ECOMOTORS, INC. Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20150256051 | INSULATION IN AN ELECTRIC MACHINE - It is common in electric machines to use the housing as a heat sink to remove energy from the electric machine. In some applications, however, the housing receives energy from a hot element. For example, in an electronically controlled turbocharger, the very hot turbine housing radiates and conducts energy to the electric machine housing exacerbating the heating within the electric machine. To reduce the heat transfer into the electric machine, a gap is provided between the stator and the housing outside the stator. In one alternative, the gap is filled with an insulating material. In another embodiment, the gap is an air gap with the stator located within the housing by circumferential rings or axial rods in corresponding grooves. In yet another embodiment, coolant is provided to the gap at the top and drained away at the bottom under the action of gravity. | 09-10-2015 |
20150222164 | ELECTRIC MOTOR ROTOR - A rotor of an electric machine is disclosed that resists expansion of the rotor components even at high rotational speed. The rotor includes first and second pluralities of laminations having slots to accept rotor bars. A support disk, also having slots, is placed between the laminations. The support disk, into which the rotor bars are slid, restrains the rotor bars from bending outwardly at high rotational speeds of the rotor. The rotor bars are further restrained at the ends by end rings, which have apertures into which ends of the rotor bars are placed. In some embodiments, containment rings are placed over axial extension of the end rings to prevent outward bowing at high speeds. In some embodiments, the rotor includes a stiffener sleeve to provide additional resistance to expansion during high rotational speeds. | 08-06-2015 |
20150114358 | Master and Slave Pullrods - Master and slave pullrods are disclosed in which a master pullrod is coupled to a journal of a crankshaft. The slave pullrod indirectly couples to the crankshaft by coupling to the master pullrod. Such a configuration allows two connecting rods to be coupled to the journal of the crankshaft inline with each other. | 04-30-2015 |
20140345455 | Thermal Barrier for a Piston - It is important to maintain the temperature in the ring pack area of the piston of an internal combustion engine below about 270° C. to maintain proper ring function and lubrication. Disclosed is a piston with a heat barrier groove between the piston top and the ring pack and a method to construct such a piston. The heat barrier groove extends inwardly toward the center of the piston a greater distance than the compression ring grooves. In one embodiment, a low thermal conductivity material is placed in the inner portion of the heat barrier groove and a split ring is place in the outer portion. In another embodiment, a gas is provided in the inner portion and the split ring is welded to the piston so that the inner portion of the heat barrier groove is sealed, i.e., welding at the upper and lower edges and at the gap. | 11-27-2014 |
20140326131 | Dual Ring Configuration for a Stationary Seal - In a piston-ported engine, a sealing ring may be placed in a groove in the cylinder. As the groove is of greater diameter than the cylinder, the sealing ring overlaps into a helix allowing it to be enter the cylinder. However, such a helix does not fit into a groove without when in the helix. Alternatively, a shorter sealing ring is placed into the groove. However, the gap is too large. According to one embodiment, a groove of double the width of the ring is provided and the helical ring is installed and caused to unwind in the groove so that the ring sits in a plane. A spacer ring is placed in the groove to fill the extra space in the groove. An elastomeric material or a tension spring in an outer groove in the sealing ring can be used to cause the ring to press against the piston. | 11-06-2014 |
20140299090 | Ventilation Slots in a Cylinder Wall - In two-stroke engines, it is common to provide two compression rings on the piston and an additional oil ring. The oil ring can be on the piston, but yields a longer piston. Alternatively, the oil ring is placed in a circumferential groove in the cylinder liner. One problem with such a configuration is that the compression rings move with respect to the oil ring and the annular volume between the two is compressed during reciprocation of the piston, which can cause pumping of oil into the ports. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, axial slots are formed in the cylinder liner that extends from the circumferential groove toward the ports extending along the bridges and beyond the ports. This provides a vent for the annular volume to avoid pumping the oil into the ports. | 10-09-2014 |
20140298984 | Two-Part Stationary Ring for Devices Having Pistons - In some two-stroke engines, a stationary ring is disposed in a groove in the cylinder liner. However, it is a challenge to install such a stationary ring while maintaining a narrow gap to minimize gas flow through the gap. A ring system for an internal combustion engine is disclosed that includes an L-shaped, split ring with a reentrant angle and a nested, split ring with a convex quadrilateral cross section nested with the L-shaped ring proximate the reentrant angle. The two rings are affixed so that the two gaps of the split rings cannot align. Or, in other embodiments, the two are allowed to rotate relative to each other over a predetermined angle. | 10-09-2014 |
20140216391 | Oil Return to the Sump of a Flat Engine - Returning engine oil to the primary oil sump from outboard locations in a flat engine can be a challenge. In the present disclosure, the pressure fluctuations occurring at the underside of the piston, due to reciprocation of the piston, are used to pump the oil from outboard locations to the primary oil sump. To prevent backflow of oil during periods of negative pressure difference, a check valve is placed in the oil drain passage. The check valve allows flow from the outboard location to the primary oil sump and no flow from the primary oil sump to the outboard location by opening and closing as driven by pressure fluctuations due to piston reciprocation. Such a check valve also prevents backflow of the oil to one of the outboard locations when the engine is tilted. | 08-07-2014 |
20140109877 | Integrated Piston and Bridge - A piston coupled to a crankshaft via pullrods presents challenges for coupling the piston to the crankshaft because the connections are provided outside the piston. A bridge is coupled to a piston skirt at the end of the piston away from the piston crown. The bridge structure includes: a central support structure, a first projection extending outwardly from the central support structure in a first radial direction, and a second projection extending outwardly from the central support structure in a second radial direction. The central support structure is substantially hollow with a series of internal braces to yield a lightweight piston. | 04-24-2014 |
20140056726 | Cooling Stator Windings of an Electric Machine - In an electric machine, there may be lubrication and cooling needs, such as lubricating bearings and cooling coils of the electric machine. When lubricant is used for both, it is desirable to prioritize the lubrication to the bearings. By providing check valves between a pressurized oil manifold and the cooling coils, lubricant is diverted to the coils only when pressure in the system is sufficient to satisfy both lubrication and cooling. In some embodiments, an oil gallery is provided on an outside surface of a back iron of the stator of the electric machine and orifices are provided in the back iron so that oil drips onto the coils of the electric motor. In some embodiments, the current commanded to the electric motor is based on whether or not lubricant (or other coolant) is being provided to the coils. | 02-27-2014 |
20140056721 | Shield and Coolant Guide for an Electric Machine - Peak performance of an electric motor can be enhanced by effective cooling of windings of the stator to avoid overheating. A liquid coolant is effective at cooling the stator; but in high-speed motors, it is advisable to avoid allowing coolant on the rotor to avoid high frictional losses. A shield provided in the air gap between the rotor and the stator guides the coolant back to a sump without gaining access to the rotor. Furthermore, if the electric machine is proximate a high temperature component, the shield may further prevent radiative and conductive heat transfer to the electric machine. | 02-27-2014 |
20130276762 | Symmetric Opposed-Piston, Opposed-Cylinder Engine - An opposed-piston, opposed-cylinder engine is disclosed that has the pistons symmetrically arranged in the opposed cylinders. In one embodiment, the inner pistons are exhaust pistons and the outer pistons are intake pistons. Alternatively, the inner pistons are intake pistons and the outer pistons are exhaust pistons. The pistons are coupled to the crankshaft that is situated between the opposed cylinders. Central axes of the two cylinders are offset by a predetermined distance. The connecting rods that couple between the crankshaft and the pistons are arranged adjacent to each other on journals of the crankshaft. The journal to which the pushrods couple is not a split-pin type. Instead, it is one that has a common central axis. Furthermore, the crankshaft is a one-piece or unitary structure. | 10-24-2013 |
20130152547 | Toroidal Combustion Chamber With Side Injection - In systems in which there is insufficient pressure difference between the intake and the exhaust to drive the EGR, an EGR pump is provided. In a dual-engine system, disclosed herein, the EGR system, i.e., the EGR cooler and EGR pump, is shared to obviate the need for two of each. Shutoff valves may be provided between the EGR system and a secondary of the two engines to isolate the secondary engine when it is not operating. When the engines are OPOC engines, exhaust aftertreatment devices, such as diesel oxidation catalysts and/or diesel particulate filters, may be placed upstream of where the EGR gases tee off from the engine's exhaust to thereby maintain a high pressure ratio across an exhaust turbine located downstream in the engine's exhaust. | 06-20-2013 |
20130146021 | Toroidal Combustion Chamber With Side Injection - A toroidal combustion chamber shape with side injectors is being developed for an opposed-piston engine. Favorable combustion characteristics of such configuration are transferred to a conventional engine, i.e., one with a combustion chamber delimited by a piston, a cylinder wall, and a cylinder head. At least one injector is disposed in the cylinder head at the periphery. The fuel is injected substantially along the plane of interface between the cylinder head and the cylinder block. The intake system is configured to provide a swirling flow in the combustion chamber. The fuel is injected in an angle that is displaced from the central axis of the cylinder and directed along the swirl. In some embodiments, a substantially torus-shaped volume is formed between the piston and the cylinder head when the piston is at top center. The injector or injectors spray fuel into the toroidally-shaped volume substantially tangent to the torus. | 06-13-2013 |
20130129523 | Bimetallic Compressor Wheel and a Method of Manufacture Thereof - The performance and durability of compressor wheels coupled to turbocharger shafts are at odds with each other in that a higher rotational speed can be accommodated by an aluminum compressor wheel. But, aluminum has a low yield strength which causes the compressor wheel to expand outwardly at high rotational speeds such that the slip fit on the shaft no longer prevents wobble at high rotational speeds. To at least partially address this issue, the compressor wheel has two portions: an inner portion made of steel or titanium that has a relatively higher yield strength and a blade portion made of a lightweight, castable material. The inner portion is manufactured with grabbing features on its periphery, placed in a die, and the blade portion is cast over the grabbing features to yield a compressor wheel of two materials that provides sufficient shaft stiffening without high rotational inertia. | 05-23-2013 |
20130118441 | Intake System for an Opposed-Piston Engine - An opposed-piston engine has a plurality of intake ports wrapped around the cylinder wall. It is desirable to obtain high swirl ratio flow with minimal pressure drop. A system have a generally-volute shaped plenum is disclosed. A centerline of the volute spirals inwardly. Furthermore, the cross-sectional area of the volute decreases in the direction of flow. The area is decreased as the flow from the plenum enters intake ports so that the velocity of flow in the plenum near the downstream end does not slow precipitously. The intake system may have multiple such volute-shaped plena coupled to mutually exclusive subsets of the intake ports. The volute shape leads to a high swirl ratio with limited drop in flow energy. | 05-16-2013 |
20130098328 | Balancing an Opposed-Piston, Opposed-Cylinder Engine - An opposed-piston, opposed-cylinder engine in which the intake and exhaust pistons are symmetrically arranged has a small inertial force imbalance in the direction of reciprocation of the pistons. A center of gravity of the crankshaft can be displaced from the axis of rotation to at least partially overcome this imbalance. Such counterweighting of the crankshaft cancels a portion of the inertial balance due to the pistons but introduces an inertial imbalance in an orthogonal direction with respect to the piston-induced imbalance. By providing additional counterweights on pulleys rotating at the same speed, but the opposite direction, as the crankshaft, the imbalance can be substantially eliminated to yield substantially a perfectly-balanced engine. | 04-25-2013 |
20130087426 | Accessory Drive for a Mulitple Engine Powertrain - An engine system providing exceptional fuel efficiency is one that has two powerplants coupled by an electrically-actuated clutch. Packaging the two powerplants, the clutch, and the engine accessories presents a challenge. By driving the accessories via a shaft associated with the clutch, the accessories can be mounted between the two engines. Furthermore, this may facilitate providing one of each accessory rather than one per engine. The housing of the clutch is provided with tabs extending outwardly on which the accessories and associated components, such as mounting plates, mounting brackets, shafts, idler pulleys, tensioners, and pulleys, are mounted. | 04-11-2013 |
20130068201 | Modular Gear Case for Driving Accessories Associated With an Internal Combustion Engine - A modular gear case assembly for an internal combustion engine is disclosed that includes a plate removably coupled to the block of the engine with a through hole in the plate through which an end of the crankshaft of the engine extends. The gear case is coupled to the plate and includes: a central gear that couples with the end of the crankshaft, a first interconnecting gear that meshes with the central gear, a second interconnecting gear that meshes with the central gear, a first side gear that meshes with the first interconnecting gear, a second side gear that meshes with the second interconnecting gear, a housing in which the gears are disposed, and a cover that sealingly couples with the housing. | 03-21-2013 |