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TORVEC
ANNOUNCES THE IVT™ PATENT HAS BEEN GRANTED
ROCHESTER,
NY (AUGUST 6, 2004) — Torvec, Inc. (OTC
Bulletin Board: TOVC [Quote].OB
- News) announced today that the United States
Patent Office has issued Patent No. US 6,748,817
B2 entitled, Transmission with Minimal Orbiter.
This patent has seventeen claims and three drawing
sheets. Confirmation that the transmission is
patented removes one more barrier to moving forward
with commercialization.
This patent is for the infinitely variable transmission
(IVT™) which was designed, tested and improved
in a Dodge Ram 4x4 (diesel) over the past two
years. This transmission demonstrated significant
improvement in the fuel mileage for city driving.
According to EPA statistics, over 60% of all driving
now occurs in city driving conditions. The typical
difference between city and highway driving averages
approximately five to six miles per gallon. The
IVT™ narrows this difference. With oil prices
hitting new highs, this patented transmission
increases in value. If the IVT™ was in all
new SUV’s and light trucks and these vehicles
were diesel powered, the annual savings would
exceed one billion gallons. At today’s average
gasoline price this would equate to consumer savings
in excess of $2 billion.
However,
the American SUV market is primarily for gasoline
powered vehicles, and given the worldwide oil
crisis it is impossible for the automotive companies
to tool up and place diesel powered engines in
a majority of the vehicles over a short time horizon.
Therefore, at the request of the automotive industry,
Torvec is responding to the crisis by putting
its transmission in a gasoline powered GM Tahoe.
A new design incorporating the improvements from
the Dodge tests has been manufactured. Each automotive
company has their own design specific to their
product line, so the transmission tested in the
Dodge cannot simply be placed in the GM Tahoe.
Torvec’s IVT™ fits within the current
configuration of the production GM Tahoe. We need
not make any modifications. This is especially
important to the OEMs (auto manufacturers) for
rapid installation and deployment, while being
extremely cost effective to make this change.
Torvec’s IVT™ has 166 parts compared
to 740 parts for an automatic transmission.
The
dynamometer utilized by Torvec is now programmed
to do certified testing, and the next step is
to establish the exact fuel mileage of the GM
Tahoe with its present automatic transmission
for the baseline. This is a two to three week
process. Torvec has now received all manufactured
parts with the exception of the outside housing,
and these parts are now undergoing final inspection
to check design tolerances. We have completed
the written program for the electronic control
of the transmission’s operation.
Our
team of engineers is working long, hard hours
to complete this project as rapidly as possible.
Our time frames are measured in weeks, not years.

Torvec,
Inc. specializes in automotive and related technology.
The company holds numerous U.S. and international
patents protecting inventions such as a Steer-Drive
and suspension system for tracked vehicles, infinitely-variable
transmission, hydraulic pump and motor, constant
velocity joint, and spherical gearing. Ice Surface
Development, Inc. is advancing technologies to
improve driving experiences for industrial, commercial,
and consumer vehicles by eliminating the hassle
of ice removal and loss of traction. For additional
information and presentations, please visit http://www.torvec.com.
This
news release contains forward-looking statements
that are based on current expectations, estimates
and projections about the company and its plans
for future operation, as well as management's
beliefs and assumptions. Words such as "expects,"
"anticipates," intends," "plans,"
"believes," "seeks," "estimates,"
and variations of such words and similar expressions
are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These statements are not guarantees
of future performance and involve certain risks,
uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult
to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results
may differ materially from what is expressed or
forecasted in such forward-looking statements.
The company undertakes no obligation to update
publicly any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise.
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