Patents Examined by Amene Bayou
  • Patent number: 8657585
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for driving a compressor of an air conditioner are disclosed. When compensating for load torque of a compressor (e.g., a single-rotary compressor) of an air conditioner, a method for providing a compensation torque using an optimum phase compensation angle is used. In relation to a phase current or a frequency of a given motor, an optimum phase compensation angle causing a minimum speed ripple is measured, and the measured optimum phase compensation angle is stored in the form of a table. In the actual driving of the motor, the method applies a compensation torque having an optimum phase compensation angle to the motor by referring to the table.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2014
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Youngho Hong, Yangkwang Choi, Wonseok Kim
  • Patent number: 8651824
    Abstract: A condensate pump for an HVAC system includes a reservoir for collecting condensate water, a pump motor connected to an impeller pump for pumping the condensate water out of the reservoir, and a floatless pump control module. The floatless pump's microcontroller detects the water level in the reservoir and, based on the water level in the reservoir, controls the operation of the pump motor, and if necessary, sounds an alarm and shuts down the HVAC system. The floatless pump microcontroller may employ an ultrasonic transducer or capacitance sensors to detect the level of condensate water in the reservoir. The microcontroller implements a variable water lift feature to pump the water using the lowest possible speed for the pump. The microcontroller implements a self-cleaning feature to pump stagnant water out of the reservoir and to pulse water in the drain line and the agitation of the water in the reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2014
    Assignee: Diversitech Corporation
    Inventor: Charles Barry Ward
  • Patent number: 8636478
    Abstract: A sensor assembly (51) for sensing one or more fluid properties of a fluid in a subsurface well (12) having a well fluid level (42W), a surface region (32) and a riser pipe (30) includes a sensor apparatus (52) and a pump assembly (54) that are positioned within the well (12). The sensor apparatus (52) includes a sensor (682) that senses one of the fluid properties. The pump assembly (54) can be positioned in an in-line manner relative to the sensor apparatus (52). The pump assembly (54) can be positioned between the sensor apparatus (52) and the surface region (32). Alternatively, the sensor apparatus (52) can be positioned between the pump assembly (54) and the surface region (32). In one embodiment, the sensor apparatus (52) is positioned above the well fluid level (42W). The pump assembly (54) can pump fluid toward the sensor apparatus (52) or the pump assembly (54) can pump fluid to draw more fluid to the sensor apparatus (52).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2007
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2014
    Assignee: BESST, Inc.
    Inventors: Noah R. Heller, Peter F. Moritzburke
  • Patent number: 8632321
    Abstract: A submersible electric pump includes a housing adapted to be submerged within a fluid to be pumped having apertures extending therethrough. An electric motor stator is positioned within the housing in communication with the apertures and is adapted to be in contact with the fluid. Inner and outer pump rotors are positioned within the housing in meshed engagement with one another to pump fluid when rotated. A plurality of permanent magnets are fixed for rotation with the outer rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2014
    Assignee: Magna Powertrain Inc.
    Inventors: Gil Hadar, Andy Bennett
  • Patent number: 8613602
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pressure boost for fluids, in particular hydraulic fluids, having a booster piston and a control piston unit, wherein a low-pressure side of the booster piston can be alternately connected by the control piston unit via a cylinder line to a low-pressure feed line and a discharge line, and a high-pressure side of the booster piston can be alternately connected to a high-pressure load line and a low-pressure feed line, wherein the control piston unit has two elements which are embodied as seat valves and which each interact with one valve seat and which are designed such that one of the elements intermittently seals off the low-pressure feed line, which can be connected to the low-pressure side of the booster piston, and the other element intermittently seals off the discharge line, which can be connected to the low-pressure side of the booster piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2013
    Assignee: Scanwill Fluidpower APS
    Inventor: Jesper Will Iversen
  • Patent number: 8613600
    Abstract: A vacuum pump system includes a vacuum pump with a brushless, multi-phase, synchronous motor with a permanently magnetically excited rotor, and a pump type recognition element, a control unit for controlling the vacuum pump and having a drive microcontroller and a final stage, and a further microcontroller that monitors a rotational speed of the motor and turning off the final stage in case the rotational speed of the motor exceeds a maximum allowable rotational speed of the motor, and that forms part of the control unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2013
    Assignee: Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Losch, André Mueller
  • Patent number: 8608453
    Abstract: The invention relates to a feed pump for supplying lubricant to at least one lubricating point, with at least one driving module and at least one pump module. Each driving module and each pump module is selected from a modular system which comprises a plurality of driving modules and/or a plurality of pump modules which each have at least one connecting region. In this case, the connecting regions are matched to one another in such a manner that the at least one driving module can be exchanged for at least one further driving module and/or the at least one pump module can be exchanged for at least one further pump module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 20, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Lincoln GmbH
    Inventor: Zdravko Paluncic
  • Patent number: 8602744
    Abstract: A condensate pump for an HVAC system includes a reservoir for collecting condensate water, a pump motor connected to an impeller pump for pumping the condensate water out of the reservoir, and a floatless pump controller. The floatless pump controller detects the water level in the reservoir and, based on the water level in the reservoir, controls the operation of the pump motor, and if necessary, sounds an alarm and shuts down the HVAC system. The floatless pump controller may employ an ultrasonic transducer or capacitance sensors to detect the level of condensate water in the reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2008
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignee: Diversitech Corporation
    Inventor: Charles Barry Ward
  • Patent number: 8602745
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a system including a pump, a motor, and a controller. The controller establishes a baseline value of power consumption during a deadhead condition, increases a counter when a current value decreases below the baseline value, and determines a deadhead condition when the counter exceeds a limit. The controller also compares a current value to an immediately previous power consumption value to determine an entrapment condition indicated by a sudden decrease in power consumption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2013
    Assignees: Pentair Water Pool and Spa, Inc., Danfoss Low Power Drives
    Inventors: Robert W. Stiles, Jr., Lars Hoffmann Berthelsen, Peter Westermann-Rasmussen, Gert Kjaer, Florin Lungeanu
  • Patent number: 8596999
    Abstract: A disposable centrifugal blood pump with magnetic coupling provides a centrifugal blood pump with magnetic coupling which is simple in structure of disposable parts with low cost. Therefore, a housing as the disposable part includes a rotor having pole faces extending on the outer-peripheral surface and projecting inward from the inner-peripheral surface and an impeller attached to the rotor, and a stator as a reusable part includes three or more electromagnets for electromagnetic coupling for forming a magnetic coupling between the stator and the rotor, a torque transmission disk formed by sandwiching a ring-shaped permanent magnet between two upper and lower ring members and having pole faces corresponding to the pole faces projecting from the inner-peripheral surface of the rotor formed to project for generating a magnetic coupling between stator and rotor, a motor for rotating the torque transmission disk, and a displacement gauge for measuring displacement of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignees: Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University
    Inventors: Tadahiko Shinshi, Akira Shimokohbe, Junichi Asama, Chikara Hara, Wataru Hijikata, Setsuo Takatani, Hideo Hoshi
  • Patent number: 8591202
    Abstract: A positive displacement pumping system for use in deep wells includes a drive system and one or two pumps. The drive system may include an electrical motor or a windmill. The pump include a central hollow discharge tube and one or more vertically aligned pumping chambers in fluid communication with the central discharge tube. Within each pumping chamber, a valve arrangement, which includes a piston or shuttle member and fluid intakes, causes fluid to fill and then drain from the pumping chambers as the central hollow discharge tube reciprocates. In operation, the drive system causes the central hollow discharge tube in the pump to reciprocate and thereby cause the fluid to travel from each pumping chamber into to the central discharge tube. In the preferred embodiment, fluid is pumped on both the upstroke and downstroke of the central discharge tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Inventors: Larry Lack, Larry Lack
  • Patent number: 8591203
    Abstract: In a pump apparatus having a reduction chamber for reducing pulsation of a hydraulic fluid pressurized in a pump section on the way of a discharge channel having an opening in the outer surface of the housing of the pump section, a remaining fluid inflow prevention pipe having one end fitted into and fixed to the discharge channel between the outer surface and the reduction chamber and the other end positioned in the reduction chamber is provided, and a seal lip for fluid-tightly sealing the space between the inner wall of the discharge channel and the one end is provided on the outer circumference of the one end. The seal lip is formed in a shape tapered toward the discharge side. Further, the outside diameter of the other end of the remaining fluid inflow prevention pipe is made larger than the inside diameter of the discharge channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: JTEKT Corporation
    Inventors: Yoshihito Yoshihara, Yoshiaki Hamasaki, Takashi Taniwa, Katsutake Asano
  • Patent number: 8591209
    Abstract: The invention relates to a pump having a valve through which a fluid can optionally flow. The valve is embodied by a cavity for displaceably guiding a spherical blocking body, and a valve seat that is spatially adapted to the spherical shape of the blocking body. A free space protruding radially outwards from the spherical body is located downstream, directly behind the valve seat, for temporarily receiving the fluid which flows through the valve seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 21, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
    Inventors: Oliver Schmautz, Marc Zimmermann
  • Patent number: 8591208
    Abstract: A multi-chambered pulsation absorber for attachment over the valve cap opening of a compressor cylinder. Each chamber is in fluid communication with the valve cap opening (or cylinder internal gas passages) via an associated choke tube. Each pairing of a chamber with a choke tube is tuned, in the manner of a Helmholz resonator, to attenuate and nearly eliminate a different cylinder-related pulsation frequency, such as those resulting from internal cylinder pulsations or cylinder nozzle pulsations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2013
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: Eugene L. Broerman, III, Danny M. Deffenbaugh, Robert J. McKee
  • Patent number: 8568104
    Abstract: The proportioner (10) has a variable speed controlled DC motor (12) having a gearbox (14) and crankshaft (16) at either end which are connected to reciprocating piston pumps (18). The outputs (18a) of the two pumps (18) are fed to a manifold (22) where the pressure of each output is measured. The user sets a setpoint pressure (e.g. 1000 psi) and the controller (26) then compares the pressures of the two components and controls the higher of the two relative to the setpoint. Ratio assurance is monitored by continuing to look at both output pressures. If one side falls below a predetermined percentage of the setpoint (50% in the preferred embodiment), an alarm may be raised or operation stopped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2013
    Assignee: Graco Minnesota Inc.
    Inventors: Martin P. McCormick, William A. Weikel, Bret A. Deneson, David M. Larsen
  • Patent number: 8550795
    Abstract: A series-connected motor unit includes a first motor, a second motor and a separation member. The first motor has a first circuit board, and the second motor has a second circuit board. The separation member has a first face and a second face opposite to the first face. The first face abuts against the first circuit board, and the second face abuts against the second circuit board.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Zhe-Hao Wu, Cheng-Te Liu
  • Patent number: 8550792
    Abstract: A device configured for converting energy includes a first surface, a second surface configured for moving with respect to the first surface during operation of the device, and a coating disposed on at least one of the first surface and the second surface. The coating includes a first layer of a ceramic alloy represented by the general formula AlMgB14—X, wherein X is present in an amount of from 0 to 70 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the ceramic alloy and is a doping agent selected from the group of Group IV elements and borides and nitrides thereof, and a second layer disposed on the first layer and including carbon in a gradient concentration. The coating has a hardness of from 10 to 20 GPa and a coefficient of friction of less than or equal to 0.12.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 8, 2013
    Assignee: Eaton Corporation
    Inventors: Lyudmila Mikhaylovna Solovyeva, Kyle S. Jansson, Alaa AbdelAzim Elmoursi, Dong Zhu, Robert Milner, Earl Eugene Daugherty, Clifton Baxter Higdon, Kamel Abdel-Khalik Elagamy, Aaron Michael Hicks
  • Patent number: 8545193
    Abstract: Fan apparatus for an air conditioner including a fan (50), a shaft (68) coupled to the fan (50), a rotor (60) for transmission of driving force to the shaft (68) for rotating the fan (50), a stator (65) on an inside of the rotor (60) to form a BLDC motor together with the rotor (60), and a fan housing (40) for enclosing the fan (50), thereby reducing noise and enhancing fan (50) efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: In Gyu Kim, Byung Il Park, Ja Hyung Koo, Yang Ho Kim, Kyeong Wook Heo, Si-Kyong Sung, Dong Hyuk Lee, Young Ho Hong, Tae Geun Kim
  • Patent number: 8545190
    Abstract: A valve with a shuttle for use in a flow management system is capable of bypassing a backflow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2013
    Inventor: Lawrence Osborne
  • Patent number: 8540496
    Abstract: A fan apparatus is provided and includes: a housing having a hollow cylindrical shape; a circuit board holding structure which is disposed in the housing so as to be located at the radially central part of the housing and which includes a plurality of slits extending axially; a circuit board disposed inside the circuit board holding structure in parallel with the axial direction; a plurality of fixed blades disposed so as to bridge between the housing and the circuit board holding structure; and a motor which includes a rotary shaft and an impeller and which is disposed at the front end of the circuit board holding structure, wherein the impeller is connected to the rotary shaft so as to move air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 19, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuzuru Suzuki, Yuuki Takahashi, Yoshiki Sakamoto