Patents Assigned to The Montana Power Company
  • Patent number: 5183102
    Abstract: A system for heating and cooling a building is disclosed. A watercooler and a cold-water pump continuously circulates cold water through a fire sprinkler piping system. A waterheater and a hot-water pump circulates hot water through a domestic hot-water piping system. A plurality of fan-coil assemblies located throughout the building may access either the cold water flowing in the fire sprinkler piping system or the hot-water in the domestic hot-water piping system. The fan-coil assemblies include a fan and a coil. Depending upon whether hot water or cold water is flowing through the coil, air circulated by said fan may be heated or cooled for climate control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 2, 1993
    Assignee: The Montana Power Company
    Inventor: Steven J. Clark
  • Patent number: 4670956
    Abstract: A tool is disclosed that is useful for manipulating the cotter keys that secure the connections between insulators in a high voltage transmission line. In a preferred embodiment, the tool (10) comprises an arm (12) having a first end (14) adapted for connection to a handle (40), and a second end (16) that includes an insert (30) projecting towards the first end. The insert is adapted for insertion into the passage in an insulator so as to engage the split end of a cotter key for partial removal of the cotter key. In a further embodiment, the second end of the tool includes a flange (32) having a concave surface (34, 36) adapted to engage the rounded end of a cotter key and push it back into an insulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 1986
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1987
    Assignee: Montana Power Company
    Inventor: Sherwood D. Christensen
  • Patent number: 4513340
    Abstract: A fault detection and clearance system for paralleled electrically similar power transmission lines wherein at each end of the line matched separate directional relays respectively connected to trip associated fault clearance circuit breakers have polarized windings and operate windings. The polarized windings are energized by an alternating current proportional to the summation while the operate windings are energized by an alternating current proportional to the difference (phase considered) of fault currents going into the breakers in both lines at the adjacent end in the event of a fault.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1985
    Assignee: The Montana Power Company
    Inventor: Robert E. Drain
  • Patent number: 4441135
    Abstract: A three-phase power transmission line phase-to-ground fault responder wherein voltage coils of respective responder relays are energized by respective phase-related voltages and wherein current coils of such relays are serially connected across the composite voltage source comprising the three serially composite voltage source comprising the respective phase-related voltages applied in series. In one embodiment the phase-related voltages are proportional to the transmission line phase voltage itself whereas in a second embodiment, less sensitive to location of fault in relation to the instrument takeoff voltage location, the phase-related voltage is the vector sum of voltages of the other two phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1984
    Assignee: The Montana Power Company
    Inventor: Robert E. Drain