Patents by Inventor Susanne F. Vaughan

Susanne F. Vaughan 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).

  • Publication number: 20180305894
    Abstract: In some embodiments, a system may include a harvesting unit configured to operate under water to traverse and extract gas from clathrate hydrate deposits. The harvesting unit can include a housing defining an enclosure at least partially open along a bottom portion to receive a clathrate slurry associated with a selected one of the clathrate hydrate deposits. The harvesting unit may further include a separator chamber within the housing defining a negative pressure and configured to receive the clathrate slurry and a skirt coupled to the enclosure adjacent to the bottom portion and configured to form a flexible barrier between the enclosure and an external environment. The skirt may be formed from a plurality of elements configured to allow fluid flow therethrough.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2018
    Publication date: October 25, 2018
    Inventor: Susanne F. Vaughan
  • Patent number: 9951496
    Abstract: A system for harvesting natural gas from a clathrate deposit includes a storage system and a processing system. The storage system is located at a surface of a body of water and is configurable to couple to a conduit for receiving a slurry including clathrate hydrate pieces and natural gas from an underwater apparatus. The processing system is coupled to the conduit and is configured to separate the natural gas from the slurry.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 24, 2018
    Inventor: Susanne F. Vaughan
  • Patent number: 9482060
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a fluid conduit including a plurality of segments having a substantially flexible segment. The substantially flexible segment has substantially concentric inner and outer sidewalls and includes an adjustable pressure device configured to vary an internal annular pressure of the substantially flexible segment to counteract external pressure from a surrounding environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Inventor: Susanne F Vaughan
  • Publication number: 20160032661
    Abstract: An apparatus includes a fluid conduit including a plurality of segments having a substantially flexible segment. The substantially flexible segment has substantially concentric inner and outer sidewalls and includes an adjustable pressure device configured to vary an internal annular pressure of the substantially flexible segment to counteract external pressure from a surrounding environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2014
    Publication date: February 4, 2016
    Inventor: Susanne F. Vaughan
  • Publication number: 20120234552
    Abstract: A system for harvesting natural gas from a clathrate deposit includes a storage system and a processing system. The storage system is located at a surface of a body of water and is configurable to couple to a conduit for receiving a slurry including clathrate hydrate pieces and natural gas from an underwater apparatus. The processing system is coupled to the conduit and is configured to separate the natural gas from the slurry.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 18, 2011
    Publication date: September 20, 2012
    Inventor: Susanne F. Vaughan
  • Publication number: 20120174581
    Abstract: A system includes at least one pipe system defining a closed-loop fluid conduit configured to circulate a fluid into a cased well and through at least a portion of a subterranean thermal reservoir to heat the fluid. The system further includes a thermal power system coupled to the at least one pipe system and configured to generate electricity from heat carried by the fluid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2011
    Publication date: July 12, 2012
    Inventors: Susanne F. Vaughan, Mary Robin Dahlheim
  • Patent number: 5333686
    Abstract: A measuring while drilling apparatus for use in the drilling of subterranean wells comprises a plurality of interconnected tubular housings which are insertable into and removable from a drill string by a wire line. A hollow plunger on the bottom of the apparatus is vertically shiftable with respect to a fixed diameter orifice disposed in the path of the drilling fluid flow. Fluid pressure forces derived from the drilling fluid effect the movement of the plunger forward and away from the orifice to create pressure pulses which are transmittable through the drilling fluid to the surface. Sensors provided in the housings generate signals, which are converted by a downhole controller, to effect the sequential generation of the positive pressure pulses to be indicated at the surface of the well by a digital readout of the outputs of the various sensors carried in the tubular housings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 2, 1994
    Assignee: Tensor, Inc.
    Inventors: Susanne F. Vaughan, Henry S. More