Patents by Inventor Houston G. Wood

Houston G. Wood 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).

  • Patent number: 7229258
    Abstract: A blood pump has an impeller rotatably disposed and magnetically suspended within a cavity of a stator by a plurality of magnetic bearings (passive permanent and active electromagnetic) having impeller magnets on the impeller and stator magnets or coils/poles on the stator. A motor includes impeller magnets on the impeller and coils/poles associated with the stator. A single, annular blood flow path extends axially through the cavity between the impeller and the stator, and between the impeller magnets on the impeller and the stator magnets or the coils/poles on the stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2007
    Assignees: Medforte Research Foundation, University of Virginia Patent Foundation
    Inventors: Houston G. Wood, Paul E. Allaire, Don B. Olsen, Steven W. Day, Xinwei Song, Alex Untaroiu, Amy Throckmorton
  • Patent number: 7070398
    Abstract: A blood pump has an impeller rotatably disposed and magnetically suspended within a cavity of a stator by a plurality of magnetic bearings including an axial bearing to support the impeller axially in the cavity. The axial bearing includes adjacent impeller magnets and adjacent stator magnets with axially aligned polarities and reverse polarities with respect to adjacent magnets. A motor includes impeller magnets on the impeller and coils and poles associated with the stator. Radial permanent magnet and electromagnetic bearings are also included. The magnetic bearings and the motor have stator magnets or coils and poles disposed radially across the fluid passage from corresponding impeller magnets to define an annular gap positioned radially between the impeller and the stator, and positioned radially between all of the plurality of magnetic bearings, creating a straight through blood path without secondary flow paths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2006
    Assignee: Medforte Research Foundation
    Inventors: Don B. Olsen, Paul E. Allaire, Houston G. Wood, Ronald Kipp, Wei Jiang, Zongli Lin, Guoxin Li
  • Patent number: 6102843
    Abstract: A one-pass centrifuge separator for mixtures of two liquids which may also contain gas. The centrifuge uses separation zones on a rotor's inner wall to improve separation efficiency and minimize turbulent mixing. The zones consist of surface and interface vanes, and baffle plates to control flow at the fluid interface. The zones also retain an open concept to facilitate washing by cleaning fluids which are provided by nozzles installed on a stationary feedpipe mounted along the rotational axis of the centrifuge. A fluid accelerator gradually accelerates the fluid from the feedpipe to the inner wall of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2000
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Lonny R. Kelley, Mark E. Ehrhardt, Mukhtiar S. Purewal, Jeffrey W. Frederick, Houston G. Wood, III, James P. Johnston