The latest patent growth index on clean-energy in the U.S. indicates that General Motors, a leading automaker in the U.S., has obtained 135 patents constituting around 14% of the total 1,881 patent applications received from 700 companies.
The patent growth index releases details of various patents granted for green energy applications such as geothermal, tidal/wave, biomass, biofuels, hydroelectric, hybrid and electric vehicles, wind, fuel cells and solar on a yearly basis.
General Motors has laid more emphasis on the current advancements in technologies and on future innovations. Some of GM’s patents include a dynamic method to assess the level of storage in a battery to save on fuel, a multi-injection combustion sequence for spark ignition, which utilizes direct injection engines to improve the air and fuel mixing ratio. GM also received patents for the changeable active fuel management delay by incorporating a hybrid start-stop for a control system to improve saving on fuel usage, electrically changeable transmission system fitted with three planetary gear sets and two interconnections of fixed type for improved torque and low level electrical loss. GM’s patents also include control of hybrid power revival during cruise control to charge the battery aboard the vehicle and save on fuel, and a technique to preheat the battery in plug-in type of hybrid electric vehicles to augment the range of electric driving.
In the year 2010, 940 U.S. patents were received by General Motors, which includes consumer electronics and information technology. The company is placed in the top 25 among the companies that applied for patents.
Source: http://www.gm.com