Did You Know...
...that to encourage use of his new invention, the shopping cart, market owner Sylvan Goldman hired fake shoppers to push the carts around his store in Oklahoma City? Seems his customers were reluctant to give up their hand-carried baskets.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8181612 | Variable valve timing apparatus and control method therefor An ECU executes a program including the steps of: detecting engine speed NE (S100); and stopping power supply to an electric motor of an intake VVT mechanism (S104), if engine speed NE is equal to or lower than a threshold value NE (0) (YES at S102 | 05/22/2012 |
| 8171901 | Internal combustion engine with variable valve gear In an engine which comprises a first intake valve and a second intake valve for each cylinder, configured to be driven by a first intake cam and a second intake cam, respectively, and a cam phase change mechanism configured to vary the phase of the second intake cam... | 05/08/2012 |
| 8151749 | Valve opening arrangement and method An engine with a valve opening arrangement includes an engine including at least one cylinder and at least one valve for opening and closing an opening in the cylinder. The valve is spring loaded to a closed position. The engine also includes a movable contact surfa... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8151748 | Internal combustion engine comprising a variable valve lift profile system and a method for controlling valve lift profile shifting A method for an internal combustion engine that reduces the possibility of misfire during transitions between a lower valve lift mode and a higher valve lift mode. ... | 04/10/2012 |
| 8132549 | Reciprocating piston internal combustion engine and method for determining the wear of a transmission element arranged between a crankshaft and a camshaft A method for determining a wear value of a transmission element between a crankshaft and a camshaft of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine, in particular a timing chain or toothed belt, is provided. The camshaft is driven by the transmission element vi... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8127725 | Engine with hydraulic variable valve timing In one example, a method is described for an engine with a hydraulically actuated phaser for adjusting cam timing. The phaser is controlled by a hydraulic spool valve, for example, having a de-energized position that results in hydraulic force urging the phaser to a... | 03/06/2012 |
| 8113157 | Variable valve control apparatus A variable valve control apparatus includes: a variable valve actuating mechanism arranged to vary a closing timing of an intake valve; and a controller configured to advance the closing timing of the intake valve before a bottom dead center of a piston of an intake... | 02/14/2012 |
| 8104439 | Camshaft adjuster Traditional camshaft adjusters are connected to a lubricant circuit of an internal combustion engine. Lubricant flows which are too large flood the drive of the camshaft adjuster, which leads to needless churning losses in the drive and needless losses of the pump c... | 01/31/2012 |
| 8100099 | Method for operating an internal combustion engine, and internal combustion engine for carrying out said method The invention relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine comprising at least two cylinders respectively provided with admission valves and exhaust valves. According to the invention, in order to fill the cylinders with a larger amount of unburne... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8096271 | System and method for determining a camshaft position in a variable valve timing engine A control module and system includes a camshaft position module that determines a camshaft position change of a crankshaft. The control module also includes a cam phaser velocity module determines a cam phaser velocity based on the camshaft position change. A cam ph... | 01/17/2012 |
| 8065982 | Variable intake apparatus for V-type internal combustion engine In a variable intake apparatus for a V-type internal combustion engine, each of plural intake pipes is separated from a surge tank by a partition wall, and communication ports, provided in the partition wall for the respective intake pipes, are opened and closed by ... | 11/29/2011 |
| 8061310 | Valve timing control apparatus for internal combustion engine A valve timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine, including a drive rotary member that is rotated by the crankshaft, a driven rotary member that transmits rotational force input from the drive rotary member, to the camshaft, and an electromagnetic ... | 11/22/2011 |
| 8056516 | Variable valve lift transition control methods and systems A system for controlling a variable valve lift system of an engine comprises a delay module that estimates a total delay based on at least one of a measured and an estimated delay of the variable valve lift system. A variable valve control module commands one of a f... | 11/15/2011 |
| 8037855 | Valve characteristic controller and valve characteristic control system When a valve timing is held, even if a Duty value of an operational signal of a variable valve timing controller is slightly changed, a holding unresponsive range will be arisen. In the unresponsive range, a variation speed of the valve timing is very small. As temp... | 10/18/2011 |
| 8020527 | Variable valve timing system A valve timing control is executed by an ECU that controls an engine and an electric-motor ECU that controls an electric motor. The ECU and the electric-motor EDU serve different functions. The ECU sets the target phase of an intake valve based on the engine operati... | 09/20/2011 |
| 8011334 | Exhaust valve control method and exhaust valve control device for diesel engine An exhaust valve control method for a diesel engine 6 for switching between a normal combustion mode and a premixed combustion mode according to operating conditions; an exhaust valve 9 is opened only in the exhaust stroke in the normal combustion mode... | 09/06/2011 |
| 7975661 | Fuel tuned variable valve timing A system and method for fuel tuned variable valve timing is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of cylinders, each cylinder being further associated with at least two exhaust valves. A first exhaust valve operates according to a first valve lift curve that is... | 07/12/2011 |
| 7954465 | Combined exhaust restriction and variable valve actuation An internal combustion engine that includes both a variable valve actuation system and an exhaust restriction system to provide engine braking are disclosed. Variable valve actuation and exhaust gas restriction are carried out in response to one or more engine param... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7950359 | Variable valve system A variable valve system includes a variable valve lifter for changing a first lift amount of one or more valves at a predetermined engine speed; a variable valve timing portion for controlling opening and closing timing of one or more valves; and a cylinder deactiva... | 05/31/2011 |
| 7938088 | Variable valve timing system An ECU transmits a pulsed operation command signal, indicating operation commands for an electric motor used as a VVT actuator, to an electric-motor EDU. The electric-motor EDU recognizes the combination of the direction in which the actuator should be operated (act... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7921711 | Abnormality determination apparatus and abnormality determination method for valve characteristics change mechanism To an electronic control unit is connected a shaft position detection sensor that outputs, as a shaft position detection value, a signal whose magnitude changes stepwise by a predetermined amount in correspondence with the position of a control shaft of a valve char... | 04/12/2011 |
| 7905206 | Engine control system having fuel-based adjustment A control system for an engine having a cylinder is disclosed having an engine valve configured to affect a fluid flow of the cylinder, an actuator configured to move the engine valve, and an in-cylinder sensor configured to generate a signal indicative of a charact... | 03/15/2011 |
| 7895979 | Valve mechanism for an engine An internal combustion engine has intake (20) and exhaust (22) poppet valves, a first and a second set of cam lobes (64) for operating the intake and exhaust poppet valves (20,22) respectively, and a third set of cam lobes (68) for... | 03/01/2011 |
| 7882811 | Methods for controlling valves of an internal combustion engine, devices for controlling the valves, and engines employing the methods Methods for improving the efficiency of internal combustion engines are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of improving the efficiency of an internal combustion engine comprises controlling the motion of an exhaust valve associated with a cylinder of the interna... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7874272 | Method of variable valve timing in an internal combustion engine A method of variable valve timing in an internal combustion engine in which the valve opening and closing timing of the actuated gas exchange valves of the internal combustion engine can be varied as a function of engine speed by adjusting means for adjusting at lea... | 01/25/2011 |
| 7845319 | Valvetrain control systems with independent intake and exhaust lift control A valve control system for an internal combustion engine includes a valve actuation system. The valve actuation system includes at least one of first and second configurations. The first configuration includes a shared lift control valve that actuates an intake valv... | 12/07/2010 |
| 7841310 | Spool valve for VCT locking pin release mechanism A spool valve 10 for a variable camshaft timing (VCT) phaser for an internal combustion engine comprises a spool 11 slidable in a bore 12 in a valve sleeve 13, the spool 11 having spaced apart lands 14-17 dividing the... | 11/30/2010 |
| 7827945 | Camshaft operating unit In a camshaft operating unit having a friction torque variation simulation arrangement for controlling a camshaft adjustment device with at least two camshafts one of which is at least adjustable camshaft and at least one camshaft adjusting unit, the friction torque... | 11/09/2010 |
| 7823550 | Engine equipped with adjustable valve timing mechanism An engine equipped with an adjustable valve timing mechanism includes: an inlet valve opening term varying mechanism, which is included in the adjustable valve timing mechanism, varying an opening term of an inlet valve; and an inlet valve opening term controller co... | 11/02/2010 |
| 7802545 | Valve timing controller A valve timing controller has the drive circuit which performs a feedback control of the energization to the electric motor based on the target rotation speed and the actual rotation speed of the electric motor, and rotates the electric motor to the target rotation ... | 09/28/2010 |
| RE41758 | Internal combustion engine having a variable valve train An internal combustion engine is provided with a variable valve train capable of altering opening and closing timings and/or opening amounts of at least one of an intake valve and an exhaust valve of an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine is c... | 09/28/2010 |
| 7798111 | Camshaft adjuster for an internal combustion engine A camshaft adjuster (1) for an internal combustion engine is provided, in which the relative angular position between a driving gear (2) and an output element that is allocated to the camshaft can be adjusted by hydraulically impinging pressure chamber... | 09/21/2010 |
| 7793625 | Variable valve actuating apparatus for internal combustion engine A variable valve actuating apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes an intake valve operating angle varying mechanism, and an intake valve timing varying mechanism. The intake valve timing varying mechanism includes a housing rotating in synchronization ... | 09/14/2010 |
| 7789051 | Variable valve actuating apparatus for internal combustion engine A variable valve actuating apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a valve actuating mechanism to vary an actual valve operating characteristic of the engine. A controller sets a target valve operating characteristic in accordance with a crank angle pos... | 09/07/2010 |
| 7779796 | Variable valve actuating apparatus for internal combustion engine and process of controlling the same A variable valve actuating apparatus for an internal combustion engine with an exhaust turbocharger. An intake valve characteristic varying section is arranged to vary an operating angle and a lift of an intake valve. An exhaust valve characteristic varying section ... | 08/24/2010 |
| 7765964 | Variable valve operating device, control method of variable valve operating device, and vehicle equipped with variable valve operating device In a hybrid vehicle, on a start of an engine, when an engine water temperature is low and there is a need of advancing open and close timings of an intake valve from their most delayed positions, electric power is supplied to a WT motor either via a first route or v... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7753016 | Control apparatus for internal combustion engine A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine includes a variable valve mechanism that changes the duration of an intake valve, and a controller that controls the variable valve mechanism to change the duration based on the operating state of the internal co... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7753015 | Device and method for controlling the lift of an outlet gas exchange charge cycle valve of an internal combustion engine A device and a method for regulating the lift characteristic of an exhaust charge cycle valve of an internal combustion engine. The device comprises a controllable electric motor having an actuator element for actuation of the exhaust charge cycle valve, a regulatin... | 07/13/2010 |
| 7748355 | Approach for facilitating engine mode transitions A method of transitioning a cylinder of an engine from a spark ignition mode to a homogeneous charge compression ignition mode, the cylinder having at least one electrically actuated intake valve and at least one exhaust valve, the method comprising of before a tran... | 07/06/2010 |
| 7748354 | System and method for adaptive control of variable valve lift tappet switching A method of controlling cylinder valve switching between a first valve condition and a second valve condition for transitioning between combustion modes of an engine comprises adjusting timing of a signal to switch between said valve conditions in response to inform... | 07/06/2010 |
