Patents Examined by Michael Kerrigan
  • Patent number: 8965615
    Abstract: A method for operating a floor-bound heavy-duty transportation vehicle that can be displaced on rubber tires, such as a heavy-duty transportation vehicle that may be operated without a driver, comprising an electric drive having at least two electric motors. In order to improve the overall efficiency of the electric drive of a floor-bound heavy-duty transportation vehicle, the at least two electric motors are operated using optimized variables by a drive control and according to the operational conditions of the heavy-duty transportation vehicle and its performance requirements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Terex MHPS GmbH
    Inventors: Dirk Brandenstein, Uwe Brucherseifer, Branislav Lalik, Heiko Schulz
  • Patent number: 8935015
    Abstract: A flight control system and method including a primary flight control path between one or more pilot controls and control surface actuators on an associated aircraft, wherein the primary control path includes one or more flight control computers and one or more first data concentrators; and a secondary flight control path between the one or more pilot controls and the control surface actuators, wherein the secondary flight control path utilizes direct mode control laws to control the control surface actuators; wherein the primary flight control path and the secondary flight control path are independent from each other and the secondary flight control path is operative upon detection of a fault in the primary flight control path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Parker-Hannifin Corporation
    Inventors: Jonathan S. Olsoe, David McLaughlin, Charles B. Hartin, Luc Cyrot, Bruce Streeter, Stephane Wanchu
  • Patent number: 8930076
    Abstract: A steering system of a vehicle in the transmission path between the steering wheel and the point of application of a servo unit includes a coupling element which is adjustable between a closed position transmitting a steering movement and a decoupled open position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 9, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Robert Kornhaas, Achim Schoen
  • Patent number: 8897978
    Abstract: A method and system provides a Neutral Hold mode in a vehicle having a shift-by-wire transmission with a return to park feature. The Neutral Hold mode is entered upon detecting when the transmission control mechanism has been used a first time to select Neutral when a driver's door is open or has been used a second time to select Neutral. When in Neutral Hold mode, the transmission will stay in Neutral and not shift to Park upon detecting that a driver has exited the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Matthew Luke Fyie, Todd Curtis Spaulding, Brian J Deurloo, Mark Edward Zyskowski, William Russell Goodwin, Charles C Poon, Christopher Lee Danks, Richard Reynolds Hathaway, Jeffrey James Tumavitch
  • Patent number: 8892279
    Abstract: A control apparatus for a motor-assisted bicycle detects a pedaling torque applied to a crankshaft with a pedaling force sensor, controls a motor unit in a regenerative control process to charge a battery if the torque value of the detected pedaling torque is equal to or smaller than a predetermined level, and controls the motor unit in an assistive control process if the torque value is greater than the predetermined level. The control apparatus controls the motor unit in the regenerative control process at a crankshaft angular position in which the torque value detected by the pedaling force sensor is equal to or smaller than the predetermined level, and switches from the regenerative control process to the assistive control process for controlling the motor unit at a crankshaft angular position in which the torque value detected by the pedaling force sensor becomes higher than the predetermined level.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Koji Aoki, Naoki Kamimura
  • Patent number: 8874292
    Abstract: A hybrid vehicle has an engine, an electric machine connected to the engine by an upstream clutch, a transmission gearbox connected to the electric machine by a downstream clutch, and a controller. The controller is configured to start the engine using one of a plurality of start sequences that control the electric machine, the upstream and downstream clutches. The engine start sequence is selected based on transmission gearbox input speed and a driver demand input. A method of controlling a hybrid vehicle is provided. An engine is selectively coupled to an electric machine by an upstream clutch with the electric machine selectively coupled to a transmission gearbox by a downstream clutch. The engine is started using a control sequence to control the electric machine, upstream clutch, and downstream clutch. The control sequence is determined by a vehicle state based on transmission gearbox input speed and a driver demand input.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Mark Steven Yamazaki, Francis Thomas Connolly, Bernard D. Nefcy, Daniel Scott Colvin, Walter Joseph Ortmann, Christopher Alan Lear
  • Patent number: 8831805
    Abstract: A construction machine or industrial vehicle having a power supply system which includes a chargeable and dischargeable capacitor and a feeder circuit connecting a battery and the capacitor to a load capable of power running and regeneration. The capacitor is connected through a DC/DC converter which includes a controller that controls energy charged or discharged by the capacitor through the DC/DC converter to the load. The controller includes a power running/regeneration operation estimater which estimates an operation pattern including a point of change between power running and regeneration modes of the motor, or DC current supplied to an inverter, or control lever information and previously stored operation pattern information, and a capacitor target voltage calculator which controls an output command value of the DC/DC converter according to the estimated operation pattern so that a capacitor target voltage sequentially decreases in power running and sequentially increases in regeneration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shiho Izumi, Satoru Kaneko, Takashi Ikimi, Nobuo Masano
  • Patent number: 8768552
    Abstract: A vehicle brake system and method designed to maximize the contributions from a regenerative braking system, yet still provide adequate safety measures that address potential regenerative braking failure. According to one embodiment, the method determines both a requested deceleration from the driver and an actual deceleration experienced by the vehicle, and uses the difference between these two values to calculate a deceleration error that can be integrated over time and compared to an error threshold. If the integrated or accumulated deceleration error surpasses the error threshold, then the method may reduce or disable the regenerative braking system until it can confirm that it is operating properly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Eric E. Krueger, Michael C. Roberts, Kevin S. Kidston, Paul A. Kilmurray