Gm Global Technolgoy Operations, Inc.

Delphi Technologies, Inc.

David Sturge Eddy

Michael W Putty

Joseph V Mantese

Shih-Chia Chang

Da Yu Wang

Louis Leonard Nagy

Su-Chee Simon Wang

Raymond Leo Bloink

Paul Casey Kikuchi

Larry Max Oberdier

Charles Dale Oakley

Douglas J Harvey

Marie I Harrington

David B Hicks

Margarita P Thompson

Eric J Detwiler

Michael J O'Rourke

Lone-Wen F Tai

Neil R Aukland

Caleb G Harmon

Fred D Lewis

Michael William Putty

James F Rhodes

William C Olander

Jeffrey M Kempisty

A chip or debris trap or collector retains chips, fragments and other debris generated when a serrated or splined, press fit connection is assembled between a shaft and another component such as a housing, gear, pulley or bearing. The chip collector includes a circumferential channel or groove disposed about the shaft adjacent the ring of serrations or male splines and an adjacent circumferential flange. An optional second channel or groove resides in the other component. As the shaft and the component are assembled, chips, fragments or other debris generated by the interference fit and axial sliding assembly of the components are collected in the channel or channels and retained there as the shaft fully seats within the other component.

Serrated shaft debris collector

A metal alloy which when oxidized forms a highly conductive surface oxide layer. Alloy compositions such as, but not limited to, Ti&#x2014;Nb, Ti&#x2014;Ta, La&#x2014;Sr&#x2014;Cr, and La&#x2014;Sr&#x2014;Co are known to form oxide passivation layers which are highly conductive. Such alloys are useful in electrical contact apparatus. An electrical contact element formed of the alloy has a contact surface which when oxidized forms a highly conductive surface layer, thus maintaining electrical conductivity and continuity through the element. The oxide layer may be formed in situ after assembly of the electrical contact or may be provided in an oxidative step during manufacture. The electrical contact may be formed entirely of one or more of such alloys; or may be formed of an inexpensive substrate base metal, such as steel, having one or more of the alloys coated thereupon; or may be formed of a mixture of the base metal and the alloy.

Fuel cell with metal alloy contacts that form passivating conductive oxide surfaces

Electrical contact surfaces of a bipolar plate for a fuel cell assembly are formed of metals or metal alloys which when oxidized form highly conductive oxide passivation layers, thus maintaining high electrical conductivity and continuity through the fuel cell and forestalling corrosion failure of a cell assembly. Alloy composition systems such as, but not limited to, Ti&#x2014;Nb, Ti&#x2014;Ta, La&#x2014;Sr&#x2014;Cr, and La&#x2014;Sr&#x2014;Co are known to form oxide passivation layers which are highly conductive. The passivation layers may be formed in situ after assembly of a fuel cell or may be provided in an oxidative step during manufacture. The bipolar plate may be formed entirely of one or more of such alloys or may be formed of an inexpensive substrate metal having the alloy layers coated thereupon.

Conductive coatings for PEM fuel cell electrodes

An electromagnetic microactuator having a ferromagnetic substrate, preferably steel. A plurality of layers are deposited upon the substrate including an insulating layer, a seed layer and first and second photoresist layers. The first photoresist layer provides a coil well which defines the deposition location of a coil metal. The second photoresist layer provides central and peripheral core wells which define the deposition locations of a central core and a peripheral core, respectively. The second photoresist layer intersticially fills and protectively covers the coil.

Microactuator having a ferromagnetic substrate

A wide range oxygen sensor comprising a first oxygen pump cell, the first pump cell comprising: a first and a second electrode, with a first communication zone therebetween, the first electrode being exposed to exhaust gas, the second electrode being exposed to a heat source; and wherein at least one element of said first pump cell incorporates a gas-diffusion limiting characteristic; a second oxygen pump cell, operating at opposite polarity from said first oxygen pump cell, electrically isolated from said first oxygen pump cell, and disposed within a sensor substrate, the second cell comprising: a third and a fourth electrode, with a second communication zone therebetween, the third electrode being exposed to exhaust gas, the fourth electrode being exposed to a heat source; and wherein at least one element of said second pump cell incorporates a gas-diffusion limiting characteristic; at least one heating element for providing heat to said second electrode and said fourth electrode; and an electrical circuit for measuring the air-to-fuel ratio within the exhaust gas incident to said first and third electrodes.

Oxygen sensing device

A microstructure for a vibratory gyroscope has a ring portion supported in such a fashion to allow substantially undamped, high-Q radial vibration. The ring portion is electrically conductive and comprises a charge plate for a plurality of radially disposed charge conductive sites around its perimeter for sensing radial displacements thereof. The ring, its support and charge conductive sites are formed within sacrificial molds on one surface of a conventional silicon substrate which may comprise a monolithic integrated circuit.

Microstructure for vibratory gyroscope

A control circuit for a resonating rotation sensor has a pair of closed loop controls for independently controlling component traveling waves of a resonant pattern in a ring shaped resonant member. Frequency and phase quantities of the independent traveling waves as well as time dependant quantities thereof indicate total rotation angle, rotation raze and rotation direction.

Control for vibratory gyroscope

A microaccelerometer is provided for use in on-board automotive safety control and navigational systems. The microaccelerometer includes a central support body which is supported upon a backing chip, a peripheral proof mass which circumscribes the central support body, and at least one pair of microbridges, each of which are attached to both the central support body and the peripheral proof mass. The pair of microbridges extend outwardly in opposite directions from the central support body such that a longitudinal axis through each of the microbridges forms a common axis through the central support body. The microbridges are attached to the peripheral proof mass at the end opposite the central support body so as to suspend the peripheral proof mass circumferentially about the central support body and above the backing chip. Piezoelectric drivers and sensors are provided, respectively, for exciting the microbridges at their resonant frequencies, and for detecting changes in the resonant frequencies of the microbridges which occur as a function of acceleration of the peripheral proof mass. The sensors are connected to a feedback circuit which amplifies and buffers their output and provides feedback to the drivers to properly maintain the microbridges at their resonant frequencies.

Active microaccelerometer

Conductive particulates in the form of soot are collected from diesel engine exhaust gases on a porous wall monolithic ceramic filter in such a way that the soot is somewhat uniformly distributed throughout the filter. The filter is housed in a chamber having a property of a microwave resonant cavity and the cavity is excited with microwave energy. As the particulates are collected the cavity appears to the microwaves to have an increasing dielectric constant even though the matter being accumulated is conductive rather than dielectric so that as collected on the porous filter it has the property of an artificial dielectric. The response of the cavity to the microwave energy is monitored to sense the effect of the dielectric constant of the material within the cavity to provide a measure of the soot content in the filter.

Microwave detection of soot content in a particulate trap

An ignition distributor for an internal combustion engine is provided with a novel rotor electrode which substantially reduces radio frequency interference generated by spark discharges across the rotor gap. At least the tip segment of the rotor electrode is formed of a composite material consisting of a first phase of fibers of a dielectric material interspersed with a second phase of a conductive material. In operation, dielectric fibers protrude from the conductive phase into the gap promoting ionization therein so that electrical discharge occurs at voltages where radio frequency signal production is substantially suppressed.

Ignition distributor electrode for suppressing radio frequency

In a preferred embodiment a sintered sodium beta-alumina article is made by forming an aqueous acidic colloidal solution (sol) of a dispersible alpha-alumina monohydrate, adding an aqueous solution of an inorganic oxygen-containing sodium salt to the sol to form a thixotropic gel in which the molar ratio of alumina to sodium oxide is in the range of 5 to 11, spray drying the gel to form a free flowing powder, pressing the powder into an article of predetermined shape, heating the pressed article to drive off volatile material, and then sintering the article at a temperature to form a densified sodium beta-alumina structure. When desired, water soluble oxygen-containing inorganic salts of metals such as lithium or magnesium may be added to the sol to form a modified (doped) sodium beta-alumina composition.

Growing community of inventors

Washington, MI, United States of America

David Sturge Eddy