Patents by Inventor Ortwin Engfer

Ortwin Engfer 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: 6347845
    Abstract: A brake system for vehicles, in particular for motor vehicles, has electrically controlled hydraulic final control elements, integrated in a hydraulic block; a pressure sensor with a plurality of pressure measuring elements for measuring the hydraulic pressure controlled by the individual final control elements; and a control circuit for controlling the final control elements. For the sake of simple and secure mounting of the hydraulic block, pressure sensor and control circuit, the control circuit and pressure sensor are accommodated in a common housing of an add-on electronic control unit (ECU), from whose underside the pressure measuring elements protrude with smaller-diameter plug-in tubes. When the add-on ECU and hydraulic block are installed, and that the housing is mounted on the hydraulic block and solidly joined to it by insertion of the plug-in tubes into the fluid conduits, present in the hydraulic block, in a fluid-tight manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2002
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Ortwin Engfer, Werner Wilde, Herbert Keller
  • Patent number: 6186602
    Abstract: A hydraulic vehicle brake system in which normal service brake operation can be carried out by using external hydraulic energy, and in the event of a lack of external hydraulic energy, auxiliary brake operation by muscle power is possible, with a hydraulic transmission that comes from a master cylinder that can be actuated by means of the brake pedal. The external hydraulic energy is stored, for example, in an accumulator with a gas buffer, which can lead to a gas content in the hydraulic fluid for the service brake operation. The system includes a dual-circuit master cylinder associated with those wheel brakes of a vehicle axle that make a higher contribution to the vehicle deceleration and at the same time, cylinder/piston devices are installed between these wheel brakes and their associated service brake valves for the purpose of preventing hydraulic fluid from getting into these wheel brakes from the external energy source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 1998
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2001
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Wolf-Dieter Jonner, Ortwin Engfer, Anton Van Zanten, Jurgen Binder, Martin Pfau, Eberhardt Schunck, Andreas Kaessmann, Juergen Hachtel, Ulrich Gottwick, Michael Schubert
  • Patent number: 5711151
    Abstract: A brake-pressure modulation device in which a hydraulic unit, fitted with solenoid valves, with return pumps, accumulators and dampers of an anti-lock brake system also has a tandem brake master cylinder. The hydraulic unit has a housing with a standard location hole, into which four lip seals identical at least in their outside diameters are inserted. The lip seals hold a primary and a secondary piston of the tandem brake master cylinder. The use of four lip seals with the same outside diameter makes it possible to use the same housing with the standard location hole for different types of vehicle, even when the piston diameter and the operating stroke are changed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 6, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 27, 1998
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Ortwin Engfer
  • Patent number: 5267782
    Abstract: A hydraulic brake system having an anti-skid system in which its rear axle brake circuit has a pressure control device switchable by a control pressure; if the anti-skid system should fail, this device reduces the brake pressure in the rear wheel brake cylinders. The hydraulic brake system includes the pressure control device which acts as a proportional pressure regulating valve and is switchable by a pressure prevailing on a master brake cylinder side of a return pump; if the anti-skid system should fail, this device reduces the pressure of the pressure fluid in the wheel brake cylinders by a fixed proportion compared with the pressure toward the master brake cylinder. The pressure control device has a very simple, compact design and is especially suitable for use in the rear axle brake circuit of a motor vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1993
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Ortwin Engfer
  • Patent number: 4972819
    Abstract: A servocylinder unit for adjusting an amount of fuel fed to a vehicle drive engine and comprising a piston displaceable in a cylinder, a first pre-stressed spring for biasing the piston to its initial position, a first stop for supporting the first spring and displaceable along the longitudinal axis of the cylinder, a second pre-stressed spring extending between the first stop and a base of the cylinder, and a second stop fixed to the cylinder and engageable by the first stop under bias of the second spring. The first spring enables regulation of a number of revolutions of the vehicle engine, and the second spring, which has a larger pre-stress than the first spring and is less rigid than the first spring, is compressible to enable switching off of fuel feeding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1988
    Date of Patent: November 27, 1990
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventor: Ortwin Engfer
  • Patent number: 4802648
    Abstract: An adjustable engine mount for shielding a vehicle body from oscillations of a drive unit, in which the magnitude of the damping and of the spring rate is controlled as a function of control signals of an electronic control unit. For adjusting the damping, the engine mount has an actuating device, by means of which the size of a throttle cross section between a first chamber and a second chamber of a damping chamber can be adjusted. For adjusting the spring rate, the engine mount has an air cushion which functions like a pneumatic spring element, which can be inflated and vented via a valve device. The electronic control unit has inputs for various input signals, which describe parameters that influence the motion of the drive unit relative to the vehicle body. The electronic control unit controls the damping and the spring rate of the engine mount as a function of the magnitude of at least one of the input signals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1988
    Date of Patent: February 7, 1989
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Heinz Decker, Ortwin Engfer, Walter Kuhle
  • Patent number: 3973804
    Abstract: A sealed, double valve assembly mounted on a vehicle body is connected to a source of pressurized air and controls the air pressure delivered to two auxiliary systems connected to it. The first auxiliary system is a brake force regulator and the second auxiliary system is a headlight beam adjustment mechanism which uses a pneumatic servo-member.Control rods connected to the axle change the degree of compression of a control spring in the double valve assembly, thereby opening or closing valves which admit or release compressed air so as to change the operating pressure of the associated auxiliary systems.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 1975
    Date of Patent: August 10, 1976
    Assignee: Robert Bosch G.m.b.H.
    Inventors: Ortwin Engfer, Eberhard Korkowski