Patents by Inventor Andy BENNETT, SR.

Andy BENNETT, SR. 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: 11242852
    Abstract: An automobile vehicle variable displacement pump includes a pump body having a pump shaft extending through the pump body. A rotor is connected to the pump shaft and co-rotates with the pump shaft. The rotor has multiple radially outwardly directed slots. A vane support ring supports multiple vanes, the vanes individually slidably received in one of the slots of the rotor. A slide is rotatably connected to the pump body having the rotor and the vane support ring positioned within an inner wall of the slide. A bow spring plate defining a biasing member directly contacts the slide to bias the slide to rotate about an arc of curvature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 8, 2022
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, Sr., Sean McGowan
  • Publication number: 20200309120
    Abstract: An automobile vehicle variable displacement pump includes a pump body having a pump shaft extending through the pump body. A rotor is connected to the pump shaft and co-rotates with the pump shaft. The rotor has multiple radially outwardly directed slots. A vane support ring supports multiple vanes, the vanes individually slidably received in one of the slots of the rotor. A slide is rotatably connected to the pump body having the rotor and the vane support ring positioned within an inner wall of the slide. A bow spring plate defining a biasing member directly contacts the slide to bias the slide to rotate about an arc of curvature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 1, 2019
    Publication date: October 1, 2020
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, SR., Sean McGowan
  • Publication number: 20200080555
    Abstract: A variable displacement pump is provided which better distributes stress across the rotor structure thereby reducing the risk of the rotor cracking and/or failing. The variable displacement pump includes a housing, a vane control ring, a rotor, a plurality of vanes, a slider ring, a biasing means, and a regulator valve. The housing defines an inlet port and a discharge port. The rotor may be rotationally driven by a drive shaft and coaxially aligned with the drive shaft. The rotor may define a plurality of primary ribs and a plurality of corresponding secondary ribs with an aperture defined between each primary rib and secondary rib. Each primary rib defines a primary rib thickness and each secondary rib defines a secondary rib thickness which is less than the primary rib thickness.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2018
    Publication date: March 12, 2020
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, SR., Sean M. McGowan, Mark R. Claywell
  • Publication number: 20200032791
    Abstract: Variable displacement pumps and biasing assemblies for the same are disclosed. Example pumps may include a housing having an inlet and an outlet, and a rotor fixed for rotation with a shaft, with the shaft rotatably mounted within the housing. The pump may further include a plurality of radially extending vanes slidably disposed in the rotor, and a pivotable ring member defining a control chamber about the rotor, with the ring member being pivotable within the housing to vary an eccentricity of the ring member with respect to the rotor. The pump may further include a biasing assembly applying a biasing force to the ring member in a first direction about the shaft, with the biasing assembly including at least one resilient element extending longitudinally along a stand, and a sliding support slidably disposed on the stand and laterally supporting the resilient element with respect to the stand.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 24, 2018
    Publication date: January 30, 2020
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, SR., Anthony Anzalone, Bryan K. Pryor
  • Publication number: 20200025198
    Abstract: A sprocket gerotor pump includes an outer gerotor gear configured to rotate about a first axis. The outer gerotor gear includes an outer gear body including a plurality of internal gear teeth extending from the outer gear body toward the first axis. The sprocket gerotor pump includes an inner gerotor gear configured to rotate about a second axis. The inner gerotor gear includes an inner gear body and a plurality of external gear teeth extending from the inner gerotor gear away from the second axis. The external gear teeth mesh with the internal gear teeth. Rotating the outer gerotor gear causes rotation of the inner gerotor gear. The sprocket gerotor pump further includes a sprocket integrally coupled with the outer gerotor gear such that the sprocket and the outer gerotor gear collectively form a one-piece structure. The sprocket is driven by a chain.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Applicant: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, SR., Sean M. McGowan
  • Publication number: 20190338771
    Abstract: A variable displacement vane pump includes a housing, an expandable vane control ring, a rotor, a plurality of vanes, slider ring, and biasing means. The expandable vane control ring defines a gap. The plurality of vanes may be slidably disposed in the rotor. The slider ring is pivotally affixed to the housing via a pivot. The slider ring may form a plurality of pumping chambers with the expandable vane control ring, the rotor and the vanes. The distal end of each vane in the plurality of vanes is configured to abut and slide along an inner surface of the slider ring while the rotor rotates and the expandable vane control ring is configured to temporarily contract when intermittent friction is experienced between the inner surface and any vane in the plurality of vanes—so that the plurality of vanes continuously slide along an inner surface of the slider ring.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Publication date: November 7, 2019
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, SR., Sean M. McGowan, Bryan K. Pryor, David R. Staley
  • Patent number: 10247295
    Abstract: An exemplary assembly includes a housing including a flange extending from a perimeter of the housing, a cover including an edge tab extending from a perimeter of the cover, a gear set positioned between the housing and the cover, an alignment member positioned between the flange and the edge tab, the alignment member adjacent to an exterior surface of the gear set, and a ring at least partially encircling the housing, the ring including an anti-rotation member and a securing tab. The edge tab and the alignment member are enclosed by the anti-rotation member to maintain a radial position of the gear set.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2019
    Inventor: Andy Bennett, Sr.
  • Patent number: 10240681
    Abstract: A pressure relief valve includes a valve housing having an inlet end with an inlet opening having a valve seat surface surrounding the inlet opening. The valve housing defines an outlet end with a plurality of outlet holes and a valve chamber disposed between the valve seat and the outlet end. One of the plurality of outlet holes has a smaller cross section than the other outlet holes. The valve chamber includes a plurality of radially protruding grooves extending radially beyond a base diameter. One of the plurality of radially protruding grooves has a groove cross section that is smaller than a groove cross section of the remaining grooves, which along with the smaller outlet hole cause a lateral pressure imbalance on the valve member so that the valve member tends to remain in contact with a side of the valve seat while permitting relief flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
    Inventors: Andy Bennett, Sr., Joel H. Pike
  • Publication number: 20190072196
    Abstract: A pressure relief valve includes a valve housing having an inlet end with an inlet opening having a valve seat surface surrounding the inlet opening. The valve housing defines an outlet end with a plurality of outlet holes and a valve chamber disposed between the valve seat and the outlet end. One of the plurality of outlet holes has a smaller cross section than the other outlet holes. The valve chamber includes a plurality of radially protruding grooves extending radially beyond a base diameter. One of the plurality of radially protruding grooves has a groove cross section that is smaller than a groove cross section of the remaining grooves, which along with the smaller outlet hole cause a lateral pressure imbalance on the valve member so that the valve member tends to remain in contact with a side of the valve seat while permitting relief flow.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2017
    Publication date: March 7, 2019
    Inventors: Andy BENNETT, SR., Joel H. PIKE