Patents by Inventor Stanley F. Niziol

Stanley F. Niziol 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: 5355063
    Abstract: An improved robotic arm system for servicing the tubesheet located within the channel head of a nuclear steam generator is provided. The system includes a robotic arm whose shoulder and elbow joints are rotatable only in the plane parallel to the tubesheet in order to eliminate the imposition of cantileverly-induced torques on the electric motors driving these joints, as well as to minimize the possibility of mechanical interference between the arm and the walls of the channel head. Each of the motorized joint assemblies of the arm includes resolvers connected not only to the output of the drive train that moves the joint, but also to the drive shaft of the electric motor that drives the drive train, wherein the feedback signal generated by the resolver connected to the drive shaft of the electric motor is the primary signal used to modulate the amount of electric power conducted to the motor of the joint. Such a configuration advantageously results in smoother robotic arm movement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 11, 1994
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Paul J. Boone, Michael H. Canton, Stanley F. Niziol, Tara D. Mapson, Bruce R. L. Cox, Raymond G. Kelly, Jr., Robert P. Vestovich, George A. Savage, Robert D. Senger, Michael D. Hecht, Kurt K. Lichtenfiels, Anthony Grieco, Wenche W. Cheng