Surfango, Inc.

Ford Global Tech.inc

Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Yuting Rui

Timothy Gerard Offerle

Thomas J Walsh

David Scott Rohweder

Dexin Wang

Bernardus Johannes Stapel

Fayyaz Saleem

Jianhua Zhou

Gregory Gene Page

A device for cutting weeds carried by water inducted into a housing includes an intake, an outlet, an impeller for pumping water from the intake to the outlet as the impeller rotates about an axis, the impeller including a blade formed with a leading edge facing the intake, and a baffle secured against movement and including a cutting edge located adjacent the leading edge when the leading edge rotates to the location of the cutting edge.

Weed cutter for a craft propelled by a water jet

A system for steering a watercraft propelled by a water jet includes a control lever supported to pivot rightward and leftward about a first control axis, a nozzle supported on the watercraft to pivot rightward and leftward and through which water is discharged from the watercraft, first and second cables, and a steering module interconnected by the cables to the control lever and connected to the nozzle, supported to pivot laterally about a second control axis and to pivot the nozzle laterally in response to pivoting of the control lever about the first control axis.

System for steering and maneuvering a watercraft propelled by a water jet

A watercraft propelled by a water jet includes an sealed hull portion including an upper deck and a bottom surface, an engine compartment located behind the sealed hull portion and containing a propulsion and steering system including an engine, a bladed impeller driven by the engine for inducting water and forcing the inducted water away from the craft through a directionally displaceable nozzle, and a control lever located on the upper deck including an engine throttle control and a steering control for adjusting the directionally displacement of the nozzle.

Watercraft propelled by a water jet

A system for driving a water induction and discharge system of a watercraft propelled by a water jet includes a water impeller, an engine including a driven shaft and a first chamber for containing engine oil, a second chamber for containing engine oil, a pinion secured to the driven shaft and located in the second chamber, a gear located in the second chamber, engaged with the pinion and driveably connected to the water impeller, and a dam located in the second chamber for limiting oil flow across the dam into the oil contained in the second chamber.

Engine for driving a watercraft propelled by a water jet

A variable damper assembly is provided for use with a vehicle power steering system and includes a variable orifice valve which controls the flow of fluid between one chamber side of the damper assembly to another chamber side of the damper assembly. Variable orifice valve is communicatively coupled to a source of pressurized fluid by use of a conduit and an electronically controlled valve assembly The pressurized fluid received through conduit controls the operation of valve Based upon the pressure of the received fluid, valve selectively increases and reduces the fluid flow rate between chamber sides and thereby causing the damper assembly to have enhanced damping characteristics during certain vehicle operating conditions (e.g., during relatively high vehicle speed operating conditions).

Variable damper assembly

A rack and pinion power steering system is provided and includes a variable orifice valve which controls the flow of fluid in and out of a hydraulic cylinder . Variable orifice valve is communicatively coupled to a source of pressurized fluid by use of a conduit and an electronically controlled valve assembly . The pressurized fluid received through conduit controls the operation of valve . Based upon the pressure of the received fluid, valve selectively increases and decreases the volume of fluid flow in and out of cylinder , thereby causing cylinder to have enhanced damping characteristics during certain vehicle operating conditions (e.g., during relatively high vehicle speed operating conditions).

Rack and pinion power steering system with variable damping characteristics

An assembly for coupling two selectively rotatable shafts is provided. The assembly includes a first cross-member which is fixedly coupled to the first rotating shaft, and a second cross-member which is fixedly coupled to the second shaft. A third member is pivotally coupled to the first and to the second cross-member and selectively pivots about a first axis. A fourth member is pivotally coupled to the first and to the second cross-member and pivots about a second axis which is substantially perpendicular to the first axis. The third member and the fourth member cooperate to transmit torque from the first rotating shaft to the second shaft and substantially aligns the first and second longitudinal axes of symmetry of the first and second shafts while maintaining the alignment as torque is transmitted from the first rotating shaft to the second shaft. The third and fourth members are also movable from a first collapsed position to a second expanded position, thereby allowing the first rotating shaft and the second shaft to independently move along the aligned longitudinal axes of symmetry.

Coupling assembly

A method and system for generating an effective road profile for use with a computer aided vehicle design system is disclosed. The method has the steps of developing a vehicle model for a vehicle is developed and then excited with an initial drive file to produce a vehicle model response. The vehicle model response is compared to a desired response to produce an error signal, the desired response being based on vehicle dynamics data from a vehicle when driven over a road surface. A modified error signal is determined using a vehicle response model, and the modified error signal is fed into the vehicle model to produce a vehicle model response. A new error signal is iteratively determined until it is within a predetermined limit to produce a vehicle model effective road profile. Once the effective road profile has been determined, a modified vehicle model is excited with the effective road profile to produce a modified model response. The modified vehicle can thus be tested without need for a prototype. Various vehicle model parameters are graphically displayed, as are the vehicle model responses, so that a vehicle designer may interactively change the vehicle model or other parameters.

Growing community of inventors

Ann Arbor, MI, United States of America

Yuting Rui