EcoBoost contributes 125 new US patents, continues Ford tradition of patent quality

The additions build on Ford Motor Company's current roster of 4,618 active U.S. patents, with thousands more patent applications pending.

EcoBoost will be available in the Middle East on the new Ford Taurus, Flex as well as Lincoln MKS and the upcoming all-new full size crossover, Lincoln MKT. The 2010 Taurus makes its regional debut this week as the Gitex Technology Week Official Car, in Dubai's International Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Ford Motor Company is speeding the introduction of innovative technologies to help add convenience, safety and fuel efficiency in its vehicles. And the strategy is paying off: A 2008 study by the world's leading patent analyst, The Patent Board, found Ford outperformed all other automakers in the quality and significance of its technology patents.

"Ford's patented technologies are closer to the cutting edge than its competitors,"

said Christine Wren, director of business development for The Patent Board, which tracks and analyzes patents across 17 industries globally.

Ford EcoBoost engine also was honored recently with a Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award. The Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Awards, now in their fifth year, recognize products and celebrate innovations poised to change the world, and the passionate, smart creators behind them. Ford is the only automaker this year to receive the accolade.

Powertrain management key to EcoBoost patents

EcoBoost, which uses turbocharging and direct gasoline injection to boost engine output and reduce emissions without sacrificing fuel economy, marks a major milestone in the Ford strategy to deliver technologically advanced, high-output, smaller-displacement powertrains.

The Ford powertrain management strategy uses hundreds of thousands of lines of computer code and related parameters that are adjusted to optimize the engine and transmission operation. It's these processes that largely make up the EcoBoost patent contribution and make Ford's use of direct injection and turbocharging of its engines like no other automaker in the world.

To extract the level of power and efficiency achieved in an engine like the EcoBoost V-6, a remarkable level of precision is required. One example is the amount of control engineers maintain over the fuel injection system:

• The powertrain management strategy uses 10,066 adjustable parameters
• At idle, each injector releases 10.4 milligrams of fuel per injection; put in household terms, that's 1/25,000 the volume of a can of soda, or 0.2 drops of fuel
• Fuel injection pressure is continuously controlled to between 220 psi and 2150 psi
• Injection timing is adjusted up to 300 times a second