Patents by Inventor Ralph R. Barber

Ralph R. Barber 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: 9316106
    Abstract: An expanding lock pin for side entry turbine blades for turbines, including steam turbines compensates for worn or oversize mating pin grooves formed in rotor steeples and blade roots. The expanding pin expands circumferentially to fill the oversize mating groove. In one embodiment of the expanding lock pin a tapered plug mates with a mating tapered aperture formed in the pin. As the plug is driven into the pin its circumference increases. The expanding lock pin eliminates the need to re-machine worn or oversize pin grooves or machine new grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: SIEMENS ENERGY, INC.
    Inventor: Ralph R. Barber
  • Publication number: 20150023796
    Abstract: An expanding lock pin for side entry turbine blades for turbines, including steam turbines compensates for worn or oversize mating pin grooves formed in rotor steeples and blade roots. The expanding pin expands circumferentially to fill the oversize mating groove. In one embodiment of the expanding lock pin a tapered plug mates with a mating tapered aperture formed in the pin. As the plug is driven into the pin its circumference increases. The expanding lock pin eliminates the need to re-machine worn or oversize pin grooves or machine new grooves.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 19, 2013
    Publication date: January 22, 2015
    Inventor: Ralph R. Barber
  • Patent number: 5236309
    Abstract: A turbine blade assembly composed of a rotor which is rotatable about a turbine axis of rotation and a plurality of turbine blades supported by the rotor, each blade having a root and the rotor being provided with a groove shaped for holding each root in a manner such that the root and groove have mutually contacting surfaces which apply a radially inwardly directed restraining force to the root, the root further having a bottom facing the turbine axis and the groove having a base which is located radially inwardly of, and faces, the root bottom. The mutually contacting surfaces of the root and the groove are pressed together by means of at least one disc spring compressed between the root bottom and the groove base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 1991
    Date of Patent: August 17, 1993
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Gary S. Van Heusden, Thomas A. Brown, Lloyd W. Smith, Ralph R. Barber, Robert M. Lloyd, Phillip R. Ratliff, Wilmott G. Brown, Albert F. Le Breton, David A. Lutz
  • Patent number: 5175411
    Abstract: A method for welding a structure containing a gap which is exposed on either side of the gap is disclosed. The method is ideally suited for welding the gap which exists between the inner cylinder and nozzle chamber of a steam turbine during manufacture and repair. The method is accomplished by applying a refractory material into one side of the gap, preferably with the aid of gravity while the structure is inverted. When the refractory material is in place, the gap is welded. Upon completion of the welding procedure, the refractory material is preferably removed. In accordance with the present invention, a substantially uniform weld can be made upon a gap which is exposed on either side without the need for a controlled precision initial root weld.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 29, 1992
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Ralph R. Barber
  • Patent number: 4842485
    Abstract: A balanced turbine rotor has a cylindrical member with a pair of opposed end shafts and an enlarged central portion, the enlarged central portion having first and second faces, with a circular groove formed in at least one of the faces and expandable weight assemblies engageable in the groove. The weight assemblies have an arcuate body member and an expander screw, the arcuate body member formed into upper and lower deformable secetions by a bore therethrough and slots from side walls thereof to the bore, such that the expander screw forces the deformable sections apart to secure the weights at any desired location about the groove in the face of the enlarged central portion of the rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 1988
    Date of Patent: June 27, 1989
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Ralph R. Barber
  • Patent number: 4500069
    Abstract: An improvement in ball-type check valve arrangements including a valve body in which is formed a fluid passageway and a valve chamber communicating through a valve seat in the chamber, a ball in the chamber seated in the valve seat, and a reciprocal retaining member having a head engaging the ball in opposition to the valve seat and a stem extending from the head through the chamber wall opposite the valve seat, the ball and retaining member being reciprocably movable toward and away from the seat.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1982
    Date of Patent: February 19, 1985
    Assignee: Duff-Norton Co.
    Inventors: Ralph R. Barber, Eckart F. Schultze