Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Raytheon Company

Other

Jerry Dean Robichaux

Tobias John Pallett

Gopichandra Surnilla

Stephen John Kotre

Michael John Cullen

Jeffrey Scott Hepburn

Bradley J Hieb

David Karl Bidner

Mark W Peters

David Lee Boggs

Ihab S Soliman

Daniel J Lipinski

Julian A LoRusso

Roger Lyle Huffmaster

Peter John Grutter

Glafkos K Stratis

Wayne Lee Sunne

Abbas Raftari

Jim Hicks

Deepa Ramaswamy

Paul Michael Deniston

Gary Bruce Webster

Donald R Nowland

Nurcan Robichaux

Thomas George Leone

John David Russell

Mathew Alan Boesch

Diana D Brehob

Timothy Joseph Clark

David George Farmer

Gopichandra Sumilla

Alphonso A Samuel

John F Bugge

Douglas Mills

Charles M De Lair

Mark A Owens

Bruce E Morgan

Stevie Alejandro

David G Derrick

Salomone Castro

Ernest C Prior

Glenn Alden Zimlich

Alfredo Ramos

Heinz D Klemm

Bryan W Nickel

Teik-Khoon Tan

Andrew P Douglas

Gregory B Schymik

Rafael Espinosa Paredes

Charles M Delair

Eric M Lafontaine

John F Buggf

Vacuum

A collection device for debris and animal waste is an apparatus that optimizes airflow to effectively and safely collect debris, preferably pet waste. The apparatus includes a canister, at least one handle assembly, an airflow inlet nozzle, a portable power source, and a fan assembly. The canister houses collected debris and the fan assembly. The at least one handle assembly, the airflow inlet nozzle, and the portable power source are mounted with the canister. The at least one handle assembly allows a user to easily maneuver the canister and the airflow inlet nozzle. The fan assembly suctions debris into a debris chamber of the canister through the airflow inlet nozzle. The portable power source provides the necessary power for the fan assembly to operate. The apparatus further includes an air-permeable collection bag that is housed within the debris chamber to facilitate the removal of collected pet waste within the canister.

Collection device for debris and animal waste

A radome structure of an antenna system is provided having a plurality of switchable antenna elements disposed around a perimeter of the radome structure that can simultaneously track multiple targets and be implemented in a variety of different applications. Each of the switchable antenna elements can be individually switched between different radiation patterns to support different applications. The antenna system may include an infrared (IR) sensor pedestal, an IR sensor disposed on the IR pedestal and a plurality of switchable radio frequency (RF) antenna elements disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of switchable RF antenna elements can be switched from a first radiation pattern to a second radiation pattern to change an array radiation pattern of the antenna.

Systems and techniques for radome-antenna configuration

The present disclosure is directed to a seeker system having an infrared (IR) sensor pedestal, an IR sensor disposed on the IR pedestal and a plurality of radio frequency (RF) antenna elements symmetrically disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal. The seeker system further includes a plurality of RF waveguiding structures. In an embodiment, each of the RF waveguiding structures have first and second ends and are symmetrically disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal such that in response to an RF signal incident on a first end of the waveguiding structure, the RF signal is provided to one of the plurality of RF antenna elements such that in response to an RF signal incident on the seeker system from any direction, each of the plurality of RF antenna elements receive the RF signal with a desired phase characteristic.

Systems and techniques for improving signal levels in a shadowing region of a seeker system

An air vehicle, such as a munition like a guided bomb or missile, has a control system that allows control surfaces to be mechanically uncoupled from one or more actuators to allow the control surfaces to freely move (rotate) relative to a fuselage of the vehicle, for example allowing the control surfaces to 'weather vane' by assuming an orientation corresponding to the direction of airflow past the air vehicle (direction of airflow relative to the air vehicle). When active positioning of the control surfaces is desired, the control surfaces may be mechanically coupled to one or more actuators that are used to position the control surfaces. The selective coupling of the actuator(s) and the control surfaces may be accomplished by selectively coupling together a sleeve that is mechanically coupled to the control surfaces, and a nut that moves along a shaft of an actuator, for example using a resilient device.

Air vehicle with control system mechanical coupler

A canister attachment for leaf blowers/vacuums is an apparatus that attaches to existing yard waste leaf blower/vacuum's to provide a user with a facilitated means to collect solid animal waste or other debris deposited on the ground. The apparatus comprises a suction nozzle assembly, a canister, a suction duct, a support assembly, and a leaf blower/vacuum. The suction nozzle assembly comprises a canister mount and a nozzle. The canister comprises a nozzle mount, a lateral surface, a filter plate, a duct opening, and a first and second chamber. The suction duct comprises a duct canister mount, a channel, and a leaf blower/vacuum mount. The configuration of these components provides the user with a mobile accessory that utilizes the suction from existing conventional leaf blowers/vacuums to siphon animal waste through the nozzle and into the canister. Furthermore, the apparatus provides an exhaust catch to prevent accidental discharge through the leaf blower/vacuum.

Canister attachment for leaf blowers/vacuums

Methods and devices for determining the position and/or angular orientation of a rotating shaft. Exemplary features include a sensor module and a position determination module. Sensor module may include a plurality of Hall Effect devices (HEDs) arranged at a specified angular separation to produce a signal in response to rotation of the shaft. Position module may be responsive to sensor module to produce a converted signal, determine an error term, and produce a position estimate. Converted signal may be produced by processing the HED signals into sinusoidal reference signals having offset scale and amplitude scale factors. Error term may be determined by processing the converted signals to produce an estimated position signal. Position estimate may be produced by processing the error term. Refined position measurement may be achieved by iterative elimination of regressive differences between position estimates with minimization of absolute magnitude of error term.

System and method for determining angular position and controlling rotor orientation

A method and system to control engine shutdown in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) are provided. Tailpipe emissions are reduced during the many engine shutdowns and subsequent restarts during the course of an HEV drive cycle, and evaporative emissions are reduced during an HEV 'soak' (inactive) period. The engine shutdown routine can ramp off fuel injectors, control engine torque (via electronic throttle control), control engine speed, stop spark delivery by disabling the ignition system, stop purge vapor flow by closing a vapor management valve (VMV), stop exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow by closing an EGR valve, and flush the intake manifold of residual fuel (vapor and puddles) into the combustion chamber to be combusted. The resulting exhaust gas byproducts are then converted in the catalytic converter.

Controlled engine shutdown for a hybrid electric vehicle

A hybrid electric vehicleand a method for operating the hybrid electric vehicleis provided. Combustion is made to occur within the internal combustion engineonly after the crankshaftof the enginehas been rotated by an electric motor or generatorto a certain speed and according to a certain ramped or partially ramped profilethereby reducing the amount of emissions from the engineallowing for a more efficient torque transfer to wheelsand allowing for a smoother operation of the vehicleThe fuel injectorsthrottle plateand spark plugsare also controlled in order to allow emissions to be reduced during activation of the engine and to allow the catalytic converterto be heated in order to allow these emissions to be further reduced as the engineis operating.

Hybrid electric vehicle and a method for operating a hybrid electric vehicle

A system and method for accurate control of engine torque for a parallel/series hybrid electric vehicle (PSHEV) is disclosed. An accurate estimate of engine torque is determined from the generator motor torque of a PSHEV. The estimated engine torque can then be used to control engine torque in a closed loop torque control strategy. The invention comprises at least one controller to receive, process and output torque signals; a first control strategy to determine a modified engine torque signal from at least a desired engine torque signal; and a second control strategy to determine variables for air, fuel and spark from said modified engine torque signal. The first control strategy can include a proportional integral (PI) controller. The estimated engine torque signal can be a function of an estimated generator motor torque signal, a generator motor speed signal and an engine torque loss signal.

Engine torque control for a hybrid electric vehicle using estimated engine torque

A method and system to control engine shutdown for a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is provided. Tailpipe emissions are reduced during the many engine shutdowns and subsequent restarts during the course of an HEV drive cycle, and evaporative emissions are reduced during an HEV &ldquo;soak&rdquo; (inactive) period. The engine shutdown routine can ramp off fuel injectors, control engine torque (via electronic throttle control), control engine speed, stop spark delivery by disabling the ignition system, stop purge vapor flow by closing a vapor management valve (VMV), stop exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) flow by closing an EGR valve, and flush the intake manifold of residual fuel (vapor and puddles) into the combustion chamber to be combusted chamber to be combusted. The resulting exhaust gas byproducts are then converted in the catalytic converter.

A feedback system for use with a hybrid electric vehicle having a propulsion system which includes a motor/generator and an internal combustion engine . The system provides a driver of vehicle with tactile, audible, visual and/or other perceivable feedback, effective to notify the driver that the powertrain of the vehicle is active when the internal combustion engine is stopped.

System and method for providing feedback to a driver of a hybrid vehicle

A system and method for controlling an internal combustion engine to improve air/fuel ratio control using a feed-forward observer-based control strategy include estimating current and future airflow actuator positions, determining corresponding mass airflow values, and determining a future in-cylinder air charge based on a difference between the current and future mass airflow values. In one embodiment, the difference between current and future mass airflow estimates is used as a feed-forward term and combined with a sensed or measured value generated by a mass airflow sensor prior to being processed using a manifold filling model to predict the future cylinder air charge. In another embodiment, the current and future mass airflow estimates are processed using the manifold filling model with the results used to generate a future delta cylinder air charge that is subsequently used as a feed-forward term and combined with a measured air charge corresponding to a measured mass airflow processed by the manifold filling model.

Feed-forward observer-based control for estimating cylinder air charge

A method and apparatus for controlling the operation of a &ldquo;lean-burn&rdquo; internal combustion engine in cooperation with an exhaust gas purification system having an emissions control device capable of alternatively storing and releasing NO when exposed to exhaust gases that are lean and rich of stoichiometry, respectively, determines a performance impact, such as a fuel-economy benefit, of operating the engine at a selected lean or rich operating condition. The method and apparatus then enable the selected operating condition as long as such enabled operation provides further performance benefits.

Method and apparatus for controlling lean-burn engine based upon predicted performance impact

A hybrid electric vehicle and a method for operating the hybrid electric vehicle in which combustion is made to occur within the internal combustion engine only after the crankshaft of the engine has been rotated by an electric motor or generator to a certain speed and according to a certain ramped or partially ramped profile thereby reducing the amount of emissions from the engine allowing for a more efficient torque transfer to wheels and allowing for a more smoother operation of the vehicle The fuel injectors throttle plate and spark plugs are also controlled in order to allow emissions to be reduced during activation of the engine and to allow the catalytic converter to be heated in order to allow these emissions to be further reduced as the engine is operating.

Growing community of inventors

Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Jerry Dean Robichaux