axis, a return pump housing formed in the exterior of the crankcase cover, a return pump positioned in the return pump housing, and a return pump inlet formed through the crankcase cover, wherein the return pump inlet is located in the front portion of the crankcase cover and the return pump inlet is located closer to the camshaft than to the crankshaft. The external oil reservoir includes an oil tank and an oil filter assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Briggs & Stratton Corporation
    Inventors: Adam J. Hellman, John Schneiker, Tim Kwiatkowski, Casey Groh, Robert Price, Ryan Sullivan, Gary Johnson