Patents by Inventor Kirk S. Hegwood

Kirk S. Hegwood 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).

  • Backup power source for providing a fail-safe actuation of an electric actuator
    Patent number: 9812898
    Abstract: A capacitive-based system that provides an electrical backup power source to an electric actuator for fail-safe actuation. The capacitive-based system includes an input power supply, a plurality of supercapacitors, and an output power supply. The input power supply converts an AC or DC primary power to a regulated DC output. The plurality of supercapacitors are connected in series to form a bank of supercapacitors. The bank of supercapacitors are operatively connected to the input power supply, are charged to a bank voltage set by the regulated DC output of the input power supply, and are used to store the electrical backup power source. The output power supply is operatively connected to the bank of supercapacitors, and boosts the bank voltage of the bank of supercapacitors to a higher DC output voltage, i.e., the electrical backup power source, that supplies the electric actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2017
    Inventors: Christopher W. Spivey, Kirk S. Hegwood
  • BACKUP POWER SOURCE FOR PROVIDING A FAIL-SAFE ACTUATION OF AN ELECTRIC ACTUATOR
    Publication number: 20150137605
    Abstract: A capacitive-based system that provides an electrical backup power source to an electric actuator for fail-safe actuation. The capacitive-based system includes an input power supply, a plurality of supercapacitors, and an output power supply. The input power supply converts an AC or DC primary power to a regulated DC output. The plurality of supercapacitors are connected in series to form a bank of supercapacitors. The bank of supercapacitors are operatively connected to the input power supply, are charged to a bank voltage set by the regulated DC output of the input power supply, and are used to store the electrical backup power source. The output power supply is operatively connected to the bank of supercapacitors, and boosts the bank voltage of the bank of supercapacitors to a higher DC output voltage, i.e., the electrical backup power source, that supplies the electric actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 18, 2013
    Publication date: May 21, 2015
    Inventors: Christopher W. Spivey, Kirk S. Hegwood