The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 07, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 04, 2008
Michael Moses Schechter, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Michael Moses Schechter, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Other;
Abstract
A vehicle system includes an engine that can operate as a compressor, as an air motor and an internal-combustion engine. It also includes short-term and long-term air-storage reservoirs filled with compressed air. During braking, the engine slows down the vehicle by pumping compressed air into the short-term storage. That air is later used for vehicle propulsion. The engine uses the recovered braking energy whenever possible, but when the compressed air in the short-term storage is exhausted; it switches to the long-term storage and continues to operate with compressed-air assist. The amount of compressed air in the long-term storage is such that it is sufficient for a typical day of driving. An on-board electrically-driven compressor, using an outside source of electric power, charges the long-term storage during overnight parking. In this way, electric power from an electric grid is indirectly used for vehicle propulsion. If the compressed air in both reservoirs is exhausted, the engine switches to internal-combustion.