Patents by Inventor Steven Keith Plumb

Steven Keith Plumb 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).

  • Transmission fluid warming and cooling method
    Patent number: 8631772
    Abstract: A method for controlling the temperature of transmission fluid in a motor vehicle includes operating in an automatic transmission fluid cooling mode, a heater priority mode entered by disabling automatic transmission fluid heating, and an automatic transmission fluid heating mode which includes sending hot engine coolant to a heat exchanger for heating the automatic transmission fluid by transferring heat from the hot engine coolant to the automatic transmission fluid. The method switches to from a heater priority mode to a transmission heating mode base on a number of sensed conditions including sensed automatic fluid transmission temperature. The method also includes an automatic transmission fluid temperature regulating mode including measuring an automatic transmission fluid temperature and switching between the cooling mode and the heating mode based measured temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: James Thomas Gooden, Jianping Zhang, Steven Keith Plumb, David Spuller
  • Transmission Fluid Warming and Cooling Method
    Publication number: 20110284200
    Abstract: A method for controlling the temperature of transmission fluid in a motor vehicle includes operating in an automatic transmission fluid cooling mode, a heater priority mode entered by disabling automatic transmission fluid heating, and an automatic transmission fluid heating mode which includes sending hot engine coolant to a heat exchanger for heating the automatic transmission fluid by transferring heat from the hot engine coolant to the automatic transmission fluid. The method switches to from a heater priority mode to a transmission heating mode base on a number of sensed conditions including sensed automatic fluid transmission temperature. The method also includes an automatic transmission fluid temperature regulating mode including measuring an automatic transmission fluid temperature and switching between the cooling mode and the heating mode based measured temperature.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2010
    Publication date: November 24, 2011
    Applicant: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: James Thomas Gooden, Jianping Zhang, Steven Keith Plumb, David Spuller