Patents by Inventor Steve Carlton Smith

Steve Carlton Smith 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: 7302798
    Abstract: A hydraulic system for a motor vehicle is provided with a pump suction enhancer includes a body section defining a small chamber, a venturi tube passage exposed to the small chamber at an inner end thereof and connected to the suction port of the oil pump, and a nozzle protruding into the small chamber to face the inner end of the venturi tube passage with a space relative to the venturi tube passage in axial alignment with the same. The flow divider divides the operating oil discharged from the oil pump into a return flow to the pump suction enhancer and a supply flow which passes through a power steering device to return to an oil reservoir. The pump suction enhancer may be integrally formed with the oil reservoir or provided as a discrete component separated from the oil reservoir, oil pump and the flow divider.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 7, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2007
    Assignee: Toyoda Koki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Steve Carlton Smith, Masami Kimoto, Takashi Imanishi, Teruaki Kabeya