Patents Examined by Sherman D Manley
  • Patent number: 11428178
    Abstract: A fuel vapor treating apparatus includes a canister, a purge pipe, a purge control valve, and a heating device. The canister is configured to store fuel vapor generated in a fuel tank. The purge pipe is configured to deliver the fuel vapor stored in the canister to an intake passage of an internal combustion engine together with air. The purge control valve is configured to be attached to the purge pipe to be selectively opened and closed in order to adjust a purge flow rate. The purge control valve is also configured to be opened based on a purge request that is made after the internal combustion engine is started. The heating device is configured to heat the purge control valve after the internal combustion engine is started and before the purge request is made.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Masaaki Yano
  • Patent number: 11421604
    Abstract: An architecture for powering systems on an aircraft has a gas turbine engine including a main compressor, a combustor, and a turbine. The turbine powers the main compressor, and further powers a propulsor. The turbine is operably connected to drive a generator. The generator is connected to store generated power at a battery. The battery is connected to provide power to a motor from the propulsor such that the propulsor can be selectively driven by both the motor and the turbine. A bleed air control system and a tap for selectively tapping compressed air from the main compressor, and a control valve for delivering at least one of the tapped compressed air or a compressed alternative air to bleed systems on an associated aircraft. An electric bleed compressor selectively compresses the compressed alternative air. The electric bleed compressor is powered by the battery.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventor: Adam Woods
  • Patent number: 11420752
    Abstract: An aircraft with a fuselage that comprises at least one hollow beam element, wherein the at least one hollow beam element accommodates at least one hollow duct element that comprises a tubular duct element wall, and wherein at least one protective spacer is arranged between the tubular duct element wall and the at least one hollow beam element such that free space is available between the tubular duct element wall and the at least one hollow beam element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Chris Vinke, Petr Schejbal, Daniel Haase
  • Patent number: 11421629
    Abstract: A reforming system includes a vaporizer configured to vaporize liquid fuel to produce fuel gas; a reformer configured to reform the fuel gas produced by the vaporizer to produce a reformed gas containing hydrogen; an air supplier configured to supply air to the reformer; a fuel gas supplier configured to supply the fuel gas to the reformer; a heater configured to increase a temperature of the reformer; a reformed gas flow passage through which the reformed gas produced by the reformer flows; a cooler disposed in the reformed gas flow passage and configured to cool the reformed gas; a circulation passage connecting the vaporizer with the cooler and through which refrigerant flows through the vaporizer and the cooler; and a circulation pump disposed in the circulation passage and configured to circulate the refrigerant through the circulation passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOYOTA JIDOSHOKKI
    Inventor: Yoshitaka Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 11421642
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for an isolator. In one example, system may include an isolator comprising a flexible laminated membrane comprising a non-linear torsional stiffness for compensation of axial, lateral, and angular displacements between a drive shaft and a clutch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Na Li, Scott Willis
  • Patent number: 11415086
    Abstract: Three-port latching valves have a housing with a first port, a second port, and a third port in controlled fluid communication with one another by three, individually electronically controllable magnetically latching valves for a combination of five different flow options. Each valve has a solenoid with an armature movable between an open position and a closed position, a poppet valve connected to the armature, a permanent magnet fixedly seated at a position for magnetically latching the armature in the open position, and a spring positioned to bias the poppet valve closed when the armature is in the closed position. The spring has a pre-selected spring rate that mechanically relieves pressure if the spring rate is exceeded. The armature is movable to the open position after a pulse of voltage to the solenoid and is in an unpowered state after translation to either of the open position or the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2022
    Assignee: Dayco IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventors: Kevin W. Lucka, Donald P. Tinsley, III, Matthew C. Gilmer, Chester E. Duffield, III, Aaron Diamond
  • Patent number: 11407065
    Abstract: A gas path component for a gas turbine engine includes a film cooling hole disposed in the gas path component. The film cooling hole includes a metering section, a diffuser, and a tapered surface extending between the metering section and the diffuser. The tapered surface is oriented between twenty degrees and seventy degrees with respect to a centerline axis of the metering section. The tapered surface is oriented at an obtuse angle with respect to an immediately adjacent surface of the diffuser, the obtuse angle is open towards the centerline axis. The tapered surface is configured to mitigate flow separation in the diffuser.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2022
    Assignee: Raytheon Corporation Inc.
    Inventors: Scott D. Lewis, Stephen Lynch, Shane Haydt
  • Patent number: 11391223
    Abstract: A controller may identify an indication to initiate an engine braking procedure associated with an engine of a machine. The controller may obtain, based on identifying the indication to initiate the engine braking procedure, information relating to a requested amount of engine braking power of the engine. The controller may cause one or more components of a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) of the engine to adjust, and a throttle valve of the engine to adjust, based on the information relating to the requested amount of engine braking power of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Wade James Robel, Spencer Landon Huhn, Kevin Weiss, John Robert McDonald, Jason Kenneth Bloms
  • Patent number: 11383596
    Abstract: A leak proof, completely sealed solenoid valve, comprising a housing 14 having a fluid flow path controlled via an electrically operated mechanism to control a flow; the mechanism comprises metallic coil 20 coiled around a bobbin 16 supported by a magnetic bracket 24 with terminal pins 18 connected to the bobbin 16 for receiving electrical input to facilitate an energized and de-energized state to control the movement of a poppet 34 shaft that obstructs the flow; wherein, the bobbin 16 comprises micro-melting fins, thereby housing over molding creates strong bond between two materials; a permanent weld is created between the bobbin 16 and the housing 14 to prevent internal leakage; and the completely sealed solenoid valve limits emissions and evaporations of the volatile fuel components into and from the valve, and contribute to reliability and robustness of the product by completely sealing the nozzle and housing using laser welding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 12, 2022
    Assignee: PADMINI VNA MECHATRONICS PVT. LTD.
    Inventors: Kabir Bhandari, Torsten Gerlich, Amardip Kumar, Nitin Manhas, Ghanshyam Swarnkar, Deepak Nirankari
  • Patent number: 11378027
    Abstract: The invention provides a method for controlling an internal combustion engine (2) for controlling an internal combustion engine (2) comprising at least one first cylinder (201) and at least one second cylinder (202) with respective reciprocating pistons, an intake guide (305) arranged to guide air from a fresh air intake arrangement (303) to the first and second cylinders (201, 202), a fuel system (801, 802) arranged to inject fuel into the first and second cylinders (201, 202), a first exhaust guide (401) and a second exhaust guide (402) arranged to guide gases from the first and second cylinders (201, 202), respectively, towards an exhaust after treatment system (7), the method comprising—receiving (S1) in the first cylinder (201), from the intake guide (305), air from the fresh air intake arrangement (303) or gases including air from the fresh air intake arrangement (303), —expelling from the first cylinder (201), to the first exhaust guide (401), gases in the form of the air received in the first cylinder
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Arne Andersson, Staffan Lundgren, Lennart Andersson
  • Patent number: 11378047
    Abstract: An accessory drive, including a planetary gear set with a plurality of components arranged to be concentrically disposed around a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine. The plurality of components includes: a sun gear; a planet carrier; a ring gear; and a planet gear meshed with the sun gear and the ring gear. A first component of the planetary gear set: is arranged to non-rotatably connect to a rotor of an electric motor/generator; and is arranged to connect to a power transfer component for least one accessory. A second component of the planetary gear set is arranged to non-rotatably connect to the crankshaft. For a starting mode of the accessory drive, the electric motor/generator is arranged to: rotate the first component of the planetary gear set; and rotate the second component of the planetary gear set with respect to the first component of the planetary gear set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2022
    Assignee: SCHAEFFLER TECHNOLOGIES AG & CO. KG
    Inventor: Jeffrey Hemphill
  • Patent number: 11371447
    Abstract: Methods and systems are disclosed for operating an engine that includes a knock control system that may determine contributions of individual noise sources to an engine background noise level. The contributions of the individual noise sources may be the basis for establishing the presence or absence of knock in one or more engine cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rani Kiwan, Christopher P. Glugla, Mohannad Hakeem, James M. Kindree
  • Patent number: 11371452
    Abstract: A vehicle includes a power generation device including a multi-cylinder engine, the power generation device being configured to output drive power to wheels, an exhaust gas control apparatus including a catalyst for removing exhaust gas from the multi-cylinder engine, and a control device configured to execute catalyst temperature increase control for stopping fuel supply to at least one cylinder and supplying fuel to remaining cylinders in a case where a temperature increase of the catalyst is requested during a load operation of the multi-cylinder engine, execute control such that the power generation device supplements insufficient drive power due to the execution of the catalyst temperature increase control, and change the cylinder, to which the fuel supply is stopped, according to a stop frequency of the fuel supply or an elapsed time from a start of the stop of the fuel supply during the execution of the catalyst temperature increase control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yuki Nose, Masaaki Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11352966
    Abstract: Controllers and methods for managing transitions into and/or out of a cylinder cut off mode are described. In some embodiments, a skip fire based transition into a cylinder cut off mode is used in which the fraction of working cycles that are fired is gradually reduced to a threshold firing fraction. Once the threshold firing fraction has been reached, all of the working chambers are deactivated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Tula Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven E. Carlson, Xin Yuan, Siamak Hashemi, Vijay Srinivasan, Srihari Kalluri, Andrew W. Phillips, Mark A. Wilcutts, Louis J. Serrano, Shikui Kevin Chen
  • Patent number: 11349418
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for cranking an internal combustion engine, including the steps of: (a) receiving a start signal; (b) determining an initial position of the rotor with respect to a stator phase winding; (c) applying a pulse-width-modulated signal to the stator winding corresponding to determined initial position of the rotor; (d) determining a threshold value of the stator current variation; (e) measuring current of the stator winding in response to applied pulse-width-modulated signal to determine current variation; (f) if current variation is more than the threshold value, determining updated rotor position, applying a pulse-width-modulated signal to the stator winding corresponding to the updated rotor position; and repeating steps (d)-(f); and (g) if current variation is less than the threshold value, applying a pulse-width-modulated signal to the stator winding corresponding to the last updated rotor position and repeating steps (d)-(g).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2022
    Assignee: SEDEMAC MECHATRONICS PVT LTD
    Inventors: Joshi Anaykumar, Dixit Amit
  • Patent number: 11339732
    Abstract: A turbocharger control method and related systems are provided. An operational command to control a level of boost provided by the turbocharger is received. In response to receiving the operational command, an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve is instructed to move from a current position to a desired position. A time taken for the EGR valve to move from the current position to the desired position is determined. A maximum rise rate of exhaust manifold pressure corresponding to a predicted EGR valve position is determined. A permitted exhaust manifold pressure limit for the turbocharger is determined based on a current exhaust manifold pressure, the maximum rise rate of exhaust manifold pressure and the time taken. An operation of the turbocharger is controlled such that the permitted exhaust manifold pressure limit is not exceeded.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jon Dixon, Andres Arevalo
  • Patent number: 11319820
    Abstract: The invention relates to a blade or vane, particularly of a turbine stage of a gas turbine, in particular of an aircraft gas turbine, having a blade or vane root and a blade or vane element joined to the blade or vane root, wherein the blade or vane element has a pressure side and a suction side, and wherein the blade or vane root has at least one raised region on its radial outer side facing the blade or vane element. It is proposed according to the invention that the blade or vane has a first raised region on the pressure side and a second raised region on the suction side, wherein the highest point of the first raised region is disposed essentially directly adjacent to the pressure side, and the highest point of the second raised region is disposed essentially directly adjacent to the suction side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: MTU Aero Engines AG
    Inventors: Markus Brettschneider, Fadi Maatouk
  • Patent number: 11319917
    Abstract: An ignition system for a vehicle includes an ignition coil and a thermoelectric cooler. The ignition coil has primary and secondary coils. The ignition coil is configured to deliver electrical power from a battery to a least one spark plug. The thermoelectric cooler is disposed along an external surface of the ignition coil and is configured to transfer heat generated by the primary and secondary coils to an ambient surrounding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignees: DENSO International America, Inc., DENSO Corporation
    Inventors: Harrison Boll, Jeongung Hwang
  • Patent number: 11319918
    Abstract: Provided is an internal combustion engine ignition device capable of preventing an output signal level of a drive circuit from changing sharply when shifting from a normal ignition operation mode to a protection operation mode while reducing the cost of dedicated components and the like. An internal combustion engine ignition device of the present invention includes a first differential circuit for outputting a drive signal in a first mode and a second differential circuit for outputting a drive signal in a second mode, where the first differential circuit and the second differential circuit each include a transistor and are configured such that a drive current for supplying the drive signal flows through the transistor which is common between the first mode and the second mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2022
    Assignee: HITACHI ASTEMO, LTD.
    Inventors: Masato Kita, Yoichiro Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11313300
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a device and a method for controlling the start of an internal combustion engine, wherein the internal combustion engine is equipped with an ignition device comprising a fuel-fed prechamber to ignite an air-fuel mixture in a main combustion chamber. In order to reduce the emissions of the internal combustion engine during engine start a prechamber heating operations is performed by injecting a predetermined amount of fuel into the prechamber and igniting an air-fuel-mixture therein, while the main fuel injector is deactivated during at least a first engine cycle after engine start request.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2022
    Assignee: Hitachi Astemo, Ltd.
    Inventors: Naoki Yoneya, Masayuki Saruwatari