Patents by Inventor James William Bray

James William Bray 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: 11858613
    Abstract: An aerospace vehicle including: a body, wherein the body is configured to generate heat during operation; a coating disposed over at least a portion of the body, the coating being configured to shift a frequency of at least one wavelength of the heat generated by the body from a first frequency to a second frequency having higher transmissivity relative to a neighboring medium surrounding the body as compared to the first frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2024
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock, William Dwight Gerstler, Anant Achyut Setlur, James William Bray
  • Patent number: 11606017
    Abstract: An armature is presented. The armature includes an armature winding having a plurality of coils, wherein each coil of the plurality of coils is spaced apart from adjacent coils and comprise includes a first side portion and a second side portion. The armature further includes a first electrically insulating winding enclosure. Furthermore, the armature includes a second electrically insulating winding enclosure disposed at a radial distance from the first electrically insulating winding enclosure, wherein the armature winding is disposed between the first electrically insulating winding enclosure and the second electrically insulating winding enclosure. Moreover, the armature includes an electrically insulating coil side separator disposed between the first side portion and the second side portion of the plurality of coils of the armature winding. A superconducting generator including the armature and a wind turbine having such superconducting generator are also presented.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: David Allan Torrey, Wei Zhang, Mark Ernest Vermilyea, James William Bray, Siddharth Navinchandra Ashar, Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock, Weijun Yin, Alexander Kagan, Anoop Jassal, Joseph John Zierer, Rammohan Rao Kalluri
  • Publication number: 20220161919
    Abstract: An aerospace vehicle including: a body, wherein the body is configured to generate heat during operation; a coating disposed over at least a portion of the body, the coating being configured to shift a frequency of at least one wavelength of the heat generated by the body from a first frequency to a second frequency having higher transmissivity relative to a neighboring medium surrounding the body as compared to the first frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2020
    Publication date: May 26, 2022
    Inventors: Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock, William Dwight Gerstler, Anant Achyut Setlur, James William Bray
  • Patent number: 11282613
    Abstract: A turbine engine comprising a compressor section and a turbine section in serial flow arrangement defining a working air flow path with a heat exchanger in fluid communication the working air flow path, and a nuclear fuel in thermal communication with the heat exchanger and a release valve in fluid communication with the working air flow path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Narendra Digamber Joshi, James William Bray
  • Publication number: 20210273547
    Abstract: An armature is presented. The armature includes an armature winding having a plurality of coils, wherein each coil of the plurality of coils is spaced apart from adjacent coils and comprise includes a first side portion and a second side portion. The armature further includes a first electrically insulating winding enclosure. Furthermore, the armature includes a second electrically insulating winding enclosure disposed at a radial distance from the first electrically insulating winding enclosure, wherein the armature winding is disposed between the first electrically insulating winding enclosure and the second electrically insulating winding enclosure. Moreover, the armature includes an electrically insulating coil side separator disposed between the first side portion and the second side portion of the plurality of coils of the armature winding. A superconducting generator including the armature and a wind turbine having such superconducting generator are also presented.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2018
    Publication date: September 2, 2021
    Inventors: David Allan Torrey, Wei Zhang, Mark Ernest Vermilyea, James William Bray, Siddharth Navinchandra Ashar, Hendrik Pieter Jacobus de Bock, Weijun Yin, Alexander Kagan, Anoop Jassal, Joseph John Zierer, Rammohan Rao Kalluri
  • Publication number: 20210159003
    Abstract: A superconducting magnet apparatus includes a plurality of superconducting magnet coil sections connected in series and housed within a cryogenically cooled, vacuum container. A power source generates a current. A first lead is electrically connected to the superconducting magnet coil sections. A second lead is enclosed entirely within the vacuum container. The second lead has a first section and a second section, and the first section is electrically connected to the power source. The second section is electrically connected to the first lead, and rigidly connected to a linear displacement device enclosed entirely within the vacuum container. The linear displacement device linearly displaces the second section relative to the first section, so that the first section contacts the second section thereby electrically connecting the first and second sections, or by creating a gap between the first section and second section thereby electrically disconnecting the first section from the second section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 6, 2018
    Publication date: May 27, 2021
    Inventors: Ernst Wolfgang Stautner, James William Bray, Minfeng Xu, Anbo Wu, Michael Parizh
  • Publication number: 20210142921
    Abstract: A turbine engine comprising a compressor section and a turbine section in serial flow arrangement defining a working air flow path with a heat exchanger in fluid communication the working air flow path, and a nuclear fuel in thermal communication with the heat exchanger and a release valve in fluid communication with the working air flow path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2020
    Publication date: May 13, 2021
    Inventors: Narendra Digamber Joshi, James William Bray
  • Patent number: 10978943
    Abstract: A wind turbine power generating system and method includes a tower, a hub, a plurality of blades connected to the hub, and a rotor connected to the hub. A superconducting generator is coupled to the rotor and includes a plurality of superconductive coils. A nacelle is mounted atop the tower, with the superconducting generator housed within the nacelle. An automatic ramp-down system is configured with the superconducting coils and includes an automatically activated energy dump circuit for current withdrawn from the superconductive coils in a ramp-down process prior to a quench. The energy dump circuit includes one or more heat dissipating loads, wherein each of the heat dissipating loads is mounted in thermal communication with one of the tower or the nacelle that act a thermal heat sink for dispersing heat from the loads.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 13, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Anbo Wu, Michael Parizh, Ernst Wolfgang Stautner, Minfeng Xu, James William Bray
  • Publication number: 20200321847
    Abstract: A wind turbine power generating system and method includes a tower, a hub, a plurality of blades connected to the hub, and a rotor connected to the hub. A superconducting generator is coupled to the rotor and includes a plurality of superconductive coils. A nacelle is mounted atop the tower, with the superconducting generator housed within the nacelle. An automatic ramp-down system is configured with the superconducting coils and includes an automatically activated energy dump circuit for current withdrawn from the superconductive coils in a ramp-down process prior to a quench. The energy dump circuit includes one or more heat dissipating loads, wherein each of the heat dissipating loads is mounted in thermal communication with one of the tower or the nacelle that act a thermal heat sink for dispersing heat from the loads.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Publication date: October 8, 2020
    Inventors: Anbo Wu, Michael Parizh, Ernst Wolfgang Stautner, Minfeng Xu, James William Bray
  • Patent number: 10720804
    Abstract: A permanent magnet machine and a rotor assembly for the permanent magnet machine. The permanent magnet machine includes a stator assembly including a stator core including a stator winding to produce electrical currents. The stator assembly extending along a longitudinal axis with an inner surface defining a cavity. The rotor assembly including a rotor core and a rotor shaft. The rotor core is disposed inside the stator cavity and rotates about the longitudinal axis. The rotor assembly including a plurality of permanent magnets for generating a magnetic field which interacts with the stator winding to produce the electrical currents in response to rotation of the rotor assembly. within one or more cavities formed in a sleeve component. The sleeve component is configured to include a plurality of cavities or voids into which the permanent magnets are disposed to retain the permanent magnets therein and form an interior permanent magnet generator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Narendra Digamber Joshi, Manoj Ramprasad Shah, James William Bray, Randy Marinus Vondrell, Kurt David Murrow, Jeffrey Anthony Hamel, Samuel Jacob Martin
  • Publication number: 20190326789
    Abstract: A permanent magnet machine and a rotor assembly for the permanent magnet machine. The permanent magnet machine includes a stator assembly including a stator core including a stator winding to produce electrical currents. The stator assembly extending along a longitudinal axis with an inner surface defining a cavity. The rotor assembly including a rotor core and a rotor shaft. The rotor core is disposed inside the stator cavity and rotates about the longitudinal axis. The rotor assembly including a plurality of permanent magnets for generating a magnetic field which interacts with the stator winding to produce the electrical currents in response to rotation of the rotor assembly. within one or more cavities formed in a sleeve component. The sleeve component is configured to include a plurality of cavities or voids into which the permanent magnets are disposed to retain the permanent magnets therein and form an interior permanent magnet generator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 27, 2019
    Publication date: October 24, 2019
    Inventors: Narendra Digamber Joshi, Manoj Ramprasad Shah, James William Bray, Randy Marinus Vondrell, Kurt David Murrow, Jeffrey Anthony Hamel, Samuel Jacob Martin
  • Patent number: 10381889
    Abstract: A permanent magnet machine and a rotor assembly for the permanent magnet machine. The permanent magnet machine includes a stator assembly including a stator core configured to generate a magnetic field and extending along a longitudinal axis with an inner surface defining a cavity and a rotor assembly including a rotor core and a rotor shaft. The rotor core is disposed inside the stator cavity and configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. The rotor assembly further including a plurality of permanent magnets for generating a magnetic field which interacts with the stator magnetic field to produce torque. The permanent magnets are disposed within one or more cavities formed in a sleeve component. The sleeve component configured to include a plurality of cavities or voids therein and thus provide minimal weight to the permanent magnet machine. The permanent magnet machine providing increased centrifugal load capacity, increased power density and improved electrical performance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 27, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2019
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Narendra Digamber Joshi, Manoj Ramprasad Shah, James William Bray, Randy Marinus Vondrell, Kurt David Murrow, Jeffrey Anthony Hamel, Samuel Jacob Martin
  • Patent number: 10096999
    Abstract: A var compensator circuit is provided. The var compensator circuit includes a gas tube switch and a reactive impedance. The gas tube switch is configured to be coupled to a transmission line. The transmission line is configured to deliver real power and reactive power to a load at an alternating current (AC) line voltage. The reactive impedance is configured to be coupled to the transmission line at the AC line voltage through the gas tube switch. The reactive impedance is configured to modify the reactive power configured to be delivered to the load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 9, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Xu She, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rahul Shantilal Chokhawala
  • Patent number: 9973092
    Abstract: A direct current (DC)-DC converter includes a transformer and a gas tube-switched inverter circuit. The transformer includes a primary winding and a secondary winding. The gas tube-switched inverter circuit includes first and second inverter load terminals and first and second inverter input terminals. The first and second inverter load terminals are coupled to the primary winding. The first and second inverter input terminals are couplable to a DC node. The gas tube-switched inverter circuit further includes a plurality of gas tube switches respectively coupled between the first and second inverter load terminals and the first and second inverter input terminals. The plurality of gas tube switches is configured to operate to generate an alternating current (AC) voltage at the primary winding.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Xu She, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rahul Chokhawala
  • Publication number: 20180006461
    Abstract: A var compensator circuit is provided. The var compensator circuit includes a gas tube switch and a reactive impedance. The gas tube switch is configured to be coupled to a transmission line. The transmission line is configured to deliver real power and reactive power to a load at an alternating current (AC) line voltage. The reactive impedance is configured to be coupled to the transmission line at the AC line voltage through the gas tube switch. The reactive impedance is configured to modify the reactive power configured to be delivered to the load.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2016
    Publication date: January 4, 2018
    Inventors: Xu She, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rahul Shantilal Chokhawala
  • Publication number: 20170310220
    Abstract: A direct current (DC)-DC converter includes a transformer and a gas tube-switched inverter circuit. The transformer includes a primary winding and a secondary winding. The gas tube-switched inverter circuit includes first and second inverter load terminals and first and second inverter input terminals. The first and second inverter load terminals are coupled to the primary winding. The first and second inverter input terminals are couplable to a DC node. The gas tube-switched inverter circuit further includes a plurality of gas tube switches respectively coupled between the first and second inverter load terminals and the first and second inverter input terminals. The plurality of gas tube switches is configured to operate to generate an alternating current (AC) voltage at the primary winding.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 22, 2016
    Publication date: October 26, 2017
    Inventors: Xu She, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rahul Chokhawala
  • Patent number: 9748857
    Abstract: A high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system includes an alternating current (AC) electrical source and a power converter channel that includes an AC-DC converter electrically coupled to the electrical source and a DC-AC inverter electrically coupled to the AC-DC converter. The AC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter each include a plurality of legs that includes at least one switching device. The power converter channel further includes a commutating circuit communicatively coupled to one or more switching devices. The commutating circuit is configured to “switch on” one of the switching devices during a first portion of a cycle of the H-bridge switching circuits and “switch off” the switching device during a second portion of the cycle of the first and second H-bridge switching circuits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xu She, Rahul Shantilal Chokhawala, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rui Zhou, Di Zhang
  • Patent number: 9651032
    Abstract: A submersible liquid-vapor generator (LVG) includes an evaporator portion in heat transfer communication with a heat energy source. The LVG also includes a magnetic field apparatus coupled in flow communication with the evaporator portion. The LVG further includes a condenser portion coupled in flow communication with the magnetic field apparatus. The LVG also includes a hybrid working fluid including nanoparticles. The evaporator portion, the magnetic field portion, and the condenser portion at least partially define a hybrid working vapor flow path. The LVG further includes an electrically non-conductive wick structure coupled in flow communication with the evaporator portion and the condenser portion. The wick structure at least partially defines a hybrid working liquid flow path extending between the condenser portion and the evaporator portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: May 16, 2017
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Stanton Earl Weaver, James William Bray, Michael John Bowman
  • Publication number: 20170047857
    Abstract: A high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system includes an alternating current (AC) electrical source and a power converter channel that includes an AC-DC converter electrically coupled to the electrical source and a DC-AC inverter electrically coupled to the AC-DC converter. The AC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter each include a plurality of legs that includes at least one switching device. The power converter channel further includes a commutating circuit communicatively coupled to one or more switching devices. The commutating circuit is configured to “switch on” one of the switching devices during a first portion of a cycle of the H-bridge switching circuits and “switch off” the switching device during a second portion of the cycle of the first and second H-bridge switching circuits.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Publication date: February 16, 2017
    Inventors: Xu She, Rahul Shantilal Chokhawala, James William Bray, Timothy John Sommerer, Rui Zhou, Di Zhang
  • Patent number: 9520801
    Abstract: A voltage source converter based high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission system includes a voltage source converter (VSC)-based power converter channel. The VSC-based power converter channel includes an AC-DC converter and a DC-AC inverter electrically coupled to the AC-DC converter. The AC-DC converter and a DC-AC inverter include at least one gas tube switching device coupled in electrical anti-parallel with a respective gas tube diode. The VSC-based power converter channel includes a commutating circuit communicatively coupled to one or more of the at least one gas tube switching devices. The commutating circuit is configured to “switch on” a respective one of the one or more gas tube switching devices during a first portion of an operational cycle and “switch off” the respective one of the one or more gas tube switching devices during a second portion of the operational cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 12, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 13, 2016
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Xu She, Rahul Shantilal Chokhawala, Rui Zhou, Di Zhang, Timothy John Sommerer, James William Bray