Patents by Inventor Andreas Zeh

Andreas Zeh has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11901705
    Abstract: An electrode tip assembly for a spark plug includes an electrode tip that is formed on an electrode base using an additive manufacturing process, such as a powder bed fusion technique, after which the electrode base is welded to an electrode body. The electrode base includes a welding side and an additive manufacturing side, and the electrode tip includes a plurality of laser deposition layers built on the additive manufacturing side of the electrode base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2024
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventors: Andreas Zeh, Rene Trebbels, John Antony Burrows
  • Publication number: 20230198232
    Abstract: An electrode tip assembly for a spark plug includes an electrode tip that is formed on an electrode base using an additive manufacturing process, such as a powder bed fusion technique, after which the electrode base is welded to an electrode body. The electrode base includes a welding side and an additive manufacturing side, and the electrode tip includes a plurality of laser deposition layers built on the additive manufacturing side of the electrode base.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 21, 2022
    Publication date: June 22, 2023
    Inventors: Andreas Zeh, Rene Trebbels, John Antony Burrows
  • Patent number: 10910797
    Abstract: An insulator arrangement for a spark plug arrangement, in particular for a prechamber spark plug, with an elongated body that has an insulator arrangement longitudinal bore for accommodating a center electrode arrangement and has a front end. A sealing shoulder is formed on an outer circumferential section of the body. An axial transition section is formed between the sealing shoulder and the front end of the body. The front end of the body is designed such that at least 50% of a gas flow impinging thereon in a first direction is deflected in a direction opposite to the first direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2021
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh
  • Patent number: 10826279
    Abstract: A spark plug having a shell with a ground electrode recess. A ground electrode having an insertion end, a firing end, and a round cross-sectional profile toward the insertion end is inserted into the ground electrode recess of the shell. An attachment portion surrounds at least a portion of the ground electrode and includes a solidified bonding material at a connection interface between the ground electrode and the shell. In some implementations, the ground electrode can have a copper core that extends further into the shell, past the distal end of the insulator. In some embodiments, the ground electrode has a sheath surrounding the copper core that has aluminum and a high weight percentage of nickel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2020
    Assignee: Federal-Mogul Ignition LLC
    Inventors: Anthony Santana, Andreas Zeh, Rene Trebbels, Sofian Oeij, Kevin Miller, John Burrows, Sam Roe
  • Publication number: 20200176955
    Abstract: An insulator arrangement for a spark plug arrangement, in particular for a prechamber spark plug, with an elongated body that has an insulator arrangement longitudinal bore for accommodating a center electrode arrangement and has a front end. A sealing shoulder is formed on an outer circumferential section of the body. An axial transition section is formed between the sealing shoulder and the front end of the body. The front end of the body is designed such that at least 50% of a gas flow impinging thereon in a first direction is deflected in a direction opposite to the first direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2019
    Publication date: June 4, 2020
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh
  • Patent number: 10666021
    Abstract: A spark plug electrode assembly and method of manufacturing a spark plug assembly having an inner and outer electrode component, one of which or both being formed using metal injection molding (MIM). Forming at least one of the inner or outer electrode components with MIM allows for the creation of a mechanical lock and a metallurgical bond at an interface between the components such that the components may be joined without a weld.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Rene Trebbels, Andreas Zeh
  • Patent number: 10598130
    Abstract: A system composed of a water sleeve and a spark plug for an internal combustion engine. The spark plug has a supply passage, a center conductor, an insulator surrounding the center conductor, and a metallic body surrounding the insulator. A center electrode and at least one ground electrode form a spark air gap. In the region of its front end, the spark plug has an external thread for screwing the spark plug into a component of the internal combustion engine and has at least one discharge opening of the supply passage. The spark plug, at its front end, has, attached to the body, a sleeve that contains the external thread; the body has, on its outside, at least one groove that forms a section of the supply passage; and the sleeve has a heat conducting section that contains at least a part of the external thread and that is in contact with the body and covers at least portions of the groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2020
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh, Matthias Blankmeister
  • Patent number: 10468856
    Abstract: A spark plug device that includes a spark plug and a sealing ring, and a method for producing the same. The spark plug may include a body, an insulator, a center electrode, and a ground electrode. The sealing ring is secured to the body in a captive fashion. A fastening section of the body has an outer diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the sealing ring, which has been reshaped from a flat sealing ring blank into a conical sealing ring.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh
  • Publication number: 20190229501
    Abstract: A spark plug electrode assembly and method of manufacturing a spark plug assembly having an inner and outer electrode component, one of which or both being formed using metal injection molding (MIM). Forming at least one of the inner or outer electrode components with MIM allows for the creation of a mechanical lock and a metallurgical bond at an interface between the components such that the components may be joined without a weld.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Publication date: July 25, 2019
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Rene Trebbels, Andreas Zeh
  • Publication number: 20190170090
    Abstract: A system composed of a water sleeve and a spark plug for an internal combustion engine. The spark plug has a supply passage, a center conductor, an insulator surrounding the center conductor, and a metallic body surrounding the insulator. A center electrode and at least one ground electrode form a spark air gap. In the region of its front end, the spark plug has an external thread for screwing the spark plug into a component of the internal combustion engine and has at least one discharge opening of the supply passage. The spark plug, at its front end, has, attached to the body, a sleeve that contains the external thread; the body has, on its outside, at least one groove that forms a section of the supply passage; and the sleeve has a heat conducting section that contains at least a part of the external thread and that is in contact with the body and covers at least portions of the groove.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: June 6, 2019
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh, Matthias Blankmeister
  • Publication number: 20180323583
    Abstract: A spark plug device that includes a spark plug and a sealing ring, and a method for producing the same. The spark plug may include a body, an insulator, a center electrode, and a ground electrode. The sealing ring is secured to the body in a captive fashion. A fastening section of the body has an outer diameter that is greater than an inner diameter of the sealing ring, which has been reshaped from a flat sealing ring blank into a conical sealing ring.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2018
    Publication date: November 8, 2018
    Inventors: Werner Niessner, Andreas Zeh
  • Patent number: 9887520
    Abstract: A method for producing a spark plug for internal combustion engines, in particular for gas-powered internal combustion engines, having a metallic shell, a ceramic insulator held in the shell, a center electrode embedded in the insulator, at least one ground electrode attached to a front end of the shell, an end piece made of a precious metal and/or alloy attached to a front end of the center electrode, and a counterpart made of a precious metal and/or alloy attached to the ground electrode opposite the end piece, between which is a spark gap with a nominal width. The spark gap is produced initially with a width that is smaller, at least in places, than the nominal width, and is subsequently brought to its nominal width by removing material from at least one of the two surfaces of the end piece and the counterpart that delimit the spark gap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2018
    Assignee: FEDERAL-MOGUL IGNITION GMBH
    Inventor: Andreas Zeh
  • Publication number: 20170025826
    Abstract: A method for producing a spark plug for internal combustion engines, in particular for gas-powered internal combustion engines, having a metallic shell, a ceramic insulator held in the shell, a center electrode embedded in the insulator, at least one ground electrode attached to a front end of the shell, an end piece made of a precious metal and/or alloy attached to a front end of the center electrode, and a counterpart made of a precious metal and/or alloy attached to the ground electrode opposite the end piece, between which is a spark gap with a nominal width. The spark gap is produced initially with a width that is smaller, at least in places, than the nominal width, and is subsequently brought to its nominal width by removing material from at least one of the two surfaces of the end piece and the counterpart that delimit the spark gap.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 15, 2016
    Publication date: January 26, 2017
    Inventor: Andreas Zeh