Patents Examined by Willis R. Wolfe
  • Patent number: 7789079
    Abstract: An improved rocker arm cover assembly having an upper coil chamber that is enclosed and a lower rocker arm chamber that includes special seal and flange members to isolate it from the engine head. The fully enclosed upper coil chamber includes a mounting plate on which a plurality of coils is mounted. A fully isolated, dual function, oil fill/PCV valve, conduit is provided through the upper chamber to permit adding lubrication oil or permitting exhaust of crankcase vapors without contaminating the coils. Several variations of coils and coil mounting brackets are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2010
    Inventor: Richard H. Harbert
  • Patent number: 7784443
    Abstract: A spark-ignition gasoline engine having at least a spark plug, the engine including an engine body having a geometrical compression ratio set at 14 or more, and an intake valve and an exhaust valve provided, respectively, in intake and exhaust ports connected to each of a plurality of cylinders of the engine body. The intake and exhaust valves are adapted to open and close corresponding respective ones of the intake and exhaust ports. The engine further includes an operation-state detector adapted to detect an operation state of the engine body and a control system adapted, based on detection of the operation-state detector, to perform at least an adjustment control of an ignition timing of the spark plug, the control system being operable, when an engine operation zone is a high-load operation zone including a wide open throttle region within at least a low speed range, to retard the ignition timing to a point within a predetermined stroke range just after a top dead center of a compression stroke.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 31, 2010
    Assignee: Mazda Motor Corporation
    Inventors: Mitsuo Hitomi, Noriyuki Iwata, Masahisa Yamakawa, Toshiaki Nishimoto, Takashi Yohso, Takayoshi Hayashi
  • Patent number: 7779823
    Abstract: An engine is operated with a first cylinder to provide a net flow of gases from the engine intake to the engine exhaust while a second cylinder returns combusted gases back to the intake to control a timing of auto-ignition combustion in the first cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2010
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventor: Vincent J. Winstead
  • Patent number: 7775197
    Abstract: An EGR valve (20) comprises three gear parts (40, 42, 44) that provide a variable ratio drive system through which an electric actuator (34) operates a movable valve element (26). Each of the gear parts (40, 42, 44) is a single unitary part, with one part (42) containing two sets of gear teeth (46, 48) each associating with a set of gear teeth of a respective one of the other two parts. Limit stops (56, 58, 60; 68, 70) are integrally formed in two parts (42, 44).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2010
    Assignee: Continental Automotive Canada, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Hannewald, Russell Miles Modien
  • Patent number: 7774129
    Abstract: The start control device for a vehicle has previously stored a plurality of coolant temperature maps in association with information on a plurality of engines in which determination rotational speeds for use in determining whether or not the each engine has achieved complete combustion are determined for several different engine coolant temperatures. The start control device for a vehicle starts cranking when detecting a signal from an engine starting switch, selects a coolant temperature map associated with engine information acquired out of the plurality of coolant temperature maps, determines a determination rotational speed NE determined for the coolant temperature at start in the selected coolant temperature map, and terminates the cranking when the engine rotational speed reaches the determination rotational speed NE.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Yoshikata Washio
  • Patent number: 7774126
    Abstract: An electromagnetic fuel injection valve device for an internal combustion engine is configured to carry out an energization to an electromagnetic coil of an injection valve actuator for a valve opening motion and additionally carry out a mid-term energization at a time interval between both an energization for valve opening of a previous fuel injection and an energization for valve opening of a subsequent fuel injection. A current of the mid-term energization is smaller than a current of the energization for valve opening motion and has the same direction as a direction of the current of the energization for valve opening motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Motoyuki Abe, Masahiko Hayatani, Tohru Ishikawa, Takehiko Kowatari, Noriyuki Maekawa
  • Patent number: 7774127
    Abstract: A method for controlling a motor vehicle. According to the method, a volumetric filling efficiency for air in the motor is determined using a network of artificial neurones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Renault S.A.S.
    Inventor: Thierry Prunier
  • Patent number: 7770563
    Abstract: A device for distributing the exhaust gas from a motor vehicle engine in the direction of a component. The device includes: a gas inlet port and a gas outlet port that open onto a same first plane; an inlet port and an outlet port to the component, which open onto the same second plane that is parallel to the first plane; and a rotary mechanism disposed between the first and second planes, to enable the gas to flow in a first direction and in an opposite second direction. A cooling device can include such a device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Renault s.a.s.
    Inventors: Gilles Hamadani, Franck Levy
  • Patent number: 7770560
    Abstract: A reduced cost dual fuel injection system and method is described. Port fuel injectors and direct fuel injectors may be operated by using common injector drivers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Joseph Norman Ulrey, Ross Dykstra Pursifull
  • Patent number: 7770556
    Abstract: Improvement of combustion stability in retard ignition at the time of starting in a cold state, high output in a full throttle condition, reduction of smoke, and prevention of wear of the cylinder liner caused by oil dilution, are to be attained. In connection with the flow of fuel into each hole and a fuel inflow angle which is determined by the axis of each hole formed in a plate, the fuel inflow angle of an hole directed to a spark plug is set large to reduce an effective flow path area, thereby making the amount of fuel in the hole smaller than in other holes. A shallow cavity is formed in a piston crown face and a small prominence confronting fuel sprays is formed within the cavity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yusuke Kihara, Yoshihiro Sukegawa, Kenji Tsuchita, Sumie Tsuchita, legal representative, Hiroshi Fujii, Atsushi Sekine
  • Patent number: 7769522
    Abstract: A method is disclosed for preventing an underspeed event of a turbocharger. The method includes interpreting a turbocharger speed, a compressor differential pressure (CDP) and a turbocharger differential pressure (TDP). The method further includes calculating a thrust load capacity (TLC) based on the turbocharger speed, and calculating a current thrust load (CTL) based on the CDP and the TDP. The method further includes calculating a thrust margin based on the TLC and the CTL, and controlling an actuator in response to the thrust margin. Controlling the actuator includes maintaining the thrust margin to a thrust margin target, which may be a function of the turbocharger speed. The actuator is a turbine bypass valve, a compressor bypass valve, a variable geometry turbocharger position, an exhaust throttle and/or an exhaust gas recirculation valve that controls the turbocharger speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Cummins IP, Inc
    Inventors: Morgan Andreae, Kirtan Bhandary, Adrian Dale, Jeffrey A. Matthews, Vivek A. Sujan
  • Patent number: 7769523
    Abstract: A method of estimating an air-intake amount of an internal combustion engine is provided. The method may comprise detecting a fluid energy amount in an interior of an air-intake passage at first and second points in time while an intake valve is closed from a compression stroke to an exhaust stroke, and calculating a predicted air-intake amount using the values of the fluid energy amounts at the first and second points with reference to an air-intake amount calculation map showing a correlation between the values of the fluid energy amounts at the first and second points and the predicted air-intake amount in the intake stroke, the air-intake amount calculation map being pre-created by finding the values of the fluid energy amounts in the air-intake passage at the first and second points and the air-intake amount, for plural running states of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Kawasaki Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Hirohide Matsushima, Kenji Takenaka, Takashi Abe, Ryo Suzuki, Takuya Sakamoto, Yoshinobu Mori
  • Patent number: 7765996
    Abstract: A control input (DUT) for controlling a heater (13) which heats an active element (10) of an exhaust gas sensor (8) includes at least one of another component depending on the difference between temperature data of the active element (10) and a target temperature, a component depending on the target temperature, and a component depending on the temperature data of the active element (10). The control input is determined by an optimum control algorithm. A component depending on the temperature of an exhaust gas and the component depending on the target temperature are determined based on a predictive control algorithm. The temperature of the active element (10) of the exhaust gas sensor (8) is thus controlled stably at a desired temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Assignee: Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yuji Yasui, Yoshihisa Iwaki
  • Patent number: 7769524
    Abstract: A system and method comprises receiving a mass air flow signal having a frequency that varies based on mass air flow in an intake manifold of an engine, determining first period data from the mass air flow signal, deriving first mass data for the mass air flow signal based on the first period data, cumulating the first period data and the first mass data for N cylinder events, wherein N is an integer greater than 1, and calculating a mass air flow between the N cylinder events from the cumulated first period data and the cumulated first mass data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Inventors: Nicholas John Kalweit, Layne K. Wiggins, Qi Ma
  • Patent number: 7769526
    Abstract: An engine control module includes a target intake carbon dioxide (CO2) module that determines a target intake CO2 concentration. An intake CO2 estimation module estimates an actual intake CO2 concentration. The engine control module adjusts fuel injection based on the target intake CO2 concentration and the actual intake CO2 concentration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 6, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 3, 2010
    Inventors: Qian Chen, Tim Chang, Hongxun Gao
  • Patent number: 7765051
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine to which the inventive device for controlling an internal combustion engine is applied includes an intake control valve provided in an air-intake path at a position upstream from an intake valve, the intake control valve being controlled to be either in an operative state operating in relation to the operation of the intake valve or in an non-operative state maintaining the air-intake path always open, and, in the operative state, closed at least prior to the opening of the intake valve and opened after the opening of the intake valve to generate the pressure difference between the upstream and downstream from the intake control valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masakazu Tabata, Tomohiro Kaneko
  • Patent number: 7765052
    Abstract: A control system for a hybrid vehicle including an engine with cylinder deactivation comprises an engine time off module that determines an engine time off value. A re-purge determining module estimates a re-purge time required to purge a hydraulic control system of the engine of air before initiating cylinder deactivation. The re-purge time is estimated based on the engine time off value and an engine temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Inventors: Jeffrey M. Kaiser, Michael J. Pitsch, James B. Hicks, William C. Albertson
  • Patent number: 7765053
    Abstract: The fuel injection system includes a fuel injector that injects fuel directly into a combustion chamber of a cylinder of an engine. The control module initiates multiple fuel injections in a combustion chamber during a combustion cycle of the cylinder via the fuel injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2010
    Inventors: Jesse M. Gwidt, Michael J. Lucido, Vijay Ramappan, Halim G Santoso, Donovan L. Dibble, David J. Cleary
  • Patent number: 7757650
    Abstract: The gas engine for burning a gaseous fuel-air mixture includes a combustion chamber containing the gaseous fuel-air mixture, at least one ignition device projecting into the combustion chamber to ignite the gaseous fuel-air mixture and having a heating device serving as an ignition source, and a mounting unit separating the heating device from the fuel-air mixture to be ignited. The mounting unit includes a heatable section in contact with the fuel-air mixture to be ignited, and the heating device is designed to heat the heatable section in such a way that the heatable section has a temperature required to ignite the fuel-air mixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: MAN Diesel SE
    Inventors: Axel Hanenkamp, Heribert Imkamp
  • Patent number: 7761220
    Abstract: The invention precisely achieves an air fuel ratio control precision in each of operating regions of an engine, particularly a demand air fuel ratio at a time of an engine transition. In a fuel control system correcting a basic fuel amount in such a manner as to estimate a fuel adhered to an air intake pipe of an engine and an evaporated fuel from the adhered fuel so as to achieve a demanded air fuel ratio, a temperature of a fuel adhered portion is estimated on the basis of an amount relation between the fuel to be adhered and the already adhered fuel, or a heat quantity balance. A fuel adhesion amount and a fuel evaporation amount are determined on the basis of the estimated temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2010
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Seiji Asano, Mitsuru Nagase, Hiroshi Sekine