Internal-combustion Engine Patents (Class 701/101)
  • Patent number: 12103532
    Abstract: A method for controlling a powertrain of a vehicle, the powertrain comprising: an engine comprising mutually independently operable valves, the engine being configured to be operated in a four-stroke operation mode, and a drivetrain comprising a transmission, the method comprising: while operating the engine in the four-stroke operation mode, identifying that a critical situation applies or is expected to apply, in which a fast downshift of the transmission is required, initiating a downshift process in response to the identification of the critical situation, during at least a part of the downshift process, increasing an engine speed by controlling at least the mutually independently operable valves of the engine such that the engine is temporarily operated in a two-stroke operation mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: VOLVO TRUCK CORPORATION
    Inventors: Anders Eriksson, Claes Kuylenstierna
  • Patent number: 11952953
    Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes a forced-induction device, a blow-by gas passage, and a PCV pressure sensor detecting a pressure in the blow-by gas passage as a PCV pressure. A period during which an intake fluctuation amount, which is a fluctuation amount of an intake air amount per unit time, is greater than or equal to a specified value is defined as a specific period. The diagnosing apparatus executes a process of calculating a pressure fluctuation amount, which is a fluctuation amount of the PCV pressure in the specific period, a process of correcting the pressure fluctuation amount to a smaller value when the intake air fluctuation amount in the specific period is relatively large than when the intake air fluctuation amount is relatively small, and a process of determining, based on the corrected pressure fluctuation amount, whether there is an anomaly in the blow-by gas passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Tsuji, Naoya Okubo
  • Patent number: 11940085
    Abstract: A cover structure of an upper unit in which a power source of an outboard motor is provided, the cover structure includes a main body cover including a pair of divided covers connected to each otter, the pair of the divided covers being configured to be divided into each other in a left-right direction with respect to a traveling direction of a boat, an attachable and detachable cover that is attachable to and detachable from a part of an outer surface of at least one of the pair of divided covers and that includes a light transmitting portion in at least a part of the attachable and detachable cover, the light transmitting portion configured to transmit light, and a light emitter that is provided at a mounting position of the attachable and detachable cover and that includes a light source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: SUZUKI MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masatoshi Kimpara, Shingo Matsumoto, Yoshiki Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 11933251
    Abstract: A fuel vapor recirculation system includes a filler neck adapted to receive a refueling nozzle that dispenses fuel into the filler neck. A fuel tank receives fuel from the filler neck through an inlet check valve. The check valve is disposed in the fuel inlet opening and is normally closed. The check valve opens when fuel is dispensed into the fuel tank. The check valve defines a vent hole that is always open. The fuel tank also includes a fuel limiting vent valve and a grade limit vent valve. A fuel vapor cannister collects fuel vapor and selectively supplies fuel vapor to an intake manifold of a vehicle. The fuel vapor recirculation manifold receives fuel vapor only from the fuel limiting vent valve and the grade limit vent valve in the fuel tank and does not receive fuel vapor directly from the filler neck.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Aed M. Dudar, Arman Ashrafi, Scott Alan Bohr, Dwayne Pollitt, Robert Murray
  • Patent number: 11891934
    Abstract: A controller for an internal combustion engine is configured to execute a regeneration process of burning and removing particulate matter accumulated in an exhaust purification device, a determination process of determining that a deviation between a first change amount and a second change amount is less than or equal to a threshold, the first change amount and the second change amount being change amounts per unit time of the temperature of exhaust gas on the upstream side and the downstream side of the exhaust purification device, respectively, and an anomaly diagnosing process that determines that the exhaust purification device is in a detached state when the determination process determines that the deviation is less than or equal to the threshold. The controller is configured to not execute the determination process during a period from the end of the regeneration process to when a post-regeneration execution condition is met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2023
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Toru Yaeo, Yoshifumi Matsuda, Masashi Hakariya, Atsushi Morikawa, Ikuo Hoda, Noriyasu Adachi, Masanori Hayashi, Kenji Igawa
  • Patent number: 11802814
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method for detecting and distinguishing a cause of at least one combustion misfire of an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine has several cylinders, at least one exhaust gas tract, and an exhaust gas sensor which is arranged in the exhaust gas tract. The method includes the following steps: acquisition of a measurement signal with the exhaust gas sensor over a certain first period of time gas tract; subdivision of the measurement signal into measurement signal sections; assignment of the measurement signal sections to the corresponding cylinders, whereby cylinder-selective measurement signal profiles are produced that are characteristic of the respective oxygen content downstream of the respective cylinders over the determined first period of time of time; and evaluation of the cylinder-selective measurement signal profiles to detect at least one combustion misfire of the internal combustion engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2023
    Assignee: Vitesco Technologies GmbH
    Inventors: Michael Herrnberger, Felix Emperhoff
  • Patent number: 11761397
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the teachings herein include methods for operating a motor vehicle having combustion chambers. The methods may include: closing the combustion chambers of the motor vehicle towards the exhaust tract by bringing outlet valves of the combustion chambers into the closed state; checking whether the outlet valves of the combustion chambers of the motor vehicle are in a closed state by evaluating the pressure prevailing in an intake pipe of the motor vehicle; and in the event one or more of the outlet valves are not in a closed state, initiating countermeasures to comply with emissions protocols.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
    Inventors: Tobias Braun, Jürgen Dingl
  • Patent number: 11680505
    Abstract: A skip fire engine controller and method of control is described wherein during transitions from a first firing density to a second firing density, a firing density and a pumping density are separately set so as to balance the conflicting demands of (a) torque control, (b) Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH), (c) air flow through the engine and (d) air-fuel ratio.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: June 20, 2023
    Assignee: Tula Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Shikui Kevin Chen, Matthew A. Younkins, Louis J. Serrano
  • Patent number: 11655790
    Abstract: Disclosed is an ignition drive module with stable performance and reliable function, which comprises a module signal input end, a voltage input end, a module signal output end, a comparator connected to the module signal input end a maximum dwell timer module connected to the comparator, a logical judgment module connected to the comparator, and an insulated gate bipolar transistor connected to the logical judgment module. The logical judgment module receives signals from the maximum dwell timer module and the comparator to determine whether to activate the insulated gate bipolar transistor. The output end of the insulated gate bipolar transistor is connected to the module signal output end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2023
    Assignee: Kunshan Cadic Auto Electric Co. Ltd
    Inventor: Shen Shiye
  • Patent number: 11649796
    Abstract: Disclosed is an ignition drive module with stable performance and reliable function, which comprises a module signal input end, a voltage input end, a module signal output end, a comparator. One end of the comparator is connected to the module signal input end, and the other end is connected to a comparison resistance R that is grounded. The ignition drive module further comprises a maximum dwell timer module connected to the comparator, a logical judgment module connected to the comparator, and an IGBT module connected to the logical judgment module which receives the signals from the maximum dwell timer module and the comparator to determine whether to activate the IGBT module. The output end of the IGBT module is connected to the module signal output end.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2023
    Assignee: Kunshan Cadic Auto Electric Co. Ltd
    Inventor: Shen Shiye
  • Patent number: 11629656
    Abstract: A method for detecting a cylinder-specific combustion profile parameter value for an internal combustion engine is described. The method includes the following: (a) detecting a toothed encoder signal, (b) determining a cylinder-specific tooth time interval on the basis of the toothed encoder signal, (c) determining a cylinder-specific phase value on the basis of a Fourier transformation of a part of the toothed encoder signal corresponding to the cylinder-specific tooth time interval, (d) determining the combustion profile parameter value on the basis of the cylinder-specific phase value and a stored transfer function which represents a relationship between the combustion profile parameter and the phase value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: VITESCO TECHNOLOGIES GMBH
    Inventors: Johannes Beer, Lamproula Charmpa, Bertrand Varoquie
  • Patent number: 11577714
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a method of controlling a terrain driving mode of a hybrid vehicle, including defining demand torque required for vehicle driving depending on driver demand and an environment of a driving road, differentiating demand torque in response to the terrain driving mode, calculating accumulated driving energy from a time point of an operation in the terrain driving mode based on the differentiated demand torque, and determining a terrain driving method based on the calculated accumulated driving energy and a state of energy (SoE) in consideration of a state of charge (SoC) and a voltage condition of a battery cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Seok Min Jeong
  • Patent number: 11566571
    Abstract: Engine control method for protecting the engine during reverse rotation, and involving the following steps: when a first prediction of the engine speed at a next top dead center is below a predetermined lower threshold, inhibiting the next combustion for this cylinder of the engine, and when the first prediction of the engine speed is between the predetermined lower threshold and a predetermined upper threshold, and the engine reaches a second measurement predetermined angular position which is subsequent to the first measurement position, activating the prediction means again in order to obtain a second prediction of the engine speed at the next top dead center.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2023
    Inventors: Stéphane Eloy, Jérémie Memain
  • Patent number: 11560859
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for a diagnostic routine of a variable displacement engine (VDE) of a vehicle to detect non-deactivated valves of deactivated cylinders due to a degraded valve deactivation mechanism. In one example, a method comprises, during operation of the VDE with one or more cylinders of the VDE deactivated, calculating a variation in a fast-sampled signal outputted by one or more exhaust gas oxygen (EGO) sensors of the VDE over a plurality of engine cycles; determining that the variation is greater than the threshold variation; and in response, indicating that valves of the one or more cylinders are not deactivated. A second method comprises estimating a throttle air flow rate and an engine air flow rate of the VDE; and indicating non-deactivated valves of one or more deactivated cylinders if the throttle air flow rate exceeds the engine air flow rate by a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 24, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Rani Kiwan, Adam Krach, Scott Richard Hughes, Richard Shimon, Kathleen Grant, David Wyman
  • Patent number: 11555465
    Abstract: A method and a system for diagnosing positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) systems are disclosed. In one example, the method diagnoses a PCV system based on a pressure that may be observed during engine cranking. In another example, the PCV system is diagnosed during vehicle driving conditions after the engine exits cranking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Andrew Couzens, Jonathan Saville, Robert Jentz, Matthew Russell Carpenter, Michael Casedy, Adam Krach
  • Patent number: 11549452
    Abstract: A method to control the combustion of an internal combustion engine, which comprises determining a combustion model, which provides a spark advance depending on an objective value of the rate of water to be injected, on the rotation speed, on the intake efficiency and on an open-loop contribution of a combustion index; calculating a first closed-loop contribution of the spark advance depending on the combustion index; calculating a second closed-loop contribution of the spark advance depending on a quantity indicating the knocking energy; and calculating the objective value of the spark advance angle to be operated through the sum of the spark advance value provided by the combustion model and of the first closed-loop contribution or, alternatively, of the second closed-loop contribution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2023
    Assignee: MARELLI EUROPE S.P.A.
    Inventors: Marco Panciroli, Matteo De Cesare, Riccardo Lanzoni, Antonio Zito, Nicolò Cavina
  • Patent number: 11506570
    Abstract: A method for sensing damage of bearing of engine using a vibration signal may include separating a vibration signal of an engine sensed by a vibration sensor installed at one side of the engine of a vehicle into a vibration signal by combustion knocking and a vibration signal of a bearing installed between a crank pin and a connecting rod; extracting, by a signal processing filter, a signal of a predetermined natural frequency band from the vibration signal of the bearing; determining whether the vibration signal of the bearing is higher than a predetermined bearing damage threshold, in a predetermined engine state condition in order to sense breakage of the bearing during operation of the engine; and confirming that the bearing has been damaged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2022
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Hyuk Im, Dong-Chune Hong, Jin-Kwon Kim, Dae-Woon Kim, Jun-ho Park, Il-Joong Hwang, Hong-Wook Lee, Hyun-Jun Lim
  • Patent number: 11480114
    Abstract: A control apparatus includes a throttle configured to adjust an amount of air flowing in an intake passage of an engine, an accelerator opening sensor configured to detect an accelerator opening, a throttle opening sensor configured to detect an opening of the throttle, and a control unit configured to control the opening of the throttle. The control unit includes a setting unit configured to set a target opening and set a control amount of the throttle based on a deviation between the target opening and the opening detected by the throttle opening sensor, and a correction unit configured to, if the target opening is not more than a predetermined opening, set a correction amount of the control amount such that the opening of the throttle becomes large independently of the deviation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Satoru Okoshi, Yuichiro Fukazawa
  • Patent number: 11391647
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and a system capable of determining the cause of misfire if the misfire occurs due to the mechanical failure of an injector. The present disclosure senses whether the misfire of an engine occurs, determines whether the mechanical failure occurs in an injector of a cylinder in which the misfire occurs, if the misfire of the engine is sensed, and determines that the misfire of the engine occurs due to the injector, and stores the failure content of the injector in a maintenance code, if it is determined that the mechanical failure occurs in the injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Jung-Suk Han
  • Patent number: 11352974
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for accounting for a difference between an expected amount of fuel scheduled to be delivered and an actual amount of fuel delivered to an engine cylinder during a fueling event. In one example, a method may include scheduling a direct injection to a cylinder based on an estimated expected amount of fuel injected to the cylinder during an immediately previous injection event. The expected amount of fuel injected during the immediately previous injection event may be a function of an average fuel rail pressure during the immediately previous injection event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 11, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ross Pursifull, Paul Hollar, David Oshinsky
  • Patent number: 11352921
    Abstract: A device and a method for diagnosing a positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) breather line. The device includes: a crankcase pressure sensor that is installed on the PCV breather line including a front end connected to an intake line and a rear end connected to a crankcase and detects a pressure inside the crankcase; and a processor that diagnoses an abnormality of the PCV breather line based on the pressure of the crankcase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2022
    Assignees: HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY, KIA MOTORS CORPORATION
    Inventor: Bon Chang Koo
  • Patent number: 11339735
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards free-piston combustion engines. As described herein, a method and system are provided for displacing a free-piston assembly to achieve a desired engine performance by repeatedly determining position-force trajectories over the course of a propagation path and effecting the displacement of the free-piston assembly based, at least in part, on the position-force trajectory. In a dual-piston assembly free-piston engine, synchronization of the two piston assemblies is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2022
    Assignee: Mainspring Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Roelle, Christopher Gadda
  • Patent number: 11333056
    Abstract: A gasoline particulate filter (GPF) diagnostic technique utilizes an upstream temperature sensor arranged at an upstream point relative to a GPF brick that the GPF is configured to house and configured to measure an upstream temperature of exhaust gas produced by an engine, a downstream temperature sensor arranged at a downstream point relative to the GPF brick and configured to measure a downstream temperature of the exhaust gas produced by the engine, and a controller configured to detect whether the GPF brick is damaged or missing based on a temperature difference between the upstream and downstream exhaust gas temperatures, a set of temperature thresholds, and a current operational mode of the engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 17, 2022
    Assignee: FCA US LLC
    Inventor: Jaideep Singh
  • Patent number: 11326572
    Abstract: A method of predicting vehicle engine torque using an artificial neural network is provided. A data-based artificial neural network model is applied to more accurately calculate torque and reduce development costs for calibration and logics.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2022
    Assignee: HYUNDAI KEFICO CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hyung-Soo Do
  • Patent number: 11306675
    Abstract: In a current-driving of a fuel injection valve to inject fuel through a single injection or a multi-stage injection, an energization time correction amount is calculated by performing area correction on a current flowing through the fuel injection valve. The single injection is switched to the multi-stage injection when the single injection is consecutively performed under a predetermined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yuki Kato, Yohei Suganuma, Hiroyuki Fukuda
  • Patent number: 11293367
    Abstract: In a failure determination device for an internal combustion engine equipped with a supercharger, the failure determination device determining a failure of a breather pipe that is connected between a crankcase and an intake passage at a position on an upstream side of the supercharger, the breather pipe is constituted by a double pipe including an inner pipe and an outer pipe, a communication passage communicates an enclosed space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe of the breather pipe with a portion of the intake passage on a downstream side of the supercharger. When the detected breather outer-pipe gauge pressure is higher than or equal to a determination threshold that is set in accordance with detected intake gauge pressure, the failure determination device determines that the breather pipe is failed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 5, 2022
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Toru Sekiguchi, Takashi Konomoto, Taku Hirota, Hiroki Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 11280288
    Abstract: An anomaly diagnostic device for an onboard internal combustion engine includes a parameter deriving unit and a leaking anomaly diagnostic unit. The parameter deriving unit is configured to derive a determination parameter such that, when a PCV pressure sensor value that indicates a pressure detected by a PCV pressure sensor is less than an atmospheric pressure, a value of the determination parameter increases as the difference between the PCV pressure sensor value and the atmospheric pressure increases. The leaking anomaly diagnostic unit is configured to perform a leaking anomaly diagnostic process that diagnoses that there is an anomaly at a portion of a blow-by gas passage that is closer to an intake passage than to a connection portion of the PCV pressure sensor when the determination parameter derived when an intake air amount changes is less than a threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Tsuji, Naoya Okubo
  • Patent number: 11275760
    Abstract: Transforming a database while allowing the data in the database to be available to database users during the transformation of the database. A method includes creating a new version of metadata for an old copy of database items. The method further includes creating a copy of data items to be transformed in the old copy of database items while applying a transformation to the data while migrating data from the old copy of database items to the new copy of database according to the new version of metadata. The method further includes while migrating data from the old copy of database items to the new copy of database items, servicing user queries made against the old copy of database items to allow the database to remain online while transforming data items in the database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2022
    Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
    Inventor: Panagiotis Antonopoulos
  • Patent number: 11256550
    Abstract: An estimation device is capable of estimating the number of CPU cores allocated to modules of an information processing device, which employs a micro-service architecture, and performance. A number-of-cores calculation unit calculates the total number of CPU cores necessary to process a temporary processing performance value output by a performance calculation unit. The performance calculation unit causes the number-of-cores calculation unit to calculate the number of necessary CPU cores while repeatedly adding a processing performance value increment to the temporary processing performance, and obtains an upper limit value of processing performance that is a maximum temporary processing performance value not exceeding a predetermined upper limit number of allocable CPU cores.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 22, 2022
    Assignee: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
    Inventor: Fumihiko Sawazaki
  • Patent number: 11236690
    Abstract: A variety of engine controllers and methods are described for controlling engines operating in a cylinder output level modulation mode. In one aspect transitions between different effective firing fractions are managed by gradually ramping an effective firing density. In another, when an engine transitions to a multi-level skip fire firing density that has more than one possible high/low/skip sequence, the phase of the high/low pattern is set relative to the phase of the firing pattern to ensure that a preferred high/low/skip sequence is generated. In another aspect, rapid large torque changes can be implemented in part by immediately changing the operational high/low fraction in response to a command to increase or reduce the desired engine torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: Tula Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Yongyan Cao, Elliott A. Ortiz-Soto, Louis J. Serrano
  • Patent number: 11235781
    Abstract: A vehicle control system is provided. A classification process classifies vehicles into groups based on information related to vehicles. In order to update relationship defining data for each of the classified groups, an update process inputs, into an update map, states of the vehicles belonging to a same group, values of action variables used to operate the electronic devices of the vehicles belonging to the same group, and rewards corresponding to the operation of the electronic devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: February 1, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yosuke Hashimoto, Akihiro Katayama, Yuta Oshiro, Kazuki Sugie, Naoya Oka
  • Patent number: 11220265
    Abstract: A method of controlling the engine of a vehicle having a stop-in-gear (SIG) stop-start system includes: a control module determining that a brake is being applied, based on an output from a brake sensor, and that a transmission is in an in-gear position, based on an output from a transmission sensor; and, while the brake is applied and the transmission is in an in-gear position, the control module causing the engine to start in response to detecting movement of a clutch pedal towards a released position based on an output from a clutch pedal sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: David Hesketh, Gary Paisley, Dilli Poudel, Chris Edward Pedlar
  • Patent number: 11156178
    Abstract: Methods and systems for supplying post injection fuel to a two stroke diesel engine are described. In one example, post injection fuel timing is adjusted responsive to an amount of internal residual combustion products in a cylinder so that less post injected fuel may be trapped in the cylinder for a subsequent cycle of the cylinder. The start of post injection fuel timing and the amount of post injection fuel may be adjusted responsive to internal residual in the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Eric Matthew Kurtz, Eric James Kastanis
  • Patent number: 11097719
    Abstract: Systems and methods for operating a driveline of a hybrid vehicle are described. In one example, a torque that is produced by an engine is adjusted responsive to a transmission oil temperature and a speed of a torque converter impeller so that temperature of oil in a transmission lube circuit may be maintained at a desired temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 24, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Corey Blue, Scott James Thompson, Stephen Michael Cicala, Mary Bellino, Bradley D. Riedle
  • Patent number: 11055599
    Abstract: A working device includes: a working portion configured to perform work; a frame supporting the working portion and being configured to be coupled to a vehicle body; and a wireless tag attached to the working portion or to the frame, having: a storage part configured to store at least identifying information; and a communication part configured to transmit the identifying information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 6, 2021
    Assignee: KUBOTA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Seiichi Okamura, Kanta Takechi, Daisuke Naito
  • Patent number: 11048832
    Abstract: Systems and techniques for simulated vehicle modeling with real vehicle profiles are described herein. In an example, a simulated vehicle modeling system is adapted to obtain a vehicle performance fingerprint, such as from a vehicle performance fingerprint that includes vehicle performance data collected from a unique vehicle while experiencing real world driving conditions. The simulated vehicle modeling system may be further adapted to present, in a driving simulator, a simulated driving experience with a simulated vehicle, such as for a simulated vehicle that is constructed based on the vehicle performance fingerprint. The simulated vehicle modeling system may be further adapted to update a set of driving directives for an autonomous vehicle based on the simulated driving experience and upload the set of driving directive to an autonomous vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: Intel Corporation
    Inventors: Ignacio Alvarez, Victor Palacios Rivera
  • Patent number: 11022545
    Abstract: A system and method for multi-spectral gas concentration analysis that includes using a library of multiple sets of optimized spectral sensitivities prepared in advance, and a multi-spectral IR gas analyzer tuned to a set of optimized spectral sensitivity. The multi-spectral IR gas analyzer measures spectral absorption of gas using one or more different sets of optimized spectral sensitivities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.
    Inventors: Leiming Wang, Po-Chieh Hung
  • Patent number: 11015568
    Abstract: A method for controlling the ignition energy of a sparkplug electrode of an ignition system comprises: providing a base current (Ibase) and a base duration (Dbase) which corresponds to the current and duration, respectively, of a physical model at a fixed engine operating point; multiplying the base current (Ibase) and the base duration (Dbase) with a sparkplug state indicator (SSI) based correction factor and with an engine operating state (EOS) based factor for achieving a final global current (Iglo) and a final global duration (Dglo), respectively; and communicating the final global current (Iglo) and the final global duration (Dglo) to a control unit for controlling the ignition energy and ignition duration of the sparkplug electrode. Further executing real-time energy control based on misfire flag status and, in the end, making sure that the optimum energy is into application by realizing optimum energy tests.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: Caterpillar Energy Solutions GmbH
    Inventor: Darshit Shah
  • Patent number: 10988134
    Abstract: A method for controlling a hybrid drive system for a road vehicle provided with at least a pair of drive wheels; the hybrid drive system comprises: an internal combustion heat engine, which is designed to transmit the motion to the drive wheels and is provided with a turbocharger equipped with a turbine; a first electric machine, which is able to transmit the motion to the drive wheels; and a second electric machine, which is mechanically connected to the turbine of the turbocharger. In a possible operating mode, the internal combustion heat engine is controlled to pursue a target torque by completely opening a throttle valve, operating the second electric machine as an electric generator and the first electric machine as a motor, and varying the electric power generated by the second electric machine so as to adjust the flow rate of fresh air fed to the cylinder of the internal combustion heat engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: MARELLI EUROPE S.p.A
    Inventors: Giovanni Gaviani, Ignazio Dentici, Marco Panciroli
  • Patent number: 10958542
    Abstract: An aircraft sensor system includes a first sensor configured to detect a parameter of an aircraft system and a first micro electro-mechanical-system (MEMS) disposed local to a first component within the aircraft system. The first MEMS is communicatively connected to a controller, and is configured to trigger in response to a corresponding parameter exceeding a threshold. The controller is connected to an output of the first sensor and includes a non-transitory memory storing instructions configured to cause the controller to increase a sampling rate of the first sensor to a sampling rate corresponding to the first component for at least a predetermined length of time in response to the first MEMS being triggered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2021
    Assignee: United Technologies Corporation
    Inventor: Sheridon Everette Haye
  • Patent number: 10920709
    Abstract: An apparatus for controlling an environment-friendly vehicle, a system having the same, and a method thereof are provided. The apparatus includes a processor to perform a control operation to expand an operable area based on a motor efficiency gain and a state of charge (SOC) of a battery in an Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) operation or a lean burn operation, and a storage to store the motor efficiency gain and the SOC of the battery, which are acquired by the processor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 16, 2021
    Assignees: Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Hee Chang Oh, Yeong Seop Park, Kwan Hee Lee, Jong Hyeok Lee, Jae Gu Kang, Dong Hee Han, Seung Woo Hong
  • Patent number: 10900436
    Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for reducing errors in estimated fuel rail pressure incurred at the time of a scheduled injection event due to engine-driven cyclic fuel rail pressure changes. In one example, a pulse-width commanded during a scheduled injection event is determined as a function fuel rail pressure samples collected over a moving window that is customized for the corresponding fuel injector. In another example, the commanded pulse-width is determined as a function of an average fuel rail pressure sampled during a quiet zone of injector operation and predicted fuel rail pressure altering events occurring between the quiet zone and the scheduled injection event.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2021
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Ross Dykstra Pursifull, Michael Uhrich, Joseph Thomas, Paul Hollar, David Oshinsky
  • Patent number: 10859022
    Abstract: Described herein is a process for designing a virtual sensor that is able to estimate a variable of interest v as a function of a set of available variables ui.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Modelway S.r.l.
    Inventors: Mario Milanese, Carlo Novara, Stefano Mosca, Mario Bonansone
  • Patent number: 10851727
    Abstract: Systems and methods for operating an engine with a plurality of deactivating valves for deactivating engine cylinders are presented. In one example, a plurality of different cylinder operating modes may be available to operate the engine. Engine fuel consumption in each of the plurality of different cylinder operating modes is estimated and the engine may be operated in the cylinder mode that provides greatest fuel efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2020
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Jeffrey Allen Doering, John Eric Rollinger, Karen Willard, Brett Dryer
  • Patent number: 10808670
    Abstract: Apparatuses, systems, methods, and techniques relating to engine start/stop functionality are disclosed. Automatic engine start/stop controls can be disabled during engine operating conditions in which one or more combustion parameters indicate a lack of combustion stability in one or more cylinders of the engine. Engine start/stop controls are enabled when the one or more combustion parameters satisfy combustion parameter conditions indicating combustion stability in the one or more cylinders.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 20, 2020
    Assignee: Cummins Inc.
    Inventors: Martin T. Books, Vivek A. Sujan, J. Steven Kolhouse, Robert E. Cochran, Eric A. Pyers
  • Patent number: 10785908
    Abstract: A power tool is provided. The power tool includes an internal combustion engine and an integrated device coupled to the internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine includes a flywheel or another rotating component. The integrated device is coupled adjacent to either the flywheel or a rotating component. The integrated device includes a printed circuit board with a wireless communications module and a power generation portion which receives power wirelessly from the internal combustion engine only when the internal combustion engine is operating.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 29, 2020
    Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Andrew Bejcek
  • Patent number: 10760478
    Abstract: A multi-stage turbo supercharging system includes: a bypass passage which bypasses a turbocharger from among a plurality of turbochargers, in an intake passage or an exhaust passage of the engine; a bypass valve disposed in the bypass passage; an operation mode selection part; a bypass valve opening degree map selection part configured to select at least one bypass valve opening degree map in accordance with the operation mode selected by the operation mode selection part, from among a plurality of bypass valve opening degree maps which represent respective relationships between a plurality of control parameters of the engine and an opening degree of the bypass valve; a bypass valve opening degree determination part configured to determine an opening degree command value for the bypass valve on the basis of the bypass valve opening degree map and control parameter information representing the plurality of control parameters; and a bypass valve opening degree control part configured to control the opening degr
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINE & TURBOCHARGER, LTD.
    Inventors: Yusuke Yashiro, Vissuta Jiwariyavej, Yoshihiro Hayashi, Byeongil An
  • Patent number: 10752234
    Abstract: A SS control device is configured to: be allowed to stop an internal combustion engine when a required voltage is smaller than or equal to a first voltage value under a state where a stopping condition is satisfied, and be prohibited from stopping the internal combustion engine when the required voltage is larger than the first voltage value under a state where the stopping condition is satisfied; and be allowed to restart the internal combustion engine when the required voltage is smaller than or equal to a second voltage value smaller than the first voltage value under a state where the restart condition is satisfied, and be prohibited from restarting the internal combustion engine when the required voltage is larger than the second voltage value under a state where the restart condition is satisfied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2020
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Yoji Kunihiro, Hiroki Asada, Yoshio Kudo, Takahiro Yokota, Masateru Amano
  • Patent number: 10731586
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present disclosure are directed towards free-piston combustion engines. As described herein, a method and system are provided for displacing a free-piston assembly to achieve a desired engine performance by repeatedly determining position-force trajectories over the course of a propagation path and effecting the displacement of the free-piston assembly based, at least in part, on the position-force trajectory. In a dual-piston assembly free-piston engine, synchronization of the two piston assemblies is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Mainspring Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Matthew Roelle, Christopher Gadda
  • Patent number: 10731575
    Abstract: A lower limit setting portion of a fuel pump control system sets a lower limit value depending on an engine operating mode. For example, it sets a duty ratio of 0% as the lower limit value, when the engine operating mode is in a STOP mode in a turned-on condition of an ignition switch. A duty-ratio calculating portion carries out a feedback control in order that an actual fuel pressure comes closer to a target fuel pressure by use of the lower limit value and calculates a duty ratio for driving a fuel pump by the feedback control. An abnormal condition determining portion determines an abnormal condition based on the duty ratio and pump current. The abnormal condition determining portion further determines based on a remaining fuel amount whether the abnormal condition is caused by a disconnection or whether the abnormal condition is caused by an idling operation of the fuel pump due to fuel shortage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takuya Sugie, Makoto Asai