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US 4,796,579 AGranted
Automotive type throttle body
AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsBrian C. Wolfe, Thomas D. Wernholm
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeFord Motor Company
InventorsBrian C. Wolfe, Thomas D. Wernholm
Estimating the term…
An automotive type internal combustion engine has an air throttle body for providing air to the engine for combination with fuel injected to define a fuel air charge; the air throttle body having primary and secondary air passages controlled by throttling valves, the primary passage being a drive-by-wire electrical system in which the throttle valve is moved electrically in response to movement of the vehicle accelerator pedal, the secondary passage being controlled by a throttle valve that has a direct mechanical connection to the vehicle accelerator pedal to be operative at wide open or near wide open throttle positions of the accelerator pedal to not only supply additional air for wide open throttle operation, but also to supply sufficient air to sustain engine operation in the event of inoperativeness of the electrical system or the actuator/motor affecting movement of the primary throttle valve.
A multi-stage throttle body having parallel primary and secondary throttle bores defining air flow induction passages each open to ambient air at one end and adapted to be connected to an engine intake manifold at the other end for providing two independent passages of air to the engine, said primary and secondary passages each having throttle valve means therein movable between positions opening and closing the respective passages to control air flow therethrough, a drive-by-wire electrical actuator means for moving the primary throttle valve means, an operator controlled vehicle accelerator pedal electrically connected to the primary throttle valve means and mechanically connected directly to the secondary throttle valve means and depressible for effecting movement of the primary throttle valve means by the drive-by-wire means and for positively moving the secondary throttle valve means at times, and lost motion means in the connection between the accelerator pedal and secondary throttle valve means effecting movement of the secondary throttle valve means only after a predetermined depression of the accelerator pedal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.