Patents Examined by Stephen K. Cronin
  • Patent number: 9353681
    Abstract: The invention relates to an engine (1) including: —a chamber (3) designed to accommodate a working fluid, —a first piston (4) defining the volume of said chamber (3), —a first passage (5) located in said first piston (4) to supply the chamber (3) with working fluid and/or to discharge from the chamber (3) the burned fluid resulting from the combustion of the working fluid, —a first valve (6) mounted on the first piston (4) to monitor the opening and closing of said first passage (5), —an output shaft (8) that engages with the first piston (4) to convert the motion of the first piston (4) into rotational motion of the output shaft (8), characterized in that the output shaft (8) and the first valve (6) engage to convert the motion of output shaft (8) into motion of the first valve (6).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Inventor: Antar Daouk
  • Patent number: 9353721
    Abstract: A work implement has an internal combustion engine that drives a tool of the work implement via a clutch. The clutch has at least one driving element which is operatively connected to the internal combustion engine and at least one output element which is operatively connected to the tool. The internal combustion engine has a starting device with a starting position and an operating position. To avoid unintentional rotation of the output element when starting the internal combustion engine, the work implement has a blocking device with a detent pawl. In an actuated position, the detent pawl projects into the movement path of the output element, limiting the rotation of the output element. In an unactuated position, the detent pawl releases the output element. The starting device has an actuating device which, in the starting position, keeps the detent pawl in the actuated position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: ANDREAS STIHL AG & CO. KG
    Inventors: Christian Eberle, Claus Naegele, Markus Weinig
  • Patent number: 9353678
    Abstract: Reformer-enhanced alcohol engine system. The engine system includes a spark-ignited alcohol engine having a compression ratio in the range of 13-15 and includes a turbocharger or supercharger operatively connected to the engine to provide a pressure boost of at least about 2.5 times atmospheric pressure to cylinders of the engine. A source of alcohol is provided for injection into the engine. A reformer is provided including a low-temperature reforming catalyst in a heat transfer relation with exhaust gas from the engine and arranged to receive alcohol from the alcohol source for reforming the alcohol into a hydrogen-rich gas. Means are provided for injecting the hydrogen-rich gas into the engine and a knock sensor detects knock in the engine. A fuel management control unit is provided which is responsive to the knock sensor to apportion the ratio of alcohol injected into the engine to hydrogen-rich gas injected into the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Daniel R. Cohn, Leslie Bromberg
  • Patent number: 9353701
    Abstract: A cylinder block (100) of the invention includes a coolant passage (115) that guides coolant inside of a water jacket (120), inside of an inter-bore partition wall (111). The coolant passage (115) is formed by a head-side drill hole (115a) that opens at a position away from a center portion of a top surface of the inter-bore partition wall (111) and is formed inclined with respect to an extending direction (L2) of an axis of a cylinder bore so as to come closer to the center portion of the inter-bore partition wall (111) farther away from the top surface, and a jacket-side drill hole (115b) that is communicated with a tip end portion of the head-side drill hole (115a) and opens into the water jacket (120) and is formed inclined with respect to the extending direction (L2) of the axis toward the opening so as to gradually come closer to the top surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Toshiaki Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 9353693
    Abstract: A vehicle control device includes an engine that is a power source of a vehicle, an electrical storage device, a starting device connected to the electrical storage device and configured to consume electrical power to start the engine, and a power steering device connected to the electrical storage device and configured to consume electrical power to generate an assist torque, wherein an engine stop control of causing the engine to be in a stopped state is executable during travelling of the vehicle, and the engine stop control is prohibited in at least one of time of turning of the vehicle, time of steering of the vehicle during travelling, and time of generating an assist torque during travelling.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 13, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Hirokazu Kato
  • Patent number: 9347421
    Abstract: A laser ignition device for an internal combustion engine, encompassing an ignition laser having a combustion chamber window, such that until startup of the laser ignition device, the combustion chamber window is equipped with a protective layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Pascal Woerner, Juergen Raimann, Joerg Engelhardt, Martin Weinrotter
  • Patent number: 9347411
    Abstract: A decoupling element for a fuel injection device has a low-noise construction. The fuel injection device includes at least one fuel injector and one receiving bore in a cylinder head for the fuel injector and the decoupling element between a valve housing of the fuel injector and a wall of the receiving bore. The decoupling element has a nonlinear progressive spring characteristic as a solid-state joint, at least one bearing collar including a valve contact surface, which is designed to be spherical, i.e., convex, extending upward from a flat annular area, the flat annular area being supported on a supporting base, and the inside of the annular area has a smaller inside diameter D than the bearing collar and the supporting base, which is supported on the wall of the receiving bore.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
    Inventors: Markus Friedrich, Martin Scheffel, Martin Buehner
  • Patent number: 9347419
    Abstract: An electric field generating apparatus for a combustion chamber, may include an electric field generator located within a space of the combustion chamber where combustion flames may be produced to create electric fields within the space of the combustion chamber through an applied predetermined voltage, a lead-in wire connected to the electric field generator to flow the predetermined voltage to the electric field generator, and a high voltage providing unit connected to the lead-in wire for selectively applying the predetermined voltage to the lead-in wire in accordance with an output signal of a controller generated depending on an operation condition of an engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, SNU R&DB Foundation
    Inventors: Hongbin Kim, Sang Ken Kauh, Youn-Sok Choi, Kyoung-Min Shon
  • Patent number: 9347363
    Abstract: An engine system that includes a timing drive cavity defined by at least one of an engine block, front cover, and timing drive cover, a timing drive positioned within the timing drive cavity, and a fluid pump assembly. The fluid pump assembly includes an impeller housing, a fluid inlet port coupled to the impeller housing, and a fluid outlet port coupled to the impeller housing. At least one of the fluid inlet and fluid outlet ports is positioned at least partially within the timing drive cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: CUMMINS IP, INC.
    Inventor: David M. Barnes
  • Patent number: 9347345
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes an engine assembly and an oil containment system attachable to the assembly. The oil containment system includes a cover component including an oil fill apparatus configured for conducting an oil to the internal combustion engine. The apparatus has a first end sealable with a cap, a second end spaced apart from the first end along a central longitudinal axis, and an annular wall concentric with and extending along the central longitudinal axis. The annular wall defines a first passage therethrough and a channel extending through the cover component along the central longitudinal axis. The oil containment system also includes a baffle component abutting the second end and defining a second passage therethrough such that the second passage is spaced apart from the channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Thomas A. Spix, Christopher Paul Nelander
  • Patent number: 9347369
    Abstract: A housing for an engine is provided. The housing includes an intake manifold configured to supply air to at least one chamber defined within the housing, a fuel port configured to supply fuel to the at least one chamber, and a compression control port configured to control at least one of a pressure and a volume of a fuel-air mixture in the at least one chamber during a compression cycle of the engine. The compression control port includes a passage defined through the housing, and at least one valve disposed in the passage and configured to control a flow through the passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: GoTek Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven Lee Herbruck, Bradley Scott Farrenkopf
  • Patent number: 9347418
    Abstract: A method of monitoring an EGR system includes setting up an ignition timing map depending on EGR efficiency when the EGR system operates normally. An output value reflecting the driving state of a vehicle is divided into an active area and an inactive area. A detected value of ignition timing depending on the occurrence of knocking for the active and inactive areas is learned and stored. When knocking occurs in the active area, a corrected value of ignition timing influenced by only the operation of the EGR system is extracted using the difference between the detected values of ignition timing learned in the active and inactive areas. The amount of variation in the EGR efficiency influenced by the operation of the EGR system is measured by measuring the EGR efficiency by applying the corrected value of ignition timing to the ignition timing map.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company
    Inventor: Ha Dong Bong
  • Patent number: 9347389
    Abstract: It is determined that assisting is required when a deviation of a target matching engine speed and a current engine speed is equal to or more than a predetermined value, and for a predetermined period of time since the time point at which it is determined that assisting is required, a target assist engine speed is set at a high rotation target matching engine speed which is more than the target matching engine speed, and thereafter the target assist engine speed is set gradually closer to the target matching engine speed, and an assist torque command value is output to the generator assisting output of the engine, and the engine speed is controlled, so that the engine speed attains the target assist engine speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2016
    Assignee: Komatsu Ltd.
    Inventors: Tadashi Kawaguchi, Kentaro Murakami, Jun Morinaga
  • Patent number: 9341128
    Abstract: A cylinder control method includes: generating a torque request for an engine based on at least one driver input; based on the torque request, determining a target number of activated cylinders of the engine; determining possible sequences for activating and deactivating cylinders of the engine to achieve the target number of activated cylinders; determining predicted fuel consumption values for the possible sequences, respectively; identifying first ones of the possible sequences having predicted fuel consumption values that are less than a predetermined amount from a lowest one of the predicted fuel consumption values; selecting one of the first ones of the possible sequences; setting a selected sequence for activating and deactivating cylinders of the engine to the selected one of the first ones of the possible sequences; based on the selected sequence, one of activating and deactivating a next cylinder in a predetermined firing order of the cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Alan W. Hayman, Robert S. McAlpine
  • Patent number: 9341123
    Abstract: An exhaust system is disclosed for use with an engine. The exhaust system may have a compression relief valve associated with an engine cylinder. The exhaust system may also have an exhaust gas recirculation passage extending from the compression relief valve to an intake of the engine cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2016
    Assignee: Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael B. Goetzke, Reddy Pocha Siva Sankara
  • Patent number: 9334812
    Abstract: An object of the present invention is to restrain the emission amount of unburned fuel components while restraining the consumption of fuel with relatively high ignitability in a multi-fuel internal combustion engine. The present invention resides in such a fuel supply control system for a multi-fuel internal combustion engine that a first fuel with relatively high ignitability and a second fuel with relatively low ignitability are used as fuels and the first fuel is used as an ignition source to mixedly combust the first fuel and the second fuel, wherein a supply amount Qd of the first fuel is adjusted on the basis of a difference ?RH between a first heat generation rate RHd which is a heat generation rate given when assuming that only the first fuel is combusted and an actual heat generation rate RHa which is a heat generation rate given when the fuels are actually combusted (S105 to 107, S109).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Isamu Goto, Masahiko Masubuchi
  • Patent number: 9328671
    Abstract: A torque requesting module generates a first torque request for a spark ignition engine based on driver input. A torque conversion module converts the first torque request into a second torque request. A setpoint control module generates setpoints for the spark ignition engine based on the second torque request. A vacuum requesting module requests an amount of vacuum within an intake manifold of the engine. The setpoint module selectively adjusts at least one of the setpoints based on the amount of vacuum requested. A model predictive control (MPC) module: identifies sets of possible target values based on the setpoints; generates predicted parameters based on a model of the spark ignition engine and the sets of possible target values, respectively; selects one of the sets of possible target values based on the predicted parameters; and sets target values based on the possible target values of the selected one of the sets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Christopher E. Whitney, Robert J. Genslak, Jyh-Shin Chen
  • Patent number: 9328652
    Abstract: A vehicle cooling system includes a fan, a radiator upstream of the fan and in a first air flow path, a charge air cooler upstream of the radiator in the first air flow path, a fuel cooler upstream of the radiator in the first air flow path, and a hydraulic oil cooler adjacent to a side of the radiator and upstream of the fan and in a second air flow path which is parallel to the first air flow path. A condenser is positioned in the first air flow path between the fuel cooler and the radiator. The hydraulic oil cooler has an upstream side which is unobscured by any other cooling system components. The hydraulic oil cooler includes first and second hydraulic oil cooler units connected together in series. A portion of the hydraulic oil cooler is positioned above a top side of the radiator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: DEERE & COMPANY
    Inventors: Paul T. Bruss, Andy B. Appleton, Adam J. Shuttleworth, Michael J. Schuller, Kendall L. Giesmann
  • Patent number: 9328698
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for adjusting an engine powertrain component responsive to ambient humidity, the ambient humidity based on vehicle position in a region, clock time ambient temperature, and historical humidity data for that region for a current time of year. This may be accomplished without relying on a costly, and often, temperamental physical humidity sensor. Training modules and cloud updates may further increase the accuracy of the virtual humidity sensor of the present disclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Perry Robinson MacNeille, David Charles Weber
  • Patent number: 9328702
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for engine systems including a vacuum-powered multiple tap aspirator coupled between atmospheric, an engine crankcase, or another source and a vacuum source such as a compressor inlet or engine intake manifold. The multiple tap aspirator includes a suction tap arranged in a throat of the aspirator, a suction tap arranged in a diverging cone of the aspirator, and a suction tap arranged in a straight exit tube downstream of the diverging cone of the aspirator. The aspirator provides vacuum generation and suction flow over a range of vacuum levels at the suction taps, and suction flow only passes through a single check valve before entering the aspirator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 3, 2016
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ross Dykstra Pursifull, Brad Alan VanDerWege