General Electric Patents Granted

Patents granted to General Electric by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 10543755
    Abstract: An apparatus comprises a power electronic energy conversion system comprising a first energy storage device configured to store DC energy and a first voltage converter configured to convert a second voltage from a remote power supply into a first charging voltage configured to charge the first energy storage device. The apparatus also includes a first controller configured to control the first voltage converter to convert the second voltage into the first charging voltage and to provide the first charging voltage to the first energy storage device during a charging mode of operation and communicate with a second controller located remotely from the power electronic energy conversion system to cause a second charging voltage to be provided to the first energy storage device during the charging mode of operation to rapidly charge the first energy storage device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Robert Dean King, Robert Louis Steigerwald
  • Patent number: 10544700
    Abstract: The present application provides a method of evaluating fatigue damage in a turbine by a data acquisition system. The method may include the steps of receiving a number of operating parameters from a number of sensors and based upon the operating parameters, determining: a run time from start-up until the turbine reaches X percent load and a start-up temperature transient from start-up until the turbine reaches X percent load, and calculating: a run time ratio of the determined run time until the turbine reaches X percent load to a predetermined run time, a start-up temperature ratio of the determined start-up temperature transient to a predetermined start-up temperature transient, and a fatigue severity factor by averaging the run time ratio and the start-up temperature ratio. Based upon the determined fatigue severity factor, altering one or more of the operating parameters and/or initiating repair procedures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Technology GmbH
    Inventor: Martin Reigl
  • Patent number: 10544701
    Abstract: A turbine shroud assembly is disclosed including an inner shroud, an outer shroud, a shroud dampening pin, and a biasing apparatus. The inner shroud is adjacent to a hot gas path. The outer shroud is adjacent to the inner shroud and distal from the hot gas path, and includes a channel extending from an aperture adjacent to the inner shroud. The shroud dampening pin is within the channel and contacts the inner shroud, and includes a shaft, a contact surface, and a cap. The shaft is within the channel. The contact surface extends through the aperture in contact with the inner shroud. The cap is distal across the shaft from the contact surface. The biasing apparatus contacts the cap, is driven by a pressurized fluid, and provides a biasing force away from the outer shroud along the shroud dampening pin to the inner shroud through the contact surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Glenn Curtis Taxacher, John McConnell Delvaux, Matthew Troy Hafner
  • Patent number: 10542951
    Abstract: A mammography apparatus including an x-ray source having an x-ray tube with one or more focal spots, a controller for controlling one or more parameters of the x-ray exposure, a digital image receptor configured to generate an x-ray image from objects positioned between the x-ray source and the digital image receptor, a specimen tray configured to receive samples from a biopsy, a positioning arm for positioning the specimen tray between the x-ray source and the digital image receptor, and a detector configured to detect the presence of the specimen tray when it is positioned. The controller is configured to adjust, select or configure one or more parameters of the x-ray exposure in reaction to the detection of the presence of the specimen tray in such a way that the one or more parameters are adapted to the specific needs of imaging biopsy specimens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Remy Andre Klausz, Yann Le Meur
  • Patent number: 10544686
    Abstract: The present application provides a turbine bucket. The turbine bucket may include a platform, an airfoil extending from the platform at an intersection thereof, and a cooling circuit extending within the platform and the airfoil. The cooling circuit may include a root turn with an asymmetric shape so as to reduce stress concentrations therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: William Scott Zemitis, Michael Sherman, Luke C. Sponseller
  • Patent number: 10538337
    Abstract: A propulsion system for an aircraft includes an electric power source, an electric propulsor assembly having an electric motor and a propulsor configured to generate thrust for the aircraft, and a power bus electrically connecting the electric power source to the electric propulsor assembly such that the electric power source powers the electric propulsor assembly. The power bus includes an electric line and a fluid cooling system, the fluid cooling system extending along at least a portion of a length of the electric line. The fluid cooling system is in thermal communication with the electric line for cooling the electric line during operation and is further in thermal communication with the electric motor of the electric propulsor assembly for cooling the electric motor of the electric propulsor assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Randy M. Vondrell, Anthony Austin Bouvette, Robert Charles Hon
  • Patent number: 10539041
    Abstract: A cooled article and a method of forming a cooled article are disclosed. The cooled article includes a component, a porous material incorporated into the component, and a cooling medium within the porous material. Another cooled article is formed by a process includes the steps of forming a porous material from a pre-sintered preform, providing a component, and incorporating the porous material into the component. The porous material is in fluid communication with a cooling medium. The method of forming a cooled article includes providing a metal felt material infused with braze filler material, pre-sintering the metal felt material to form a porous material, providing a component, and incorporating the porous material into the component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Srikanth Chandrudu Kottilingam, Benjamin Paul Lacy, Brian Gene Brzek, David Edward Schick
  • Patent number: 10542050
    Abstract: A security configuration management system accesses, from two or more data sources, network data gathered from a network. The network data includes Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, device types and software used in the network. The system aggregates the network data, yielding an aggregated asset database, and generates, based on the aggregated asset database, a network topology describing computing nodes in the network and interconnections between the computing nodes. The system determines, based on a database of known security vulnerabilities corresponding to device and software profiles, a set of security vulnerabilities for the network and determines a set of security policies for the network based on the set of security vulnerabilities. The system generates network security configurations for the network based on the network topology and the set of security policies, and implements the network security configurations on a network security device in the network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Brandon Castel
  • Patent number: 10538460
    Abstract: A ceramic slurry for forming a ceramic article includes a binder, a first plurality of ceramic particles having a first morphology, a second plurality of ceramic particles having a second morphology that is different from the first morphology; and a photoinitiator. A method for using this slurry for fabricating ceramic articles is presented as well.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Cathleen Ann Hoel, Xi Yang, Michael Joseph O'Brien
  • Patent number: 10537303
    Abstract: A method and ultrasound imaging system for detecting a coherent reflector comprises acquiring ultrasound channel data from a volume with a probe including a 2D aperture, calculating a MRT from the ultrasound channel data, identifying a first angle of a projection of the coherent reflector in a plane parallel to the 2D aperture based on the MRT, detecting a line-shaped echo pattern in the ultrasound channel data, determining a second angle of the coherent reflector with respect to the 2D aperture, determining a position and an orientation of the coherent reflector based on the first angle and the second angle, enhancing a representation of the coherent reflector in an image generated based on the ultrasound channel data, and displaying the image on a display device after enhancing the representation of the coherent reflector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Raja Sekhar Bandaru, Anders Sornes, Eigil Samset, Jan D'Hooge
  • Patent number: 10542263
    Abstract: The way of predicting a current block by assigning constant partition values to the partitions of a bi-partitioning of a block is quite effective, especially in case of coding sample arrays such as depth/disparity maps where the content of these sample arrays is mostly composed of plateaus or simple connected regions of similar value separated from each other by steep edges. The transmission of such constant partition values would, however, still need a considerable amount of side information which should be avoided. This side information rate may be further reduced if mean values of values of neighboring samples associated or adjoining the respective partitions are used as predictors for the constant partition values.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE VIDEO COMPRESSION, LLC
    Inventors: Philipp Merkle, Christian Bartnik, Haricharan Lakshman, Detlev Marpe, Karsten Mueller, Thomas Wiegand, Gerhard Tech
  • Patent number: 10538856
    Abstract: An apparatus for electro-polishing an object that has a complex shape that defines a cavity. The apparatus includes an electrode that is configured to closely engage a predetermined location of the object. The electrode is configured to be electrically connected to a power supply.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Manuel Acosta, James J. O'Shea
  • Patent number: 10539435
    Abstract: A pressure compensated sensing system and methods for using the same are provided. The system can include a housing, a seal, an incompressible fluid, and sensing elements. The seal can be positioned within a housing cavity and divide the cavity into two portions. A first cavity portion can be sealed from the fluid environment by the seal and contain the sensing elements and the incompressible fluid. A second cavity portion can be in fluid communication with the fluid environment. The fluid environment can apply an external pressure to the seal that is opposed by an internal pressure of the sealed cavity applied to the seal by the incompressible fluid. When the internal pressure and the external pressure are different, the seal can move in a manner that changes the volume of the sealed cavity by an amount sufficient to equalize the internal pressure with the external pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dan Tho Lu, Lam Arthur Campbell, David O'Connor, Bryan Shadel
  • Patent number: 10539364
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for increasing the efficiency of liquefied natural gas production and heavy hydrocarbon distillation. In one embodiment, air within an LNG production facility can be utilized as a heat source to provide heat to HHC liquid for distillation in a HHC distillation system. The mechanism of heat transfer from the air can be natural convection. In another embodiment, heat provided by natural gas, or compressed natural gas, can be used for HHC distillation. In other embodiments, various other liquids can be used to transfer heat to HHC liquid for distillation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: John Michael Repasky
  • Patent number: 10539339
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a solar receiver having improved heliostat field control. The solar receiver includes a plurality of receiver panels arranged adjacent to one another. Each receiver panel includes a plurality of receiver tubes aligned tangentially to one another. Further, each of the plurality of receiver tubes includes an inlet and an outlet. In addition, at least one of the inlets or outlets of the plurality of receiver tubes are arranged at a center of the receiver panel along a height thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Technology GmbH
    Inventors: Germain Felicien Augsburger, Apurba Kumar Das, Pedro Inigo, John David McGrane, Sunil Satyanarayana Murthy
  • Patent number: 10539601
    Abstract: A system includes a monitoring and/or protection system that includes an insulation derivation circuit. The insulation derivation circuit is configured to derive a first temperature compensation curve based on a first temperature and a first current, and the monitoring and/or protection system is configured to communicatively couple to a first current sensor configured to sense the first current traversing a first phase of a stator winding of a motor, a generator, or a combination thereof. The insulation derivation circuit is also configured to communicatively couple to a first temperature sensor configured to sense the first temperature of the stator when the stator is energized, and the temperature compensation curve is configured to map a temperature to a leakage dissipation factor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dan Tho Lu, Ronald W. Wilson
  • Patent number: 10539667
    Abstract: An ultrasound pulse generator circuit includes a first gate driver electrically coupled to a first gallium nitride (GaN) transistor, a second gate driver electrically coupled to a second GaN transistor, a first snubber circuit, a second snubber circuit, and a transformer. The first snubber circuit and the second snubber circuit each include a respective capacitor and resistor and each snubber circuit is configured to clamp a voltage overshoot when present. Further, the transformer generates an output signal when operated and the third transformer is electrically connected downstream of the first GaN transistor, the second GaN transistor, the first snubber circuit, and the second snubber circuit. In addition, the transformer includes multiple windings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Han Peng, Juan Antonio Sabate, Kieran Andrew Wall
  • Patent number: 10539154
    Abstract: A compressor is provided including a compressor end-wall having a casing and a hub. The compressor further includes at least one set of rotor blades, one set of stator blades, and a plurality of end-wall treatments spaced apart from each other, formed in an interior surface of at least one of the casing and hub, and facing a tip of the rotor blade or stator blade. Each end-wall treatment includes a forward recess portion extending along a first axis and an aft recess portion extending along a second axis different than the first axis. The aft recess portion is joined to the corresponding forward recess portion via an intersection portion which is inclined relative to at least one of the first axis, and the second axis. The aft recess portion and/or the forward recess portion are bent from the intersection portion and inclined relative to an axial direction of the compressor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ramakrishna Venkata Mallina, Sungho Yoon, Vittorio Michelassi, Ivan Malcevic
  • Patent number: 10541523
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a cable securement assembly for protecting cables and/or cable bundles within a wind turbine. The cable securement assembly includes a cable spacer having an inner surface and an outer surface separated by a thickness and one or more fastening components. The inner surface defines an open center configured to receive the plurality of cables therein. The inner surface defines a plurality of cable locations defined by one or more through holes configured through the thickness. The one or more fastening components are configured to secure one or more of the plurality of cables at each cable location via the through holes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Jiahong Wang, Craig Dement, Jiemin Fu, Jay Leonard, Yang Liu, Roman Kolar, Edward Wayne Hardwicke, Andre Langel
  • Patent number: 10541895
    Abstract: A data processing apparatus is deployed at a cloud network, and includes a plurality of data nodes, a receiver circuit, and an aggregation circuit. The receiver circuit is coupled to the plurality of data nodes and is configured to receive downtime records from a plurality of industrial machines, and to selectively route the downtime records to selected ones of the plurality of data nodes based upon a predetermined criteria. Each of the plurality of data nodes comprises a control circuit and a memory. Each control circuit is configured to, in parallel with the other control circuits, to further populate the downtime records with other data related to the operation of the machines, determine one or more time windows for each of the records, and divide the records according to the time windows.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Sage, Ashish Raisardar
  • Patent number: 10537252
    Abstract: A system, includes a wireless communication network that transmits data over available radio frequency channels, one or more medical sensors that are associated with a patient and that detect physiological data from the patient, and one or more communication hubs associated with the patient and that receive the detected physiological data from the one or more medical sensors and scan the available radio frequency channels around the one or more communication hubs to generate radio frequency data indicative of a measured signal strength in each available radio frequency channel of the of available radio frequency channels. The one or more communication hubs wirelessly transmit the physiological data and the radio frequency data via one or more of the of available radio frequency channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Stanislava Soro
  • Patent number: 10539515
    Abstract: Method and apparatus are provided for calibration or verification of accuracy specification of a computed tomographic system. In one embodiment, the apparatus can include a base structure, a first set of test objects arranged along a first axis and coupled to the base structure, and a second set of test objects arranged along a second axis and coupled to the base structure. The first set of test objects and the second set of test objects have a first geometry. The apparatus can also include a third set of test objects and a fourth set of test objects. The third set of test objects, and the fourth set of test objects have a second geometry different from the first geometry. Locations of the first, second third and fourth set of test objects are spatially fixed with respect to the base structure. The apparatus is a test specimen adapted for calibration or accuracy verification of computed tomography system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE Inspection Technologies, LP
    Inventors: Andreas Fischer, Nils Rothe, Alexander Suppes, Eugen Trapet
  • Patent number: 10541560
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a power control method and device in a wireless power transmission system. According to the present invention, even if a CEP packet is not transmitted from a wireless power reception device over a certain period of time, a wireless power transmission device may additionally determine whether the wireless power reception device is located in a charging area and sustainably perform charging.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE HYBRID TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Chun Kil Jung, Soon Sang Kwon
  • Patent number: 10542278
    Abstract: In accordance with a first aspect, the intra prediction direction of a neighboring, intra-predicted block is used in order to predict the extension direction of the wedgelet separation line of a current block, thereby reducing the side information rate necessitated in order to convey the partitioning information. In accordance with a second aspect, the idea is that previously reconstructed samples, i.e. reconstructed values of blocks preceding the current block in accordance with the coding/decoding order allow for at least a prediction of a correct placement of a starting point of the wedgelet separation line, namely by placing the starting point of the wedgelet separation line at a position of a maximum change between consecutive ones of a sequence of reconstructed values of samples of a line of samples extending adjacent to the current block along a circumference thereof. Both aspects may be used individually or in combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE VIDEO COMPRESSION, LLC
    Inventors: Philipp Merkle, Christian Bartnik, Haricharan Lakshman, Detlev Marpe, Karsten Mueller, Thomas Wiegand, Gerhard Tech
  • Patent number: 10537305
    Abstract: Various embodiments include systems and methods for detecting amniotic fluid position based on shear wave propagation. Ultrasound image data may be acquired, and shear wave related data for an area corresponding to the acquired ultrasound image data may also be acquired. Identification data associated with one or more particular structures or elements within the area may be generated based on the shear wave related data, and ultrasound imaging during an ultrasound examination may then be controlled based on the identification data. The ultrasound imaging may comprise generating and rendering one or more ultrasound images based on the acquired ultrasound image. The ultrasound examination may be obstetric (OB) ultrasound examination, with the area comprising one or more of: at least portion of a fetus, amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus, and tissue of a mother carrying the fetus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Stefan Denk, Martin Paul Mienkina
  • Patent number: 10541153
    Abstract: An electronics package includes an insulating substrate, an electrical component having a back surface coupled to a first surface of the insulating substrate, and an insulating structure surrounding at least a portion of a perimeter of the electrical component. A first wiring layer extends from the first surface of the insulating substrate and over a sloped side surface of the insulating structure to electrically couple with at least one contact pad on an active surface of the electrical component. A second wiring layer is formed on a second surface of the insulating substrate and extends through at least one via therein to electrically couple with the first wiring layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher James Kapusta, Raymond Albert Fillion, Risto Ilkka Sakari Tuominen, Kaustubh Ravindra Nagarkar
  • Patent number: 10539053
    Abstract: An apparatus and method of transporting a turbine engine with a transportation fixture including a turbine engine jig having mounts for securing the turbine engine, a rotor with a drive shaft rotationally supported by a bearing, the method includes supplying a lubricant to the bearing and rotating the drive shaft while the turbine engine is in transport.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Carl Lawrence MacMahon, James Eugene Dingle
  • Patent number: 10540769
    Abstract: An ultrasound probe acquires ultrasound images at different directions, such as by performing beam steering. A processor analyzes the ultrasound images to detect acoustic shadow artifacts. The processor marks the acoustic shadow artifacts detected in one or more regions of one or more of the analyzed ultrasound images. The processor constructs a compound image based on unmarked regions of the analyzed ultrasound images. The processor presents the constructed compound image at a display system. The processor applies an image recognition technique to identify whether a region of an ultrasound image includes a dark area. The processor compares image data of the region corresponding with a same location in each of the ultrasound images and detects the acoustic shadow artifacts in the region having the identified dark area if at least one of the analyzed ultrasound images does not include the dark area at the region corresponding with the same location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Klaus Pintoffl, Daniel Buckton, Christian Perrey
  • Patent number: 10539020
    Abstract: The present disclosure is directed to a gas turbine engine defining a longitudinal direction, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction, and wherein the gas turbine engine defines an upstream end and a downstream end along the longitudinal direction. The gas turbine engine includes a turbine section that includes a first rotating component and a second rotating component. The first rotating component includes an inner shroud and an outer shroud outward of the inner shroud in the radial direction. The outer shroud defines a plurality of outer shroud airfoils extended inward of the outer shroud along the radial direction. The first rotating component further includes at least one connecting airfoil coupling the inner shroud and the outer shroud. The second rotating component is upstream of the one or more connecting airfoils of the first rotating component along the longitudinal direction. The second rotating component includes a plurality of second airfoils extended outward in the radial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Alan Roy Stuart, Jeffrey Donald Clements, Richard Schmidt, Thomas Ory Moniz
  • Patent number: 10541209
    Abstract: An electronics package includes a support substrate, an electrical component having a first surface coupled to a first surface of the support substrate, and an insulating structure coupled to the first surface of the support substrate and sidewalls of the electrical component. The insulating structure has a sloped outer surface. A conductive layer encapsulates the electrical component and the sloped outer surface of the insulating structure. A first wiring layer is formed on a second surface of the support substrate. The first wiring layer is coupled to the conductive layer through at least one via in the support substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher James Kapusta, Raymond Albert Fillion, Risto Ilkka Sakari Tuominen, Kaustubh Ravindra Nagarkar
  • Patent number: 10541860
    Abstract: Systems and methods for filtering a large group of devices are presented. In an example embodiment, a value is accessed for each of a plurality of attributes for each of a plurality of devices. Also accessed is a filter set including one or more filters. Each of the filters comprises one of the attributes, a filter value, and a relational operator relating the attribute to the filter value. The attribute of at least one of the filters indicates an event applicable to individual devices, and a corresponding filter value indicates whether to filter the devices based on the presence or absence of a previous occurrence of the event. The filter set is compared to the attributes of each of the devices to identify those of the devices that satisfy all of the filters of the filter set. A representation of at least some of the identified devices is displayed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Clifford A. Collins, Wai Loon Fong, Karel Barnoski, Peter Ingulli
  • Patent number: 10539076
    Abstract: A self-contained lubrication fluid circulation system for use with a gas turbine engine defining a core air flowpath includes a sump configured to collect lubrication fluid and a heat source coupled in fluid communication with the sump and configured to transfer heat to the lubrication fluid. The system also includes a heat sink positioned within the sump and coupled in fluid communication with the heat source. A lubrication fluid conduit of the system is configured to channel the lubrication fluid between the heat source and the heat sink, wherein the lubrication fluid conduit is positioned entirely within the sump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Daniel Alan Niergarth, Brandon Wayne Miller, Kyle Robert Snow, Christopher James Kroger
  • Patent number: 10539588
    Abstract: The method of reducing error in rotor speed measurement includes synchronously measuring a rotor having a target including at least one geometric imperfection. Time intervals for the passing of each tooth of a rotor are stored in a circular buffer memory array. Speed is always determined by extracting the time for a complete revolution, so that geometric imperfections and asymmetry of the rotating target do not influence the speed determination, which is always representing the average speed over the latest complete revolution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Joseph Scott Riolo, David Allen Bradford
  • Patent number: 10542382
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to facilitate proximity detection and location tracking. An example method includes receiving messages collected by a badge in an environment, the messages including signal strength and a timestamp. The example method also includes assigning a location in the environment to the badge based on a first subset of the messages. The example method also includes identifying an asset in a second subset of the messages. The example method also includes updating a current location associated with the asset based on a relative proximity of the asset to the badge, wherein the current location corresponds to a first time and the updated location corresponds to a second time, and wherein a change in location between the current location and the updated location indicates movement of the asset in the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 2018
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Brandon Stephen Good, Charles Burton Theurer, Shaopeng Liu, Robert Lee Wallace
  • Patent number: 10541300
    Abstract: Embodiments of a semiconductor device and methods of forming thereof are provided herein. In some embodiments, a power semiconductor device may include a first layer having a first conductivity type; a second layer disposed atop the first layer, the second layer having the first conductivity type; a termination region formed in the second layer, the termination region having a second conductivity type opposite the first type; and an active region at least partially formed in the second layer, wherein the active region is disposed adjacent to the termination region proximate a first side of the termination region and wherein the second layer is at least partially disposed adjacent to the termination region proximate a second side of the termination region opposite the first side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Peter Almern Losee, Alexander Viktorovich Bolotnikov, Yang Sui
  • Patent number: 10539032
    Abstract: A turbomachine includes a plurality of nozzles, and each nozzle has an airfoil. The turbomachine has opposing walls defining a pathway into which a fluid flow is receivable to flow through the pathway. A throat distribution is measured at a narrowest region in the pathway between adjacent nozzles, at which adjacent nozzles extend across the pathway between the opposing walls to aerodynamically interact with the fluid flow. The airfoil defines the throat distribution, and the throat distribution is defined by values set forth in Table 1, where the throat distribution values are within a +/?10% tolerance of the values set forth in Table 1. The throat distribution reduces aerodynamic loss and improves aerodynamic loading on each airfoil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Sumeet Soni, Rohit Chouhan, Ross James Gustafson, Matthew Peter Scoffone
  • Patent number: 10542086
    Abstract: The example embodiments are directed to a system and method for dynamically controlling a flow of a stream processing application. The method may include executing the application which reads data from a data source and writes data to a target destination, and which includes a pipeline of operators which perform different operations on the data, determining a runtime performance of the pipeline of operators included in the stream processing application, and dynamically synchronizing the runtime performance of each of the operators in the pipeline of operators of the stream processing application by changing a processing speed of at least one operator. By changing the speed of the at least one operator a performance of all operators can be synchronized to accommodate dynamic characteristics of the processing environment such as target database conditions, operator processing performance, and the like, which can change during runtime.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ardaman Singh, Arvind Singh
  • Patent number: 10539035
    Abstract: Compliant bellow seal may be axially disposed between first and second cooling plates bounding first and second cooling passages between cooling plates and first and second stage disks in turbine. Bellow seal includes two or more convolutions with oppositely facing forward and aft sealing surfaces, which may be flat, on forward and aft annular sealing walls and cylindrical annular outer and inner contact and sealing surfaces on and facing radially outwardly or inwardly from one of the convolutions. A snake bellow seal embodiment may have at least two of the convolutions being full convolutions of unequal width and a forwardmost partial convolution including the sealing wall. Bellow seal may allow turbine cooling flow from an inter-stage radial face spline to flow through inner openings of second cooling passage and block first stage disk cooling air from flowing through inner openings of first cooling passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Peter Andrew Simeone, Robert Clayton von der Esch
  • Patent number: 10539524
    Abstract: A sensing system includes a sensor and one or more processors. The sensor includes a sensing region in contact with an industrial fluid. The sensing region includes electrodes and a sensing region circuit electrically connected to the electrodes. The sensing region circuit generates an electrical stimulus having multiple different frequencies that are applied to the industrial fluid via the electrodes. The one or more processors receive one or more electrical signals from the sensor representative of an impedance response of the sensing region to the electrical stimulus. The one or more processors analyze the impedance response and determine at least one of a contaminant concentration of an external contaminant in the industrial fluid, an acid concentration of acidic components in the industrial fluid, or a base concentration of basic components in the industrial fluid based on the impedance response.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Radislav Alexandrovich Potyrailo, Igor Tokarev, Najeeb M. Kuzhiyil, Pradheepram Ottikkutti
  • Patent number: 10539025
    Abstract: An airfoil assembly including a composite body having a mounting edge and a trailing edge which is secured to a leading edge element defining a 3-D leading edge geometry with both chord and camber variation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Nicholas Joseph Kray, Trevor Howard Wood, Dong-Jin Shim, Pranav Dhoj Shah
  • Patent number: 10539116
    Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to provide wind turbine control and compensate for wind induction effects. An example method includes receiving wind speed data from a Light Detecting and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor. The example method includes receiving operating data indicative of wind turbine operation. The example method includes determining an apriori induction correction for wind turbine operating conditions with respect to the LIDAR wind speed data based on the operating data. The example method includes estimating a wind signal from the LIDAR sensor that is adjusted by the correction. The example method includes generating a control signal for a wind turbine based on the adjusted LIDAR estimated wind signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Samuel Davoust, Conner B. Shane, Fabiano Daher Adegas, Thomas Stephen Markham, Dale Robert Mashtare
  • Patent number: 10539019
    Abstract: A set of stationary blades for a steam turbine is provided. At least one of the stationary blades includes a suction side and an opposite pressure side, and a plurality of ejection channels defined in the at least one stationary blade. Each of the plurality of ejection channels extends through an outer surface of the pressure side, and each of the plurality of ejection channels is coupled in flow communication to a blade inlet aperture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Saeid Havakeshian, Krzysztof Cherek
  • Patent number: 10540898
    Abstract: A dynamic human machine interface system includes a mission commander application (MCA) unit including a control processor, the MCA active on one vehicle of a plurality of mission member vehicles, the MCA unit in communication with a data store, the control processor accessing executable instructions that cause the control processor to direct operations of components of the MCA unit, an alternate scenario evaluation unit accessing at least one of mission parameter records and flight member data records in the data store to recalculate mission parameters, a dynamic video interface unit to render the recalculated mission parameters on a mission control dashboard (MCD), the MCD presented to the mission commander on a display unit of the one vehicle, the MCD including a plurality of display pane areas selectable by a user interaction with an interactive interface, and each display area configurable by the user interaction to change content of the display pane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: So Young Kim, Aaron Williams, Mark Snyder, Christopher Scott Sensing, Samuel Levulis, Jeffrey Robert Winters, Sundar Murugappan, Courtney Albers, Jennifer Ruth Cooper, Michael Eric Figard, Alexander Kaber Carroll
  • Patent number: 10541338
    Abstract: The subject matter disclosed herein relates to silicon carbide (SiC) power devices and, more specifically, to SiC super-junction (SJ) power devices. A SiC-SJ device includes a plurality of SiC semiconductor layers of a first conductivity-type, wherein a first and a second SiC semiconductor layer of the plurality of SiC semiconductor layers comprise a termination region disposed adjacent to an active region with an interface formed therebetween, an act wherein the termination region of the first and the second SiC semiconductor layers comprises a plurality of implanted regions of a second conductivity-type, and wherein an effective doping profile of the termination region of the first SiC semiconductor layer is different from an effective doping profile of the termination region of the second SiC semiconductor layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY
    Inventors: Alexander Viktorovich Bolotnikov, Peter Almern Losee, David Alan Lilienfeld, James Jay McMahon
  • Patent number: 10541563
    Abstract: The present specification relates to a wireless power transmission device. The present specification provides a wireless power transmission device comprising: a power supply unit for supplying power to the wireless power transmission device; at least one first coil for transmitting power to a wireless power reception device; and first and second condensers configured so as to be connected respectively to different both ends of the power supply unit and the first coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: GE HYBRID TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventors: Chun Kil Jung, Hak Do Kim
  • Patent number: 10539934
    Abstract: Outages and/or switching operations associated with an electrical energy distribution system (e.g., a power grid system) are managed. In an implementation, a system provides for receiving outage request information related to a request to interrupt a power supply provided to a device in an electrical energy distribution system, determining switching information related to a set of steps to de-energize a portion of the electrical energy distribution system associated with the device based on the outage request information, and performing a switching operation to de-energize the portion of the electrical energy distribution system based on the switching information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Technology GmbH
    Inventors: Tory McKeag, John Awald, Kevin Curtis, Reynaldo Bernal
  • Patent number: 10539153
    Abstract: Bleed air system includes bleed port with annular bleed slot in a compressor inner casing surrounding flowpath circumscribing a centerline in compressor inner casing. Inner and outer slot walls bound bleed flow passage through the bleed slot. Annular array of arcuate shields radially inwardly bound the bleed flow passage downstream and aft of inner slot wall. Each shield includes integrally-formed axially forward retaining portion, downstream portion, and upstream portion therebetween. Clipping means clips retaining portion to aft facing radial wall of annular lip on inner slot wall. Clipping means may be arcuate or annular clip having forward annular portion attached to annular aft flange substantially perpendicular to the centerline and forward annular portion disposed in annular slot extending into inner slot wall. Forward annular portion and annular slot may be cylindrical or conical. Clip may include aft conical portion radially offset from forward conical portion and transition portion therebetween.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Michael Anthony Thomas, Abhishek Jayant Patil, Manish Singhal
  • Patent number: 10542007
    Abstract: A method for controlling an operation of an industrial machine that includes authenticating control commands remotely issued by command issuers through a network. The control commands each describe a modifying action to the operation of the industrial machine. The method includes: providing a jump host as a communication buffer between a unit controller of the industrial machine and the network; maintaining within a memory of the jump host whitelisted commands, the whitelisted commands including a list of the approved control commands; receiving, at the jump host, a first control command via the network; determining, at the jump host, whether the first control command is contained within the whitelisted commands; in response to an affirmative determination that the first control command is contained within the whitelisted commands, deeming the first control command as being authenticated; and transmitting the first control command to the unit controller of the industrial machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Paul Oliver Caffrey, Robert Scott Garry, Peter Frank Andrews, Clemens Karl Woeste, Robert Hugh Putman, Gregory Pearson Fry
  • Patent number: 10537297
    Abstract: A radiation tomography system is provided that includes a control unit to control a data collection system to acquire first data by scanning a first scan region centered on a first position in a body axis direction of a subject in synchronization with heartbeats, and second data by scanning a second scan region adjacent to the first scan region and centered on a second position in the body axis direction in synchronization with the heartbeats. A reconstructing unit is provided to reconstruct an image of a slice between the first position and second positions using the first and second data. The reconstructing unit determines a view-angle-range-based use rate for the first data and a view-angle-range-based use rate for the second data according to the position of the slice relative to the first and second positions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 21, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Akira Hagiwara
  • Patent number: 10533901
    Abstract: An imaging system includes a sight tube extending along a longitudinal axis of the imaging system and configured to extend through an access port. The sight tube includes a wall extending about the longitudinal axis and defining a cavity. The imaging system also includes a plurality of cooling channels extending through the sight tube. The plurality of cooling channels are configured to direct cooling fluid through the sight tube for cooling the imaging system. The plurality of cooling channels are formed in the sight tube such that at least one cooling channel of the plurality of cooling channels extends in a direction oblique to the longitudinal axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2020
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Guanghua Wang, Nirm Velumylum Nirmalan, Mohamed Sakami, Thomas Charles Adcock, Jeffrey Jay Porubcan, James William Sears, Naveenan Thiagarajan, Bernard Bewlay, Jason Edward Dees, James DeLancey