Patents by Inventor Thomas Härig

Thomas Härig 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: 20230015996
    Abstract: A catalytic converter for aftertreatment of combustion gases from an internal combustion engine, having at least one catalyst and at least one electrically heatable heating disk. The catalyst and the heating disk are each formed by a honeycomb having a multitude of flow channels through which flow is possible in a main flow direction. The mechanical connection between the catalyst and the heating disk is formed by at least one support pin (having an inner core. The support pin has a thickening in each of the two end regions and, the core is formed by a ceramic material and the thickening is formed by a ceramic-metal mixture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 17, 2020
    Publication date: January 19, 2023
    Inventors: Peter HIRTH, Sven CHEPERS, Thomas HÄRIG
  • Patent number: 11371408
    Abstract: An electrically heatable heating disk for use within a device for the aftertreatment of exhaust gas, wherein the heating disk is formed by a layer stack formed from a multiplicity of metal foils which are stacked one on top of the other, the layer stack being wound to form a honeycomb body, wherein the layer stack has alternately arranged, coarsely structured metal foils and finely structured or smooth metal foils, and wherein the honeycomb body has at least one electrical contact at a radial edge region, wherein first metal foils terminate with an offset with respect to one another as a result of the winding in the circumferential direction of the heating disk, wherein finely structured or smooth second metal foils which extend in the circumferential direction extend beyond the respective ends of the terminating first metal foils in the circumferential direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2022
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies GmBH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Ferdi Kurth, Thomas Härig
  • Publication number: 20220161190
    Abstract: An electrically heatable catalytic converter with a metal honeycomb body, the honeycomb body being formed by a plurality of wound metal foils and the honeycomb body being received in a casing tube, a device for electrically contacting at least individual foils being led into the casing tube through an opening in the casing tube, the device being formed by an electrode which is electrically insulated from the inside of the casing tube by a connecting layer and mechanically connected to the casing tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 10, 2022
    Publication date: May 26, 2022
    Applicant: Vitesco Technologies GMBH
    Inventors: Sven Schepers, Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig
  • Publication number: 20210222600
    Abstract: An electrically heatable heating disk for use within a device for the aftertreatment of exhaust gas, wherein the heating disk is formed by a layer stack formed from a multiplicity of metal foils which are stacked one on top of the other, the layer stack being wound to form a honeycomb body, wherein the layer stack has alternately arranged, coarsely structured metal foils and finely structured or smooth metal foils, and wherein the honeycomb body has at least one electrical contact at a radial edge region, wherein first metal foils terminate with an offset with respect to one another as a result of the winding in the circumferential direction of the heating disk, wherein finely structured or smooth second metal foils which extend in the circumferential direction extend beyond the respective ends of the terminating first metal foils in the circumferential direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2021
    Publication date: July 22, 2021
    Applicant: Vitesco Technologies GMBH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Ferdi Kurth, Thomas Härig
  • Patent number: 10941688
    Abstract: An electrical connection for an electrical component in an exhaust gas system. The exhaust gas system has a metal casing through which an electrical conductor is routed. The connection has the conductor, an electrical insulation surrounding the conductor, and a metal bushing surrounding the insulation and the conductor, all together extend along a center axis. The insulation extends along the center axis beyond the bushing by an insulation gap of at least 2 mm at least at a first end of the connection.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig, Christoph Pabst
  • Patent number: 10900400
    Abstract: A method for operating an electrically heatable catalytic converter in an exhaust tract of an internal combustion engine having at least one honeycomb body through which an exhaust-gas stream can flow, and having at least one electrically heatable heating conductor positioned upstream of the honeycomb body in a throughflow direction of the exhaust gas includes: applying an electrical current to the heating conductor such that the heating conductor is electrically heated in a manner dependent on an ambient temperature around the heating conductor; and electrically heating the heating conductor such that a dwell time of a temperature of the heating conductor is bounded in a temperature range defined by a first lower limit temperature TG1U and an upper limit temperature TG1O.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig
  • Publication number: 20200011225
    Abstract: A method for operating an electrically heatable catalytic converter in an exhaust tract of an internal combustion engine having at least one honeycomb body through which an exhaust-gas stream can flow, and having at least one electrically heatable heating conductor positioned upstream of the honeycomb body in a throughflow direction of the exhaust gas includes: applying an electrical current to the heating conductor such that the heating conductor is electrically heated in a manner dependent on an ambient temperature around the heating conductor; and electrically heating the heating conductor such that a dwell time of a temperature of the heating conductor is bounded in a temperature range defined by a first lower limit temperature TG1U and an upper limit temperature TG1O.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Publication date: January 9, 2020
    Inventors: Peter HIRTH, Thomas HÄRIG
  • Patent number: 10443467
    Abstract: The invention relates to a honeycomb body with an electric heating device. The electric heating device includes at least one electrically insulating heating wire which is fixed by a pin assembly to a front side of a honeycomb body. The electrically insulated heating wire is positioned at a distance of at least five times and a maximum of fifteen times that of the wire diameter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig, Sigrid Limbeck
  • Publication number: 20190262758
    Abstract: A filter for the purification of exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine includes: a housing that can be flowed through by exhaust gas in an axial direction and has an inflow side and an outflow side; a filter body is formed in the housing from a plurality of filter layers, which filter body can be flowed through by the exhaust gas flowing through the housing. The filter layers are of annular form and are arranged concentrically with respect to one another, wherein, in alternating fashion, two filter layers adjacent to one another in a radial direction are connected to one another in fluid-tight fashion at the inflow side, and two filter layers adjacent to one another in a radial direction are connected to one another at the outflow side.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 16, 2017
    Publication date: August 29, 2019
    Applicant: CPT GROUP GmbH
    Inventors: Peter HIRTH, Rolf BRÜCK, Thomas HÄRIG, Ferdi KURTH, Sven SCHEPERS
  • Patent number: 10364721
    Abstract: An electrically conductive connection between at least two electrically conductive stacks of at least partially structured, metal foils which form a large number of channels through which a fluid may flow, comprising at least one electrically conductive rod element which passes through the at least two stacks, wherein a spacer element is arranged on the at least one rod element and between the at least two stacks, the two stacks being arranged at a distance from one another by the spacer element; wherein an arrangement comprising the at least two stacks, the at least one rod element and the spacer element is clamped by at least one clamping element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig
  • Publication number: 20190009264
    Abstract: A process for producing a catalyst having a heating element that is formed from an electrically conductive metal alloy. In the production process, the catalyst undergoes at least a first heat treatment, during which the catalyst is at least partly heated in defined fashion and cooled in a defined fashion. The steps include heating at least a subregion of the catalyst to a predeterminable temperature of at least 550 degrees celsius, holding the temperature at a constant temperature level for at least two minutes, and cooling the at least one subregion of the catalyst at a temperature transient of at least 500 Kelvin per minute.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 22, 2017
    Publication date: January 10, 2019
    Inventors: Peter HIRTH, Thomas HÄRIG
  • Patent number: 10161280
    Abstract: A method for influencing a fluid flow in a fluid line is provided. The fluid line has a wall and a honeycomb body arranged in the fluid line with a fluid inlet side and a fluid outlet side. The honeycomb body has a honeycomb structure with a cross section area and with ducts through which the fluid flow can flow from the fluid inlet side to the fluid outlet side. The honeycomb body has an outer boundary. The honeycomb structure has a circumferential outer zone close to the boundary and a central zone arranged within the outer zone. The outer zone includes at most 70% of the cross section area. The method includes providing the fluid flow upstream of the honeycomb body, entry of the fluid flow into the honeycomb body, and at least partial redirection of the fluid flow outwards in a radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Haerig
  • Publication number: 20180128144
    Abstract: An electrically conductive connection between at least two electrically conductive stacks of at least partially structured, metal foils which form a large number of channels through which a fluid may flow, comprising at least one electrically conductive rod element which passes through the at least two stacks, wherein a spacer element is arranged on the at least one rod element and between the at least two stacks, the two stacks being arranged at a distance from one another by the spacer element; wherein an arrangement comprising the at least two stacks, the at least one rod element and the spacer element is clamped by at least one clamping element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 4, 2018
    Publication date: May 10, 2018
    Applicant: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig
  • Publication number: 20170284248
    Abstract: The invention relates to a particle filter (1) for an exhaust gas system (2), and to a method for producing a particle filter. The particle filter (1) comprises a plurality of flow channels (5), which extend from a first end face (6) towards a second end face (7) and which are separated from one another by porous channel walls (8). On the end faces (6, 7), the flow channels (5) each have mutual closing means (9) such that an exhaust gas (10) enters a flow channel (5) that is open on the first end face (6), flows through the channel wall (8), and escapes from the particle filter (1) by way of an adjacent flow channel (5) that is open on the second end face (7).
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 7, 2015
    Publication date: October 5, 2017
    Inventors: Rolf BRÜCK, Peter HIRTH, Thomas HÄRIG
  • Publication number: 20170226909
    Abstract: The invention relates to a honeycomb body with an electric heating device. The electric heating device includes at least one electrically insulating heating wire which is fixed by a pin assembly to a front side of a honeycomb body. The electrically insulated heating wire is positioned at a distance of at least five times and a maximum of fifteen times that of the wire diameter.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 24, 2017
    Publication date: August 10, 2017
    Applicant: CONTINENTAL AUTOMOTIVE GMBH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Härig, Sigrid Limbeck
  • Patent number: 9623373
    Abstract: An electrically heatable honeycomb body assembly includes an electrical connection of sheet metal layers at a connection pin. A honeycomb body has a metal casing with an inner periphery, through which the connection pin is led in a bushing and electrically insulated. The sheet metal layers are alternately coarsely structured and finely structured or smooth sheets together forming a stack with uppermost and lowermost layers and channels for an axial gas flow between the layers. The connection pin runs radially approximately perpendicular to the layers and is metallically connected to at least two or all of the layers through at least one intermediate piece. The uppermost sheet metal layer preferably runs approximately parallel to the metal casing over at least 35% of the inner periphery and is separated therefrom only by an air gap. Simple production of an operationally safe and very uniformly electrically heatable honeycomb body is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2017
    Assignee: EMITEC Gesellschaft fuer Emissionstechnologie mbH
    Inventors: Rolf Brueck, Ferdi Kurth, Peter Hirth, Thomas Haerig
  • Publication number: 20170044954
    Abstract: A method for influencing a fluid flow in a fluid line is provided. The fluid line has a wall and a honeycomb body arranged in the fluid line with a fluid inlet side and a fluid outlet side. The honeycomb body has a honeycomb structure with a cross section area and with ducts through which the fluid flow can flow from the fluid inlet side to the fluid outlet side. The honeycomb body has an outer boundary. The honeycomb structure has a circumferential outer zone close to the boundary and a central zone arranged within the outer zone. The outer zone includes at most 70% of the cross section area. The method includes providing the fluid flow upstream of the honeycomb body, entry of the fluid flow into the honeycomb body, and at least partial redirection of the fluid flow outwards in a radial direction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2015
    Publication date: February 16, 2017
    Applicant: Continental Automotive GmbH
    Inventors: Peter HIRTH, Thomas Haerig
  • Patent number: 9393521
    Abstract: A honeycomb body includes sheet metal layers forming a central current path to a radial connecting pin. A metal casing has an inner periphery and a feedthrough guiding and insulating the pin. The layers are alternate coarsely structured and finely structured or smooth sheets forming a stack with uppermost and lowermost layers forming axial gas channels. The pin is metallically connected to two or all of the layers directly or through an intermediate piece by an electrically conductive or welded connection. The current path has an electrical resistance per unit length in the connection region being greater than an average electrical resistance per unit length in the stack. The uppermost layer runs approximately parallel to the casing over 35% or 40% of the inner periphery and is separated from the casing by an air gap. Simple manufacture of a highly uniform, reliably operating, electrically heatable honeycomb body is thus possible.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: EMITEC Gesellschaft fuer Emissionstechnologie mbH
    Inventors: Rolf Brueck, Ferdi Kurth, Peter Hirth, Thomas Haerig
  • Patent number: 9225107
    Abstract: An electrical connection for an electrical component or electrically heatable honeycomb body, in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine includes an electrical conductor passing through a metallic jacket of the exhaust system, a bushing and an insulating layer and having an outer connection section with circular cross section. The connection section has a contact surface for connection to a supply line connection piece. The bushing and/or electrical conductor near the bushing can absorb torques up to 3.6, 4.5 or 7 Nm per cm2 of contact surface acting on the connection section and/or an internal or external thread in circumferential direction, by shaping the electrical conductor near the bushing or using structures and/or changes to the cross section or a form-locking construction of the electrical conductor and the bushing. Damage to electrical exhaust components due to external torques, disassembly and maintenance can thus be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 22, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: EMITEC Gesellschaft fuer Emissionstechnologie mbH
    Inventors: Peter Hirth, Thomas Haerig, Ferdi Kurth
  • Publication number: 20150030509
    Abstract: An electrically heatable honeycomb body assembly includes an electrical connection of sheet metal layers at a connection pin. A honeycomb body has a metal casing with an inner periphery, through which the connection pin is led in a bushing and electrically insulated. The sheet metal layers are alternately coarsely structured and finely structured or smooth sheets together forming a stack with uppermost and lowermost layers and channels for an axial gas flow between the layers. The connection pin runs radially approximately perpendicular to the layers and is metallically connected to at least two or all of the layers through at least one intermediate piece. The uppermost sheet metal layer preferably runs approximately parallel to the metal casing over at least 35% of the inner periphery and is separated therefrom only by an air gap. Simple production of an operationally safe and very uniformly electrically heatable honeycomb body is provided.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 6, 2014
    Publication date: January 29, 2015
    Inventors: ROLF BRUECK, FERDI KURTH, PETER HIRTH, THOMAS HAERIG