Mark Frederick Sommars, Age 824924 N Graceland Dr, Peoria, IL 61614

6354186, Mar 12, 2002

Nov 29, 1999

09/450887

Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL

Caterpillar Inc. - Peoria IL

F01B 300

92 71, 92157

A displacement pump has a rotatable drive shaft and at least one piston containing a piston cavity, and a piston shoe flexibly connected with the piston. The piston shoe comprises a shoe passage fluidly connected with the piston cavity. The displacement pump also has a hydrostatic thrust bearing plate comprising at least one thrust pad, and a driveplate connected with the drive shaft and disposed between the piston shoe and the thrust pad. The driveplate comprises a bearing surface proximate to the thrust pad, a pumping surface proximate to the piston shoe, and at least one communication port fluidly connecting the bearing surface with the pumping surface. The driveplate is rotatable to a position in which the piston cavity is fluidly connected with the thrust pad via the shoe passage and the communication port.

6364631, Apr 2, 2002

Sep 1, 1999

09/388109

James R. Blass - Bloomington IL
Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL
Eric S. Keyster - Peoria IL

Caterpillar Inc. - Peoria IL

F04B 1700

417364, 123446

A pumping system for supplying high pressure actuation fluid to individual fuel injectors of an engine equipped with a hydraulically-actuated fuel injection system wherein the three major elements of the system, namely, the pump, the rail pressure control valve and the bleed-off sump or reservoir are physically separated and spaced from one another. The pump is annular, having a central opening through which the engine crankshaft passes. The crankshaft and pump wobble plate are rotationally coupled by opposing flats on each. The pump, rail pressure control valve and reservoir are mounted directly to the engine, receiving and discharging fluid through internal engine passageways, thereby eliminating the usual tubing, and fittings. The pump itself is compact and relatively short in the axial direction, leaving space for mounting such things as a cylindrical housing having belt grooves in its outer surface and a viscous damper on the crankshaft between the pump and the terminal crankshaft end.

6464473, Oct 15, 2002

Jun 6, 2001

09/875605

James R. Blass - Bloomington IL
Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL
Eric S. Keyster - Peoria IL

Caterpillar Inc - Peoria IL

F04B 1700

417364, 92 71, 417269, 417360

A pumping system for supplying high pressure actuation fluid to individual fuel injectors of an engine equipped with a hydraulically-actuated fuel injection system wherein the three major elements of the system, namely, the pump, the rail pressure control valve and the bleed-off sump or reservoir are physically separated and spaced from one another. The pump is annular, having a central opening through which the engine crankshaft passes. The crankshaft and pump wobble plate are rotationally coupled by opposing flats on each. The pump, rail pressure control valve and reservoir are mounted directly to the engine, receiving and discharging fluid through internal engine passageways, thereby eliminating the usual tubing, and fittings. The pump itself is compact and relatively short in the axial direction, leaving space for mounting such things as a cylindrical housing having belt grooves in its outer surface and a viscous damper on the crankshaft between the pump and the terminal crankshaft end.

6530363, Mar 11, 2003

Apr 14, 2000

09/549780

James R. Blass - Bloomington IL
Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL

Caterpillar Inc - Peoria IL

F02M 700

123446, 123499

Pressurized injector actuation fluid, such as oil or fuel, is supplied to high pressure common rail by a fixed displacement fluid pump. Variable delivery from the pump is achieved by selectively spilling pumped fluid through a digital-acting by-pass or spill valve. The by-pass valve is actuated by a momentary electrical signal, which causes internal fluid pressure in the valve to latch it in a closed condition. The digital-acting by-pass valve permits high precision variations in the pump delivery with rapid response times. Unit pump configurations, radial pump configurations, and axial pump configurations are disclosed for both fuel injection applications and non-fuel injection applications. A single pump with plural pistons can be used to power multiple independent hydraulic systems.

6644277, Nov 11, 2003

Oct 10, 2001

09/958651

James R. Blass - Bloomington IL
Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL
George M. Matta - Washington IL
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL
Jerry A. Wear - East Peoria IL

Caterpillar Inc - Peoria IL

F02M 700

123446, 123458

A high pressure pump system ( ) for use with a hydraulic engine system ( ), such as a fuel injection system ( ) or a compression release brake system, provides variable delivery of pressurized fluid using sleeve metering principles. The relative position of metering sleeves ( ) with respect to pumping pistons ( ) is controlled electro-hydraulically by a control circuit ( ). The control circuit ( ) receives pressurized fluid from the pump delivery gallery ( ) or another high pressure area ( ) and, using a pressure reducer ( ), reduces the operating pressure within the control circuit ( ) to a substantially constant pressure lower than the pump output pressure. Lower operating pressure within the control circuit ( ) improves the manufacturability of the control circuit components and helps to achieve better control of the pump output.

7179060, Feb 20, 2007

Dec 9, 2002

10/314879

Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL, US
Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL, US

Caterpillar Inc - Peoria IL

F04B 49/22
F02M 57/02

417 53, 417307, 417440, 123446, 123506

The present invention relates generally to variable discharge pumps, and specifically pumps used in fuel injection systems. Typically, such pumps include a dedicated spill control valve for each pumping plunger, that also doubles as an avenue for refilling the pumping chambers. This double duty results in compromise in the design of the spill control valve to operate effectively in both spill and fill modes. The present invention addresses these issues by utilizing a shuttle valve member to allow the spill function and the fill function to be addressed in separate passageways while also allowing a pair of plungers to share a common spill control valve. The present invention find particular application in pumps used to supply high pressure fluid to common rails for fuel injection systems.

7398763, Jul 15, 2008

Jan 17, 2006

11/332306

Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL, US
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL, US
Jinhui Sun - Bloomington IL, US

Caterpillar Inc. - Peoria IL

F02M 63/00

123447

A fuel system for a work machine is disclosed. The fuel system has a fuel injector, a first source of fuel at a first pressure, a second source of fuel at a second pressure, and a pressure control device. The pressure control device is disposed between the fuel injector and the first and second sources. The pressure control device is configured to selectively direct the fuel at the first pressure and the fuel at the second pressure to the fuel injector.

7451742, Nov 18, 2008

Oct 29, 2007

11/978255

Dennis H. Gibson - Chillicothe IL, US
Mark F. Sommars - Sparland IL, US
Hoisan Kim - Dunlap IL, US

Caterpillar Inc. - Peoria IL

F02M 69/46
F02M 69/50

123446, 123456, 417225

An internal combustion engine includes an engine housing, a common rail, and a pressurization device for the common rail which includes a plurality of intensifier pistons, and an hydraulically actuated control valve movable between a first position at which it fluidly connects a source of pressurized actuation fluid with one of said intensifier pistons but not a second one of the intensifier pistons, and a second position at which it fluidly connects the at least one fluid inlet with the second one of the intensifier pistons but not the first one of the intensifier pistons.