Patents Examined by Thai-Ba Trieu
  • Patent number: 10287941
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for expediting catalyst warm-up. In one example, a method may include flowing exhaust gas from an engine first through an emission control device and then through a turbine to rotate the turbine in a reverse direction, the rotation of the turbine in the reverse direction generating intake manifold vacuum for a vacuum consumer via a compressor coupled to the turbine. In this way, heat loss through a turbine may be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 14, 2019
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Xiaogang Zhang
  • Patent number: 10280830
    Abstract: There is described a system and method for controlling a temperature in the subchamber of a rotary engine. At least one first measurement of at least one engine operating parameter and a second measurement indicative of a present temperature in the subchamber are received. A setpoint for the temperature in the subchamber is computed from the at least one first measurement. In response to the second measurement, at least one control signal indicative of a request to adjust the present temperature towards the setpoint is generated and sent to the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Jean Thomassin, Edwin Schulz
  • Patent number: 10280853
    Abstract: A supercharged internal combustion engine is provided that is capable of introducing EGR gas into an intake passage on an upstream side relative to a compressor. When a required WGV opening degree is less than a lower limit value WGVmin in a case in which introduction of EGR gas is started under a situation in which the temperature of an EGR valve is less than or equal to a predetermined value X1, the WGV opening degree is controlled during a protection time period T3 after introduction of EGR gas starts by using the lower limit value WGVmin as the required WGV opening degree.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Keiji Yoeda
  • Patent number: 10273840
    Abstract: A high efficiency variable cutoff uniflow steam engine with piston operated valves has an exhaust valve that is held open by a spring during the exhaust stroke but is closed at an end of the exhaust stroke by the piston compressing steam in a compartment associated to act on the exhaust valve. The piston continues to move in the same direction a short distance toward top dead center (TDC) compressing a small residual quantity of steam in the cylinder above the piston during the remaining fraction of the exhaust stroke with sufficient pressure to open the steam inlet valve by steam pressure without an impact caused by physical contact with the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: Thermal Power Recovery LLC
    Inventor: James V. Harmon, Sr.
  • Patent number: 10273857
    Abstract: A method for monitoring particulate filter disposed in an exhaust aftertreatment system of an internal combustion engine includes determining, via a differential pressure sensor, a pressure differential across the particulate filter, and determining an initial parameter associated with soot loading on the particulate filter based upon the pressure differential. A first adjustment to the soot loading is determined based upon a passive regeneration effect, a second adjustment to the soot loading is determined based upon an off-engine temperature effect, and a third adjustment to the soot loading is determined based upon occurrence of an interrupted regeneration event. A final parameter associated with soot loading on the particulate filter is determined based upon the initial parameter and the first, second and third adjustments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 30, 2019
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Andrea Pannuzzo, Andrea Dutto, Adele De Domenico
  • Patent number: 10267238
    Abstract: The invention relates to an engine braking device for a combustion engine in motor vehicles, which has an intake system, an exhaust system, gas exchange valves associated with the combustion engine, an exhaust turbocharger integrated into the exhaust system and the intake system, and an engine braking unit, wherein the engine braking unit has a decompression brake, which influences at least one outlet valve of the gas exchange valves, and a brake flap, which is arranged in the exhaust system and causes the exhaust gas to build up. The brake flap is arranged upstream of and outside, preferably directly upstream of and outside, a turbine housing of an exhaust turbine of the exhaust turbocharger and is designed as a flow guiding flap which influences the admission of a gas flow to the exhaust turbine. The invention also relates to a method for operating an engine braking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: MAN TRUCK & BUS ÖSTERREICH AG
    Inventors: Franz Rammer, Gottfried Raab, Heidrun Klinger, Franz Leitenmayr
  • Patent number: 10267249
    Abstract: Systems are provided for detecting a change in performance of an engine component. In one example, a system includes a first pressure sensor of a first exhaust manifold coupled to a first subset of cylinders of an engine, a second pressure sensor of a second exhaust manifold coupled to a second subset of cylinders of the engine, a passage coupling the first exhaust manifold to an intake manifold, and a controller configured to detect a change in performance of any cylinder of the engine based on frequency content from the first pressure sensor and from the second pressure sensor during both a first mode where no exhaust gas from the first exhaust manifold is provided to the intake manifold, and during a second mode where all exhaust gas from the first exhaust manifold is provided to the intake manifold, and adjust an operating parameter responsive to the change in performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignee: GE Global Sourcing LLC
    Inventors: Milan Palinda Karunaratne, Paul Lloyd Flynn, James Robert Schreiner
  • Patent number: 10253732
    Abstract: A supercharged internal combustion engine according to the present invention includes a compressor 16a that supercharges intake air; an EGR passage 22 that connects an intake passage 12 at the upstream side of the compressor 16a and an exhaust passage 14; an EGR valve 26 that is provided in the EGR passage 22 and regulates the flow rate of EGR gas that flows through the EGR passage 22 by opening and closing the EGR passage 22; and a heat insulator 30 that is provided on a surface of the EGR valve 26 that is exposed to the EGR passage 22 which is located at the upstream side in the EGR gas flow with respect to a seal portion by a seal surface 26a1 and a valve seat 28a when the EGR valve 26 is in the fully closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Satoko Tofukuji
  • Patent number: 10253656
    Abstract: A Rankine cycle system includes a boiler configured to apply waste heat to refrigerant circulating in an internal-combustion engine to vaporize the refrigerant; a gas-liquid separator configured to separate gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant, sent from the boiler, into gas phase fluid and liquid phase fluid; a superheater configured to superheat the gas phase fluid, sent from the gas-liquid separator, through heat exchange with exhaust gas of the internal-combustion engine; an expander configured to expand the gas phase fluid, passing through the superheater, to recover thermal energy, and a condenser configured to condense the gas phase fluid, passing through the expander, to return the gas phase fluid to liquid phase fluid. The gas-liquid separator is fixed to a cylinder head of the internal-combustion engine. It is preferable that the gas-liquid separator is configured to include a bracket, and is fixed to the cylinder head via the bracket.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Manabu Tateno
  • Patent number: 10253681
    Abstract: An engine device which can simplify a supply air cooling structure of an engine as well as simplifying a support structure of a first supercharger and a second supercharger. In an engine device in which the first supercharger and the second supercharger are arranged in series in an exhaust gas discharge channel of the engine, the first supercharger and the second supercharger are arranged in one side surface of the engine, the second supercharger is arranged so as to be close to the one side surface of the engine, and the first supercharger is arranged so as to be away from the one side surface of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Yanmar Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Shunji Hamaoka, Fumihiro Nishimura, Tetsuya Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 10253686
    Abstract: A method of operating an internal combustion engine having a housing, a piston mounted in the housing for complex motion about a plurality of axes and coupled to a shaft, and wherein occur phases of compression, combustion, and expansion in the housing, and wherein, in the compression phase, air introduced through an intake port into the housing is compressed by reducing volume of a compression chamber in the housing from an initial volume to a second volume that is less than the initial volume, and in the expansion phase, byproducts of combustion expand from the second volume to a third volume that is greater than the initial volume.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: LiquidPiston, Inc.
    Inventors: Alexander C. Shkolnik, Nikolay Shkolnik
  • Patent number: 10253683
    Abstract: A turbocharger having a variable-nozzle turbine formed by pivotable vanes supported by a nozzle ring includes an elastically deformable locator disposed between a radially outwardly facing surface of the center housing and an opposing surface of the nozzle ring. In one embodiment the locator is a metallic ring having a radially undulating waveform shape that repeats a plurality of times about a circumference of the locator. In another embodiment the locator is a metallic ring having a C-shaped cross-section in a radial-axial plane. In still another embodiment the locator is a metallic ring having an S-shaped cross-section in a radial-axial plane. In a further embodiment the locator is a plurality of circumferentially spaced, radial locator pins affixed in the center housing and received in radial slots formed in the nozzle ring, the pins restraining the nozzle ring circumferentially and axially but allowing thermal expansion of the nozzle ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Garrett Transportation I Inc.
    Inventors: Jan Musil, Nicolas Morand, Vit Micanek, Jan Klement, Francis Abel
  • Patent number: 10247090
    Abstract: A supercharger is driven by a rotational force of a crankshaft of a combustion engine via a chain. The supercharger includes: a supercharger rotation shaft to which an impeller is fixed; a supercharger holder that rotatably supports the supercharger rotation shaft; and a hydraulic tensioner that is mounted on the supercharger holder and suppresses slack of the chain. In the supercharger holder, a supercharger lubricating oil passage that introduces a lubricating oil to the supercharger is formed. A part of the lubricating oil introduced to the supercharger lubricating oil passage is supplied to a hydraulic cylinder of the hydraulic tensioner through a branch path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shohei Naruoka, Yoshiharu Matsuda
  • Patent number: 10247092
    Abstract: A rotary internal combustion engine having an insert opening defined in a hot area of one of the walls of the stator body and in communication with its internal cavity. A cooling jacket is received in and lines the insert opening. An insert is sealingly received in the cooling jacket and made of a material having a greater heat resistance than that of the wall. The cooling jacket extends between the insert and the wall along most of the length of the insert to prevent direct contact between the insert and the wall. A cooling gallery surrounds the cooling jacket and the insert, and is defined at least in part by the cooling jacket such that a coolant circulated therein contacts the cooling jacket. The cooling jacket is located between the cooling gallery and the insert.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Eugene Gekht, Bruno Villeneuve, Mike Fontaine, David Gagnon-Martin
  • Patent number: 10240517
    Abstract: A turbocharger has a regulating unit for controlling the output of the turbocharger. The regulating unit can be adjusted by an actuator. The actuator is connected to the regulating unit by way of an actuating member and a lever. The actuating member and the lever are interconnected by way of a screw-nut element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Alexander Jaegle, Bruno Ferling, Alexander Fietsch, Mark Paulov
  • Patent number: 10240521
    Abstract: An auxiliary power unit for an aircraft includes a rotary intermittent internal combustion engine drivingly engaged to an engine shaft, a turbine section having an inlet in fluid communication with an outlet of the engine(s), the turbine section including at least one turbine compounded with the engine shaft, and a compressor having an inlet in fluid communication with an environment of the aircraft and an outlet in fluid communication with a bleed duct for providing bleed air to the aircraft, the compressor having a compressor rotor connected to a compressor shaft, the compressor shaft drivingly engaged to the engine shaft. The driving engagement between the compressor shaft and the engine shaft is configurable to provide at least two alternate speed ratios between the compressor shaft and the engine shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Anthony Jones, Andre Julien, David Menheere, Jean Thomassin, Richard Ullyott, Daniel Van Den Ende
  • Patent number: 10233827
    Abstract: A turbine housing assembly can include a turbine housing that includes an exterior surface, an interior surface that includes a wastegate seat, and a bore that extends between the interior surface and the exterior surface; a bushing disposed at least partially in the bore where the bushing includes a bushing bore; a wastegate that includes a shaft that extends through the bushing bore to a shaft end, a shaft shoulder disposed in the bushing bore, a plug, and an arm disposed between the shaft and the plug; a ring disposed at least in part in the bushing bore between the shaft shoulder and the shaft end; and a control arm connected to the shaft proximate to the shaft end to define an axial distance between a surface of the control arm and the shaft shoulder where the ring has an axial length that is less than the axial distance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2019
    Assignee: Garrett Transportation I Inc.
    Inventors: Stanislav Hahn, Petr Cizek, Antonin Forbelsky, Filip Tomanec
  • Patent number: 10227916
    Abstract: A turbocharger turbine wastegate assembly includes a turbine housing that includes a wastegate seat and a bore; a bushing with a stepped bore that includes an axial face; a wastegate that includes a shaft, a plug and an arm, where the shaft includes an end portion, a first axial face, a journal portion, a second axial face and a shoulder portion, where the first axial face is defined at least in part by an end portion diameter and a journal portion diameter, and where the second axial face is defined at least in part by the journal portion diameter and a shoulder portion diameter; a mesh spacer disposed radially about an axial length of the end portion of the shaft between the axial face of the stepped bore of the bushing and the first axial face of the shaft; and a control arm connected to the end portion of the shaft where an axial length of the bushing is disposed between the mesh spacer and the control arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2019
    Assignee: Garrett Transportation I Inc.
    Inventors: Filip Tomanec, Antonin Forbelsky, Vaclav Kadlec, Damien Marsal
  • Patent number: 10215134
    Abstract: Systems, apparatus, and methods are disclosed that include a divided exhaust engine with at least one pair of primary EGR cylinders and a plurality of pairs of non-primary EGR cylinders. The pair of primary EGR cylinders can be connected to an intake with an EGR system that lacks an EGR cooler. In another embodiment, the cylinder pairs include exhaust flow paths that join in the cylinder head to form a common exhaust outlet for each cylinder pair in the cylinder head that is connected directly to the EGR system or to the exhaust system without an exhaust manifold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony Kyle Perfetto, Samuel C. Geckler, Hongfeng H. Wang
  • Patent number: 10215087
    Abstract: A turbocharger (1) includes a wastegate valve (30) supported on the turbine housing (8), and a pneumatic actuator (100) configured to actuate the wastegate valve (30). The pneumatic actuator (100) includes a housing (101) separated into compartments (104, 108) by a separating member (110, 112). The actuator (100) includes a piston (112) disposed in the housing (101) that defines at least a portion of the separating member (110, 112), a piston-biasing spring (120) disposed in the housing (101), a first in let (126) that is in fluid communication with the first compartment (104), the first inlet configured to be connected to a non-zero-pressure fluid source (8), and a second inlet (116) that is in fluid communication with the second compartment (108), the second inlet (116) configured to be connected to a non-zero-pressure fluid source (104).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2019
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventors: Christian Longacre, Ryan Howell