Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5448981 | Regulated flow canister purge system The evaporative emission control system for an internal combustion engine purges the vapor collection canister to the intake manifold through a purge regulator controlled by the engine ECU. The purge regulator comprises a diaphragm valve and an electronic... | 09/12/1995 |
| 5423489 | Fuel injector having an internal filter A filter is disposed internally of the fuel injector between the inlet and the internal valve so that particulate material having an internal origin may also be prevented from reaching the injector's valve. The filter is an electroformed screen that is su... | 06/13/1995 |
| 5419297 | Extended tip gasoline port fuel injector The fuel injector nozzle injects fuel into the runner in a direction that may be either parallel or non-parallel to the co-axis of the fuel injector and its mounting socket, and the nozzle orifice from which the fuel is injected is disposed beyond an ante... | 05/30/1995 |
| 5412987 | Folded cantilever beam accelerometer A cantilever beam has a proof mass arranged at its distal end so as to cause the beam to resiliently deform into an S-shape when the accelerometer is subjected to acceleration intended to be detected. Strain gauge elements are placed at the two knees of t... | 05/09/1995 |
| 5413082 | Canister purge system having improved purge valve The valve has a one-piece guide and valve seat member and a one-piece valve member that is guided by a bushing lining the guide of the guide and seat member. The valve is operated by a duty-cycle modulated waveform, and when the valve is operated in the c... | 05/09/1995 |
| 5411004 | Positive pressure canister purge system integrity confirmation The tank/canister volume's integrity against unacceptable leakage measured by a diagnostic test performed by an on-board diagnostic system which includes an electrically operated air pump and tank-mounted analog pressure transducer. At the beginning of a ... | 05/02/1995 |
| 5405175 | Clip attachment of fuel tube to fuel rail A fuel tube is attached to a fuel rail by a novel one-piece plastic clip comprising an integral fork for trapping a flange of the fuel tube against withdrawal from the fuel rail hole in which it is received and also comprising integral catches at the side... | 04/11/1995 |
| 5390638 | Fuel rail assembly A fuel rail assembly that possesses a number of novel features relating to joints for connecting metal tubes such as crossover, inlet, and return tubes, to main plastic fuel tubes; retainer clips for retaining various fuel handling components in sockets f... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5390645 | Fuel vapor leak detection system Leakage from a portion of a canister purge system which includes a fuel tank and a vapor collection canister is detected by closing off that portion and then positively pressurizing it by means of an air pump. The air that is pumped by the air pump is spl... | 02/21/1995 |
| 5383437 | Integrity confirmation of evaporative emission control system against leakage An on-board diagnostic system for an evaporative emission control system of an internal combustion engine powered vehicle employs a positive displacement reciprocating pump to create in evaporative emission space a pressure that differs significantly from... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5381963 | Projection welded needle guide Projection welding is used to join a needle guide member and a valve seat member together preparatory to their assembly into the nozzle of a fuel injector. Various embodiments are disclosed, including various ways for creating the projections. In the pref... | 01/17/1995 |
| 5377633 | Railplug direct injector/ignitor assembly A high pressure fuel injector has a railplug ignitor assembly disposed on its nozzle. The injected fuel travels down the bore of the railplug. The railplug delivers a plasma that travels down the bore of the railplug in timed relation to the injected fuel... | 01/03/1995 |
| 5377629 | Adaptive manifold tuning The effective area of a Helmholtz resonator used to tune the manifold is varied in accordance with engine speed to improve the engine-torque speed curve. The organization and arrangement of air intake passage, plenum chamber, runners, and Helmholtz resona... | 01/03/1995 |
| 5372113 | Weir control of fuel level in a fuel rail tube for reducing the risk of hydra-lock Sockets of a fuel rail assembly having bottom-feed fuel injectors communicate with a main fuel tube that serves all fuel injectors by means of holes in the sockets' sidewalls proximate the top of the main fuel tube. Below these holes, each socket is imper... | 12/13/1994 |
| 5366163 | Fuel injector valve having a sphere for the valve element A rolling ball type mechanism is incorporated into a top-feed fuel injector so that the fuel injector has an outward appearance similar to that of known top-feed fuel injectors. The seat member is provided with a slot that makes the flow gradient more uni... | 11/22/1994 |
| 5356079 | Fuel injector snap-lock filter-retainer A filter-retainer assembly performs both the function of filtering the inlet fuel flow and retaining the inlet tube O-ring of a top-feed fuel injector of the type commonly used in fuel injection systems of internal combustion engines. The assembly has a s... | 10/18/1994 |
| 5350119 | Clad metal orifice disk for fuel injectors The clad metal comprises a soft metal lamina overlay on a refractory metal lamina. An orifice is created by first punching a hole through the clad metal and then etching the soft metal lamina around the punched hole to create in that portion of the hole i... | 09/27/1994 |
| 5348229 | Fuel injector low mass valve body A composite valve body of a fuel injector comprises a dead air space for improving hot fuel handling performance. This space is cooperatively defined by a circumferential groove in the O.D. of a metal valve body and a nylon sleeve that is pressed onto the... | 09/20/1994 |
| 5344081 | Injector valve seat with recirculation trap An improvement in fuel flow through orifices of a thin disc orifice member is obtained by incorporating a radially inwardly open undercut in the seat member below the frustoconical seating surface and above the thin disc orifice member. The undercut provi... | 09/06/1994 |
| 5335863 | Filter cartridge mounting for a top-feed fuel injector A top-feed electrically controlled fuel injector includes a filter cartridge disposed in a fuel inlet tube for filtering particulate material larger than a certain size from the fuel that passes into the interior of the fuel injector. In one embodiment, t... | 08/09/1994 |
| 5331730 | Method of making a coil molded into a magnetic stator An unencapsulated bobbin-mounted coil is associated with a stator wherein the stator, in cooperation with other parts of a mold, define a mold cavity. Encapsulating material is injected through gates in one of the other mold parts into the defined mold ca... | 07/26/1994 |
| 5328100 | Modified armature for low noise injector Audible noise emission from a solenoid-operated fuel injector is reduced by providing a groove around the armature spaced from the end of the armature that impacts the end to the pole piece/fuel inlet tube so as to leave a radial flange at the end of the ... | 07/12/1994 |
| 5326225 | High efficiency, low axial profile, low noise, axial flow fan The fan blades have a particular geometry that combines high efficiency, low axial profile, and low noise in an axial flow fan. The fan also comprises a circular outer band that coacts with a surrounding shroud structure to form a labyrinth air seal. The ... | 07/05/1994 |
| 5320078 | Remote mounting of a fuel pressure regulator for an engine The fuel pressure regulator is disposed in an off-engine mounting that is fastened to a wall of the engine compartment. The mounting is a body of synthetic material having a socket within which the fuel pressure regulator is disposed. Nipples for fluid-co... | 06/14/1994 |
| 5315278 | Filament magnetic flux circuit A length of wire is toroidally wound, and then the toroid is encapsulated and cut in two along a plane that is perpendicular to the toroidal axis. The resulting portions are used as stator and/or armature of a solenoid, and in the solenoid the cut face of... | 05/24/1994 |
| 5311662 | Press metering apparatus and method A press metering device enables internal flow measurements to be made while press fitting components together. The press metering device comprises a press means for press fitting the components and a manifold for controlling flow path dimensions during th... | 05/17/1994 |
| 5308038 | Using the stator to prevent valve seat turning Keys on legs of a U-shaped stator are in keyed engagement with keyways on diametrically opposite sides of the O.D. of the sidewall of a valve seat member to axially and circumferentially locate the seat member.... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5307997 | Fuel injector swirl passages Each swirl passages of the needle guide and fuel swirl member of a fuel injector has a longer and wider entrance portion and a shorter and narrower exit portion to allow only the latter portion, not the former portion, to perform a metering function. Prod... | 05/03/1994 |
| 5301647 | Fuel injector attachment clip An attachment clip for connecting a top-feed fuel injector to a socket on a fuel rail has a cylindrical wall that is coaxial with the fuel inlet tube of the injector and contains a pattern of circumferentially spaced apertures. At each aperture there is a... | 04/12/1994 |
| 5299346 | Fuel injector upper needle guide burnishing and alignment tool An apparatus is used to align, burnish, and secure an upper needle guide for a fuel injector valve body. The apparatus includes a lower portion having a fixture containing a spring-loaded plunger and a spring-loaded centering pin, and an upper portion hav... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5299776 | Impact dampened armature and needle valve assembly A small axial lost motion connection between an armature disk and a needle valve allows armature disk to snub rebound of needle valve upon impacting a valve seat.... | 04/05/1994 |
| 5297529 | Positive pressure canister purge system integrity confirmation The tank/canister volume's integrity against unacceptable leakage is either confirmed or denied by a diagnostic test performed by an on-board diagnostic system which includes an electrically operated air pump and tank-mounted analog pressure transducer. A... | 03/29/1994 |
| 5286002 | Fuel injector having a composite silicon valve Nozzle structures for fuel injectors are fabricated from silicon wafers assembled together to accurately control valve lift so that a separate step of setting valve lift is unnecessary. Sealing surfaces are P+ silicon.... | 02/15/1994 |
| 5275203 | Pressure regulator with plastic vacuum fitting The vacuum control port at the control chamber of a fuel pressure regulator is an injection molded plastic member that can be formed with an angle. A flange is provided as a seating surface for an annular seal ring. The member extends into a tube formed i... | 01/04/1994 |
| 5267470 | Pressure sensor mounting for canister purge system An evaporative emission control system for an automotive vehicle comprises an integrated roll-over valve and vapor pressure sensor assembly mounted by means of a grommet in the top wall of the vehicle's fuel tank. The vapor pressure sensor forms part of a... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5267723 | Self-aligning lead-in chamfer for a valve seat Lead-in of a valve seat member being pressed into a valve body bore has larger angle initial lead-in portion followed by smaller angle transition lead-in portion leading to press-fit outside diameter. This prevents a maximally misaligned valve seat member... | 12/07/1993 |
| 5247918 | Sealing a direct injection fuel injector to a combustion chamber A combustion seal for sealing the nozzle end of a direct injection fuel injector to the combustion chamber. The seal is an imperforate metal ring, much like an eyelet, fitted onto the nozzle end. In radial cross section the ring has a semi-circular shape ... | 09/28/1993 |
| 5244180 | Solenoid pre-loader The solenoid portion of a solenoid-operated valve is resiliently biased by a pre-loader against an internal shoulder on the valve body to maintain precision of the stator-armature working gap during the useful life of the valve. Several embodiments of pre... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5244347 | High efficiency, low noise, axial flow fan The fan has an outer circular band that is spaced axially rearwardly of the hub. Forwardly skewed blades extend between the band and hub. Each blade has a radially intermediate portion that has reverse curvatures, namely a radially inner section curving a... | 09/14/1993 |
| 5241858 | Dynamic flow calibration of a fuel injector by selective diversion of magnetic flux from the working gap An electromagnetically operated fuel injector has a dynamic flow calibration mechanism in which a control rod that extends between and enters holes in both the stator and the armature is selectively positioned to divert some of the magnetic flux from the ... | 09/07/1993 |
