{
  "patent_number": "US 12442345",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How an Auxiliary Controller Manages Supplemental Fuel Injection",
  "original_title": "Supplemental fuel control system",
  "summary": "A method for an add-on computer to calculate and control extra fuel injection by piggybacking on data from a car's original engine computer.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a system where an auxiliary controller intercepts data from a vehicle's factory-installed Engine Control Unit (ECU) to manage a secondary set of fuel injectors. By receiving the primary fuel injector's 'on time' and the total engine air mass, the auxiliary controller calculates exactly how much extra fuel is needed to reach a desired air-to-fuel ratio. It then determines the precise timing for the secondary injectors to fire for each engine cylinder. This allows for precise fuel enrichment without needing to reprogram or replace the original factory computer.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover systems that replace the factory ECU entirely.",
    "Does not cover fuel injection systems that operate without receiving air mass data from the primary ECU.",
    "Does not cover mechanical fuel injection systems that lack electronic timing control.",
    "Does not cover systems that do not calculate individual injector 'on times' based on cylinder-specific air mass data."
  ],
  "filed": "2025-05-05",
  "granted": "2025-10-14",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Individual",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/individual",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "David William Steck, Jr.",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/david-william-steck-jr"
    },
    {
      "name": "Anthony Jake Merriman",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/anthony-jake-merriman"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "mechanical"
  ],
  "abstract": "An auxiliary controller operates in combination with a baseline ECU in a primary fuel (PF) system to determine a fueling level for supplemental fuel (SF) injectors. The auxiliary controller receives PF injector on time from the baseline ECU and determines a PF fuel mass and a PF fueled air mass for the primary fuel system. The auxiliary controller calculates a SF fueled air mass from a total engine air mass and the PF fueled air mass and then calculates a SF fuel mass and a SF injector on time. The auxiliary controller sequentially repeats the process for all of the cylinders in the engine and communicates the SF injector on times to the SF injectors for the cylinders.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12442345/raptor-mass-production",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12442345/raptor-mass-production/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12442345",
  "relatedPatents": []
}