Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100017054 | Engine Power Demand Load-Leveling for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle - A method for controlling a demand for engine power in a control for an engine in a hybrid electric vehicle with power-split characteristics. Following transitions from acceleration or deceleration operating modes to a steady-state operating mode, power demand excursions from road-load power are attenuated or avoided by filtering the power demand using a filter constant that changes within battery power constraints as a function of a normalized driver demand for power at traction wheels for the vehicle. | 01-21-2010 |
20130297105 | ENGINE START FOR A HYBRID ELECTRIC VEHICLE - A hybrid vehicle has an engine, an electric machine connected to the engine by an upstream clutch, a transmission gearbox connected to the electric machine by a downstream clutch, and a controller. The controller is configured to start the engine using one of a plurality of start sequences that control the electric machine, the upstream and downstream clutches. The engine start sequence is selected based on transmission gearbox input speed and a driver demand input. A method of controlling a hybrid vehicle is provided. An engine is selectively coupled to an electric machine by an upstream clutch with the electric machine selectively coupled to a transmission gearbox by a downstream clutch. The engine is started using a control sequence to control the electric machine, upstream clutch, and downstream clutch. The control sequence is determined by a vehicle state based on transmission gearbox input speed and a driver demand input. | 11-07-2013 |
20130297109 | METHOD AND SYSTEM TO MANAGE DRIVELINE OSCILLATIONS WITH MOTOR TORQUE ADJUSTMENT - A system and method for controlling a vehicle having an electric traction motor coupled to a transmission by a clutch include modifying traction motor torque in response to the difference between rotational speed of a driveline component and the filtered rotational speed of the driveline component to reduce driveline oscillation when the clutch is locked. The traction motor torque may be modified in response to a vehicle event that may otherwise induce driveline oscillations, such as a transmission ratio change or regenerative braking, for example. | 11-07-2013 |
20130297126 | OPPORTUNISTIC CHARGING OF HYBRID VEHICLE BATTERY - A control system for a modular hybrid electric vehicle operates an internal combustion engine at a torque level above the driver demanded torque improving the engine's efficiency. A traction motor driveably connected to the engine is operated at a torque level such that the combined torque satisfies the driver demand. The traction motor torque is limited to avoid inefficient combinations of speed and torque at which the motor is inefficient. During idle operation, the traction motor is operated at a torque determined from a battery state of charge and the engine is operated to maintain a predetermined speed. If the engine speed drops below a threshold, motor torque is adjusted to reduce the load on the engine to avoid stalling. | 11-07-2013 |
20140148309 | Method and Apparatus for Reducing Torque During a Transmission Upshift for a Hybrid Vehicle - A hybrid vehicle powertrain that has an engine and an electric machine that may separately or jointly provide torque to a multi-speed transmission. A drivetrain including the engine and the motor is controlled to reduce the requested level of torque provided to the transmission during an upshift. The method is initiated by a request for a reduction of the level of torque and checking the operating state of the engine. If the engine is not on, the torque from the motor is reduced. If the engine is on, the torque from the motor is reduced first and then the torque from the engine is reduced to the requested level of torque. | 05-29-2014 |
20150203092 | TORQUE BASED ENERGY MANAGEMENT IN HYBRID VEHICLE - A system and method for controlling a powertrain in a hybrid vehicle having an engine and a traction motor include commanding the engine to provide an engine torque corresponding with a desired performance characteristic at a current engine speed. The method additionally includes commanding the motor to provide a motor torque to compensate a difference between an operator torque request and the engine torque. | 07-23-2015 |
20150336563 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING HYBRID VEHICLE EFFICIENCY - Systems and methods for improving efficiency of a hybrid vehicle are presented. In one example, an electric machine provides at least a portion of a driver demand torque to propel a vehicle. Operation of the electric machine is adjusted to avoid conditions where efficiency of the electric machine is less than desired. | 11-26-2015 |
20160068152 | METHODS AND SYSTEM FOR STARTING A HYBRID VEHICLE - Systems and methods for improving emissions and drivability of a hybrid vehicle that includes a motor/generator and an engine are presented. The systems and methods may allow vehicle emissions regulations to be met while at the same time providing driveline torque that matches driver demand torque so that vehicle drivability may be maintained or improved. | 03-10-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080217902 | MATERIAL HANDLING APPARATUS AND SUPPORT THEREFOR - A material handling apparatus having a support portion is disclosed. The support portion includes a beam, a wheel disposed on one side of the beam, and a wheel bracket disposed on an opposing side of the beam. The wheel bracket has two legs and a yoke, and is disposed with the legs against the beam to define a gap between the beam and the yoke. The beam and wheel bracket each include a defined pattern of three sets of identically arranged holes, a first set arranged on a square pattern, a second set arranged on rectangular non-square pattern, and a third set arranged on a rectangular pattern similar to that of the second set but oriented ninety degrees to the second set. The wheel bracket is disposed having its defined pattern of holes aligned with the defined pattern of holes in the beam. The wheel, beam and wheel bracket are attached by fasteners passing through one set of holes and traversing the gap. | 09-11-2008 |
20090102332 | Cabinet door locking mechanism - A locking mechanism for a cabinet door is disclosed. A handle pivotally attached to the cabinet door has a first portion on a front side of the door and a second portion on a back side of the door, wherein rotation of the first portion causes rotation of the second portion. An upper rod is pivotally coupled to the second portion of the handle and is translationally coupled to an upper guide via two regions of engagement. A lower rod is pivotally coupled to the second portion of the handle and is translationally coupled to a lower guide via two regions of engagement. Rotation of the handle causes translational movement of the upper rod relative to the upper guide in a line of motion defined by the two regions of engagement at the upper guide, and causes translational movement of the lower rod relative to the lower guide in a line of motion defined by the two regions of engagement at the lower guide. | 04-23-2009 |
20110001404 | APPARATUS INCLUDING LOCKING MEANS AND ENCLOSURE WITH LOCKING MEANS - An apparatus includes a swivel having a first flange with a first pivot on one side of a swivel pivot, and a second flange with a second pivot on an opposite side of the swivel pivot, and first, second, third and fourth rods. The first and second rods are each pivotally attached at a respective first end to the first pivot and extend outwardly therefrom. The third and fourth rods are each pivotally attached at a respective first end to the second pivot and extend outwardly therefrom. The first and third rods are respectively pivotable about the first and second pivots in a first plane, and the second and fourth rods are respectively pivotable about the first and second pivots in a second plane, wherein the first plane is parallel to the second plane. | 01-06-2011 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20160116403 | Hydrocarbon Sensing Methods and Apparatus - A chip-scale, reusable sensor can detect aromatic hydrocarbons, such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX), rapidly in water without sample preparation. The device is capable of real-time, continuous monitoring for BTEX solutes, which diffuse into a film, such as a polymer, on the sensors surface. In operation, BTEX analytes concentrate in the film, causing an increase in refractive index, which modulates evanescent coupling into the chips integrated photodetector array. Integration of the photodetector array simplifies system instrumentation and permits incorporation of an on-chip photocurrent reference region in the immediate vicinity of the sensing region, reducing drift due to temperature fluctuations. In some examples, the chip responds linearly for BTEX concentrations between 1 ppm and 30 ppm, with a limit of detection of 359 ppb, 249 ppb, and 103 ppb for benzene, toluene, and xylene in water, respectively. | 04-28-2016 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100230614 | System And Method For Time-Division Multiplexed Optical Sensing Of Biosensors - A measurement system for use with fluorescent chemosensors has multiple stimulus light sources each coupled to at least one sensor. Multiple sensors each receiving light from a different light source connect to each of one or more photodetectors. A processing device drives the light sources in a time-division multiplexed manner, and reads the photodetector at an appropriate time for each sensor. The processing device calibrates the sensor readings and provides them in a way that is identified to the associated sensor. | 09-16-2010 |
20110279903 | OPTICAL BEAM BUNDLE COMBINER FOR MULTIPLE LASER ARRAYS - One or more combiner elements are disclosed for optically combining multiple laser beam bundles, either extra-cavity or intra-cavity to the laser generating array chips, to form higher density bundles of parallel laser beams. The combiner elements can be shared between two or more array chips and include a form of a pellicle combiner, a polarizing beam splitter cube combiner, or some combination of the two devices. | 11-17-2011 |
20120068848 | MULTI-SENSOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL MONITOR SYSTEM AND METHODS OF USE - A system and method for monitoring the condition of a human, companion animal, or livestock animal in an extreme environment is disclosed. In particular, a system and method to process at least one environmental measurement and at least one physiological measurement to assess at least one condition of a human, companion animal, or livestock animal in an extreme environment is disclosed. | 03-22-2012 |
20130102090 | OPTICAL ANALYTE SENSOR - A waveguide sensor capable of direct, real-time detection and monitoring of analytes in the vicinity of the waveguide surface without requiring the tagging or labeling of the analyte, is described. Analytic and numerical calculations have predicted that by locally detecting either changes in the evanescent field or changes in the light coupled out of the waveguide as a result of the presence of the analyte, high detection sensitivity will be able to be achieved. | 04-25-2013 |
20130223846 | HIGH SPEED FREE-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS - High power, high speed VCSEL arrays are employed in unique configurations of arrays and sub-arrays. Placement of a VCSEL array behind a lens allows spatial separation and directivity. Diffusion may be employed to increase alignment tolerance. Intensity modulation may be performed by operating groups of VCSEL emitters at maximum bias. Optical communications networks with high bandwidth may employ angular, spatial, and/or wavelength multiplexing. A variety of network topologies and bandwidths suitable for the data center may be implemented. Eye safe networks may employ VCSEL emitters may be paired with optical elements to reduce optical power density to eye safe levels. | 08-29-2013 |
20130266326 | Microlenses for Multibeam Arrays of Optoelectronic Devices for High Frequency Operation - A VCSEL array device formed of a monolithic array of raised VCSELs on an electrical contact and raised inactive regions connected to the electrical contact. The VCSELs can be spaced symmetrically or asymmetrically, in a manner to improve power or speed, or in phase and in parallel. The raised VCSELs and raised inactive regions are positioned between the electrical contact and an electrical waveguide. The VCSELs may be separated into subarrays and each VCSEL may be covered with an integrated or bonded microlens for directing light without external lenses. The microlenses may be offset to collect or collimate light and may be shaped to form various lens profiles. | 10-10-2013 |
20130272330 | MULTIBEAM ARRAY OF TOP EMITTING VCSEL ELEMENTS - A top emitting VCSEL array may be coupled to a separate heat spreading superstrate that may be positioned above the apertures of the array and that may be able to transmit the emitted beams through the heat spreading superstrate. The VCSEL devices in the array may be controlled by an electrical connection to a pattern of conductive elements positioned in close contact with, but electrically isolated from, the heat spreading superstrate. The conductive elements may electrically control one or more of the VCSEL devices to enable sectional control of the light output. The elements may also be arraigned in a ground-signal-ground or coplanar waveguide configuration to improve the frequency response of the array. | 10-17-2013 |
20130278151 | ADDRESSABLE ILLUMINATOR WITH EYE-SAFETY CIRCUITRY - An addressable illuminator is disclosed consisting of multiple optical sources used in combination with an electrical circuit so that different combinations of the optical sources can be energized without exceeding eye-safety limits. Operation of multiple optical sources may be proximate, which is eye-safe, regardless of the number of or which ones of the optical sources are energized and regardless of the position of observers. An illuminator with multiple optical sources remains eye-safe when there are single-point electrical failures, such as short circuits, in the driving circuit. Monitoring or a feedback loop for the output power is not required or necessary to control the distance of an observer in order to be eye-safe. | 10-24-2013 |
20150063387 | HIGH BRIGHTNESS PULSED VCSEL SOURCES - A VCSEL device having a mesa for generating laser light includes a centralized thermal containment area and a thermal discharge area surrounding the centralized thermal containment area. The device includes a thermal lensing structure for enhancing or controlling heat flow within the centralized thermal containment area and the thermal discharge area and creating and maintaining an index of refraction between the centralized thermal containment area and the thermal discharge area. The VCSEL device operates as a multimode device when driven at a first current in a continuous wave and the VCSEL device operates as a single mode device when driven at a second current at a pulse rate shorter than an overall thermal time constant of the VCSEL device. | 03-05-2015 |
20150268162 | Multi-Analyte Optical Sensor - An analyte-detection system has an optical waveguide with first and second cladding layers adjacent a core; a light source coupled to provide light to the waveguide; a photodetector such as a metal-semiconductor-metal, vertical PIN, or horizontal PIN photodetectors, the photodetector having an absorber configured to detect light escaping from the waveguide through the first cladding layer; multiple, separate, photocurrent collectors, where each photocurrent collector collects current from a separate portion of the photodetector absorber; and at least one current-sensing amplifier for receiving photocurrent. The photodetector absorber is an undivided absorber region for multiple photocurrent collectors. Either separate amplifiers are provided for each of the multiple photocurrent collection lines, or multiplexing logic couples selected photocurrent collectors to amplifiers, while coupling unselected photocurrent collectors to a bias generator. | 09-24-2015 |
20160080077 | HIGH SPEED FREE-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS - High power, high speed VCSEL arrays are employed in unique configurations of arrays and sub-arrays. Placement of a VCSEL array behind a lens allows spatial separation and directivity. Diffusion may be employed to increase alignment tolerance. Intensity modulation may be performed by operating groups of VCSEL emitters at maximum bias. Optical communications networks with high bandwidth may employ angular, spatial, and/or wavelength multiplexing. A variety of network topologies and bandwidths suitable for the data center may be implemented. Eye safe networks may employ VCSEL emitters may be paired with optical elements to reduce optical power density to eye safe levels. | 03-17-2016 |