Patents by Inventor Manfred Rüffer

Manfred Rüffer 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).

  • Publication number: 20100133897
    Abstract: In order to increase the operational safety of a device which is used in a brake system of the “brake-by-wire” type and has the purpose of activating and deactivating a pedal travel simulator, an articulated connection which permits an all around pivoting movement of a piston rod is provided between a piston and the piston rod which activates the latter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Publication date: June 3, 2010
    Applicant: CONTINENTAL TEVES AG & CO. OHG
    Inventors: Holger Von Hayn, Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Thomas Sellinger, Lazar Milisic
  • Publication number: 20100045096
    Abstract: A motor and pump assembly for providing pressure to a brake actuating device of a motor vehicle brake system is described herein. The assembly comprises an electric motor and a double diaphragm pump. The pump includes a pump housing, two opposed working diaphragms, and crank drives each being coupled between the electric motor and a respective diaphragm for moving the diaphragm. A working chamber is defined between the pump housing and a working chamber cover. Each working chamber including an inlet channel, an inlet valve associated with the inlet channel, an outlet channel, and an outlet valve associated with the outlet channel, wherein the outlet channels are defined in the covers of the working chamber and in the pump housing to direct air displaced from the working chambers into an inside space of the pump housing. An air outlet unit is provided for exhausting the air from the inside space.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2007
    Publication date: February 25, 2010
    Applicant: CONTINENTAL TEVES AG & CO. OHG
    Inventors: Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Wolfgang Ritter, Karlheinz Seitz, Stefan Drumm, Jose Gonzalez, Michael Jürging, Daniela Gude, Oliver Volkering
  • Publication number: 20100005796
    Abstract: A method for creating low pressure in a brake activation device of a motor vehicle brake system, comprising a pneumatic brake force booster the interior of which is divided into at least one low-pressure chamber and one working chamber, a brake master cylinder and a pneumatic motor pump unit for creating the low pressure in the low-pressure chamber, which motor pump unit comprises a low-pressure pump and a motor driving the low-pressure pump, a low-pressure level in the low-pressure chamber or a pressure difference between the low-pressure chamber and the working chamber being detected by a sensor and the motor pump unit being activated by an electronic control unit if the pressure falls below a first predefined, lower low-pressure level Pe in the low-pressure chamber and being deactivated if a second predetermined, upper low-pressure level Pa is reached.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2007
    Publication date: January 14, 2010
    Applicant: Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG
    Inventors: Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Horst Krämer, Michael Jürging
  • Publication number: 20090210124
    Abstract: A motor vehicle includes an electrohydraulic brake system with driving dynamics control, a master brake cylinder (1) operable by means of a brake pedal (43), at least one pressure fluid supply device (94, 95) which can be actuated by an electronic control unit and the pressure of which can be applied to wheel brakes (75, 76, 77, 78) of the vehicle which are connectable to the master brake cylinder (1), on the other hand, by way of at least one hydraulic connection (73, 74) that is closable by means of a separating valve (80, 81), each one inlet valve (82, 83, 84, 85) and one outlet valve (86, 87, 88, 89) connected upstream of the wheel brakes (75, 76, 77, 78), as well as with a device for detecting brake application which comprises a magnet (35) as a signal transmitter and a sensor element (36).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2004
    Publication date: August 20, 2009
    Inventors: Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Dieter Merkel, Oliver Kugland, Torsten Queisser, Thomas Voigtmann
  • Patent number: 7152406
    Abstract: The invention relates to a master cylinder with a pressure chamber formed in a housing of the master cylinder and a reservoir bore for accommodating a pressure fluid reservoir, a valve with a closing element being provided which due to a pressure difference prevailing between the pressure chamber and the pressure fluid reservoir can be moved into an opening position or a closing position, the valve in its opening position allowing a pressure fluid flow from the pressure fluid reservoir into the pressure chamber and throttling or preventing, in its closing position, a pressure fluid flow from the pressure chamber into the pressure fluid reservoir. Means are provided which maintain the closing body in its opening position when it is acted upon by a closing pressure difference during vacuum filling of the brake system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2006
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG
    Inventors: Holger von Hayn, Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Wolfgang Ritter, Milan Klimes, Torsten Queisser, Ralf Jakobi, Michael Vogt, Dieter Merkel, Bernhard Hammes, Hans-Jörg Feigel, Jose Gonzalez, Stephan Krebs, Oliver Kugland, Thomas Sellinger, Guido Schell
  • Patent number: 7032497
    Abstract: Vacuum brake booster for motor vehicles comprising a booster housing whose interior is subdivided by a movable wall into a vacuum chamber and a working chamber, a control valve that controls a pressure difference acting upon the movable wall and is accommodated in a control housing that carries the movable wall, said control valve being composed of two concentrically arranged sealing seats and an elastically deformable valve member, wherein the control housing includes a cavity through which a cross member extends and delimits the axial movability of a valve piston relative to the control housing, and the cross member includes at least one projection made of an elastic material in the area where the cross member rests against the booster housing. At least one projection made of an elastic material is provided in the area of points of abutment between the control housing and the cross member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2006
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co. oHG
    Inventors: Stephan Krebs, Wilfried Wagner, Hans-Jörg Feigel, Holger von Hayn, Jürgen Schonlau, Manfred Rüffer, Wolfgang Ritter, Milan Klimes, Torsten Queisser
  • Patent number: 6942304
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an electronically controllable brake actuating system for automotive vehicles, including an unpressurized pressure fluid supply reservoir, a pressure source actuatable by an electronic control unit, the pressure of which can be applied to wheel brakes of the vehicle, further including a device for detecting the driver's wish for deceleration as well as valve assemblies inserted upstream of the wheel brakes and connecting the wheel brakes alternatively to the pressure source or the pressure fluid supply reservoir. In order to increase the operational or functional reliability of a system of this type, the present invention discloses the provision of means for detecting gases or air disposed in the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 1999
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., oHG
    Inventors: Ronald Bayer, Bernhard Schmittner, Christian Albrich Von Albrichsfeld, Ulrich Neumann, Andreas Klein, Johann Jungbecker, Robert Mutschler, Stefan Fritz, Manfred Rüffer
  • Patent number: 6845793
    Abstract: A method of filling a pressure medium accumulator with a housing having an inner space that is subdivided into two chambers by a metallic pleated bellows used as a media-separating element. The first chamber thereof is filled with a gas and the second chamber is filled with a liquid pressure medium. The bottom valve is provided in a hydraulic port, its closing member being operable by the media-separating element. The valve permits filling of the second chamber with fluid and prevents a complete evacuation of the second chamber. To enable reliable filling of the above-mentioned chambers with corresponding media without damaging the pleated bellows, the method includes the steps of evacuating the second chamber, filling the second chamber with pressure medium and filling the first chamber with a gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2001
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2005
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., oHG
    Inventors: Manfred Rüffer, Andreas Klein, Christian Albrich von Albrichsfeld
  • Patent number: 6644354
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a hydraulic fluid accumulator comprising a housing having an interior subdivided into three chambers, with the first chamber being filled with a gas and separated from the second chamber by a first media separation element, the second chamber being filled with a fluid and separated by a second media separation element from the third chamber that is also filled with a fluid and connected to a hydraulic port. To safeguard an effective separation of media within the hydraulic fluid accumulator and, thus, a significant increase in its functional safety, the present invention arranges for the second media separation element to be embodied by a metal piston delimiting a chamber that can be vented in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., OHG
    Inventors: Dieter Dinkel, Axel Hinz, Hans-Dieter Reinartz, Manfred Rüffer, Günther Vogel, Uwe Greiff, René Lenz
  • Patent number: 6478051
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a pressure fluid accumulator with a housing having its interior subdivided into two chambers by a media-separating element, the first chamber being filled with a gas and the second chamber being filled with a liquid, and wherein in a hydraulic port a bottom valve is provided whose closure member is operable by the media-separating element and which permits filling the second chamber with liquid and prevents complete evacuation of the second chamber. In order to prevent a damage of the bottom valve and an inadvertent escape of fluid and, thus, ensure a considerable increase in the reliability in operation, according to the present invention, the closure member can be moved by the media-separating element to adopt a position in which it fulfils the function of a hydraulic piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2002
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., OHG
    Inventors: Stefan Drumm, Christian Albrich Von Albrichsfeld, Ronald Bayer, Peter Rieth, Manfred Rüffer
  • Patent number: 6382738
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a pressure sensor unit, in particular for a pressure control device, comprising a carrier housing for holding several pressure sensors, wherein the carrier housing accepts the pressure sensors as a modular assembly that can be preliminarily tested and forms an independent subassembly preferably arranged between a first and second housing of the pressure control device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2002
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., OHG
    Inventors: Ronald Bayer, Manfred Rüffer, Ulrich Neumann, Andreas Klein, Johann Jungbecker, Christian Albrich Von Albrichsfeld
  • Patent number: 6322165
    Abstract: An electronically controllable brake actuation system for motor vehicles is proposed, with a master brake cylinder (2), with a pressureless pressure medium reservoir (3), with a pressure source (20) which can be controlled by means of an electronic control unit (32), by means of which pressure can be applied to the wheel brakes (7, 8, 9, 10) of the vehicle, which can be connected by means of at least one hydraulic connection (11, 14), which can be shut off by means of a separating valve (12, 15), to the master brake cylinder (2), with a device (13, 33) for the recognition of the driver's wish to slow down, and with at least one separating piston arrangement (16) which is connected before the wheel brakes (7-10), where the first chamber (17) of this separating piston arrangement can be connected to the master brake cylinder (2), and its second chamber (19) can be connected through a valve device (27) to the pressure source (20) or to the pressure medium reservoir (3).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 27, 2001
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., OHG
    Inventors: Andreas Klein, Ulrich Neumann, Wolfgang Schieblich, Johan Jungbecker, Lothar Kunze, Manfred Rüffer, Ronald Bayer, Bernhard Schmittner
  • Patent number: 6315370
    Abstract: An electronically controllable brake actuation system for automotive vehicles includes a simulator interacting with the master brake cylinder, a pressure source drivable by an electronic control unit and by which wheel brakes of the vehicle are pressurizable, the wheel brakes being connectable to the master brake cylinder by at least one hydraulic connection that is closable by separating valves, a device for the identification of the driver's wish for deceleration, each one inlet and outlet valve connected upstream of the wheel brakes, and wheel sensors sensing the rotational behavior of the vehicle wheels. To improve the meterability of braking pressure of a system of the above type, especially in the range of low pressure values, the pressure source is configured as at least one continuously adjustable piston-and-cylinder assembly having a pressure chamber which is connectable to the master brake cylinder and the wheel brakes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1998
    Date of Patent: November 13, 2001
    Assignee: ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc.
    Inventors: Hans-Jörg Feigel, Manfred Rüffer, Lothar Schiel
  • Patent number: 6268784
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a magnetic valve for liquid and gaseous working media, in particular for hydraulic brake systems in automotive vehicles, which includes a first cylindrical housing part that is encompassed on its outside by a magnetic coil and has a cylindrical recess inside which extends in an axial direction to accommodate and guide an axmature, a tappet which is displaceable by the armature in an axial direction in opposition to a resetting spring, a second cylindrical housing part which is arranged coaxially to the first housing part and includes a cylindrical recess extending in an axial direction, the said recess being in connection to outside valve ports and in which a valve seat cooperating with the tappet is arranged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 31, 2001
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., oHG
    Inventors: Hans-Jörg Feigel, Manfred Rüffer, Michael Germuth-Löffler, Wolfgang Schieblich
  • Patent number: 6189572
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a pressure fluid accumulator which includes a housing with a pressure fluid port and a body which is movably arranged in the housing and isolates at least two chambers in the pressure fluid accumulator from one another. The body is configured as a metal pleated bellows which is movable in the housing and encloses the one chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2001
    Assignee: Continental Teves AG & Co., OHG
    Inventors: Manfred Rüffer, Robert Mutschler
  • Patent number: 5293808
    Abstract: A vacuum brake power booster and a process is disclosed in which a precise adjustment of the power boost startup characteristic is achieved. The adjustment is carried out as a final step in the manufacture of the booster adjusting the distance between the valve piston and an elastic reaction distance. During adjustment, the vacuum brake power booster has a vacuum applied. A pre-established input force is exerted on the piston rod while simultaneously measuring the output force exerted by the push rod, and the axial length of the valve piston is modified until the measured output force is within a pre-established range. The adjustment is carried out by modifying the length of a two piece valve piston or by temporarily extending a rod within the valve piston until a correct output force is reached and thereafter removing the rod and inserting a transmission pin of a length determined by the extent of travel of the rod at the point at which the desired output force was attained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1992
    Date of Patent: March 15, 1994
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Manfred Rueffer, Ralf Jakobi, Jurgen Bauer, Peter Kraft
  • Patent number: 5181769
    Abstract: An automotive vehicle anti-lock brake unit reduces operator detectable pedal pulsations and vacuum requirements found in prior systems wherein the movable wall (7) of the vacuum brake power booster (1) is movable independently of the input member (4) and that a hydraulic chamber (50) being in active connection with the input member (4) is provided whose link (90) with a pressureless hydraulic fluid reservoir (11) allows to be shut off.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 26, 1993
    Assignee: ITT Corporation
    Inventors: Lothar Schiel, Hubertus von Gruenberg, Wilfried Wagner, Manfred Rueffer, Christoph Jung
  • Patent number: 5095805
    Abstract: A vacuum brake power booster, in particular for motor vehicles, which includes a poppet valve (12) sealing two valve seats (18, 19) and which is axially deformable within the area of a rolling fold (15) also includes an annular part which is either mounted on the outside of the rolling fold (15) in a form-fit manner or arranged inside the elastic material (24) of the poppet valve (12). This annular part prevents the rolling fold (15) from being blown up outwardly due to the pressure differential prevailing between its two sides so that it will be possible to reduce the return force and thus also the response force.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1992
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Boehm, Wilfried Wagner, Manfred Rueffer, Bernd Toepperwien
  • Patent number: 5096268
    Abstract: Hydraulic brake systems are known wherein, for the purpose of brake control, a counterforce is built up in the booster (60) for actuation of the master brake cylinder which results in unloading the master brake cylinder. What is disadvantageous in the known system is that this counterforce also resets the pedal (pedal piston 3) so that vehement pedal movements will result from the control action. Therefore, our present invention suggests to interpose a transmission device (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) between the pedal and the actuator (booster) enabling to decouple actuator and pedal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1990
    Date of Patent: March 17, 1992
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Lothar Schiel, Ralf Jakobi, Hans-Juergen Beilfuss, Manfred Rueffer, Harald Luetteke, Michael Vogt
  • Patent number: 5080136
    Abstract: A valve arrangement has a housing in which are arranged an electromagnetically actuatable pilot valve controlling a differential pressure and a main valve actuatable by the differential pressure, the closure member of the main valve permitting a connection to be established between an outlet port and, alternatively, a first or a second inlet port. In order to keep the overall length of the valve arrangement as small as possible, the present invention provides a joint axis (29) of the pilot valve (5) and of the electromagnet (6) actuating the pilot valve (5) which is perpendicular to the axis (30) of the main valve (7) in a plane that is radially offset relative to the axis (30). In the inactive position, both compartments (23, 24) are exposed to the higher pneumatic pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1990
    Date of Patent: January 14, 1992
    Assignee: Alfred Teves GmbH
    Inventors: Lothar Schiel, Manfred Rueffer, Christoph Jung, Thomas Schuster