Patents Examined by Wendell E. Burns
  • Patent number: 4388896
    Abstract: The invention provides a remote oil tank (19) to supply oil to an oil reservoir (29) mounted on a two-cycle, crankcase compression engine (10) such as used for outboard motors. Crankcase pressure may be used to pressurize the remote tank (19) to move the oil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 10, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 21, 1983
    Assignee: Brunswick Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen E. Sheridan, James M. Hundertmark
  • Patent number: 4387693
    Abstract: An exhaust gas recirculation control assembly senses a throttle position related vacuum signal, an engine speed related pressure, and atmospheric pressure to create a subatmospheric control pressure suitable for actuating a diaphragm operated exhaust gas recirculation control valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1983
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventor: Edward R. Romblom
  • Patent number: 4387694
    Abstract: An EGR control system for a diesel engine, comprises an EGR passageway connecting an intake passageway and an exhaust passageway to recirculate engine exhaust gas back to the engine, an EGR control valve operatively disposed in the EGR passageway to control the flow of the recirculated exhaust gas passing through the EGR passageway, a detecting device for detecting at least one of engine speed, engine load and engine coolant temperature to produce at least a signal dependent thereon, and a control device for controlling the operation of the EGR control valve in response to the signal from the detecting device, thereby controlling the amount of the recirculated exhaust gas in accordance with engine operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1983
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasutaka Yoshiba, Masaji Shiobara
  • Patent number: 4387680
    Abstract: A mechanism for stopping operation of a valve, comprising a plunger slidably mounted in a portion of a valve actuating system for actuating the valve, a stopper engageable and disengageable with the plunger to prevent or allow sliding motion of the plunger thereby operating or stopping the valve, and controlling means detecting phases of a valve actuating cam and operating an actuator for actuating the stopper in response to the detected phases, whereby the plunger and the stopper are engaged and disengaged always immediately after a lift of the cam ends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 14, 1983
    Inventors: Katashi Tsunetomi, Akira Takahashi, Katsuyuki Tsuji
  • Patent number: 4386597
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for exhaust gas recirculation for an internal combustion engine in which exhaust gas is recirculated through a recirculation passage connecting the exhaust passage of the engine and the intake passage of the engine. A vacuum-response type recirculation control valve is disposed in the exhaust gas recirculation passage to operate in response to vacuum detected at a vacuum detection port located in the intake passage in the vicinity of a throttle valve. A vacuum tank is connected through a solenoid-actuated change-over valve to the vacuum passage interconnecting the vacuum detecting port and the recirculation control valve, the vacuum tank being in communication with the intake passage downstream from the throttle valve through a check valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 7, 1983
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shoichi Ootaka, Etsuo Kawabata, Yutaka Otobe, Michio Kawamoto, Norio Sato
  • Patent number: 4386587
    Abstract: A method and apparatus is disclosed for decreasing fuel consumption in a variably loaded, two cycle internal combustion engine. Fluid communication is provided between the working cylinder and air chamber during the upward stroke of the engine up to about 85.degree.-105.degree. BTDC, during which time the cylinder gases can flow back into the air chamber reducing engine friction as a result of a delay in the rise of the cylinder gas pressure during compression and a reduction in the peak compression pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1981
    Date of Patent: June 7, 1983
    Assignee: Ford Motor Company
    Inventor: Aladar O. Simko
  • Patent number: 4385616
    Abstract: An air-fuel ratio control system for an automobile engine of a type having a fuel injection system wherein at least two of parameters including the engine speed, the opening of a throttle valve and the negative pressure developed inside a fuel intake passage are utilized to detect the rate of flow of incoming air to be mixed with an injected mist of fuel to form a combustible mixture. The amount of fuel to be injected into the intake passage depends on the detected rate of flow of the incoming air. A composition sensor for detecting the concentration of an exhaust gas component is also provided for controlling an EGR control valve for controlling the recirculation of a portion of exhaust gases from an exhaust passage into the intake passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 31, 1983
    Assignee: Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuo Kobayashi, Hideki Tanaka, Katsuyoshi Iida, Junji Kamite
  • Patent number: 4385597
    Abstract: A two-stroke combustion engine is described which has a symmetrical, floating differential piston (14), having at least two main piston portions (16, 18), each movable in a combustion chamber (28, 30) formed with exhaust ports (46), and each connected to a pre-compression chamber (34, 36) by means of a respective channel (38, 40). The combustion chambers (28, 30) are arranged axially inward of the piston portions and between the chambers lies the pre-compression chamber (32) in which a central double-acting piston portion (22) of the differential piston (14) is arranged on a piston rod (20). The central piston portion (22) divides the pre-compression chamber (32) into two separate supercharging chambers (34, 36), from which the channels (38, 40) leading to the combustion chambers (28, 30) terminate at the end walls of the respective combustion chambers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 31, 1983
    Inventor: Frank Stelzer
  • Patent number: 4383504
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a marine propulsion device comprising a lower unit including a lower end, and a propeller rotatably mounted in the lower end, a power head comprising an engine including a carburetor, and an output shaft drivingly connected to the propeller, a bracket assembly adapted for mounting the lower unit to the transom of a boat and for vertical tilting movement and horizontal steering movement relative to the boat, a source of oil, a source of fuel, and a device including an outlet connected to the carburetor, a first inlet connected to the oil source, and a second inlet connected to the fuel source, for pumping oil and supplying fuel or a fuel/oil mixture to the carburetor, which supplying device is operable, in response to consumption of fuel or fuel/oil mixture by the carburetor and in response to the presence of a pressure differential between the outlet and the second inlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 17, 1983
    Assignee: Outboard Marine Corporation
    Inventor: Frank J. Walsworth
  • Patent number: 4383503
    Abstract: A two cycle engine having piston controlled inlet and exhaust ports is provided with a secondary one-way valved air fuel mixture passage to the combustion chamber adjacent the spark plug.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 17, 1983
    Assignee: Brunswick Corporation
    Inventor: John M. Griffiths
  • Patent number: 4381741
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a combined oil pumping and fuel supplying device comprising a housing including a variable volume discharge chamber which is adapted for fluid communication with a point of use and which varies in volume between a greater volume and a lesser volume, an inlet chamber which is adapted to communicate with a source of fuel under pressure and which varies in volume between a larger volume and a smaller volume, a valve communicating between the discharge chamber and the inlet chamber and operable between open and closed positions, structure for displacing the valve to the open position in response to contraction of the discharge chamber to the lesser volume, structure for displacing the valve to the closed position in response to contraction of the inlet chamber to the smaller volume, and a plunger responsive to variation in volume of one of the chambers toward one of the greater and lesser volumes for pumping oil for supply to a point of use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1983
    Assignee: Outboard Marine Corporation
    Inventor: Frank J. Walsworth
  • Patent number: 4380970
    Abstract: The invention provides an alternative fuel for internal combustion engines in which the exhaust heat is used to thermally dissociate water to its constituent gases hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen so produced is introduced into the combustion chamber of the engine to at least partially replace the conventional fuel. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, water is dissociated into hydrogen and oxygen in a dissociation chamber in the form of a transition tube containing a spirally wound ribbon arranged to urge water in the transition tube outwardly into contact with walls of the transition tube, said walls being heated by exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1983
    Inventor: Roy A. Davis
  • Patent number: 4380988
    Abstract: An air/fuel ratio control system for performing feedback control of the air/fuel ratio of an air/fuel mixture being supplied to an internal combustion engine. The air/fuel ratio control system is provided with an exhaust gas recirculation system which is adapted to use a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor for detection of conditions of interruption of the exhaust gas recirculation at low engine load and at low engine temperature. At the same time, the above sensors are used for detection of various engine operating conditions for control of the air/fuel ratio of the mixture, and are adapted to produce outputs continuously variable with wide ranges of changes in the absolute pressure in the intake system of the engine and in the engine temperature. The exhaust gas recirculation system thus precludes the use of special sensors and therefore has a simple exhaust gas recirculation control section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1983
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuo Otsuka, Shin Narasaka, Shumpei Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 4378776
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine has an exhaust gas recirculation system including a recirculation valve for controlling the amount of exhaust gas returned to the intake system. The position or opening of the valve is controlled to a desired position in accordance with a memory in a memory device storing desired valve positions under various combinations of the engine load and the engine speed. A device is provided for closing the recirculation valve when the actual valve position does not conform with the desired position for a predetermined time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1983
    Assignee: Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Takayoshi Nishimori
  • Patent number: 4378777
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine has an exhaust gas recirculation system including a recirculation valve for controlling the amount of exhaust gas returned to the intake system. The position or opening of the valve is controlled to a desired position in accordance with a memory in a memory device storing desired valve positions under various combinations of the engine load and the engine speed. A device is provided for increasing the opening of the recirculation valve when the effective area of the recirculation passage is decreased due to carbon deposits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1983
    Assignee: Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Katsuyoshi Iida, Yoshikuni Yada, Kathumi Okazaki
  • Patent number: 4378762
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine comprises a combustion chamber and a piston movable relative to the combustion chamber between top dead center and bottom dead center positions. A fuel transfer passage introduces fuel-air mixture into the combustion chamber in response to piston movement. An auxiliary chamber is also provided which is communicable with the combustion chamber in response to piston movement shortly after the ignition of a fuel-air mixture, such that high pressure ignition gases enter the auxiliary chamber. The high pressure ignition gases thereafter flow back into the combustion chamber in response to piston movement before communication chamber in response to piston movement before communication is established between the combustion chamber and the fuel transfer passage. The incoming flow of high pressure ignition gases serves to influence the normal scavenging streams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 5, 1983
    Assignee: Outboard Marine Corporation
    Inventor: Josef Ehrlich
  • Patent number: 4377993
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine an engine unit support is attached to an engine housing which is extended in upward direction. The two-part crankshaft bearings are attached to the engine unit support such that their upper part is fastened to the upper part of the engine unit support by mounting screws which can be handled from above and outside of the engine housing. The assembly unit which consists of crankshaft and crankshaft main bearings is supported in the engine housing by means of sound insulating elements. The whole design thus facilitates assembly and disassembly of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1983
    Inventor: Hans List
  • Patent number: 4376423
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method of saturating liquid fuel with air, oxygen, or another gas for injecting into an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine is provided with a gas compressor or pump for compressing air or oxygen, which is directed into a fuel saturator having a dense, porous material or stone therein and having a liquid hydrocarbon fuel being fed therethrough. Compressed gas is fed onto one side of the stone and is forced therethrough for saturation into the liquid fuel, which is then fed into a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine. Gas that separates from the liquid fuel is trapped and vapor is removed therefrom. The fuel saturator uses a gas saturation stone, which may be hollow in one end for feeding a compressed gas thereinto, while the other side is surrounded with the liquid hydrocarbon fuel. The liquid hydrocarbon fuel may be fed around a spiralling passageway adjacent the stone for a more complete saturation of the fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1983
    Assignees: William C. Knapstein, Carol A. Knapstein
    Inventor: Paul E. Knapstein
  • Patent number: 4375800
    Abstract: A control system for internal combustion engines, which comprises: a power transistor connected to the solenoid of a solenoid valve forming an EGR control valve for energization of the same; an abnormality detecting circuit arranged for comparing the input and output levels of the power transistor to generate an output signal when the two levels are out of an inverted relationship; a timer arranged for generating an output signal when the output signal of the abnormality detecting circuit is continuously generated over a predetermined period of time; and emergency means actuatable by the output signal of the timer. The emergency means may include an alarm device and a safety circuit, both responsive to the output of the timer to give the alarm and render the power transistor inoperative, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 1981
    Date of Patent: March 8, 1983
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazuo Otsuka, Shin Narasaka, Shumpei Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 4373474
    Abstract: In a two-stroke internal combustion piston engine, a piston is reciprocally movable within an axially elongated cylinder. The piston has a bottom dead center position and in the region of this position, the cylinder has an exhaust opening and a number of pairs of scavenging openings. An axially extending plane within the cylinder divides the exhaust opening in half and in each pair the scavenging openings are arranged symmetrically on opposite sides of the axially extending plane. Each pair of scavenging openings is located at a different distance from the exhaust opening. The projection of the side surfaces of the pairs of scavenging openings extending in the axial direction of the cylinder each form a different angle at the point of intersection of the projections and the point of intersection is directed away from the exhaust opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 1980
    Date of Patent: February 15, 1983
    Assignee: Ficht GmbH
    Inventors: Manfred Schindler, Reinhold Ficht, Hermann Vogt