Patents by Inventor Thomas BALON

Thomas BALON 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: 10221371
    Abstract: A modified dryer operates on a different principle from that used by the prior torrefaction plants. The subject invention utilizes thermal conduction to torrefy the biomass in a vibratory reactor in which a heated solid unperforated plate is sealed in the reactor to separate the biomass above from the gas used to heat the plate below. This permits using inert flue gas to heat the reactor which in turn permits the use of a cool air damping system to prevent thermal runaway. Also syngas evolved from the process is utilized to power a gas engine, the exhaust output of which is recirculated to heat the reactor plate. When the gas engine is coupled to an electric generator, waste energy is recovered for use in other parts of the plant or exported elsewhere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2019
    Assignee: CEG TECHNOLOGY UK LIMITED
    Inventors: Thomas Balon, Jr., Neil Butler
  • Publication number: 20170145332
    Abstract: A modified dryer operates on a different principle from that used by the prior torrefaction plants. The subject invention utilizes thermal conduction to torrefy the biomass in a vibratory reactor in which a heated solid unperforated plate is sealed in the reactor to separate the biomass above from the gas used to heat the plate below. This permits using inert flue gas to heat the reactor which in turn permits the use of a cool air damping system to prevent thermal runaway. Also syngas evolved from the process is utilized to power a gas engine, the exhaust output of which is recirculated to heat the reactor plate. When the gas engine is coupled to an electric generator, waste energy is recovered for use in other parts of the plant or exported elsewhere.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 1, 2017
    Publication date: May 25, 2017
    Inventors: Thomas Balon, JR., Neil Butler
  • Patent number: 9631156
    Abstract: A modified dryer operates on a different principle from that used by the prior torrefaction plants. The subject invention utilizes thermal conduction to torrefy the biomass in a vibratory reactor in which a heated solid unperforated plate is sealed in the reactor to separate the biomass above from the gas used to heat the plate below. This permits using inert flue gas to heat the reactor which in turn permits the use of a cool air damping system to prevent thermal runaway. Also syngas evolved from the process is utilized to power a gas engine, the exhaust output of which is recirculated to heat the reactor plate. When the gas engine is coupled to an electric generator, waste energy is recovered for use in other parts of the plant or exported elsewhere.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2017
    Assignee: Clean Electricity Generation UK LTD
    Inventors: Thomas Balon, Jr., Neil Butler
  • Patent number: 9450953
    Abstract: A method of maintaining a blacklist for gesture-based passwords is provided. A data store of vectors corresponding to gestures is maintained on a blacklist server. Upon receiving a new gesture based password, an electronic device converts the password to a vector and forwards that vector to the blacklist server. The blacklist server assigns the vector to one of a cluster of vectors each having low distance from one another. If the increase in the occurrences of the number of vectors in the cluster results in a blacklist threshold being exceeded, the cluster of vectors is inputted to the blacklist. A notification can be sent back to the electronic device if the forwarded vector is on the blacklist or is inputted to the blacklist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Maksym Nechytaylo, Wolfgang Michael Theimer, Thomas Balon
  • Publication number: 20150152347
    Abstract: A modified dryer operates on a different principle from that used by the prior torrefaction plants. The subject invention utilizes thermal conduction to torrefy the biomass in a vibratory reactor in which a heated solid unperforated plate is sealed in the reactor to separate the biomass above from the gas used to heat the plate below. This permits using inert flue gas to heat the reactor which in turn permits the use of a cool air damping system to prevent thermal runaway. Also syngas evolved from the process is utilized to power a gas engine, the exhaust output of which is recirculated to heat the reactor plate. When the gas engine is coupled to an electric generator, waste energy is recovered for use in other parts of the plant or exported elsewhere.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 3, 2013
    Publication date: June 4, 2015
    Inventors: Thomas Balon, JR., Neil Butler
  • Publication number: 20150128233
    Abstract: A method of maintaining a blacklist for gesture-based passwords is provided. A data store of vectors corresponding to gestures is maintained on a blacklist server. Upon receiving a new gesture based password, an electronic device converts the password to a vector and forwards that vector to the blacklist server. The blacklist server assigns the vector to one of a cluster of vectors each having low distance from one another. If the increase in the occurrences of the number of vectors in the cluster results in a blacklist threshold being exceeded, the cluster of vectors is inputted to the blacklist. A notification can be sent back to the electronic device if the forwarded vector is on the blacklist or is inputted to the blacklist.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2013
    Publication date: May 7, 2015
    Applicant: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Maksym NECHYTAYLO, Wolfgang Michael THEIMER, Thomas BALON, Pascal WIßMANN
  • Patent number: 8615793
    Abstract: A method of maintaining a blacklist for gesture-based passwords is provided. A data store of index values corresponding to gestures is maintained on a blacklist server. Upon receiving a new gesture based password, an electronic device converts the password to an index value and forwards that index value to the blacklist server. The blacklist server increases an occurrence of the received index value by one in a data store and if the increase results in a blacklist threshold being exceeded, the index value is inputted to the blacklist. A notification can be sent back to the electronic device if the forwarded index value is on the blacklist or is inputted to the blacklist.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2013
    Assignee: BlackBerry Limited
    Inventors: Wolfgang Michael Theimer, Thomas Balon, Pascal Wissmann
  • Publication number: 20120198529
    Abstract: A method of maintaining a blacklist for gesture-based passwords is provided. A data store of index values corresponding to gestures is maintained on a blacklist server. Upon receiving a new gesture based password, an electronic device converts the password to an index value and forwards that index value to the blacklist server. The blacklist server increases an occurrence of the received index value by one in a data store and if the increase results in a blacklist threshold being exceeded, the index value is inputted to the blacklist. A notification can be sent back to the electronic device if the forwarded index value is on the blacklist or is inputted to the blacklist.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 21, 2011
    Publication date: August 2, 2012
    Applicant: RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED
    Inventors: Wolfgang Michael THEIMER, Thomas BALON, Pascal Wissmann