Patents Examined by Thomas N. Moulis
  • Patent number: 7743751
    Abstract: A feed pump pumps fuel from a fuel tank. A filter portion includes a filter element for removing foreign matter contained in the fuel discharged from the feed pump. A high-pressure pump pumps the filtered fuel to the internal combustion engine. A return passage is connected with a passage between the filter element and the high-pressure pump for partially returning the filtered fuel to the fuel tank. A priming pump portion has an inlet port, which is connected with the return passage, and an outlet port, which is connected with the filter element. The priming pump portion draws fuel from the fuel tank to supply the fuel to the filter element when being operated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventor: Toshiyuki Yonemoto
  • Patent number: 7743750
    Abstract: A combined liquid and vapor sensor assembly includes a body and a mounting portion for coupling the body to a fuel pump module flange that defines an interface between an interior and an exterior of a fuel tank. A liquid pressure sensor is housed in a recess in the body for sensing a liquid pressure of a fuel in the fuel tank, and a vapor pressure sensor is housed in the recess in the body for sensing a vapor pressure of a fuel vapor in the fuel tank. An electrical connector is coupled with the body for providing power to the liquid pressure sensor and the vapor pressure sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Ronald R. Ritz, Alexander Lux, Martin Mast
  • Patent number: 7747380
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method having application to combustion control of an internal-combustion engine for real-time estimation of engine combustion parameters from vibratory signals. A vibratory signal representative of the engine vibrations is continuously acquired as a function of the crank angle, from a vibration detector. Real-time filtering of this vibratory signal and real-time estimation of the Fourier decomposition coefficients for the acquired vibratory signal is carried out by inverting the dynamics of the filter which is used. Finally, real-time estimation of combustion parameters allowing the combustion to be qualified is carried out from these coefficients.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: IFP
    Inventors: Jonathan Chauvin, Yohan Bentolina, Olivier Grondin
  • Patent number: 7735473
    Abstract: A connection head structure of a high pressure fuel injection tube is provided to avoid an interference between an annular flange and an opposing part by sufficiently maintaining an tube axial direction length of the connection head and to obtain a good sealability to prevent leaking during autofrettage processing with a high pressure of not less than 300 MPa. A connection head structure of a high pressure fuel injection tube includes, on a connection end portion of a thick walled fine steel tube, a spherical seat face, an annular flange, and a circular conic face that continuously extends from the seat face, wherein a washer and a fastening nut are assembled, characterized in that when a thick walled fine steel tube has t (wall thickness)/D (outer diameter)<0.3, an tube axial direction distance L1 from a connection head end to the back face of the annular flange is from 0.38 D to 0.7 D, a spherical body radius R of the seat face is from 0.45 D to 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Usui Kokusai Sangyo Kaisha Limited
    Inventors: Nobuo Kato, Koichi Hayashi, Shoichiro Usui
  • Patent number: 7730871
    Abstract: A direct injection spark ignition internal combustion engine including a controller that controls a fuel injector to perform a plurality of fuel injections to inject a necessary amount of fuel during an intake stroke, or from an intake stroke to a first half of a compression stroke, when homogeneous combustion is to be performed. The fuel injection control sets an injection prohibition period, in which injection of the fuel is prohibited, to a middle of the intake stroke. The injection prohibition period is decreased as the engine speed and as the intake air pressure increase. In addition, the amount of fuel injected before the injection prohibition period is reduced, and the amount of fuel injected after the injection prohibition period is increased, as the engine speed decreases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Fumiaki Hattori
  • Patent number: 7726283
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pressure booster arrangement for high-pressure injection systems or high-pressure injection system parts of internal combustion engines. A differential piston which operates with a large cross section in a medium-pressure reservoir and with partial cross sections is operative in terms of positive displacement in associated control and work pressure chambers that are separate from the medium-pressure reservoir and that are disposed in a guide body. The guide body guides the differential piston in its strokes and in turn axially adjoins a valve body. The valve body receives control and check valves for controlling communicating lines of the guide body and of the valve body for controllably connecting the control and work chambers to the medium-pressure reservoir or to a relatively pressureless fluid reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Dirk Vahle
  • Patent number: 7726281
    Abstract: A control module comprising a cylinder torque determination module that determines an indicated torque for a cylinder in an engine based on a pressure in the cylinder, a cylinder torque balancing module that determines a derivative term for the cylinder based on rotation of a crankshaft, and a cylinder pressure error detection module that detects a pressure error for the cylinder based on the indicated torque and the derivative term. A method comprising determining an indicated torque for a cylinder in an engine based on a pressure in the cylinder, determining a derivative term for the cylinder based on rotation of a crankshaft, and detecting a pressure error for the cylinder based on the indicated torque and the derivative term.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2010
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Buslepp, Douglas R. Verner, Joseph R. Dulzo, David S. Mathews
  • Patent number: 7721712
    Abstract: A pressure regulating valve in a fuel injection system for internal combustion engines for regulating the pressure in a fuel reservoir in which the operating pressure is adjusted by the dimensioning of an adjusting disk, whose function-determining axial height is ascertained with high precision by a force measuring system and by a travel measuring system by way of ascertaining a spacing between an end face of a valve member of the pressure regulating valve and a reference face of a housing of the pressure regulating valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Bitter, Helmut Sattmann, Peter Luckeneder, Johann Schardax, Gerold Neuwirt
  • Patent number: 7717090
    Abstract: A fuel-feeding device may preferably include a reservoir cup disposed in a fuel tank that contains liquid fuel therein, a fuel pump capable of feeding the liquid fuel contained in the reservoir cup to an engine, a pressure regulator capable of controlling a fuel pressure of the liquid fuel fed to the engine from the fuel pump, a jet pump arranged and constructed to receive a part of the pressurized liquid fuel pumped from the fuel pump via a fuel jet path, so as to introduce liquid fuel outside the reservoir cup into to the reservoir cup with the aid of flow of the pressurized liquid fuel, and a flow rate control valve disposed in the fuel jet path. The flow rate control valve is arranged and constructed to control a flow rate of the pressurized liquid fuel fed to the jet pump depending upon a pumping rate of the pressurized liquid fuel pumped from the fuel pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Assignee: Aisan Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshihiko Honda, Tomoaki Inoue, Koji Yoshida
  • Patent number: 7717085
    Abstract: A method and system for operating a throttle system includes a throttle body generating a throttle position sensor signal and encoding the throttle position sensor signal to form an encoded throttle position sensor signal. The system also includes an electronic control module receiving the encoded throttle position sensor signal from a throttle body, forming a first replicated throttle position sensor signal and a second replicated second throttle position sensor signal from the encoded signal and communicating the first replicated throttle position sensor signal and the second throttle position sensor signal to a diagnostics module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
    Inventor: Paul A. Bauerle
  • Patent number: 7712441
    Abstract: A control module may include a cam phaser control module, a cam phaser oil pressure determination module, and a system oil pressure prediction module. The cam phaser control module may control an oil control valve (OCV) to control an oil flow to a cam phaser. The cam phaser oil pressure determination module may be in communication with the cam phaser control module and may determine a first engine oil pressure at a location between the OCV and the cam phaser when the OCV is in a open position. The system oil pressure prediction module may determine a second engine oil pressure at a location between the OCV and an oil pump outlet based on the first engine oil pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 11, 2010
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Cinpinski, Byungho Lee, Liyun Zheng
  • Patent number: 7707995
    Abstract: Rotation recognition means for recognizing a revolution of a crankshaft based on the cylinders before the combustion cycle of a cylinder in question is provided. When the supply of fuel by injection from an injector to a certain cylinder of the six cylinders has become impossible, then control is performed to change the number of cylinders targeted by the rotation recognition means so as to recognize the revolution of the crankshaft for all six cylinders whose combustion cycles are consecutive prior to the combustion cycle of the cylinder in question, and to stop the supply of fuel from the injectors for supplying fuel to cylinders whose combustion cycles are equally spaced from the cylinder to which the supply of fuel is not possible, so that the spacing between the combustion cycles in the cylinders whose combustion cycles come before and after and sandwich the cylinder to which the supply of fuel is not possible becomes uniform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 4, 2010
    Assignee: Yanmar Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Fumiya Kotou, Tomohiro Otani, Hitoshi Adachi, Hideo Shiomi
  • Patent number: 7699042
    Abstract: A filtration device for filtering air for use with a fuel vapor recovery system. According to one aspect, the device includes a housing defining a chamber having a rotational axis an upper end and a lower end, a cap closes the housing and includes at least one generally helical passageway helically extending generally toward the lower end of the chamber and includes at least one air inlet. According to another aspect, the device includes a non-circular filter element disposed between an air inlet and an air outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Stoneridge, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert J. Steinman, Jim Rockwell
  • Patent number: 7699041
    Abstract: A fuel distribution tube for a direct injection fuel rail assembly includes an elongate cylindrical conduit, a plurality of first scalloped features that receive fuel injector sockets formed in the conduit, and plurality of second scalloped features that receive mounting bosses formed in the conduit. The scalloped features are designed to closely match the outer radii of the injector sockets and the mounting bosses. The scalloped features provide necessary dimensional control to injector sockets and mounting bosses and fuel passage from the fuel distribution tube to the fuel injector sockets. The scalloped features enable a leak test of the braze joints of the fuel rail assembly. By providing a direct injection fuel rail assembly that includes the fuel distribution tube having scalloped features formed in the conduit, optimization of true position location of fuel injector sockets and improved braze joints are enabled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Colletti, Kristopher J. Duell, Donald Borraccia
  • Patent number: 7694664
    Abstract: A damper for dampening pressure pulsations in a quantity of fuel within a fuel rail of an internal combustion engine. The damper includes a non-metallic membrane having a thickness no more than about 0.009 inch. The membrane includes an exterior surface and a portion defining an internal dampening chamber containing a compressible gas. The damper further includes a protective coating having a thickness not more than about 0.001 inch that forms a continuous barrier separating the compressible gas within the dampening chamber from the quantity of fuel in the fuel rail. The protective coating includes at least one metal, metal oxide, or metalloid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2010
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Dewey M. Sims, Jr.
  • Patent number: 7690356
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes a cylinder head having a plurality of intake ports; throttle devices including a plurality of respective intake passages equipped with throttle valves therein; a plurality of fuel injection valves for injecting fuel into the corresponding intake passages; a fuel pipe adapted to supply fuel to the fuel injection valves; and a pulsation damper connected to the fuel pipe to damp fuel pressure pulsation. In the engine, a connection pipe coupled to the pulsation damper is formed between a plurality of branch portions with respect a longitudinal direction of the fuel pipe, adapted to deliver fuel from the fuel pipe to the fuel injection valves and the connection pipe is disposed to at least partially overlap the fuel injection valve as viewed from the longitudinal direction of the fuel pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuhito Hotta, Junya Sato, Yuji Kashiwabara
  • Patent number: 7690353
    Abstract: Noise and vibrations associated with a common rail fuel system drive linkage are reduced by synchronizing a high pressure common rail supply pump with engine operation. This may be accomplished by selecting a linkage associated with a desired ratio of engine speed to pump speed along with selecting a number of pump plungers and cam lobes that results in synchronizing action of the pump with engine combustion events. In particular, a pattern of pumping events per engine cycle repeats during each engine cycle. In a more sophisticated version, the pattern of pumping events per engine cycle includes a sub-pattern of pumping events that repeats an integer number of times each engine cycle, where the integer number equals the number of engine cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Scott Shafer, Jianhua Zhang, Daniel Ibrahim
  • Patent number: 7690588
    Abstract: A fuel injector is provided having a needle valve element and a nozzle member with a central bore configured to slidingly receive the needle valve element. The fuel injector also has a spring configured to bias the needle valve element toward a closed position. In addition, the fuel injection assembly has a guide element configured to reduce a lateral movement of the needle valve element. The fuel injection assembly further has a fluid flow restricting device configured to restrict the flow of a fluid through the needle valve element and create a fluid pressure differential between the fluid upstream and downstream of the fluid flow restricting device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis Henderson Gibson, Mark F. Sommars, Jin Hui Sun, Hoisan Kim
  • Patent number: 7685990
    Abstract: A fuel injection apparatus for a fuel injector nozzle includes a moveable valve needle slideably located within a nozzle body, the nozzle body having an internal surface defining a valve seat between a fuel supply path and fuel outlets. The valve needle includes an obturator piston that is engagable with an axial fuel outlet and a two-stage lift mechanism for enabling lift of the valve needle. In a first stage lifted position of the valve needle, the valve face is spaced apart from the valve seat, and the obturator piston is positioned such that a fuel flow passage is opened between the obturator piston and the axial fuel outlet. In a second stage lifted position, the valve face is spaced further apart from the valve seat and the obturator piston is positioned such that the fuel flow passage between the obturator piston and the axial fuel outlet is substantially closed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 30, 2010
    Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc.
    Inventor: Philip J. G. Dingle
  • Patent number: 7681556
    Abstract: A fuel supply system for supplying a fuel to an engine mounted on an upper frame of heavy construction/forest equipment is provided. The fuel supply system includes a junction tank unit for interflowing a fuel supply line which is connected to a lower end of a primary fuel tank and a fuel supply line which is connected to a lower end of a secondary fuel tank, the fuel supply lines being connected in parallel to each other, a water separator connected to the junction tank unit via a fuel supply line, a fuel supply line for supplying the fuel to an engine from the water separator, and a fuel recovery line for recovering a remaining fuel from the engine to the primary fuel tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2007
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Volvo Construction Equipment Holding Sweden AB
    Inventor: Soo Bong Hwang