Annual Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award
10 Avril 2006 - 8:00PM
PR Newswire (US)
The Automotive Industry's Version of Hollywood's Biggest Film
Honors AUBURN HILLS, Mich., April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When
it comes to the movie-industry's biggest award night, the
scientific and technical prizes are relegated to a separate,
untelevised event that lacks the ritz and thrill of the main
attraction. But it's just the opposite when it comes to awarding
technical innovation within the Chrysler Group. Believing genius
doesn't fall far from the tree, each year the Chrysler Group
recognizes employee inventions patented during the year in the form
of the Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award. Finalists for the
Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award are selected by the Chrysler
Group Patent Review Committee, which evaluates each patent issued
during the year. Then each voting member ranks the finalists. The
Corporate Intellectual Property Office counts the votes and makes
the final cut. The Chrysler Group has presented patent awards since
the early 1980s and the Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award has at
its core the search for products and ideas that continue to give
the Chrysler Group its competitive edge in all aspects of
technology and business. Inventions that will improve quality,
eliminate waste, reduce costs and speed up development are key to
the selection process. Past Chrysler Group innovations have
included four-wheel hydraulic brakes, electric window controls and
electronic fuel injection. And a little something called the
HEMI(R), now with Multi-Displacement System (MDS). Last year's
winner was a patent for the Evaporative Emissions System Integrity
Module (ESIM), a simple design but with big cost-savings. First
place for the 2005 Walter P. Chrysler Technology Award was given to
Louis A. Rhodes, Douglas J. Quigley, Joseph L. Salani, Carl Mather,
John V. Keane, David J. Ewers and Robert W. Feldmaier for U.S.
Patent No. 6,955,386, issued October 18, 2005 and titled
"Underfloor Stowage of a Folding Seat in a Vehicle" -- better known
as a Stow 'n Go(R) system -- which allows a seat to be folded and
put away, creating a completely flat floor surface. Second place
was awarded to Zhijian James Wu, Jyh-Laing Lin, Dean Marshall, Brad
Schoeff, Mike Trumbo, John G. Hatfield, James Karlet and Yijun Tu
for U.S. Patent No. 6,902,319, issued June 7, 2005, titled
"Vehicular Battery Temperature Estimation." It focuses on software
within the engine controller that already measures coolant and
ambient temperatures, as well as vehicle and engine speeds, to
estimate the internal temperature of the battery at any given time,
eliminating sensing hardware. U.S. Patent No. 6,898,929, issued May
31, 2005 and titled "Method and Apparatus for Supplying a Reductant
to an Engine Exhaust Treatment System" by Thomas W. Asmus nabbed
third place. The goal behind this is for complying with the
stricter emissions standards coming in 2007. Focus is on
regeneration of an NOx absorber or trap via a mixture of diesel
fuel and methanol or ethanol, resulting in vaporization of some of
the alcohol in the fuel. Using the diesel fuel alone for the
process can cause higher exhaust temperatures and extra fuel in the
exhaust. Sean A. Bannon, inventor of U.S. Patent No. 6,916,044
issued July 12, 2005 for the "Steering Column/Airbag Tunable Impact
Absorption System" was awarded fourth place. This functions as an
active steering column that allows for real-time tuning of the
column's energy absorption based on sensed factors, such as driver
size and position or the type of impact. Honorable mentions were
given to David J. Pietras, Nabil M. Issa and Majeed Kadi for their
"Route Storage and Retrieval for a Vehicle Navigation System," U.S.
Patent No. 6,847,891, issued January 25, 2005 (the ability to
record a route not in the system, such as a newly constructed
street or off- road trail) and Mark S. Hannon and James R. Klotz
for their "Internal Combustion Engine Having Three Valves per
Cylinder," U.S. Patent No. 6,895,925, issued May 24, 2005
(three-valve setup for pushrod-style engines). DATASOURCE: Chrysler
Group CONTACT: Cole Quinnell, +1-248-877-3345, , or Roger
Benvenuti, +1-248-512-4634, , both of Chrysler Group Web site:
http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/
http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/
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