Patents Examined by Brad Gordon
  • Patent number: 10722636
    Abstract: Systems and methods for the performance of kidney replacement therapy having or using a dialyzer, control components, sorbent cartridge and fluid reservoirs configured to be of a weight and size suitable to be worn or carried by an individual requiring treatment are disclosed. The system for performing kidney replacement therapy has a controlled compliance dialysis circuit, where a control pump controls the bi-directional movement of fluid across a dialysis membrane. The dialysis circuit and an extracorporeal circuit for circulating blood are in fluid communication through the dialysis membrane. The flux of fluid moving between the extracorporeal circuit and the dialysis circuit is modified by the rate at which the control pump is operating such that a rate of ultrafiltration and convective clearance can be controlled. The system provides for the monitoring of an inlet and outlet conductivity of the sorbent cartridge to provide a facility to quantify or monitor the removal of urea by the sorbent cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: MEDTRONIC, INC.
    Inventors: Thomas D. Kelly, SuPing Lyu, Bryant J. Pudil, Thomas E. Meyer
  • Patent number: 10722850
    Abstract: Disclosed is a hollow fiber that contains an outer layer made of a first polymer and an inner layer made of a second polymer, the inner layer including at its outer surface a macrovoid-free thin interface sublayer in contact with the inner surface of the outer layer. The first polymer is immiscible with the second polymer. Also disclosed is a process of preparing the above-described hollow fiber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: National University of Singapore
    Inventors: Yee Kang Ong, Tai-Shung Chung
  • Patent number: 10710025
    Abstract: A method of fabricating an inorganic fibrous membrane, the method comprising the steps of: grafting sulfonated graphene oxide onto a scaffold of inorganic nanofibers to form a suspension of heterojunctions of the sulfonated graphene oxide and the scaffold; filtering the suspension through a support to obtain heterojunctions on the support; drying the heterojunctions on the support; and removing the support to obtain the inorganic fibrous membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 14, 2020
    Assignee: NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Delai Darren Sun, Jincheng Liu, Tong Zhang
  • Patent number: 10696569
    Abstract: In a system for generating potable water by water desalination using a reverse osmosis filter having a product outlet and a reject outlet, a system for re-mineralization of the potable water comprising two reactors comprising a first reactor and a second reactor, the two reactors configured to be used simultaneously, the first reactor for collecting lime or calcium carbonate from a stream out of the reject outlet in a first cycle, and for dispensing said collected lime or calcium carbonate to a permeate stream out of the product outlet in a second cycle; and the second reactor for dispensing lime or calcium carbonate into the permeate stream-in the first cycle and for collecting lime or calcium carbonate from a stream out of the reject outlet in the second cycle, wherein a DC voltage sufficient to separate the water into hydrogen (H+) ions and hydroxyl (OH?) ions is applied.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: UET-INDUSTRIAL WATER RECYCLING LTD.
    Inventor: David Sherzer
  • Patent number: 10695481
    Abstract: Systems and methods for the performance of kidney replacement therapy having or using a dialyzer, control components, sorbent cartridge and fluid reservoirs configured to be of a weight and size suitable to be worn or carried by an individual requiring treatment are disclosed. The system for performing kidney replacement therapy has a controlled compliance dialysis circuit, where a control pump controls the bi-directional movement of fluid across a dialysis membrane. The dialysis circuit and an extracorporeal circuit for circulating blood are in fluid communication through the dialysis membrane. The flux of fluid moving between the extracorporeal circuit and the dialysis circuit is modified by the rate at which the control pump is operating such that a rate of ultrafiltration and convective clearance can be controlled. The system provides for the monitoring of an inlet and outlet conductivity of the sorbent cartridge to provide a facility to quantify or monitor the removal of urea by the sorbent cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2020
    Assignee: MEDTRONIC, INC.
    Inventors: Thomas D. Kelly, SuPing Lyu, Bryant J. Pudil, Thomas E. Meyer
  • Patent number: 10669163
    Abstract: A water filter cartridge is provided, including a body for receiving a supply of filter media, the body having an open upper end and an outlet having a plurality of outlet openings, and a cap configured for sealingly engaging the upper end of the body. The supply of media directly contacts an inside surface of an outlet of the body, and the outlet openings being dimensioned for retaining the media despite direct contact with the inside surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2020
    Assignee: PARAGON WATER SYSTEMS
    Inventors: David Swain, Shangfu Ma
  • Patent number: 10617979
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a turbulence element for use with a rotor and a rotor featuring turbulence elements. The rotor is used in a screening apparatus of the pulp and paper industry. The turbulence element has a longitudinal centerline (CL); two longitudinal edges, a leading edge and a trailing edge; two opposite ends, a first end and a second end; and two surfaces, a top surface and a bottom surface arranged between the leading edge and the trailing edge. The top surface is divided into a leading surface having its origin at the leading edge, and a trailing surface having its origin at the trailing edge. The leading edge and the leading surface are provided with undulations (U).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Aikawa Fiber Technologies Trust
    Inventor: Mathieu Hamelin
  • Patent number: 10532146
    Abstract: An apparatus for extra-corporeal blood treatment and a method of presetting an initial mode of treatment in the opening phase of an extra-corporeal blood treatment are controlled based on the opening phase of a haemodiafiltration, in which particularly fast removal of electrolytes such as potassium or of urea occurs. The apparatus has a control and computing unit for presetting an initial mode of treatment, in which over a preset interval of time, substituate is fed to the extra-corporeal blood circuit, dialysis fluid is not fed through the dialyser and instead only ultrafiltrate is withdrawn from the dialyser and, on expiry of the preset interval of time, dialysis fluid is fed through the dialyser. Alternatively, dialysis fluid is provided during the preset interval of time through the dialyser at a dialysis fluid flow rate that is smaller than the dialysis fluid flow rate after the preset interval of time has elapsed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland GmbH
    Inventors: Tomas Jirka, Joerg Jonas, Volker Nier, Wolfgang Wehmeyer
  • Patent number: 10525187
    Abstract: The invention relates to an apparatus for extracorporeal removal of protein-bound toxins from blood plasma comprising a first line device, a second line device, a third line device and a fourth line device, a dialyzer or hemofilter arranged between the first line device and the second line device and/or an adsorber, means for generating a field, at least partially surrounding the first line device and/or the dialyzer or hemofilter and/or the adsorber, a controllable fluid conveyance device arranged in the first line device and/or the second line device, and at least one controllable body fluid conveyance unit arranged in the third line device and/or the fourth line device, a filter, wherein the permeate side of the filter is connected to the first line device and the second line device, and the side of the filter to be dialyzed is connected at its inlet to the third line device, which can be connected to a patient and is connected at its outlet to the fourth line device which can be connected to the patient,
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 7, 2020
    Assignee: FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Ulrich Tschulena, Joachim Jankowski, Anselm Fabig
  • Patent number: 10519326
    Abstract: Disclosed are methods of preparing antifouling and chlorine-resistant coatings on reverse osmosis membranes with initiated chemical vapor deposition. The coatings enhance the stability and lifetime of membranes without sacrificing performance characteristics, such as permeability or salt retention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Karen K. Gleason, Rong Yang
  • Patent number: 10518226
    Abstract: A membrane with rejection properties for mono and divalent-salts, BOD and COD good resistance to cleaning chemicals and maintaining high permeability for water. A polymeric coating prepared from polydopamine or hydroquinone or catechol or mixtures thereof, is deposited. In another embodiment, coating process steps and conditions are taught to achieve thickness control to tune the rejection properties of the membranes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Inventors: Dileep Agnihotri, Xiaofei Huang, Hua Li
  • Patent number: 10519046
    Abstract: Disclosed is a gravity fed purification system having a purification media having a layer of low ash catalytic carbon having a nominal particle size range of about 20 mesh to about 50 mesh, wherein the purification system is able to produce a flow rate of about 1000 to about 1500 cc/min with a pressure head of about 300 to about 350 cc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: SELECTO, INC.
    Inventor: Ehud Levy
  • Patent number: 10512858
    Abstract: A membrane plate, a filter plate, and a filter press. The membrane plate is outfitted with a filter element on top of the membrane on both side surfaces, and the membrane plate has retaining elements at a distance from the margin on which the filter elements are removably secured. The filter plate also has retaining elements at a distance from the margin on which the filter elements are removably secured.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: STRASSBURGER FILTER GMBH & CO. KG
    Inventor: Sebastian Jürgen
  • Patent number: 10485915
    Abstract: A filter for blood or the like provides for concentric filtration tubes of flexible permeable filtration material held concentrically for flow in parallel through the filtration material of the filtration tubes. Manufacture of the filter may in-mold support rings and pillars to flexible filtration media, the lowermost support rings which may then be assembled together and fit into a filter housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
    Inventor: Colm M. Carmody
  • Patent number: 10471395
    Abstract: A hollow fiber membrane and a method of preparing the same. The hollow fiber membrane has an inner surface and an outer surface, wherein the inner surface has a zebra-stripe pattern in which a dense portion and a porous portion are alternately formed in a longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: LOTTE CHEMICAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Dong Jun Im, Bum Jin Park, Chang Min Seo
  • Patent number: 10456717
    Abstract: A disc filter including a stack of apertured filter discs arranged about an axis, the stack having an outer surface and an inner surface and being mounted such that during backflush, individual discs are rotatable relative to adjacent discs about the axis and a disc cleaning assembly operative to rotate at least some of the discs about the axis relative to others of the discs, the disc cleaning assembly including at least one first fluid conduit for producing at least one outer liquid jet directed generally tangentially into engagement with the outer surface of the stack for rotationally driving the at least some of the discs about the axis relative to others of the discs and at least one second fluid conduit for producing at least one inner backflushing liquid jet directed into engagement with the inner surface of the stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Inventor: Yitzhak Orlans
  • Patent number: 10427107
    Abstract: The invention relates to a high-strength hollow fiber zeolite membrane and its preparation method, characterized in that the support of the high-strength zeolite membrane has a multi-channel hollow fiber configuration. The preparation method comprises first preparing a crystal seed solution, then immersing the dry support with the multi-channel hollow fiber configuration in the crystal seed solution, and extracting and drying the support to obtain a crystal-seeded support; and finally placing the crystal-seeded support in a zeolite membrane synthetic fluid, performing hydrothermal synthesis, and taking out, washing and drying the product to obtain the high-strength hollow fiber zeolite membrane. The multi-channel hollow fiber support can provide high mechanical property, which greatly reduces the depreciation rate of the hollow fiber zeolite membrane equipment during use.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2019
    Assignee: NANJING TECH UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Xuehong Gu, Dezhong Liu, Zhenzhou Shi, Chun Zhang, Xuerui Wang
  • Patent number: 10413652
    Abstract: Blood treatment systems and methods are provided for combining a blood separation system and an adsorption device. The blood separation system is configured to separate a blood component from blood, while the adsorption device is configured to receive at least a portion of the separated blood component and process it. The blood separation system includes a fluid flow element and a controller. The fluid flow element is configured for flowing the separated blood component into the adsorption device. The controller controls the fluid flow element based at least in part on one or more processing parameters. The processing parameters include a maximum flow rate of the separated blood component flowed into the adsorption device, a maximum pressure of the separated blood component flowed into the adsorption device, and/or the volume of fluid in a location of the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 17, 2019
    Assignee: FENWAL, INC.
    Inventors: John T. Foley, Jonathan Prendergast, Lan T. Nguyen, Brian C. Case
  • Patent number: 10384167
    Abstract: The invention relates to repairing and/or modifying a surface of a membrane in osmotically driven membrane systems by the introduction of one or more substances to the membrane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2019
    Assignee: OASYS WATER LLC
    Inventors: Zachary Helm, Homayoun Moaddel, John Charest, Peter F. Moran
  • Patent number: 10307953
    Abstract: An automatic screen changer device for use on systems and equipments for the manufacturing, processing, recycling and treatment of thermoplastic materials, is placed downstream of an extruder device and includes a frame (12), two opposite side plates or shoulders secured to the frame and provided, respectively, with an inlet opening (18) and a pair of inlet channels (30), with an outlet opening (20) and with a pair of outlet channels (32), the inlet channels allowing a flow and a screening of contaminated molten material in the direction of the outlet channels through a pair of stacked screening units; the device likewise includes movable sealing and locking/unlocking elements of a screening support or band for the screening of the molten material in each screening unit with the latter movable reciprocally with temporary interruption of the flow of molten material through one of the same screening units during the screen change.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: ALFATECH S.R.L.
    Inventor: Luigi Panebianco