Patents Examined by Noah Kamen
  • Patent number: 8875667
    Abstract: An assembly is provided herein. The assembly includes a cylinder block and a cooler coupled to the cylinder block positioned in a valley between two cylinder banks, the cooler including a lubricant passage having a first section configured to flow lubricant in an opposing direction to the flow of lubricant through a second section, the first and second sections each extending longitudinally from a first peripheral cylinder to a second peripheral cylinder in one of the cylinder banks.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher K. Palazzolo, Darren Sipila, Jagadish Sorab, Chuck Raymond Kvasnicka, Michael Edward Solski
  • Patent number: 8875677
    Abstract: An air cleaner in a two-stroke engine having an air supply passage and an air/fuel mixture supply passage includes: a first air passage and a second air passage arranged in parallel, the first air passage being communicated with the air supply passage and the second air passage being communicated with the air/fuel mixture supply passage; and a choke valve opening and closing both of the first air passage and the second air passage of the air cleaner. The choke valve has a pivot axis and a pivotable valve member pivoting about the pivot axis to open and close respective inlet openings of the first air passage and the second air passage. One of the first air passage and the second air passage that is located closer to the pivot axis has an inlet opening flattened along a pivoting edge of the valve member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuyuki Uenoyama, Takahiro Kimura
  • Patent number: 8875672
    Abstract: An system is disclosed for use with an engine. The system may have an intake manifold configured to direct air into combustion chambers of the engine, and an exhaust manifold configured to direct exhaust from the combustion chambers to the atmosphere. The system may also have at least one conduit extending from a first of the combustion chambers to a second of the combustion chambers, and at least one valve associated with the at least one conduit. The at least one valve is configured to pass fluid from the first of the combustion chamber to the second of the combustion chambers during a compression stroke of a first piston within the first of the combustion chambers and during an expansion stroke of a second piston within the second of the combustion chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc.
    Inventor: Teoman Uzkan
  • Patent number: 8875673
    Abstract: An improvement to the Waissi type opposed piston internal combustion engine is proposed. The engine has at least one pair of aligned and opposed cylinders with one reciprocating double-headed piston assembly in each cylinder pair. The reciprocating motion of the piston is transmitted to the driveshaft by a rotating crankdisk, which is off-centered mounted to the driveshaft. The high friction metal to metal contact between the crankdisk and the piston contact wall is replaced by a combination of a roll resistance and friction under hydrodynamic conditions resulting to a significantly reduced total resistance between the piston and the crankdisk. This is accomplished by utilizing a bearing ring assembly slidably installed on the annular perimeter surface of the crankdisk. The bearing ring is held in place by a linear U-profile groove, which is casted or machined on each the piston contact slot wall of the integrated piston assembly respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Inventors: Gary Ray Robert Waissi, Robert Waissi
  • Patent number: 8875668
    Abstract: An apparatus includes an oil-jet emplacement assembly and an oil-jet sheltering assembly. The oil-jet emplacement assembly is configured to spatially emplace an oil-jet device at an installation position relative to an engine block of a vehicle. The oil-jet sheltering assembly is positioned relative to the oil-jet emplacement assembly. The oil-jet sheltering assembly is configured to protectively shelter the oil-jet device from inadvertent oil-jet installation damage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Gregg Bennington
  • Patent number: 8875670
    Abstract: A cylinder head for an engine is provided. The cylinder head may include an upper cooling jacket including at least a first inlet and a first outlet and a lower cooling jacket including at least a second inlet and a second outlet. The cylinder head may further include a first set of crossover coolant passages including one or more crossover coolant passages fluidly coupled to the upper cooling jacket and the lower cooling jacket and adjacent to one or more combustion chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Todd Jay Brewer, John Christopher Riegger, Dennis G. Barbier, Jeff D. Fluharty, Jody Michael Slike
  • Patent number: 8869758
    Abstract: An engine is has a cylinder block defining a cylinder and a block cooling jacket having an open passage along a block deck face, and a cylinder head having an exhaust bridge conduit. A head gasket is placed between the block and the head and defines first and second apertures connecting the open passage of the block cooling jacket to the exhaust bridge conduit. A cylinder head has a deck face, and a cooling jacket. The cooling jacket has a passage formed by an inlet channel with a conduit at one end and extending into an exhaust bridge between adjacent exhaust ports. The inlet channel intersects the deck face and is elongated along a longitudinal axis of the cylinder head. The inlet channel has a convex surface positioned between opposed ends of the channel and extending away from the deck face.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Theodore Beyer, John Christopher Riegger, Jody Michael Slike, Philip Damian Cierpial, Jeffrey D. Fluharty
  • Patent number: 8869757
    Abstract: A cooling system of a vehicle may include a high and low temperature radiators that cool a high and low temperature coolants respectively circulating an engine and passing a water cooled intercooler and a low exhaust gas recirculation cooler of a turbo charger, a cooling fan that blows air to the high temperature radiator and the low temperature radiator, a high temperature coolant pump that pumps the high temperature coolant, a low temperature coolant pump that pumps the low temperature coolant, and a control portion that controls the high temperature coolant pump, the low temperature coolant pump, and the cooling fan according to driving conditions of the vehicle and environmental conditions. A controlling method may include detecting driving conditions of the vehicle and environmental conditions, setting an operating target for the cooling system and/or a lubrication system, and determining operating conditions for the cooling system and/or the lubrication system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation, Ajou University Industry Cooperation Foundation
    Inventors: Woo Seok Kim, Jonghwa Lee, Jinil Park, Kyoungseok Park, Hyoseong Wi
  • Patent number: 8869756
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a cooling system for an internal combustion engine. The cooling system can be used in a hybrid electric vehicle. The system includes electric pumps in fluid communication with the engine and a control unit that governs the pumps. The pumps can be configured to supply fluid to either a cylinder block or cylinder head and backflow fluid through either the cylinder block or cylinder heads. Various arrangements of electrical and mechanical pumps are disclosed to control fluid flow and pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: John P. Bilezikjian, Kenneth J. Jackson, Valerie Anne Nelson, Thomas J. Cusumano, Elmer S. Foster
  • Patent number: 8869769
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine may include a cylinder block defining a cylinder, and a crankshaft defining a crankpin, wherein the crankshaft is rotatably received by the cylinder block and rotates about a longitudinal axis. The internal combustion engine may further include a piston configured to reciprocate within the cylinder, and a connecting rod operably coupled to the piston and the crankpin. The connecting rod may include a first rod element having a first distal end and a first proximate end, wherein the first distal end is operably coupled to the piston. The connecting rod may further include a second rod element having a second distal end operably coupled to the first proximate end of the first rod element, and a second proximate end operably coupled to the crankpin, wherein the first rod element and the second rod element are pivotally coupled to one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Wilkins IP, LLC
    Inventor: Larry C. Wilkins
  • Patent number: 8863722
    Abstract: A machined shape of a bore is based on the deformation amount of a data-acquisition bore after fastening of cylinder head. A cross section of an approximate shape is set to be an approximately-true circle shape, and a diameter of the approximately-true circle shape is changed along a central axial direction in accordance with the deformation amount of the data-acquisition bore, to determine the approximate shape. The approximate shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis. Since the machined shape of the bore is the shape obtained by reversing a phase of a recess and a projection of the approximate shape about a predetermined cylindrical shape, the machined shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Akihiro Osugi, Masao Onishi, Kazushi Sogawa, Nobuyuki Akaishi, Masayuki Takahashi, Minoru Iga, Nozomu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 8863704
    Abstract: A liquid-cooling engine system is described with a coolant control device having an adjustable control element capable of independently controlling the flow of coolant through a cylinder head and cylinder block. The device contains a rotatable drum that can be rotated along its longitudinal axis to expose holes and thereby allows coolant circulation based on a temperature within the engine system. The coolant control device has three positions but may also be fine-tuned within each position to control the flow of coolant through the cylinder head and cylinder block in order to adjust the amount of heat extracted according to demand, which serves to control the liquid-type cooling circuit in a demand-dependent manner that accounts for the operating modes of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jan Mehring, Hans Guenter Quix
  • Patent number: 8863701
    Abstract: An apparatus and process for reducing vehicle emissions by converting exhaust gases to hydrocarbon fuel. The apparatus and process supplement conventional emission control techniques to further reduce vehicle emissions of harmful substances. The apparatus includes a heat exchanger to extract thermal energy from exhaust gases of a combustion engine that powers propulsion of a vehicle, a membrane separator to separate water and carbon dioxide from the exhaust gases, and a catalytic reactor comprising a nano catalyst. The catalytic reactor receives the water and the carbon dioxide from the membrane separator, contains a reaction of the water and the carbon dioxide that produces hydrocarbon fuel and is facilitated by the nano catalyst, and uses the thermal energy from the heat exchanger to stimulate the reaction. The catalytic reactor is contained within a body of the heat exchanger to facilitate the transfer of thermal energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Saudi Arabian Oil Company
    Inventors: Hassan Imran, Muased Salem Musaed Al-Ghrami Al-Ghamdi, Aadesh Harsale, Jean-Pierre R. Ballaguet, Aqil Jamal
  • Patent number: 8863702
    Abstract: A heat storage device keeps engine coolant hot during operating pauses of the engine allowing quick heating during a cold start of the engine. The capacity of the heat storage device for coolant is twice as large as the capacity for coolant of the coolant circulation system and the engine. An inflow line, an outflow line and a ventilation line pass through the bottom of the heat storage device and are heat insulated on the inside of the heat storage device. Hot coolant from the heat storage device is transferred in two portions into the cold engine. The second portion is transferred when the rising temperature of the metal motor mass has come close to the falling temperature of the first portion of coolant that was circulating in the engine. The heat storage device includes outer and inner containers with a high vacuum in the insulating space between the containers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Innovationsschatz GmbH
    Inventor: Oskar Schatz
  • Patent number: 8863721
    Abstract: A seal alignment system includes an engine block, a cover component spaced apart from the engine block and defining a first bore therethrough, and a crankshaft protruding from the engine block and extending through the first bore, wherein the crankshaft is rotatable about a central longitudinal axis and has an outer surface. The seal alignment system also includes an annular seal spaced apart from the engine block and defining a second bore therethrough, and an alignment device configured for coaxially aligning the annular seal with the central longitudinal axis so that the crankshaft extends through the second bore and the annular seal abuts the outer surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Leonard Barry Griffiths, David R. Staley
  • Patent number: 8857386
    Abstract: Example embodiments for reducing thermal load in one or more exhaust gas lines are provided. One embodiment includes an internal combustion engine with liquid cooling, comprising at least one exhaust gas line, at least one coolant jacket, and a common boundary wall separating the at least one exhaust gas line and the at least one coolant jacket, wherein the common boundary wall includes a surface structure provided on sides of the coolant jacket in at least one locally limited region. In this way, the surface structure on the sides of the coolant jacket may increase heat transfer to reduce thermal loading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Kai Sebastian Kuhlbach, Guenter Bartsch, Marcus Klaar
  • Patent number: 8857400
    Abstract: In a balancer device (10) including a pair of balancer shafts (11, 21), the radial bearings (41-44) for the balancer shafts are formed solely in the balancer housing (30) and/or an integral extension (52) thereof. Because a pump cover (56) provided separately from the balancer housing does not include a radial bearing for either balancer shaft, the pump cover is not required to be attached to the balancer housing when machining the radial bearing bores in the balancer housing so that the manufacturing process is simplified, and the coaxiality of the bearing halves for each balancer shaft can be ensured without difficulty as opposed to the case where the pump cover is provided with a bearing bore which is required to be aligned with the corresponding bearing bore of the balancer housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Nobuyuki Akaishi, Hidehiko Kamiyama
  • Patent number: 8857387
    Abstract: A cylinder head is provided with liquid cooling system and a method for cooling the cylinder head. The cylinder head includes, but is not limited to a liquid jacket in which a coolant flows along a main flow pathway from a coolant inlet to a coolant outlet. The liquid jacket is interrupted between the coolant inlet and coolant outlet by portals to cylinders of an internal combustion engine. A second portal is arranged in a flow shadow of a first portal. The cylinder head in the liquid jacket exhibits a flow guide wall with a constriction of the flow cross section, and a baffle plate, which is arranged in the direction of the main flow pathway, downstream from the flow guide wall. The baffle plate is designed to divert a coolant flow branch in a direction of flow transverse to the main flow pathway, toward the second portal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Waldemar Schlidt, Peter Seeger, Stefan Vogel, Carsten Tauscher, Markus Klein, Roland Maucher, Jan Zimmermann
  • Patent number: 8857399
    Abstract: A balancing system configured to be applied to an inline-four internal combustion engine is disclosed. The balancing system comprises counter rotating eccentric masses (22, 23, 24, 25) projecting from the opposite side of a support (21). The support (21) is placed centrally under the driving shaft, being fixed by screws to the wall of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Assignee: FPT Industrial S.p.A.
    Inventors: Giuseppe Colonna, Loris Aere
  • Patent number: 8857404
    Abstract: A piston-powered internal explosion engine for providing power output through a rotating crankshaft. The engine includes an engine block having power cylinders for receiving working pistons, bearing means for supporting the crankshaft, and a crankshaft supported within the bearing means having an output end extending outside of the engine block and a plurality of offset power cranks. The engine includes connecting rods operably coupled to the power cranks and configured to transfer power from the working pistons to rotate the crankshaft, and working pistons that are received into the power cylinders and operably coupled to the power cranks. Each working piston has a head end positioned adjacent to a cylinder head to form a compression chamber and is configured to receive power from an explosion of a compressed volume located within the compression chamber, and to transfer the received power to the connecting rods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2014
    Inventor: Douglas K. Furr