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US 10,935,100 B2Granted
Device for compensating free inertia forces of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsBernd Steiner, Klaus P. Kuepper, Jonathan Gregory
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Abstract
Systems and methods for reducing inertial forces of a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine are described. The systems and methods may provide for counterweights in a form of pistons in cylinders that are moved via electromagnets. The counterweights may be moved at a frequency that corresponds to engine speed via an alternating current.
Claims8
A vehicle system, comprising:
- an engine including two or more pistons;
- first and second electrically driven counterweights coupled to the engine, the first and second electrically driven counterweights including electromagnets;
- a propulsion electric machine for providing torque to a vehicle driveline;
- and
- a controller including executable instructions stored in non-transitory memory to move the first and second electrically driven counterweights at a speed that is a function of engine speed via the electromagnets;
- and
- deactivate the first and second electrically driven counterweights when the propulsion electric machine is activated.
4 more elements
A method for operating an engine, comprising:
- supplying a current to reciprocate counterweights in a plurality of cylinders different than combustion chambers of the engine via electromagnets via a controller;
- and
- adjusting the current responsive to engine load via the controller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.