Patents Represented by Attorney Raymone E. Smiley
  • Patent number: 4768342
    Abstract: A Stirling engine heater head is constructed to provide an annular heat exchange region defined between a pressure vessel sidewall and the engine displacer cylinder. From an external manifold, through which a heated fluid flows, either heat pipes or heat exchange tubes are sealingly introduced into the heat exchange region. Thermal energy is thus transferred to the engine working fluid, while the heated fluid is maintained isolated from the vessel walls and the displacer cylinder. For a compound Stirling engine configuration, thermal energy is introduced from a common heated fluid manifold to the heat exchange regions of a pair of axially aligned Stirling engine modules via heat pipes or heat exchange tubes. This manifold may be sealingly joined with the pressure vessel to create a chamber which is pressurized to pressure balance the vessel walls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 1986
    Date of Patent: September 6, 1988
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Dilip K. Darooka