Northstar Engine Patents?

[JasonA]

I keep reading various places that the Northstar engine has received X number of patents for various designs on the engine. I can't find a specific list anywhere. For example, I think I read that the intake manifold has three patents on it. What components are these patents for? The actual design of the intake or a certain material of the intake, etc.?

Thanks,

[MAC]

This list is by Patent # and Title of patent issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office:

1. 4,473,045 Method and apparatus for controlling fuel to an engine during coolant failure

2. 5,036,729 Coast-sync-coast downshift control method for clutch-to-clutch transmission shifting

3. 5,090,382 Vehicle engine ignition timing system with adaptive knock retard

4. 5,163,404 Vehicle engine ignition timing system and method with windowing knock control

5. 5,273,010 Intake manifold

6. 5,274,335 Oil sensor systems and methods of qualitatively determining oil type and condition

7. 5,327,868 Vehicle ignition system having adaptive knock retard with starting temperature correction

8. 5,720,258 Internal combustion engine control

9. 5,803,046 Ignition timing control

10. 6,305,344 Method and apparatus for controlling fuel to an engine during coolant failure

11. 6,370,469 Cruise control method

12. 6,510,377 Environmental traffic recognition identification prediction strategies

13. 6,574,535 Apparatus and method for active driveline damping with clunk control

14. 6,763,296 Method and system for alternator load modeling for internal combustion engine idle speed control

15. 6,843,752 Torque converter slip control for displacement on demand

16. 6,874,463 Engine and method of operation with cylinder deactivation

The above list represents what I believe to be an accurate accounting of patents issued to General Motors regarding Northstar related technology. There are probably other patents related to existing patents that are not listed above. For example, the earliest patent I saw issued to GM for the "Automatic engine oil change indicator system" was May 3, 1988.

[JasonA]

Thanks Mac! I wonder if anyone can elaborate or explain any of the systems there. I guess numbers 1 and 10 are obvious to us, but what about #5? What about #s 8 and 9? Interesting stuff!