Patents Examined by Alissa Tompkins
  • Patent number: 9657941
    Abstract: The gasifier operates to mix a start up heat source with crude syngas combustion for driving gasification of waste. Combustion flue gas can be maintained above 650° C. until reaching a quench to prevent formation of dioxins. Excess heat is liberated through a heat recovery unit. The gasifier can operate in a batch mode to process small batches of waste efficiently for small installations, such as ships, apartment buildings, hospitals and residences.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: PROTERRGO INC.
    Inventors: Panayotis Tsantrizos, Stephan Lavigne
  • Patent number: 9656105
    Abstract: A passenger service module including a fitting element, an individual ventilation arrangement connected to the fitting element and having at least one air nozzle, a lighting arrangement connected to the fitting element and having at least one reading lamp, and an operating element connected to the fitting element. The operating element includes a touch panel having at least one input field for individually controlling the operation of the air nozzle and/or of the reading lamp.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: Airbus Operations GmbH
    Inventors: Sebastian Umlauft, Tobias Ameling, Robert Thomas
  • Patent number: 9657598
    Abstract: The method of generating immediate and thereafter continuous steam is used in a steam generating system comprising a steam accumulator, a steam outlet connected to the steam accumulator, an outlet valve at the steam outlet, and a quick response steam generator unit connected to the steam accumulator. The method comprises the steps of providing latent steam in the steam accumulator, opening the outlet valve to allow latent steam in the steam accumulator to exit through the steam outlet, feeding water to the steam generator unit, heating the water fed to the steam generator unit while the latent steam exits through the steam outlet and, before the latent steam has entirely exited the steam accumulator, generating steam with the steam generator unit to feed the steam accumulator and controlling the steam flow rate through the steam outlet to maintain it at a value which is essentially not greater than the steam flow rate from the steam generator unit to the steam accumulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: ENERO INVENTIONS
    Inventor: Benoit Janvier
  • Patent number: 9657632
    Abstract: A system for controlling an aerodynamic shutter of a vehicle includes an ambient temperature estimation module that determines an ambient temperature. A shutter control module that determines whether to actuate the shutter based on the ambient temperature. The shutter control module also determines a predetermined period before selectively applying a predetermined torque value to the shutter. The predetermined period is selected based on the ambient temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 23, 2017
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Edward J. Abeska, David J. Verbrugge, Scott P. Charnesky, John C. Remy, Brian A. Macfarlane, John F. Larsen, David W. Turner
  • Patent number: 9651256
    Abstract: A gravity-style furnace subunit for a gas-induced draft furnace. A heat conduction tube configured to be located inside of a gas-induced draft furnace cabinet, the heat conduction tube being separated from a row of draft-induced heat conduction tubes inside the cabinet. A burner assembly having a burner tube located within the heat conduction tube through an inlet opening of the heat conduction tube. The burner assembly permits air flow through the inlet opening into the heat conduction tube. A pilot assembly located within the heat conduction tube and adjacent to the burner tube. A thermopile module having located adjacent to a flame outlet of the pilot assembly within the heat conduction tube. A gas valve configured to control gas flow to the burner assembly, the gas valve electrically coupled to the thermopile module and to actuate gas flow there-through when the thermopile module generates a predefined voltage difference.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2011
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Lennox Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Shiblee S. M. Noman, Jesse Sanchez
  • Patent number: 9655259
    Abstract: A data processing equipment structure includes a plurality of sidewalls and a ceiling panel, which, together, define an enclosed space. The structure further includes at least one equipment enclosure and at least one cooling unit arranged in side-to-side relationship in a row within the enclosed space. At least one separation panel divides the enclosed space into a front plenum at a front side of the row and a rear plenum at a rear side of the row. Cool air in the front plenum is isolated from heated exhaust air in the rear plenum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: Chatsworth Products, Inc.
    Inventors: Travis North, Steven Bornfield, Samuel Rodriguez
  • Patent number: 9650304
    Abstract: The invention provides a tunnel kiln for firing ceramic porous bodies which can fire ceramic porous bodies containing organic binders in a shorter period of time than in conventional methods without producing breaks or requiring nitrogen gas. The tunnel kiln includes a preheating zone 1, a firing zone 2, and a cooling zone 3 and fires the ceramic porous bodies loaded on a carriage 7 by driving it in a furnace. A heat storage regenerative burner 10 is used as means of heating the firing zone 2 so that low-oxygen-concentration exhaust gas discharged from the heat storage regenerative burner 10 may be returned to an exhaust gas return line 14 and supplied into the preheating zone 1. The exhaust gas return line 14 may be provided with a combustion device 17 that reduces the oxygen concentration by consuming oxygen contained in the exhaust gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Jotaro Miyata, Chikashi Ihara, Takashi Yasue
  • Patent number: 9616731
    Abstract: An automotive vehicle air extraction system in fluid communication with a cabin of the vehicle is provided. The extraction system may have a housing arrangement and a pair of extractors attached to the housing arrangement. A chamber may be formed between the housing arrangement and pair of extractors. An air pump may be in fluid communication with the chamber. The pair of extractors may be an inner extractor and an outer extractor. A controller may be configured to activate the air pump to supply airflow to the chamber to close the inner extractor and/or prevent inadvertent opening of the inner extractor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Manfred Koberstein, Paul Bryan Hoke, Steven David Errick
  • Patent number: 9618197
    Abstract: The invention improves system efficiency with no waste of heat held by a stopped boiler. A boiler system includes a boiler group having a plurality of boilers and a controller for controlling a combustion state of the boiler group. The controller includes a heat release determiner for determining whether or not the plurality of boilers includes a boiler releasing heat, a boiler increase determiner for determining, when the heat releasing boiler starts combustion and the heat releasing boiler and the other combusting boilers are combusted at equal load factors, whether or not the load factor is higher than a predetermined load factor, and an output controller for combusting the heat releasing boiler when the load factor is determined to be higher than the predetermined load factor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Miura Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazuya Yamada, Tetsuji Namoto, Hidetomo Saimi
  • Patent number: 9617006
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an emergency power system for an aircraft having at least one fuel cell unit for producing electric power, wherein the fuel cell unit is cooled via at least one cooling circuit which includes at least one heat exchanger, and wherein the heat exchanger is connected to at least one air distribution system of the aircraft cabin so that exhaust air heated by the heat exchanger in the operation of the emergency power system can be distributed via the air distribution system in the aircraft cabin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Assignee: Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH
    Inventors: Ralf Brugger, Jörn Frick, Jacques Herzog, Dirk Metzler
  • Patent number: 9618232
    Abstract: Modifications convert an existing single-pass boiler to operate with a multi-pass combustion gas flow through the flue passages of the heat exchanger of the boiler. A diverting target wall is arranged partway along the length of the original combustion chamber, and an upper draft diverter is arranged in a flue collector chamber above the flue passages, to divert some or all of the combustion gas into a multi-pass flow pattern through several flue passages of the heat exchanger in series. The modifications may further include changing the nozzle oil delivery rate and cone angle, the oil supply pressure, the draft conditions, and others. Heat extraction from the hot combustion gas to the boiler water is increased, exhaust gas temperature is decreased, and overall efficiency is increased, to result in a fuel and cost savings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2017
    Inventor: Theodore S. Brown
  • Patent number: 9610990
    Abstract: A transportation trailer having a moving floor including a plurality of reciprocating slats for loading/unloading materials into the trailer. The trailer includes a system for warming the moving floor when the materials transported in the trailer freeze on the slats in cold weather. Using the pre-existing hollow structure of the slats, a stream of hot fluid or a hot fluid pipe is run inside the slats for thawing the frozen materials for unloading the trailer. The hot fluid may be provided from a hot fluid source on board of the trailer, for thawing the frozen materials while the trailer is on its way to the unloading site, or may be provided separately at the unloading site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2017
    Assignee: TITAN TRAILERS INC.
    Inventor: Michael Kloepfer
  • Patent number: 9609784
    Abstract: A container data center includes a container, an air duct, and a connecting member. The container is received in a room. The container defines an air inlet and an air outlet away from the air inlet. The air duct extends through a sidewall of the room. A first side of the connecting member is detachably connected to the air inlet of the container, and a second side of the connecting member is connected to the air duct. Air outside the room enters the air duct, flows through the connecting member, enters the container through the air inlet, and flows out of the container through the air outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Tai-Wei Lin
  • Patent number: 9605903
    Abstract: The invention relates to a gate unit for gas-tight sealing of two adjacent high temperature zones within a high temperature oven, comprising a gate panel displaceable between an open position and a closed position within a guide structure. At least one sealing element is transported with the gate panel. Protecting means can be transported by the gate panel over at least one part of a transport path of the same, by which at least one segment of the sealing element can be protected over at least one part of the displacement path of the gate panel against influences harmful to the sealing element particularly against radiant heat. The invention further relates to a high temperature oven having an oven tunnel comprising a first high temperature zone and a second high temperature zone. The gate panel is disposed in a transition region between the first and the second high temperature zones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: March 28, 2017
    Assignee: EISENMANN AG
    Inventors: Karl Berner, Peter Obstfelder
  • Patent number: 9599358
    Abstract: A ventilator having a ventilator stator for mounting to a structure and a ventilator rotor for mounting and rotation with respect to the stator. One or more wind-drivable elements are mounted to the ventilator. A motor is provided for operation between the ventilator rotor and ventilator stator for selective motor-driven rotation of the ventilation rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2017
    Assignee: CSR Building Products Limited
    Inventors: Derek Lawrence Alan Munn, Tarek Alfakhrany
  • Patent number: 9593845
    Abstract: A monitoring module for connection to a diagnostic device having two or more light emitting sources for indicating operating fault conditions of an apparatus. The monitoring module feeds information signals to a communication link for reception at a remote location. The monitoring module is secured over a series of light emitting diodes of the diagnostic device and reproduces these for local access. The series of LED's indicate fault conditions of the apparatus which in this embodiment is a hot water heater. Accordingly, the operation of the hot water heater at its fault status can be monitored from a remote location and on site.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Inventors: Jean-Claude Lesage, Claude Lesage
  • Patent number: 9593850
    Abstract: Remote submerged scraper conveyor (SSC) consists of a conventional SSC modified to include a slurry processing system, which allows it to be located remotely from associated boilers at or slightly above grade level rather than directly under a boiler like a conventional SSC. The slurry processing system includes a pair of overflow troughs 34 and associated weirs located exterior to and along the top edge of each side of the horizontal section of the SSC and an underflow baffle, which extends from a position above the water line down into the horizontal section of the SSC below the water line. The slurry processing system allows the Remote SSC to receive a high volume wet ash slurry discharge via a slurry discharge pipe conventionally sent to an ash pond or a tall dewatering bin system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: CLYDE BERGEMANN, INC.
    Inventor: Gary D. Mooney
  • Patent number: 9593864
    Abstract: An air-conditioning indoor unit causes a flow of air blown out from a blow-out port to be diverted in a predetermined direction due to the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect. The air-conditioning indoor unit includes an airflow direction adjustment vane varying a blowout angle of blown air relative to a horizontal plane, a Coand{hacek over (a)} vane turning the blown air into a Coand{hacek over (a)} airflow along a bottom surface, and a control unit. The Coand{hacek over (a)} vane is provided in proximity to the blow-out port. The control unit executes an airflow direction automatic switching mode automatically switching between a Coand{hacek over (a)} effect use state in which the blown air is turned into a Coand{hacek over (a)} airflow along a predetermined surface and diverted in the predetermined direction, and a normal state in which the Coand{hacek over (a)} airflow is not created.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: Daikin Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanao Yasutomi, Masashi Kamada
  • Patent number: 9593858
    Abstract: A control device for controlling a heating system having a first heat exchanger disposed in a first part of a building, and second heat exchanger disposed in a second part of a building, the control device comprising: a first temperature sensor associated with the first heat exchanger and measuring a temperature in the first part of the building, a second temperature sensor associated with the second heat exchanger and measuring a temperature in the second part of the building. The control device includes a control station by which a temperature compensation can be initiated by recirculating a fluid medium to be used for heat exchange as a function of the temperatures (T1, T2) measured by the first and the second temperature sensor and at least partial exchange of the fluid medium takes place between the first heat exchanger and the second heat exchanger.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2017
    Assignee: UPONOR INNOVATION AB
    Inventors: Stefan Dellwig, Johann Lipinski
  • Patent number: 9587827
    Abstract: A carbon monoxide (CO) boiler or steam generator having a water cooled CO boiler floor with screen gas distribution inlet to enhance distribution of CO gas in a CO boiler. Either the front or rear wall tubes of the steam generator form an integral screen and the tubes continue, forming a membraned, gas tight enclosure. The floor has a “knee” to redirect the incoming waste CO gas up into the integral screen. The screen may be provided with tube erosion shields to prevent erosion of the screen tubes and to control the distribution of waste gas across the plan area of the furnace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 7, 2017
    Assignee: The Babcock & Wilcox Company
    Inventors: Eric L Wells, John A Kulig, Daniel E Knopsnider, Jr., Richard A Wessel