Honda's New CB1100 - Destined for the U.S.?

Hopefully, this recently issued design patent is proof that Honda's great retro CB1100 is destined for the United States. An image from the patent is below.

Mazda's New Direct Injection Diesel

Clean diesel may have lost some momentum to electric veichles, but many manufacturers are still pursuing it. According to this patent application, Maza has developed a new high efficiency direct injection diesel engine. An image from the patent application is below.

Honda's Robot Army

Robots are the future, and Honda loves robots. According to this patent application, Honda has developed a system where a task can be broadcast to a team (or army - if you will) of robots and then assigned to the robot most capable of executing the task with the lowest "cost" to efficiency. This way, a server can command this army of robots and have them efficiently execute tasks by priority. An image from the patent application is below.

Ford's Non-Hybrid Plug-in

The engineers at Ford are working on a new take on plug-in vehicles. According to this patent application, Ford is developing a plug-in type vehicle that uses battery energy to power all of the electrical systems on the vehicle, but not to supply any "motive" power to the vehicle itself. This eliminates the cost of adding an electric motor in parallel to the gas motor, yet still generates substantial fuel economy improvements. An image from the application is below.

Multi-Clutch R1 Coming From Yamaha

According to this patent application, Yamaha is hard at work to bring a multi-clutch transmission to the R1. Such an advance will be able to speed shift and get more power to the rear wheel faster. An image from the application is below.

Ford's Hatchback With Flip-Out Car Seat

It appears that Ford is working on a new five-door family sedan. According to this patent application, the vehicle will include integral infant car seats that fold back into the hatch. An image from the application is below.

Patent App Shows VW's 2 Wheel Intentions

It has long been rumored that VW is interested in entering the motorcycle segment. VW's recent deal with Suzuki gave many further proof for arguing that VW's intentions are more than just a rumor. Now comes this patent application for an anti-lock system for a two wheeled vehicle. The patent application describes the vehicle as being a bicycle, but it could also apply to a motorcycle. An image from the application is below.