US 11,788,478 B2
Mass-flow throttle for large natural gas engines
Justin H. Sanders, San Antonio, TX (US); Michael T. Hambidge, San Antonio, TX (US); Timothy J. Westerdale, San Antonio, TX (US); and Kennon Guglielmo, San Antonio, TX (US)
Assigned to ECONTROLS, LLC, San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed by EControls, LLC, San Antonio, TX (US)
Filed on Jan. 10, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/152,436.
Application 18/152,436 is a continuation of application No. 16/975,235, granted, now 11,578,670, previously published as PCT/US2019/020160, filed on Feb. 28, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/636,382, filed on Feb. 28, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0148398 A1, May 11, 2023
Int. Cl. F02D 9/10 (2006.01); F02D 41/00 (2006.01); F02D 41/20 (2006.01)
CPC F02D 9/105 (2013.01) [F02D 9/107 (2013.01); F02D 41/0002 (2013.01); F02D 41/20 (2013.01); F02D 41/0027 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A throttle assembly for an internal combustion (IC) engine, comprising:
a throttle body including a fluid inlet, a fluid outlet, and a fluid passage connecting the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet;
a throttle blade movably positioned within the fluid passage, wherein an effective area of a throttle flow opening is defined between the throttle blade and the fluid passage;
an actuator mounted to the throttle body and coupled to the throttle blade, the actuator configured to control the position of the throttle blade; and
control circuitry including:
a plurality of pressure sensors configured to take pressure readings of the fluid passage, and
a controller in communication with the plurality of pressure sensors and an engine control module (ECM) of the IC engine, the controller configured to:
receive, from the ECM, a desired discharge flow rate of fluid discharged from the fluid outlet;
choose at least one pressure sensor of the plurality of pressure sensors to use in operation of the throttle assembly based on pressure readings from the plurality of pressure sensors,
calculate a desired effective area of the throttle flow opening corresponding to the desired discharge flowrate based on readings from the at least one of the plurality of pressure sensors, and
control the actuator to position the throttle blade in a position to form the desired effective area of the throttle flow opening.