Patents Examined by Thai-Ba Trieu
  • Patent number: 9657635
    Abstract: Various methods for controlling a wastegate actuator are provided. In one example, a method comprises adjusting one or more wastegate controller gains responsive to limiting current supplied to a wastegate actuator, the current limited in response to a temperature of the wastegate actuator exceeding a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Yan Wang, Matthew John Gerhart
  • Patent number: 9651053
    Abstract: A bleed valve having a piston with a sealing member, the piston being displaceable between a first position to seal an aperture of a fluid conduit and an opposed second position spaced apart from the aperture to allow the working fluid therethrough. The bleed valve also has a guiding assembly with at least one guide wheel mounted to the piston and being displaceable therewith along a guide rail. The guide wheel has a guide groove extending inwardly from an outer rolling surface. The guide rail has a rail surface with a guide protrusion. The guide groove and the guide protrusion are complementary and in rolling contact with one another. The bleed valve also has a displacement mechanism for displacing the piston between the first and second positions. A compressor with a bleed valve and method for controlling bleeding of a working fluid are also discussed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: PRATT & WHITNEY CANADA CORP.
    Inventors: Andreas Eleftheriou, Richard Ivakitch, David Denis
  • Patent number: 9651005
    Abstract: An air intake duct, of a saddle-riding type vehicle, in which a flow velocity of an intake air is less likely to be reduced to enable prevention of reduction of an efficiency of a supercharger, is provided. The air intake duct of a motorcycle serves to supply incoming wind as the intake air to the supercharger for a combustion engine. The air intake duct has a passage area that is gradually reduced from an air intake port at a front portion toward a downstream portion connected to the supercharger at a rear portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shohei Naruoka, Hisatoyo Arima, Satoaki Ichi, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Kozo Arai, Yoshinobu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9650913
    Abstract: A turbocharger is provided that includes a turbine housing including a gas inlet passage. A turbine wheel has a plurality of blades and is arranged in the turbine housing. A bearing housing is connected to the turbine housing. A shaft is rotatably supported in the bearing housing and connected to the turbine wheel. A shroud is arranged in surrounding relation to at least a portion of the turbine wheel, the shroud being arranged in spaced relation from and not in contact with the turbine housing. A fastening system secures the shroud relative to the bearing housing. The fastening system is configured to fracture when a force is exerted on the shroud corresponding to at least a portion of the turbine wheel contacting the shroud.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Richard E. Annati, Gary W. Powers, Jeffrey W. McCormack, Matthew J. Frick
  • Patent number: 9650932
    Abstract: An insulated reductant tank that is arranged so that it has an insulated upper portion and a tapered lower portion, the reductant tank configured to allow frozen reductant to move into the insulated upper portion and reduce the damage that frozen reductant can cause to a reductant tank when the frozen reductant expands. The insulated reductant tank can include at least one header configured to draw reductant from the reductant tank and supply the reductant to an exhaust aftertreatment system, an insulation layer lining an upper portion of the reductant tank, a tapered lower portion, and at least one baffle configured to control a flow of reductant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Theron Cassidy, Umakanth Sakaray, Brian Cole
  • Patent number: 9651032
    Abstract: A submersible liquid-vapor generator (LVG) includes an evaporator portion in heat transfer communication with a heat energy source. The LVG also includes a magnetic field apparatus coupled in flow communication with the evaporator portion. The LVG further includes a condenser portion coupled in flow communication with the magnetic field apparatus. The LVG also includes a hybrid working fluid including nanoparticles. The evaporator portion, the magnetic field portion, and the condenser portion at least partially define a hybrid working vapor flow path. The LVG further includes an electrically non-conductive wick structure coupled in flow communication with the evaporator portion and the condenser portion. The wick structure at least partially defines a hybrid working liquid flow path extending between the condenser portion and the evaporator portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Stanton Earl Weaver, James William Bray, Michael John Bowman
  • Patent number: 9644607
    Abstract: A wind turbine blade pitch angle adjusting apparatus for adjusting the pitch angle of a blade of a wind turbine is provided. The apparatus includes an electric pitch motor able to output a maximum motor torque Tm and a pitch brake assembly able to generate a maximum brake assembly torque Tb. The pitch brake assembly includes a plurality of individual pitch brakes each able to generate a maximum individual brake torque Tsb, the maximum brake assembly torque Tb is the sum of all maximum individual brake torques Tsb, and the maximum motor torque Tm is higher than the maximum individual brake torque Tsb of any one of the pitch brakes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: AREVA WIND GmbH
    Inventor: Bernd Zickert
  • Patent number: 9644570
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes in one aspect a source of a pressurized working medium and an expander. The expander has a housing and a piston, movably mounted within and with respect to the housing, to perform one of rotation and reciprocation, each complete rotation or reciprocation defining at least a part of a cycle of the engine. The expander also includes a septum, mounted within the housing and movable with respect to the housing and the piston so as to define in conjunction therewith, over first and second angular ranges of the cycle, a working chamber that is isolated from an intake port and an exhaust port. Combustion occurs at least over the first angular range of the cycle to provide heat to the working medium and so as to increase its pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: LiquidPiston, Inc.
    Inventors: Nikolay Shkolnik, Alexander C. Shkolnik
  • Patent number: 9644602
    Abstract: A wave power plant (1), comprising a body (1) and a rotator (3) supported on the body. The body (1) is a rather flat, panel type element, which is moored with respect to the propagation direction of waves in such a way that the dimension of the body (1) in the propagation direction of waves is smaller than the draft of the body (1). The body (1) has its diagonally opposite corners provided with substantially horizontally protruding fins (4, 5), which bring about swaying of the body (1) in lateral direction, i.e. in the plane of the panel type element, in response to the vertical motion of water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2017
    Assignee: WELLO OY
    Inventor: Heikki Paakkinen
  • Patent number: 9638064
    Abstract: A back-up boiler system for a solar thermal power plant (201) for transferring solar energy into electricity, said back-up boiler system comprising a combustion chamber (70) and a convection section (80) in fluid connection with said combustion chamber (70), wherein in the convection section (80) at least a first heat exchanger (92) is provided for heating a molten salts mixture of the solar thermal power plant and a second heat exchanger (90) for pre-heating boiler feed water of the solar thermal power plant, wherein the back-up boiler system (25) is configured to allow selection between only providing heat to the first heat exchanger (92), only providing heat to the second heat exchanger (90) and providing heat to both heat exchangers (90, 92), preferably dependent on availability of solar radiation and/or dependent on demand of power generation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignees: Stamicarbon B.V., Enea, Agenzia Nazionale Per Le Nuove Tecnologie, L'energia E Lo Sviluppo Economico Sostenibile
    Inventors: Gaetano Iaquaniello, Daniela Capoferri, Adriano Barsi, Fabrizio Fabrizi, Walter Gaggioli, Alberto Giaconia, Luca Rinaldi
  • Patent number: 9638195
    Abstract: A cross flow fan includes a support plate and an impeller with a plurality of blades disposed on the support plate at predetermined intervals. On each blade, a radius of a pressure surface arc is greater than a radius of a suction surface arc, a radius of an inner peripheral side arc is greater than a radius of an outer peripheral side arc, and a region of maximum thickness is located 40% to 60% from the inner peripheral side arc in the lengthwise direction. The blades are disposed such that the inner peripheral side arcs are positioned on an inner peripheral side of the support plate and the outer peripheral side arcs are positioned on an outer peripheral side of the support plate. A flow path width between the plurality of blades gradually decreases from the inner peripheral side toward the outer peripheral side of the support plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignees: SHANGHAI JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY, Daikin Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jie Tian, Hua Ouyang, You Li, Hironobu Teraoka, Shimei Tei, Hideshi Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9638173
    Abstract: A solar thermal power system can include a solar receiver steam generator, a thermal energy storage arrangement utilizing a thermal energy storage fluid, and a multistage steam turbine for driving an electrical generator to produce electrical power. The solar thermal power system has a first operating mode in which steam is generated by the solar receiver steam generator and is supplied both to the thermal energy storage arrangement and to a high pressure turbine inlet of the multistage steam turbine. In a second operating mode, steam is generated by recovering stored thermal energy from the thermal energy storage fluid of the thermal energy storage arrangement for injection into the multistage steam turbine at a location or turbine stage downstream of the high pressure turbine inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: ALSTOM Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Andreas Ehrsam, Maurus Herzog, Suman Ray
  • Patent number: 9638039
    Abstract: A VTG cartridge (1, 2) of an exhaust-gas turbocharger (2), with a blade bearing ring (3), and a disk (4), which is spaced apart from the blade bearing ring (3) and together with the latter delimits a hot-gas passage (5). The disk (4) is constructed from at least two layers (6, 7, 6?, 7?), which bear loosely against one another in the assembled state of the disk (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: BorgWarner Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Ramb, Dietmar Metz
  • Patent number: 9638149
    Abstract: An air intake duct of a motorcycle forms an air intake passage for supplying an intake air to a supercharger. The air intake duct forms a curve portion and is connected to the supercharger. The air intake passage has a transverse cross-section which is shaped such that a dimension in an orthogonal direction that is orthogonal to a radial direction of the curve portion is gradually reduced from the center of the curve portion toward an outer side, in the radial direction, of the curve portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: KAWASAKI JUKOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Shohei Naruoka, Hisatoyo Arima, Satoaki Ichi, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Kozo Arai, Yoshinobu Tanaka
  • Patent number: 9638138
    Abstract: A turbocharger includes a turbine, a compressor, and a bearing housing forming a bearing bore. A bearing arrangement is disposed between a shaft interconnecting the turbine and compressor wheels, and the bearing housing. The bearing arrangement includes first and second bearings formed within an outer bearing race element having an outer wall that engages a bearing bore along four bearing surfaces that are disposed in pairs around two oil feed galleys formed in the outer wall, the outer wall further forming peripherally extending oil drainage grooves disposed such that oil provided from the oil feed galleys that passes through some of the bearing surfaces drains through the peripherally extending oil drainage grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Richard E. Annati, Craig Miller
  • Patent number: 9638065
    Abstract: Provided herein are heat engine systems and methods for starting such systems and generating electricity while avoiding damage to one or more system components. A provided heat engine system maintains a working fluid (e.g., sc-CO2) within the low pressure side of a working fluid circuit in a liquid-type state, such as a supercritical state, during a startup procedure. Additionally, a bypass system is provided for routing the working fluid around one or more heat exchangers during startup to avoid overheating of system components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Echogen Power Systems, LLC
    Inventors: Michael Louis Vermeersch, Brett A. Bowan, Swapnil Khairnar
  • Patent number: 9638125
    Abstract: A control system of an engine is provided. The control system includes a deceleration fuel cutoff module for performing a deceleration fuel cutoff when a deceleration fuel cutoff condition is satisfied in an engine decelerating state, a purge unit for purging by supplying a purge gas to an intake passage during the deceleration fuel cutoff, an exhaust emission control catalyst provided in an exhaust passage, an O2 sensor provided at a position of the exhaust passage downstream of the exhaust emission control catalyst, an abnormality determining module for determining an abnormality of the exhaust emission control catalyst, and a purge restricting module for restricting the purge during an immediately previous deceleration fuel cutoff.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Kazuaki Tanaka, Yuusou Sakamoto, Hiroshi Tsuboi
  • Patent number: 9638035
    Abstract: The invention is a rotary engine comprised of at least one and usually a plurality of independent partial engines. Two different processes can be carried out in each independent partial engine both of which are used to operate the engines. The processes of the invention are basically two different and separate closed cycle processes that can both operate within the same geometric confinement, i.e. the same expansion chamber or expansion chambers, at the same time. The primary process performs the main function of converting heat to kinetic energy and is necessary in all engines of the invention. It is a unique process that uses the expansion of gases and also the contraction of the condensing gases after their expansion. The secondary process is needed for start-up and to provide additional power in case the engine might go into a stall. In most engines of the invention both processes are needed to operate the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: TRIPILE E POWER LTD.
    Inventor: Michael Zettner
  • Patent number: 9638168
    Abstract: A system and method for detecting ice on a rotor blade of a wind turbine are disclosed. In one embodiment, the method may include releasing a pitch brake of a pitch adjustment mechanism associated with the rotor blade, controlling the pitch adjustment mechanism so as to maintain the rotor blade at a fixed pitch angle, monitoring a pitch-related parameter of the wind turbine while the rotor blade is maintained at the fixed pitch angle, and analyzing the monitored pitch-related parameter to determine whether ice is present on the rotor blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Jorge Gonzalez Castro
  • Patent number: 9638098
    Abstract: A bypass mechanism is disclosed for use with a turbocharger. The bypass mechanism may have an exhaust passage formed by at least a first wall, and a bypass manifold formed by at least a second wall surrounding the exhaust passage and including a space between the first wall and the second wall. The bypass mechanism may further have at least one opening in the first wall fluidly connecting the exhaust passage with the space. At least one valve is configured to open and close the opening to selectively allow exhaust gas to pass from the exhaust passage to the space through the at least one opening. The space may be fluidly connected to at least one entry passage of an exhaust stack. In addition, the at least one opening and the at least one entry passage may be positioned on opposite sides of the exhaust passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc.
    Inventors: Gary R. Svihla, Nicholas Denman Norris