Patents Examined by Bradley R Spies
  • Patent number: 12286783
    Abstract: The invention relates to a gutter system (1) comprising at least one frame unit (10), at least one cover unit (20) and at least one securing element (30), wherein the frame unit (10) comprises at least one receiving area (12) for arranging the cover unit (20), and wherein the securing element (30) is adapted to engage in the cover unit (20) and to releasably engage in the receiving area (12) so the cover unit (20) can interlock in the receiving area (12) of the frame unit (10). The invention also relates to a cover unit (20) and a securing element (30).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2025
    Assignee: ACO AHLMANN SE & CO. KG
    Inventor: Arne Stoltenberg
  • Patent number: 12285706
    Abstract: A horizontal filter press (100) is provided with a track (105) and a plurality of filter plate assemblies (101) supported by side bars (104). A washer carriage (2), which is movably supported on the track (105), includes a washer unit (1) for washing the filter plate assemblies (101). The washer unit (1) may include a wash water manifold (11) having a first outlet (13) for feeding wash water to a first spindle (19) and a second outlet (14) for feeding wash water to a second spindle (19). Each of the spindles (19) may include a reel (20) for spooling a flexible hose (23) thereon, and they are each configured to be rotated with respect to the washer carriage (2). A first end of a spray bar (25) fluidly communicates with a first flexible hose (23) supported by a reel (20) on the first spindle (19).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2025
    Assignee: FLSmidth A/S
    Inventor: Mike Kraszewski
  • Patent number: 12280339
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow fiber membrane bundle from a plurality of polysulfone and PVP-based hollow fiber membranes which encompasses the providing of a spinning solution comprising a polysulfone-based material, in particular polysulfone, a vinylpyrrolidone-based polymer, in particular polyvinylpyrrolidone, an aprotic solvent, in particular dimethylacetamide, providing a coagulant liquid comprising water and an aprotic solvent, in particular dimethylacetamide, co-extruding the spinning solution and the coagulant liquid through a concentric annular spinneret into a hollow strand, whereby the cavity of the strand is filled with coagulant liquid, conducting the strand through a precipitation gap, introducing the strand into a precipitating bath comprised substantially of water so as to obtain a hollow fiber membrane, conducting the hollow fiber membranes through at least one rinsing bath and drying the hollow fiber membrane obtained, arranging the resulting hollow fiber membra
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Torsten Keller, Michael Paul, Roland Sander
  • Patent number: 12280335
    Abstract: A purification system is for purifying a mixture containing a first solvent, a second solvent, and an impurity. The purification system includes a first membrane separation device including a pervaporation membrane and a second membrane separation device including a filtration membrane. The pervaporation membrane separates the mixture into a first permeated fluid and a first concentrated fluid. The first permeated fluid has a lower concentration of the impurity than that in the mixture, and the first concentrated fluid has a higher concentration of the impurity than that in the mixture. The filtration membrane separates the first concentrated fluid into a second permeated fluid and a second concentrated fluid. The second permeated fluid has a lower concentration of the impurity than that in the first concentrated fluid, and the second concentrated fluid has a higher concentration of the impurity than that in the first concentrated fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2025
    Assignee: NITTO DENKO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Naomichi Kimura, Yuri Ito, Tomoya Hirai, Shinya Nishiyama
  • Patent number: 12275658
    Abstract: Installation for the pressurised filtration of liquid with a view to producing drinking water, comprising at least one membrane-based drinking-water production unit (MPU), each MPU comprising: a plurality of filtration blocks each containing a bundle of pressure tubes mounted in parallel, each pressure tube accommodating at least two membrane-based filtration modules with spiral membranes or hollow-fibre membranes mounted in series, means (20) for feeding the liquid that is to be filtered, means for removing the filtered liquid, and means (30) for removing the concentrate, characterised in that the membranes of the filtration modules are of at least two different types selected from the group consisting of reverse-osmosis membranes and low-pressure reverse-osmosis membranes (4-6), on the one hand, and nanofiltration membranes (1-3) on the other hand, and in that at least one MPU comprises means (21-26) making it possible to alter the order in which the blocks of pressure tubes that it groups together are supp
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies Support
    Inventor: Claire Ventresque
  • Patent number: 12274961
    Abstract: A grit removal system with an annular grit removal chamber and a central hopper beneath the chamber bottom, including an opening through the chamber bottom to the hopper. Influent and effluent channels direct wastewater with grit into and out of the grit removal chamber. A plate over the chamber bottom opening has a first portion with a plurality of first openings therethrough and a second plate portion with a plurality of second openings therethrough, wherein the flow velocity for a given flow rate through the first openings is greater than the flow velocity for the given flow rate through the second openings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 6, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2025
    Assignee: Smith & Loveless Inc.
    Inventors: Lilunnahar Deju, John K. Kelly, Alexander P. Zuzelski, Rodney S. Mrkvicka
  • Patent number: 12268991
    Abstract: A reverse osmosis (1) system having a first membrane unit (2) and at least a second membrane unit (3), the membrane units (2, 3) forming a chain of membrane units, the first membrane unit (2) having a first membrane (4) separating a first feed chamber (5) and a first permeate chamber (6), a first inlet (7) connected to the first feed chamber (5), a first permeate outlet (9) connected to the first permeate chamber (6), and a first concentrate outlet (8) connected to the first feed chamber (5), the second membrane unit (3) having a second membrane (10) separating a second feed chamber (11) and a second permeate chamber (12), a second inlet (13) connected to the second feed chamber (11), a second permeate outlet (15) connected to the second permeate chamber (12), and a second concentrate outlet (14) connected to the second feed chamber (11), wherein the concentrate outlet (8) of a membrane unit (2) in the chain of membrane units is connected to an inlet (13) of a following membrane unit (3) and a concentrate out
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2024
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: DANFOSS A/S
    Inventors: Lars Bjarne Hilbrecht, Georg Herborg Enevoldsen
  • Patent number: 12270387
    Abstract: A pair of waveform disks for use in a disk-pack turbine used, for example, in systems and methods in at least one embodiment for separating fluids including liquids and gases into subcomponents by passing the fluid into an expansion chamber and then through at least a portion of a waveform pattern present between at least two disks. The disks having waveform patterns on at least one side.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: QWTIP LLC
    Inventor: Whitaker B. Irvin, Sr.
  • Patent number: 12270223
    Abstract: An underwater debris suction apparatus includes a power device and a filter device. The power device includes a suction component and a power drive device configured to provide power for the suction component. The underwater debris suction apparatus further includes a collection device, and the upper end of the collection device is provided with an opening. The suction component is at least partially located above the filter device or is entirely located in the space of the filter device. During operation of the suction component, unfiltered pool water enters the filter device through a water inlet channel and flows to the side wall of the filter device, so that the filtered water is discharged from the side wall of the filter device, and the debris that cannot be discharged from the side wall of the filter device falls into the collection device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: WYBOTICS Co., LTD.
    Inventors: Qian Yu, Pu Cen, Cuixiao Geng, Liangliang Xu
  • Patent number: 12268992
    Abstract: Methods and systems of lowering a concentration of divalent cations in lithium-containing brines are described. A method includes diluting saturated salar brine such that sodium chloride concentration is at most about 80% of saturation. The method also includes feeding the diluted salar brine to a high pressure nanofiltration system operating at pressure above about 60 bar effective to form a permeate and a concentrate. The method also includes collecting the permeate having a lower concentration of divalent cations relative to the saturated salar brine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2025
    Assignee: FLUID TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS (FTS) INC.
    Inventor: John R. Herron
  • Patent number: 12264090
    Abstract: A mixing aerator is disclosed that includes a housing defining a chamber having a bottom end and a top end, the housing having at least one inlet and at least one outlet; and a longitudinally extending diffuser disposed within the chamber and configured to deliver air bubbles into the chamber when the chamber is filled with liquid. The diffuser includes (a) a tubular elastomeric membrane having a plurality of perforations and, within the tubular elastomeric membrane, (b) an air pipe having a plurality of openings, the openings being larger and fewer than the perforations, and the tubular membrane having upper and lower ends that are sealed against an outer surface of the air pipe.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2025
    Assignee: TITUS WASTEWATER SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventor: Lewis Titus
  • Patent number: 12259384
    Abstract: Droplet-interface bilayer and lipid bilayer membrane compositions stabilized with an amphiphilic polymer are disclosed. Methods of making and using the compositions are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
    Inventors: Matthew A. Holden, Max J. Lein, Arash Manafirad, Dan Ezra Aurian-Blajeni
  • Patent number: 12257378
    Abstract: Blood is conveyed from a source into a separator, which separates at least one target blood component from the blood. The target blood component is then conveyed out of the separator, with the procedure continuing until an initial target amount of blood to be processed has been conveyed from the source into the separator and the target blood component separated from the initial target amount of blood to be processed has been conveyed out of the separator as an actual yield of the target blood component. An adjusted target amount of blood to be processed is then determined based at least in part on the difference between a target yield of the target blood component and the actual yield. The initial target amount of blood to be processed is then replaced with the adjusted target amount of blood to be processed when next executing the procedure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Fenwal, Inc.
    Inventor: Brian C. Case
  • Patent number: 12257532
    Abstract: A lamella for a clarifier, including a plate provided with longitudinal straight ribs extending from the top part of the plate to the bottom edge, and longitudinal straight folds provided with wings and which are interposed between each pair of ribs to form projections with V-shaped walls that project in the sagittal direction. A top transverse fold provided in the top part, which defines a flat portion extending backwards towards a top edge. A bottom transverse fold that curves the bottom part backwards.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Wssdynamics, S.L.
    Inventor: Pedro Roberto Rodríguez Gómez
  • Patent number: 12256768
    Abstract: A method for preparing a plant derived product or a process intermediate or a process input, the method comprising the steps of providing a plant derived starting material, subjecting the starting material to a forward osmosis step against a draw solution so as to produce a plant material concentrate, and subjecting the draw solution to a water removal step. The water removal step may include further forward osmosis in combination with an evaporator system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 25, 2025
    Assignee: Botanical Water Technologies IP Ltd
    Inventor: Ambrosios Kambouris
  • Patent number: 12251663
    Abstract: A portable filtration system is described. The system may comprise: a mixing portion, comprising: a pump adaptor and a contaminant regulator. The pump adaptor may comprise: an upper plate, a lower plate, and a screen. The screen may axially extend between the upper and lower plates, wherein the upper plate, the lower plate, and the screen define a channel of a mixing chamber. The contaminant regulator may comprise a through-passage coupled to the upper plate, wherein the through-passage is in fluid communication with the mixing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2023
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2025
    Assignee: GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY
    Inventors: Michael Jeffrey Anderson, Jeremy Stephen Walker, James Saye Dusenbury, IV
  • Patent number: 12246305
    Abstract: Aspects of the present disclosure relate to a method of regenerating a hydrophobic interaction chromatography column to which a load mass has been applied, the method comprising passing one or more column volumes of an alkaline solution through hydrophobic interaction media within the column, wherein the alkaline solution exhibits a pH of between about 10 and about 14, and a conductivity of between 0.5 mS/cm and about 10 mS/cm, wherein material bound to the hydrophobic interaction media is removed. In some cases, the alkaline solution may include sodium hydroxide at a concentration of between, e.g., about 0.1 mM and 10 mM.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Stairs, James Reilly, John Mattila, Samantha Wadsworth
  • Patent number: 12246267
    Abstract: There is provided a chromatography system comprising a first valve in fluid connection to a first chromatography column and/or a second valve; the second valve in fluid connection to a second chromatography column and the first valve; wherein the first valve and the second valve are operable to provide: a mode that selectively allows a fluid to flow from the first chromatography column to the second chromatography column; and one or more modes that selectively allows the fluid to bypass the first chromatography column and/or the second chromatography column. Also disclosed is a method of capturing and/or purifying a target from a sample thereof. In one embodiment, an acidic protein, alpha-1 anti-trypsin (A1AT), is purified by a tandem column configuration using anion exchange chromatography, whereby a first chromatography column is added in between the sample pump and an injection valve, or replaced the sample loop of AKTA system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Agency For Science, Technology and Research
    Inventors: Zi Ying Zheng, Wei Zhang
  • Patent number: 12245907
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a dental debris separator having a housing in the upper region of which a drainage zone for removing particle-containing liquid from an air flow which is loaded with the liquid. The housing has an inlet for the loaded air flow, leading tangentially into the drainage zone. Downstream of the drainage zone a separation zone for removing the particles from the particle-containing liquid is provided in the housing, said separation zone descending from the drainage zone to the separation zone, the drainage zone having a curved flow path that is delimited on its lower side by a crown of baffle elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Inventor: Bruno Pregenzer
  • Patent number: 12247553
    Abstract: A system for generating electricity and/or providing potable water. The system includes a subterranean shaft that extends into a geothermal reservoir and a volume of heat transfer fluid. Heat from the geothermal reservoir is transferred through a wall of the shaft and into the heat transfer fluid. The system includes a water intake conduit extending from the surface of the earth into the shaft interior. The water intake conduit includes proximal and distal ends and downward, return and upward portions. At least the return portion is positioned in the heat transfer fluid. Liquid water received through the proximal end of the water intake conduit moves downwardly along the downward portion and below the heat transfer fluid level. The liquid water is converted to steam via heat transfer from the heat transfer fluid through a wall of the water intake conduit. The steam moves upwardly along the upward portion of the water intake conduit and into the electrical generation stage, where electricity is generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 2024
    Date of Patent: March 11, 2025
    Assignee: Stockton Geothermal Systems
    Inventor: Derric Juano