Patents Examined by Alexander W Keeling
  • Patent number: 8999138
    Abstract: The present invention includes an anodic device for reducing corrosion adapted to reduce corrosion of an object subject to corrosion having a base with a thickness and surface area, and a plurality of protrusions protruding from the base each having a thickness and surface area, wherein the device is configured to allow a current to flow between the device and the object subject to corrosion. The present invention also includes methods associated with the use of such devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 25, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: RGF Environmental Group, Inc.
    Inventor: Walter B. Ellis
  • Patent number: 8999128
    Abstract: This invention prevents leakage of an internal liquid and breakage of a reference electrode resulting from volume expansion of the internal liquid due to the congelation of the internal liquid, and comprises a vessel that forms a sealed space, an internal liquid that is contained in the vessel, an internal electrode that is immersed in the internal liquid, an ion conduction part that is arranged on a wall of the vessel and that electrically connects the internal liquid and a measurement sample, and a volume expansion absorption mechanism 6 at least a part of which is immersed in the internal liquid and that absorbs volume expansion of the internal liquid due to congelation of the internal liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2015
    Assignee: Horiba, Ltd.
    Inventor: Makoto Kato
  • Patent number: 8986521
    Abstract: Disclosed is a segmented contact bar for use boarding an electrolytic cell. The segmented contact bar has contact pieces made of electrically conductive material and being in spaced apart relation along the capping board, each of the contact pieces defining a segment for supporting and electrically connecting an anode and a cathode in the electrolytic cell. The segmented contact bar also has connection members including an insulating material and provided in between pairs of adjacent segments for providing insulating interconnection of the segments. There is also an electrolytic refining apparatus including adjacent electrolytic cells; a capping board positioned on the adjacent electrolytic cells; anodes and cathodes extending in spaced apart alternate positions into the each of the adjacent electrolytic cells along the capping boards; and a segmented contact bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 24, 2015
    Assignee: Pultrusion Technique Inc.
    Inventor: Robert P. Dufresne
  • Patent number: 8968549
    Abstract: Cathodic protection of steel in concrete is provided by locating an anode assembly including both a sacrificial anode and an impressed current anode in contact with the concrete and providing an impressed current from a power supply to the anode. The impressed current anode forms a perforated sleeve surrounding a rod of the sacrificial anode material with an activated ionically-conductive filler material between. The system can be used without the power supply in sacrificial mode or when the power supply is connected, the impressed current anode can be powered to provide an impressed current system and/or to recharge the sacrificial anode from sacrificial anode corrosion products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Vector Corrosion Technologies Ltd.
    Inventors: George Sergi, Attanayake Mudiyanselage Gamini Seneviratne, David Whitmore
  • Patent number: 8961746
    Abstract: Cathodic protection of steel in concrete is provided by locating an anode assembly including both a sacrificial anode and an impressed current anode in contact with the concrete and providing an impressed current from a power supply to the anode. The impressed current anode forms a perforated sleeve surrounding a rod of the sacrificial anode material with an activated ionically-conductive filler material between. The system can be used without the power supply in sacrificial mode or when the power supply is connected, the impressed current anode can be powered to provide an impressed current system and/or to recharge the sacrificial anode from sacrificial anode corrosion products.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 24, 2015
    Assignee: Vector Corrosion Technologies Ltd.
    Inventors: George Sergi, Attanayake Mudiyanselage Gamini Seneviratne, David Whitmore
  • Patent number: 8956525
    Abstract: Disclosed are electrolysis catalysts formed from cobalt, oxygen and buffering electrolytes (e.g. fluoride). They can be formed as a coating on an anode by conducting an electrolysis reaction using an electrolyte containing cobalt and an anionic buffering electrolyte. The catalysts will facilitate the conversion of water to oxygen and hydrogen gas at a range of mildly acidic conditions. Alternatively, these anodes can be used with cathodes that facilitate other desirable reactions such as converting carbon dioxide to methanol.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 17, 2015
    Assignee: Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation
    Inventors: James B. Gerken, Shannon S. Stahl
  • Patent number: 8932440
    Abstract: [Problem] To provide a plating method and apparatus which do not require preparation of a separate treatment tank for each treatment step and therefore enable the facility to be reduced in size and, further, which can reduce the amounts of use of the treatment solutions. [Solution] A plating apparatus feeding a plating solution to a treatment tank in which an electrode is arranged and plating a workpiece made of a metal so as to perform plating, the plating apparatus characterized by being provided with a plurality of pipes which are connected to an outer wall of the treatment tank and a switch valve which is provided able to rotate at an inner side of the outer wall and which has at least one feed port for making at least one treatment solution feed pipe selected from the plurality of treatment solution feed pipes communicate with the treatment tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Denso Corporation
    Inventors: Keiji Shinyama, Tomoya Uchida
  • Patent number: 8932442
    Abstract: The invention relates to a catalytic coating suitable for oxygen-evolving anodes in electrochemical processes. The catalytic coating comprises an outermost layer with an iridium and tantalum oxide-based composition modified with amounts not higher than 5% by weight of titanium oxide.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2012
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Industrie de Nora S.p.A.
    Inventors: Alice Calderara, Antonio Lorenzo Antozzi, Ruben Ornelas Jacobo
  • Patent number: 8932443
    Abstract: A wafer carrier is described. In one embodiment, the wafer carrier includes a variable aperture shield. The wafer carrier may include an electrically conductive wafer plating jig base having a plurality of concentric overlapping cavities of different depths, each cavity configured to receive a semiconductor wafer of a different size, a plurality of concentric magnetic attractors, at least one positioned within each of the plurality of overlapping cavities, and a cover plate comprising an open center surrounded by a support, the cover plate comprising an attractive material positioned within the support adjacent to the open center and aligned with at least one of the magnetic attractors when the cover plate is positioned over the wafer plating jig base.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: DECA Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: Rico Sto. Domingo
  • Patent number: 8926802
    Abstract: A steel reinforced concrete protector in an anode cavity such as a cored hole, drilled hole or cut chase is disclosed. The protector includes a sacrificial anode assembly and a separate backfill. The sacrificial anode assembly includes a sacrificial metal element and an activator to maintain an activity of the sacrificial metal element and at least one spacer. The spacer prevents the sacrificial metal element and the activator from contacting the surface of the anode cavity. The spacer and the sacrificial metal element have a coupling mechanism which facilitates connection of the sacrificial metal element to the spacer. The backfill is a pliable and viscous material which contains an electrolyte and fills the spaces between the sacrificial anode assembly and the anode cavity wall. The invention also relates to a pre-packaged sacrificial anode assembly to increase the shelf life of the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2011
    Date of Patent: January 6, 2015
    Inventors: Gareth Kevin Glass, Nigel Davison, Adrian Charles Roberts
  • Patent number: 8882973
    Abstract: Embodiments include a cathode power distribution system and/or method of using the same for power distribution. The cathode power distribution system includes a plurality of cathode assemblies. Each cathode assembly of the plurality of cathode assemblies includes a plurality of cathode rods. The system also includes a plurality of bus bars configured to distribute current to each of the plurality of cathode assemblies. The plurality of bus bars include a first bus bar configured to distribute the current to first ends of the plurality of cathode assemblies and a second bus bar configured to distribute the current to second ends of the plurality of cathode assemblies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 2011
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2014
    Assignee: GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy Americas LLC
    Inventors: Mark A. Williamson, Stanley G. Wiedmeyer, Eugene R. Koehl, James L. Bailey, James L. Willit, Laurel A. Barnes, Robert J. Blaskovitz
  • Patent number: 8864966
    Abstract: The invention relates to a coating mask (1) for electrolytically coating the piston ring groove (39) of a piston (38), which is made of an elastically deformable material and has openings (3 to 10) that are arranged axially and are distributed in a uniform manner over the periphery, into which rods (11 to 18) of an expansion device (19) can be introduced, the rods being arranged in a displaceable manner such that the expansion device (19) can increase the radial diameter of the coating mask (1) and also the inner opening (2) so that the piston (38) can be introduced into the inner opening (2). The radial diameter of the coating mask (1) is selected in such a manner that after the reduction of radial diameter of the coating mask (1) and the inner opening, the elastically tensed coating mask (1) presses sealing lips (44, 45) of the coating groove (37) against the piston (38), on both sides of the piston ring groove (39).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: MAHLE International GmbH
    Inventors: Rudolf Bergmann, Christopher Rotsch, Franz Gessler
  • Patent number: 8864965
    Abstract: A substrate holder includes a fixed holding member and a movable holding member for detachably holding a substrate by gripping a peripheral portion of the substrate therebetween, and an inner seal member and an outer seal member which are fixed to the movable holding member. When the substrate is held by the movable holding member and the fixed holding member, the inner and outer seal members seal the connection between the movable holding member and a peripheral portion of the substrate and the connection between the movable holding member and the fixed holding member, respectively. The movable holding member includes a seal holder, and the inner seal member and the outer seal member are fixed between the seal holder and a fixing ring secured to the seal holder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 21, 2014
    Assignee: Ebara Corporation
    Inventors: Jumpei Fujikata, Yuji Araki, Masaaki Kimura
  • Patent number: 8828195
    Abstract: A Segmented Sacrificial Anode Assembly (SSAA) includes anode segments made from an anodic material containing an electrically conductive core with electrically conductive threaded female connectors at each end, Glass Reinforced Epoxy (GRE) isolators, and male threaded connectors. A number of the anode segments are connected by short male threaded connectors. A long male connector reaching through the isolator is used when connecting the SSAAs to a standing structure and an electrical cable is used to connect the SSAAs to a buried structure. An electrical lead is attached to a threaded post using pin brazing or Cadweld® and the threaded post is threaded into a recessed end threaded female connector of the SSAA. The recess is filled with two part epoxy. The anode segments may be selected from long, medium, and short anode segments to scale the SSAA for any given application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Inventor: Omidreza Moghbeli
  • Patent number: 8821698
    Abstract: A multi purpose segmented Titanium Mixed Metal Oxide coated impressed current cathodic protection anode assembly (Ti MMO anode assembly). The Ti MMO anode assembly includes combinations selected from four anode components and four connection components. The various components may be assembled for different applications in liquid or soil environments for the prevention or reduction of corrosion and loss of structural integrity. For example, the Ti MMO anode assembly may be applied to protect pipelines, buried structures, piers and internal surface protection of tanks and vessels in different arrangements such as deep wells, shallow ground beds, or distributed individual anodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 2, 2014
    Inventor: Omidreza Moghbeli
  • Patent number: 8784621
    Abstract: A wafer carrier is described. In one embodiment, the wafer carrier includes a variable aperture shield.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2011
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: DECA Technologies Inc.
    Inventor: Rico Sto. Domingo