Patents Assigned to Westinghouse Electric Corp.
  • Patent number: 6144716
    Abstract: A support grid for laterally maintaining the relative position of elongated fuel elements within a fuel assembly for use within a core of a nuclear reactor. The grid is formed in the shape of a lattice with the intersecting lattice members defining a plurality of cells, most of which respectively support the nuclear fuel elements. The remaining cells support nuclear control rod guide tubes and instrumentation thimbles. The cells supporting the nuclear fuel elements are provided with diagonally positioned springs on two adjacent walls. The springs support the fuel elements against dimples which protrude from the opposite cell walls. The adjacent, diagonal springs in each fuel element cell are inclined in opposite directions. The springs are formed from narrow, parallel slits in the cell wall that terminate along a line parallel to the line of intersection with the adjacent wall. The spring slits continue along that parallel line in a direction away from the spring to increase its flexure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2000
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Quang M. Nguyen, Edmund E. DeMario
  • Patent number: 5803978
    Abstract: A method of removing blades from the rotor of a turbo machine, such as a steam or gas turbine, in which material deposits formed between the surfaces of the blade root and its retaining groove have effectively bonded the blade root to the rotor groove. The blade root and groove are submersed in a liquid medium enclosed in a tank. Transducers installed on the tank radiate ultrasonic pressure waves into the liquid medium that breakup the material deposits through cavitation, thereby loosing the bond between the blade root and the groove. The blade is then removed from the tank and the blade slid out of the groove.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 1996
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1998
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Dennis Ray Amos, Kent Wixon Beedon, Timothy Lee Driver, David Joseph Knapp, Delbert Eugene Conklin
  • Patent number: 5795135
    Abstract: A sub-sea pumping system for pumping an effluent from a deep-sea wellhead comprising a topside module, a sub-sea module, and an umbilical connection between the topside and sub-sea modules. The umbilical connection comprises a threephase electrical power line and an hydraulic fluid supply line to an electrical canned motor. The hydraulic fluid is a single medium fluid, is compatible with the effluent being pumped, and is circulated through the sub-sea module for cooling and for lubricating the seal and bearing arrangements of the motor and the pump. The hydraulic fluid is circulated through a submerged pressure compensator which includes a metal bellows assembly. The compensator is responsive to the pressure of the effluent being pumped and pressurizes the hydraulic fluid flowing through the motor and the pump for the cooling and the lubricating of their respective seal and bearing arrangements at a pressure above the pressure of the effluent being pumped.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1995
    Date of Patent: August 18, 1998
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Charles P. Nyilas, Clifford H. Campen, Jr., Joseph M. Kujawski
  • Patent number: 5598441
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for estimating a frequency of a received carrier wave in a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) system. The invention uses a combination of an FFT, DFT bins, and three point interpolation to estimate a frequency of the carrier wave. The system is robust and compensates for multipath fading and other types of signal degradation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: January 28, 1997
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Brian W. Kroeger, Joseph B. Bronder, Jeffrey S. Baird
  • Patent number: 5585628
    Abstract: A method of surveying a surface to determine the existence of a radiation source, e.g., a radioactive source, providing a procedure for determining an optimum scan velocity for scanning past a source so as to provide the required degree of confidence to detect the presence of radiation sources while avoiding false source detection. A first scan velocity is selected based upon detector information and the nature of the survey surface, following which spreadsheet-type calculations are made based upon the expected maximum source count rate, background rate and the selected velocity. The spreadsheet calculations provide an indication of the confidence of distinguishing source activity from background radiation at the selected scan velocity. The indicated confidence is compared to the required confidence level, and when the indicated confidence is not optimally close to the required confidence, another scan velocity is selected and the spreadsheet calculations are repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: John P. Andrews, Gerard V. Policastro
  • Patent number: 5539409
    Abstract: The present invention improves upon conventional windshear data processing techniques in three mutually exclusive aspects. First, the present invention provides an improved method and system for detecting microburst downdraft candidates. The improvement lies in its capability of detecting multiple candidates in range. Because of the added capability to detect multiple candidates in range, the present invention also provides an improved method and system for azimuthal association of the multiple candidates in range to define an accurate locus of headwind and tailwind pairs. Second, the present invention provides an improvement in that it utilizes a non-circularly symmetric spatial model to compute the vertical component of a total hazard factor. Third, the present invention provides an improvement in the accurate detection of small radii microbursts by correcting bias present in the data from which the small radii microbursts may be detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 1994
    Date of Patent: July 23, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Bruce D. Mathews, Michael J. Albano, Guy T. Railey, Fran Miller
  • Patent number: 5518122
    Abstract: A modular mail processing method and control system for sorting pieces of incoming, internal, and outgoing mail including a plurality of sorting bins which correspond to either mail stops or zip codes depending on which sort plan is selected. The modular mail processing method and control system permitting mixed pieces of mail of various sizes to be sorted. Additionally, an internal mail envelope, which has address regions consisting of blocks, may be utilized in connection with the modular mail processing method and control system in order to allow accurate detection of handwritten addresses.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: David J. Tilles, Francisco J. San Miguel, Thomas F. Grapes, Diane L. Deemer, Stanley K. Wakamiya, James D. Mullennix, Mark W. Westerdale, David Bialik
  • Patent number: 5519359
    Abstract: A microwave oscillator with loop frequency conversion to and signal amplification at an intermediate frequency. A high-Q sapphire dielectric resonator is coupled in a frequency conversion loop between a pair of balanced mixers. One mixer comprises a downconversion mixer from an output frequency F.sub.0 to an intermediate frequency F.sub.IF, while the other mixer comprises an upconversion mixer from the intermediate frequency F.sub.IF to the output frequency F.sub.0. The frequency conversion loop additionally includes a low 1/f noise IF amplifier coupled between the mixers. The two mixers receive a local oscillator signal having a frequency F.sub.0 .+-.F.sub.IF from a microwave reference signal generator. In such an arrangement, an output frequency section and an intermediate frequency section is provided. The output frequency section includes the sapphire dielectric resonator and an output power divider while the intermediate frequency section includes the two mixers and the IF amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 26, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Michael M. Driscoll
  • Patent number: 5519269
    Abstract: An electric vehicle motor and related method of cooling wherein coolant is provided to a coolant inlet of the motor housing, directed through a plurality of radial slots of a stator core that is encased within the housing, and exited from a coolant outlet of the motor housing. The radial slots house the stator conductor wires such that the coolant is forced to come in contact with all of the external surface of all of the stator wires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1995
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Frank A. Lindberg
  • Patent number: 5517535
    Abstract: A numerically controlled oscillator that outputs a complex exponential value (sine and cosine). The numerically controlled oscillator inputs a scalar phase increment and uses the scalar phase increment to approximate a complex exponential phasor increment. A complex multiplier multiplies the exponential increment by an exponential value previously output from the oscillator to yield a multiplication result. A recursive amplitude normalizer, connected to the complex multiplier, normalizes the multiplication result to yield the complex exponential value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Brian W. Kroeger, Jeffrey S. Baird
  • Patent number: 5517529
    Abstract: A monolithic direct digital UHF/L-Band receiver for receiving and processing a UHF/L-Band analog signal and deriving digitized samples, the receiver operating in a tuning frequency range centered at a center frequency and having a baseband frequency, a lower bandedge frequency, and an upper bandedge frequency. The receiver comprises: a substrate; an analog-to-digital converter, mounted on the substrate, for digitally sampling at a sample rate the UHF/L-Band analog signal; a heterodyning circuit, coupled to the analog-to-digital converter and mounted on the substrate, for mixing the digitally sampled signal with a mixing signal thereby shifting the center frequency of the tuning frequency range of the sampled signal to the baseband frequency; and means, coupled to the heterodyning circuit and mounted on the substrate, for decimation filtering and decimating the mixed signal to obtain a second sample rate lower than the sample rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 1993
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Roy R. Stehlik
  • Patent number: 5517063
    Abstract: A power bridge assembly for providing electric current to stator windings of an electric motor used in an electric propulsion system for an electric vehicle. The power bridge is assembled on a laminated bus bar. An upper plate of the bus bar connects to one side of a high voltage battery, a lower plate of the bus bar connects to the other side of the high voltage battery, and an insulation layer is sandwiched between the upper and lower plates. Electrical switches and capacitors sandwich the laminated bus bar. With this structure, two fasteners, one for positive voltage and one for negative voltage, can connect the bus bar, capacitors, and switches both electrically and mechanically. The sandwich structure eliminates parasitic inductance from the electrical connections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: David L. Schantz, Jr., James H. Deoms, Brian H. Smith
  • Patent number: 5515054
    Abstract: A dual mode radar transparency allowing passage of both RF radiation and IR radiation comprises an aerogel base and ceramic skin overlaying the aerogel base. The aerogel base comprises a low density ceramic material. A method of fabricating a dual mode radar transparency allowing passage of both RF radiation and IR radiation comprises the steps of preparing a colloidal dispersion of a ceramic material in a medium, increasing a concentration of the colloidal dispersion by evaporation to create a suspension, and placing the suspension in a mold. The suspension is solidified to form an aerogel and the aerogel is joined to a ceramic skin.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Kenneth C. Radford, Deborah P. Partlow, Jay E. Lane, Andrew J. Piloto
  • Patent number: 5514865
    Abstract: A system for sensing images using a detector array and correcting errors in the image signals caused by gain and offset variations from detector to detector in the array is disclosed. To correct gain and offset errors, the detector array is dithered by moving the detector line of sight between consecutive frames according to a predetermined pattern. This dithering causes different detectors to image the same location in the scene during different frames, and causes two adjacent detectors to scan between the same two points in the scene during a cycle of the dither pattern. Image data generated from the dithering is used to remove gain and offset errors from the sensed images, and to generate gain and offset correction values to be stored in a table and applied to the sensed images. The system is also adapted to compensate for scene changes when the detector array is installed on a moving platform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 7, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: William F. O'Neil
  • Patent number: 5510725
    Abstract: A method for testing a power bridge for an electric vehicle propulsion system, the power bridge including a switching circuit having first and second switching elements operable between "on" and "off" states. The method comprises the steps of selectively switching the first and second switching elements between the "on" and "off" states, monitoring the first and second switching elements to determine whether the first and second switching elements operate between the "on" and "off" states when selectively switched, and indicating a failure o#the switching circuit when at least one of the first and second switching elements does not operate between the "on" and "off" states when selectively switched.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 23, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: David L. Schantz, Jr., William B. Hall, William B. Winkel, Geoffrey B. Lansberry
  • Patent number: 5508594
    Abstract: A vehicle power controller for a vehicle including a motor that drives the vehicle, a plurality of sensors and a motor controller, wherein the plurality of sensors includes an accelerator sensor for sensing a position of an accelerator pedal and a brake sensor for sensing a position of a brake pedal, and wherein the motor controller controls torque output of the motor. The vehicle power controller includes three components. The first receives signals from the accelerator sensor and the brake sensor. The second converts the signals for the accelerator sensor and the brake sensor into a torque value, and the third outputs the torque value to the motor controller for controlling the torque output of the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 16, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp
    Inventors: Thomas C. Underwood, Beth A. Herman, Eric L. Mohler
  • Patent number: 5506484
    Abstract: A pulse width modulator (PWM) circuit for generating pulses to enable a driver control unit to drive a pair of switching circuits for an electric motor including an input section for receiving an N bit digitized input signal to be modulated and a PWM counter for continuously counting up from zero to a predetermined number and back down to zero, the PWM counter generating a digitized triangular waveform having N bits of resolution corresponding to the predetermined number. A compare unit receives and compares the digitized input signal and the digitized triangular waveform to produce an output pulse and a dead-time generator unit produces a first pulse and a second pulse from the output pulse produced from the compare unit. The first and second pulses each drives a corresponding one of the switching circuits and the first and second pulses have different transition times relative to each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: James L. Munro, Geoffrey B. Lansberry, Beth A. Herman
  • Patent number: 5504655
    Abstract: An electric vehicle power distribution module including a chassis containing electric power distribution components. A battery connector is disposed on the chassis for electrically connecting the power distribution components to a battery. A safety cover is secured to the chassis and includes an aperature in a side wall for receiving an electric cable from the battery to be selectively engaged with the battery connector. The aperture is positioned with respect to the battery connector so as to preclude removal of the safety cover from the chassis without disengagement of the electric cable from the battery connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Thomas C. Underwood, James H. DeOms, Todd M. Zaranski, Brian H. Smith
  • Patent number: 5504378
    Abstract: An apparatus for cooling a switching circuit for an electric vehicle, wherein the switching circuit has at least two switching elements connected in series, includes first and second heat sinks, each having two thermally-conductive planar members forming a passage therebetween for channeling cooling fluid, an inlet port in communication with the passage, and an outlet port in communication with the passage, and a substrate for mounting at least one switching element to each of the first and second heat sinks. An ac terminal connects the switching element attached to the first heat sink in series with the switching element attached to the second heat sink, and inlet and outlet manifolds, coupled to the inlet and outlet ports of the first and second heat sinks, circulate cooling fluid through the passages of the first and second heat sinks to cool the switching elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: Frank A. Lindberg, Richard M. Young, William B. Hall, Frank E. Altoz, Ngon B. Nguyen
  • Patent number: 5503150
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for noninvasively locating and heating a volume of tissue, specifically a cancerous tumor, including placing a bolus in contact with the patient and substantially around an area of interest including the volume of tissue, placing an array of antennas on the bolus and substantially around the area of interest, imaging the area of interest, selecting an approximate center of the volume of tissue on said initial image, determining appropriate amplitudes and phases for the antennas, energizing each element at respective appropriate amplitudes and phases to heat the volume of tissue, repetitively imaging the area of interest to create subsequent images, and subtracting said initial image from the subsequent images to determine temperature changes in the area of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 1994
    Date of Patent: April 2, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventor: Gary E. Evans