Patents by Inventor Andrew Provenza

Andrew Provenza has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Fault tolerant homopolar magnetic bearings
    Patent number: 7429811
    Abstract: A magnetic bearing for supporting a spinning shaft in the radial direction and/or the axial direction includes a rotor formed on the shaft and a stator positioned around the rotor. Poles in the stator creates a magnetic field that supports the rotor. The number of poles is at least sufficient to produce a selected control force if there is an at least partial loss of current to one or more of the poles. The bearing also includes a set of permanent magnetic elements associated with the poles that create a homopolar, bias magnetic field. A controller connected to the poles is programmed with instructions to change the current to each pole in response to at least a partial loss of current to one or more of the poles and can include a current distribution matrix for determining a current value for each pole in such instances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2008
    Assignee: The Texas A&M University System
    Inventors: Alan Palazzolo, Ming-Hsiu Li, Andrew Kenny, Jason Pruess, Randall P. Tucker, Andrew Provenza, Raymond Beach, Albert Kascak
  • Fault tolerant homopolar magnetic bearings
    Publication number: 20060055260
    Abstract: A magnetic bearing for supporting a spinning shaft in the radial direction and/or the axial direction includes a rotor formed on the shaft and a stator positioned around the rotor. Poles in the stator creates a magnetic field that supports the rotor. The number of poles is at least sufficient to produce a selected control force if there is an at least partial loss of current to one or more of the poles. The bearing also includes a set of permanent magnetic elements associated with the poles that create a homopolar, bias magnetic field. A controller connected to the poles is programmed with instructions to change the current to each pole in response to at least a partial loss of current to one or more of the poles and can include a current distribution matrix for determining a current value for each pole in such instances.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2005
    Publication date: March 16, 2006
    Applicant: The Texas A&M University System
    Inventors: Alan Palazzolo, Ming-Hsiu Li, Andrew Kenny, Jason Pruess, Randall Tucker, Andrew Provenza, Raymond Beach, Albert Kascak