Patents Examined by Christopher Y. Kim
  • Patent number: 5524861
    Abstract: A system of mounting a plurality of wall panels to a soffit layout which defines the building module's layout, utilizes exterior and interior wall panels which are hingedly mounted at the bottom and are actively displaced to permit the casting to be removed. The panels are movable through the use of manual or hydraulic actuators. When the interior panels are positioned to receive the mold material they are exactly vertical. To permit the creation of orthogonal corners, the invention employs a trapezoidal corner panel for use in each interior corner. This corner panel is movable independently of the wall panels although it fits in precise confronting relation with specially designed terminal sections of the wall panels. A spacer or filler segment is also utilized above each interior wall panel and outwardly of the marginal roof panels with the filler segment defining a horizontal junction for the casting wall and roof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 1994
    Date of Patent: June 11, 1996
    Assignee: Modal Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Anthony M. Solomon
  • Patent number: 5518700
    Abstract: A reactor having one or more reactant inlets to which spargers are affixed and one or more reactant inlets each having an injection jet is presented. Reactants are introduced into the reactor through the spargers and jets under conditions in which a three dimensional cyclonic character is created in a well mixed reaction zone. This, together with the energy with which the reactants are introduced into the reaction zone, facilitates both macromixing and micromixing phenomena. The reactor is particularly useful for reacting chlorine and propylene to obtain allyl chloride.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 25, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Shell Oil Company
    Inventors: Paul M. Ayoub, Jean-Charles Ginestra
  • Patent number: 5518391
    Abstract: An assembly for cutting and shaping a bar-shaped dough body including a plurality of polyhedral cutting members disposed around an opening through which the bar-shaped dough body is extruded. The polyhedral members are rotatably mounted around the opening and are formed to cooperatively close the opening, thereby cutting the bar-shaped dough body, multiple times during each revolution of the polyhedral members. Each polyhedral member includes curved sides meeting at one or more tip edges, the tip edges of each of the polyhedral members meeting at a center of the opening when the bar-shaped dough body is cut.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Rheon Automatic Machinery Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yasunori Tashiro
  • Patent number: 5512141
    Abstract: The invention relates to a distillation apparatus (1) which is suitable in particular for the distillation of sea water into fresh water. The apparatus comprises a plurality of flat, bag-like elements (3) formed from a thin film material such as plastic film and placed one against the other, the elements serving as heat exchangers between a vaporizing liquid flowing along the exterior surfaces of the element and a condensing vapor directed to the inside of the element, and a compressor (15) for increasing the pressure and temperature of the generated vapor before it is directed to the inside of the elements. The essential idea of the invention is that the inside of each element (3) is divided into parallel vapor ducts (12) extending vertically from one end of the element to the other, into which ducts the vapor is fed from apertures (25) at the upper edge of the element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 30, 1996
    Assignee: Keeran Corporation N.V.
    Inventors: Peter Koistinen, Reijo Rantala
  • Patent number: 5505909
    Abstract: The invention relates to a process and a device for detoxifying the waste gases from waste incinerating plants, at least one plasma gas flow being admixed to the hot fresh flue gas flow from the waste incinerating plant for the thermal decomposition of the toxic compounds, the fresh flue gas flow is preferably heated up in a recuperation stage with a high-temperature heat exchanger by the plasma-beam-treated flue gas in the counter-flow principle and subsequently at least one plasma gas flow is mixed into the fresh flue gas heated in this fashion. Following this, the gas mixture being at a peak temperature is used for heating up the fresh flue gas flow in the recuperation stage and cooled to a temperature which is still above the waste gas temperature, and it is subsequently finally treated in a waste heat system and a flue gas purification.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1996
    Assignee: Maschinen-und Anlagenbau Grimma GmbH
    Inventors: Hans-Ulrich Dummersdorf, Heinz Dummersdorf
  • Patent number: 5505906
    Abstract: Apparatus for cleaning high temperature, high pressure gases includes a pressure vessel, and a filtration unit within the pressure vessel. The filtration unit is adapted to communicate with a fluidized bed reactor gas outlet, and includes at least one dirty gas chamber housing a plurality of porous, ceramic filter tubes, and at least one clean gas chamber for receiving clean gas from the ceramic filter tubes. The dirty gas chamber includes a particle outlet for removing particles separated from the gas by the filter tubes. The porous ceramic filter tubes are horizontally oriented within the filtration unit or housing and mounted within water cooled walls of the housing. The fluidized bed reactor and associated cyclone separator may be located within the pressure vessel with the filtration unit, or located outside the pressure vessel and in communication with the filtration unit inside the pressure vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 1991
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1996
    Assignee: A. Ahlstrom Corporation
    Inventors: Folke Engstrom, Juhani Isaksson
  • Patent number: 5503805
    Abstract: A device and method for efficiently synthesizing diverse molecular products on substrates. A parent vessel 200 contains a suspension of substrates. The suspension is pressurized with argon and transferred to a plurality of reaction vessels 201-209 in one or more reaction vessel banks where monomer addition reactions take place. Optionally, the substrates may be tagged with a tag monomer. A vortexing motor 300 vortexes the contents of reaction vessels 201-209 during monomer addition reactions to enhance synthesis. After the desired monomer and/or tag monomer addition reaction, the suspension is pressurized with argon and transferred back to parent vessel 200 for mixing. Thereafter, the suspension may be pressurized with argon and reallocated among reaction vessels 201-209 for further synthesis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1996
    Assignee: Affymax Technologies N.V.
    Inventors: Jeffrey J. Sugarman, Richard P. Rava, Haim Kedar
  • Patent number: 5500767
    Abstract: An objective lens is corrected for spherical aberration at both an operating wavelength and a measurement wavelength, such that the amount of spherical aberration to develop at the operating wavelength is substantially equal to the amount of spherical aberration to develop at a measuring wavelength. The method of lens performance measurement then uses a light source emitting at a wavelength different from the operating wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 11, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1996
    Assignee: Asahi Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Koichi Maruyama, Syun'itirou Wakamiya, Makoto Iwaki, Masahiro Oono
  • Patent number: 5494518
    Abstract: A support structure for a slot coating die is provided. The support structure comprises a plurality of support members connected with a frame, and a slot coating die head structure which rests on and is coupled to certain of the support members. The frame comprises a pair of spaced apart side frame members, and the plurality of support members comprises: (i) a pair of outer support members, each disposed adjacent a respective side frame member and pivotally supported thereon, (ii) a pair of intermediate support members, each disposed adjacent a respective outer support member and pivotally supported thereon, and (iii) a pair of inner support members, each disposed adjacent a respective intermediate support member and pivotally supported thereon. Each of the pair of inner support members has a respective support surface, and the slot coating die structure rests on the support surfaces of the pair of inner support members and is coupled to the pair of inner support members for movement therewith.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 1994
    Date of Patent: February 27, 1996
    Assignee: Nordson Corporation
    Inventors: John J. Keane, Richard E. Leeds, Charles H. Scholl
  • Patent number: 5492677
    Abstract: A contaminated air purifying apparatus capable of decreasing particles such as dust floating in air, soot produced by a combustion engine and the like and air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) contained in exhaust gas. Particulates such as dust, soot and the like are electrostatically negatively charged and collected in a purifying filter section by coulombic force. NOx is converted into N.sub.2 and CO.sub.2 by an action of carbon fiber or carbon particles, resulting in decreased in concentration. The carbon fiber and carbon particles are preferably modified into an increased surface area of 200 to 2000 m.sup.2 /g.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 1993
    Date of Patent: February 20, 1996
    Assignee: Ajiawasu Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Hideo Yoshikawa
  • Patent number: 5484573
    Abstract: In the reactor for carrying out chemical reactions with ultrasound, at least three ultrasonic transducers (15) are arranged on the bottom (13) of the reactor (10) and at least six ultrasonic transducers (15) are arranged on the wall (14).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 16, 1996
    Assignee: Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Harald Berger, Norbert Dragesser, Rudolf Heumueller, Erich Schaetzer, Manfred Wagner
  • Patent number: 5484578
    Abstract: A distributor system for uniformly directing vapor and liquid across the surface of a fixed bed of solids in a downflow reactor comprising a distributor tray, and a plurality of open-ended downpipes extending through the tray. A first array of the downpipes has a plurality of vertically spaced elevations of holes above the level of the tray. A second array of the downpipes has at least one elevation of holes at substantially the same height above the level of the tray as one of the upper elevations of holes in the first array of the downpipes. But, the second array has no elevation of holes corresponding to the lowermost elevation of holes, and possibly other lower elevations of holes, in the first array of downpipes. The absence of the lowermost holes in the second array of downpipes causes the liquid flow rate through the distributor tray at a given liquid height to be reduced when that liquid height falls below the elevation of the holes second from the bottom in the first array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 16, 1996
    Assignee: Mobil Oil Corporation
    Inventors: Gregory P. Muldowney, Ronald A. Weiss, Julian A. Wolfenbarger
  • Patent number: 5482682
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for direct fluorination of hydrocarbons (having 1 to 4 carbons) by using molecular fluorine gas in a liquid medium. The number of reactors or reaction steps is a function of the number of hydrogen atoms in the hydrocarbon to be replaced by molecular fluorine to produce a refrigerant or other product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 9, 1996
    Assignee: Florida Scientific Laboratories Inc.
    Inventor: Gregorio Tarancon
  • Patent number: 5482681
    Abstract: An aftermarket catalytic converter for motor vehicle exhaust gas systems has a clamshell housing with an upper heat shield and stainless steel inlet and outlet bushings and contains a catalyst coated substrate cushioned and supported inside of it by a heat expandable mat, the features and parts of the converter being constructed and arranged to enable one converter construction to be used as a replacement converter in a substantial number of different applications for the original equipment converters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 3, 1991
    Date of Patent: January 9, 1996
    Assignee: Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company
    Inventor: Robert L. Sager, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5482684
    Abstract: A system for testing sterilization processes is provided by a vessel having a chamber, a plasma generator adapted to generate a plasma upstream of the chamber, a monitor associated with the chamber, and a biological or chemical indicator disposable within the chamber. The plasma generator generates upstream plasma that contains a plurality of atomic and/or molecular species, and the monitor is capable of determining a concentration of selected species in the plasma when flowing through the chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 3, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 9, 1996
    Assignee: Abtox, Inc.
    Inventors: Phillip A. Martens, Ross A. Caputo
  • Patent number: 5480616
    Abstract: A process for preparing condensation polymers comprises forming a dispersion of a reaction mixture in a continuous vapor phase, maintaining the dispersion while passing it through a reaction zone, heating the dispersion in the reaction zone to polymerize reactants in the reaction mixture and form a polycondensate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1996
    Assignee: Amoco Corporation
    Inventors: Joel A. Richardson, Wassily Poppe, Benjamin A. Bolton, Edward E. Paschke
  • Patent number: 5480464
    Abstract: A filter system 10 includes a pre-filter in a pre-filter zone 18 and a final filter in a final filter zone 22. The pre-filter is in the form of at least one inertial filter, e.g. an array 28 of axial flow cyclones 30. The final filter is in the form of a media filter 36 formed of a lofted bat of fibrous material which is of non-homogeneous structure through its depth. An upstream side is lofty, and a downstream side is of set structure. A contaminated fluid flow stream enters via an inlet 12. Contaminants are filtered out by the axial flow cyclones to be removed via a dust cover 32. Pre-filtered fluid flows via a chamber 20 through the media filter 36. After final filtration in the media filter it exits via a chamber 24 and an outlet 14.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1996
    Assignees: Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa Limited, Universal Filtration (Proprietary) Limited
    Inventors: Pierre De Villiers, Willem J. C. Prinsloo, Ivor M. Minnaar
  • Patent number: 5478534
    Abstract: Process for preparing ultra-pure nitrogen containing less than 100 ppb (parts per billion) impurities, characterized in that at least the impurities consisting of carbon monoxide (CO) and/or hydrogen (H.sub.2) are removed by passing the gas from which at least one of these two components has to be removed, over a bed of particles including a metallic element namely copper (Cu) and/or ruthenium (Ru) and/or rhodium (Rh) and/or palladium (Pd) and/or osmium (Os) and/or iridium (Ir) and/or platinum (Pt) supported on a particulate support, by the technique of ion exchange and/or by the technique of impregnation. This technique enables to produce ultra-pure nitrogen by using it either with nitrogen obtained by distillation, or air to be distilled as an additional step for the removal of CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 O. A device for carrying out the process constitutes another object of the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 1993
    Date of Patent: December 26, 1995
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Jean Louise, Bertrand Mollaret, Jean-Yves Thonnelier, Daniel Gary
  • Patent number: 5476639
    Abstract: A fluidized bed reactor system, including a reactor chamber defined by a wall structure formed by a plurality of tubes through which a heat transfer medium circulates, is constructed so as to provide numerous advantages over conventional constructions. A fast fluidized bed of solid material is established in the reactor chamber. A solid material processing chamber is disposed adjacent the reactor chamber on the outer side of a wall structure defining the reactor chamber, e.g. for recovering heat from the solid material. The processing chamber shares a common wall portion with the reactor chamber and a slow fluidized bed of solid material is provided in the processing chamber. Particle passage openings are provided in the common wall. Particles from the processing chamber are recirculated to the reactor chamber after treatment (typically cooling).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 1994
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1995
    Assignee: A. Ahlstrom Corporation
    Inventor: Timo Hyppanen
  • Patent number: 5476638
    Abstract: The maintenance of the exact metering ratio during the production of plastics, particularly foams, from free-flowing reactants loaded with pulverulent to fine-grained or fibrous additives can be improved by mixing the additive in compacted form in a preliminary mixer with at least one of the reactants. The pressure in the preliminary mixer is kept constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 19, 1995
    Assignee: Maschinenfabrik Hennecke
    Inventor: Hans-Michael Sulzbach