Patents Examined by Charles J Brauch
  • Patent number: 11978933
    Abstract: A compression apparatus includes an electrolyte membrane, an anode on a principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, a cathode on another principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, an anode separator on the anode, a cathode separator on the cathode, and a voltage applicator. Upon the voltage applicator applying a voltage, protons are extracted from an anode fluid fed to the anode to move to the cathode through the electrolyte membrane and compressed hydrogen is produced. The anode separator has a fluid channel, a manifold hole, and a communicating path which are formed in an anode-side principal surface. The compression apparatus includes a face seal disposed on an outer periphery of a region of the anode-side principal surface of the anode separator which faces the anode. The face seal has a three-layer structure including a metal sheet and a pair of elastic sheets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 7, 2024
    Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Osamu Sakai, Takashi Kakuwa
  • Patent number: 11964251
    Abstract: Provided is a fuel-reforming device comprising: an ammonia tank (4); a reformer (5) for reforming ammonia and generating high-concentration hydrogen gas having a hydrogen content of at least 99%; a mixing tank (7) for mixing ammonia and hydrogen for temporary storage; and a control means (10) for controlling the respective supply amounts of ammonia and high-concentration hydrogen gas that are supplied to the mixing tank (7). The control means (10) calculates the combustion rate coefficient C of mixed gas with respect to a reference fuel on the basis of equation (1). Equation (1): S0=SH×C+SA×(1?C). In equation (1), S0 is the combustion rate of the reference fuel, SH is the combustion rate of hydrogen, SA is the combustion rate of ammonia, and C is the combustion rate coefficient of mixed gas. In addition, on the basis of equation (2), the control means (10) determines the volume fractions of ammonia and hydrogen that are supplied to the mixing tank. Equation (2): C=1?exp(?A×MB).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignees: NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION TOKAI NATIONAL HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH SYSTEM, SAWAFUJI ELECTRIC CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Shinji Kambara, Tomonori Miura, Yuya Tanaka, Tatsuya Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11964527
    Abstract: A vehicle stabilizer system, including: a stabilizer device and a switching mechanism to switch a roll suppressing function by a stabilizer bar between an effective state in which the roll suppressing function is rendered effective and an ineffective state in which the roll suppressing function is rendered ineffective; and a controller configured to determine whether a lateral acceleration of a vehicle body is greater than a threshold lateral acceleration and control the switching mechanism to render the roll suppressing function effective when the lateral acceleration is greater than the threshold lateral acceleration and ineffective when the lateral acceleration is not greater than the threshold lateral acceleration, wherein the controller employs, as a determination lateral acceleration for determining whether the lateral acceleration is greater than the threshold lateral acceleration, a smaller one of an actual lateral acceleration and an estimated lateral acceleration estimated based on a turning degree
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventors: Masaaki Tabata, Kazuyuki Murata, Masashi Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 11965484
    Abstract: There is presented a method for damping an edgewise vibration of a rotor blade of a wind turbine, wherein the method comprises measuring at the rotor blade a motion parameter of the edgewise rotor blade vibration, generating based on said motion parameter a blade pitch angle control signal, and damping the edgewise vibration of the rotor blade by pitching the rotor blade according to the blade pitch angle control signal, wherein the blade pitch angle control signal is arranged so that a resulting force on a rotor blade pitched according to the blade pitch angle control signal, in a direction of the edgewise vibration of the rotor blade in a coordinate system, which rotates with a rotor of the wind turbine, is opposite and proportional to the edgewise rotor blade vibration velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: VESTAS WIND SYSTEMS A/S
    Inventors: Fabio Caponetti, Claus Thy Henningsen, Robert Grøn-Stevens
  • Patent number: 11959415
    Abstract: In an internal combustion engine (1) comprising an electroconductive cylinder head (3), a head cover (5) attached to the cylinder head, a fuel pump (11) attached to the cylinder head and including an electroconductive pump case electrically connected to the cylinder head, and an engine cover (30) positioned so as to oppose the head cover and the fuel pump, the engine cover includes a sound insulating material (31) in contact with the pump case.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: HONDA MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masahiko Tamegai
  • Patent number: 11958595
    Abstract: An actuator for aviation applications, in particular for adjusting rotor blades in a helicopter, may include an electromechanical drive assembly connected to an output drive via a downstream transmission, where the drive assembly is divided into sub-drives that can be operated independently, and where at least two sub-drives are spatially separated from one another in that the transmission is placed between these sub-drives. The transmission may include at least two harmonic gearings coupled to one another by at least one first coupling element, where a first harmonic gearing is located inside a non-rotating first housing, where a second harmonic gearing is located inside a rotating second housing, and where the second housing is connected to the output drive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS TECHNIK GMBH
    Inventors: Jan Haar, Uwe Arnold, Martin Meunier, Carsten Wintjen, Matthias Müller, Werner Pflüger
  • Patent number: 11959401
    Abstract: A deswirl system for a gas turbine engine includes a deswirl shroud, and at least one deswirl vane having a leading end and a trailing end. The deswirl system includes a deswirl hub spaced apart from the deswirl shroud by the at least one deswirl vane. The deswirl hub includes a hub body that extends at a first angle and a hub extension that extends beyond the trailing end of the at least one deswirl vane. The hub extension extends from the hub body at a second angle, and the first angle is different than the second angle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Shakeel Nasir, Atul Verma, Jeffrey Krise, Doni Tapederi, Jacob Salai, Rodolphe Dudebout
  • Patent number: 11952970
    Abstract: A fuel booster system having a fuel inlet port, a fuel outlet port, and a fuel accumulator fluidically coupled to both ports. The fuel inlet port allows fuel to be delivered to the fuel accumulator and the fuel outlet port is in fluid communication with a combustion engine to deliver fuel from the fuel booster system to the combustion engine. A source of pressurized gas is also fluidically coupled to the fuel accumulator to deliver pressurized gas through a gas port in one end of the fuel accumulator. A piston is located within the fuel accumulator and the source of pressurized gas can be discharged into the fuel accumulator to force accumulated fuel from the fuel accumulator and to the engine when the fuel booster system determines that the engine needs more fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 4, 2023
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2024
    Assignee: Pressure Drop Technology Integration, Inc.
    Inventor: William F. Klier
  • Patent number: 11946487
    Abstract: A compressor has a stator assembly, a rotor assembly, and a housing within which the stator assembly and the rotor assembly are located. The housing has a first end, a second end, and an air inlet disposed between the first and second ends. The compressor has a flow guide disposed within the air inlet. The flow guide is configured to split air flowing through the air inlet in use into a first airflow toward the first end of the housing and a second airflow toward the second end of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: Dyson Technology Limited
    Inventors: Hannah Kathryn Barnes, Nigel Youatt Dymond, Adam Janiszewski
  • Patent number: 11946409
    Abstract: An air cooler assembly includes an air cooler having an air inlet manifold, an air outlet manifold, and a heat exchanger core connected at a first end thereof to the air inlet manifold and at a second end thereof to the air outlet manifold. A water separator includes a chamber having a first end and an opposed second end, an air inlet proximate the first end and connected to the air outlet manifold, and an air outlet proximate the second end. A water outlet is formed in a bottom surface of the chamber, and a channel is positioned beneath the water outlet. A condensate outlet is positioned on a bottom surface of the channel. A helical blade has a first end and a second end, and is positioned within the chamber between the air inlet and the air outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Assignee: L & M Radiator, Inc.
    Inventors: Kyle A. Fagerstrom, Kerry Hecimovich, Robert Janezich, Nicholas F. Takes
  • Patent number: 11945483
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus for a train control system are disclosed, and are based on virtualization of train control logic and the use of cloud computing resources. A train control system is configured into two main parts. The first part includes physical elements of the train control system, and the second part includes a virtual train control system that provides the computing resources for the required train control application platforms. The disclosed architecture can be used with various train control technologies, including communications based train control, cab-signaling and fixed block, wayside signal technology. Further, the disclosure describes methodologies to convert cab-signaling and manual operations into distance to go operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 2, 2024
    Inventor: Nabil N. Ghaly
  • Patent number: 11939956
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method for detecting concealed emerging defects in a structure of a wind turbine blade, and a wind turbine blade comprising a first acoustical transducer fastened to a first area of a surface of a structure of the wind turbine blade, and wherein the first acoustical transducer is configured to, while the wind turbine blade being attached to a hub of a wind turbine and the wind turbine is operating: emit a first primary acoustic signal through the surface of the structure and into the structure; and receive a first secondary acoustic signal indicative of an echo of the first primary acoustic signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: LM WIND POWER A/S
    Inventor: Isaac Alejandro Martinez Tovar
  • Patent number: 11939887
    Abstract: A turbocharger includes a first housing configured to house a turbine impeller, a second housing configured to rotatably support a rotating shaft to which the turbine impeller is fixed, and a variable capacity mechanism configured to surround the turbine impeller and to guide a fluid to the turbine impeller. The variable capacity mechanism has a nozzle ring that faces the second housing. A first pin and a second pin extend between the second housing and the nozzle ring and are attached to one of the second housing and the nozzle ring. The other of the second housing and the nozzle ring is provided with a first guide in which an end portion of the first pin is disposed and a second guide in which an end portion of the second pin is disposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Inventors: Katsunori Hayashi, Kengo Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11939961
    Abstract: A method and system of positive and negative sequence rotor currents control for DFIG-WTs under a single dq-PI control structure includes: adjusting the negative sequence rotor current reference according to the negative sequence stator terminal voltage to obtain a reference adjustment value; converting the reference adjustment value to the forward-rotating dq coordinate system and superimposing it with the positive sequence rotor current reference as the input of a PI-regulator-based current feedback controller to uniformly control the positive and negative sequence rotor current; determining the output voltage reference of the rotor-side converter by the PI-regulator-based current feedback controller, according to which, the switching signal of the rotor-side converter can be determined through the SPWM function, controlling the turn-on and turn-off of the bridge arms of the rotor-side converter to form the output voltage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: SHANDONG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Lei Ding, Xuesong Gao, Guofang Zhu
  • Patent number: 11939883
    Abstract: An airfoil includes an airfoil section that has an airfoil wall that defines a leading end, an arced trailing end, and first and second sides that join the leading end and the arced trailing end. The first and second sides span in a longitudinal direction between first and second ends. The airfoil wall circumscribes an internal core cavity that includes an exit region that spans between the first and second ends and that opens through the arced trailing end. The exit region includes pedestals arranged in a plurality of longitudinal pedestal rows. At least one of the longitudinal pedestal rows is straight and at least one of the longitudinal pedestal rows is arced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: RTX CORPORATION
    Inventors: Allan N. Arisi, Ricardo Trindade, Dominic J. Mongillo, Tracy A. Propheter-Hinckley
  • Patent number: 11939896
    Abstract: A blowby gas return apparatus is provided that achieves inhibition of condensation of water vapor in blowby gas in branched return passages. A blowby gas return apparatus that returns blowby gas generated in an engine having a plurality of cylinders to an intake system of the engine includes a distribution portion inside a head cover of the engine, and distributes the blowby gas to intake paths of the cylinders. The distribution portion includes an introduction portion through which the blowby gas is introduced and a plurality of branch passages communicating with the introduction portion, plurality of branch passages branching from the introduction portion to communicate with the intake paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2024
    Assignee: MAZDA MOTOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Takashi Kashiwabara, Yuki Tsukagoshi
  • Patent number: 11933424
    Abstract: Gas admission valve assembly includes a housing, an elongated valve guide disposed within a central bore of the housing, a valve including a valve stem slidably disposed within the valve guide and a valve head selectively engagable with a valve seat of the housing to control flow between gas entry and exit openings into a housing entry chamber. First and second stem seals are disposed at opposite ends of the valve guide in sealing engagement with the valve stem between the valve stem and the central bore of the housing distally and the valve guide proximally.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Jakub M. Walczak, Prabhu Nagaraj, Kevin D. Yoder
  • Patent number: 11932519
    Abstract: A motor controller detects the speed at which a driven member is travelling when it enters a slow-down region of a material handling system. Using this speed and a deceleration rate, the motor controller determines a required slow-down distance to reach a desired slow speed. A traverse distance is determined as a difference between the length of the slow-down region the slow-down distance. The traverse distance extends for a first portion of the slow-down region and the slow-down distance extends for the second portion of the slow-down region. While the driven member is located within the traverse distance, the driven member may continue operating at the speed at which it entered the slow down region. When the driven member reaches the slow-down distance, the motor controller begins decelerating the driven member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2024
    Assignee: Magnetek, Inc.
    Inventors: Kurtis L. Verheyen, Casey Cummins
  • Patent number: 11927175
    Abstract: A rotor blade with a leading edge and a trailing edge is provided, wherein the rotor blade is for being exposed to a fluid flowing substantially from the leading edge to the trailing edge, the rotor blade includes at least three sensors designed for detecting flow characteristics of the fluid and providing respective sensor signals, wherein the sensors are arranged with a non-uniform spacing, and the rotor blade further includes at least one actuator for producing an anti-noise signal based on a sensor signal, the sensors and the actuator are arranged at the surface of the rotor blade, and the actuator is arranged and prepared such that flow-induced edge noise of the rotor blade, which is generated by the fluid, is at least partly cancelled out by the anti-noise signal. A method for creating such rotor blade and a related wind turbine is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy A/S
    Inventors: Steven Buck, Stefan Oerlemans
  • Patent number: 11926438
    Abstract: A device drives a shaft of a jet engine for inspection purposes. The device has: a drive having a part co-rotating with the shaft. The co-rotating part of the unit is configured to lie against a spinner of the shaft and is secured in a non-rotatable manner to at least one fan blade arranged on the shaft using at least one strap.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 12, 2024
    Assignee: LUFTHANSA TECHNIK AG
    Inventors: Jan Oke Peters, Michael Thies, Johann Pott