Patents Examined by Charles G. Freay
  • Patent number: 11499558
    Abstract: An electrical submersible pump (ESP) isolates its motor lubricant from pumped product without requiring a bellows, diaphragm, bladder, or external lubricant pressurizing system. A pair of nested isolation chambers below the motor housing are filled with a barrier fluid that is non-reactive, non-miscible, and higher in density than the pumped product and the motor lubricant. As the motor lubricant expands and contracts after pump start-up and shut-down, motor lubricant and barrier fluid are exchanged between the motor housing and the isolation chambers via three interconnections, while pumped product is exchanged with the inner barrier chamber, while being isolated from the motor housing. The interconnections extend between the bottom of the motor housing and the bottom of the outer barrier chamber, between the top of the outer barrier chamber and the bottom of the inner barrier chamber, and between the top of the inner barrier chamber and the pumped product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Flowserve Management Company
    Inventors: John L. Brown, Sean A. Cain
  • Patent number: 11499563
    Abstract: A thrust balancing apparatus for a pump includes a housing, a balancing chamber, a connecting tube, a balancing disk, a bushing, a washer, and a pair of upthrust washers. The balancing chamber defines an upper cavity and a lower cavity. The connecting tube is configured to establish fluid communication between the balancing chamber and an exterior of the housing. A first portion of the balancing disk is disposed within the upper cavity. A second portion of the balancing disk passes through the lower cavity. A third portion of the balancing disk is external to the balancing chamber. The washer is disposed between the balancing disk and the bushing. The pair of upthrust washers are disposed between the balancing disk and the balancing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignees: Saudi Arabian Oil Company, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals
    Inventors: Hassan Mohamed Badr, Jinjiang Xiao, Chidirim Enoch Ejim
  • Patent number: 11499548
    Abstract: Gerotor pump comprising an inner gerotor and an outer gerotor and an electric motor in a pump housing, and the outer gerotor is formed integrally with the rotor of the electric motor, wherein magnets are integrated into the outer gerotor, and the rotor is rotatably mounted on a shaft that is fixed on one side to a housing or a housing base of the pump housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: HANON SYSTEMS EFP DEUTSCHLAND GMBH
    Inventors: Jan Hinrichs, Tilo Schäfer, Bernd Denfeld
  • Patent number: 11486374
    Abstract: When a pipe pressure of a common discharge pipe during an independent discharge step in which only one reciprocating pump among a plurality of reciprocating pumps discharges a fluid to the common discharge pipe differs from internal pressures in pump chambers of the respective reciprocating pumps at discharge step start point angles, a stroke adjustment mechanism adjusts, on the basis of a pressure difference ?P therebetween, effective stroke lengths of cross heads connected to plungers of the predetermined reciprocating pumps so that the internal pressures in the pump chambers reach the pipe pressure at the discharge step start point angles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: NIKKISO CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Fusao Murakoshi
  • Patent number: 11486396
    Abstract: A variable capacity screw compressor comprises a suction port, at least two screw rotors and a discharge port being configured in relation to a selected rotational speed that operates at least one screw rotor at an optimum peripheral velocity that is independent of a peripheral velocity of the at least one screw rotor at a synchronous motor rotational speed for a rated screw compressor capacity. A motor is configured to drive the at least one screw rotor at a rotational speed at a full-load capacity that is substantially greater than the synchronous motor rotational speed at the rated screw compressor capacity. A variable speed drive receives a command signal from a controller and generates a control signal that drives the motor at the selected rotational speed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: TRANE INTERNATIONAL INC.
    Inventors: Dennis R. Dorman, John R. Sauls
  • Patent number: 11486407
    Abstract: A control device and a method for controlling a system having at least two fans (1) and/or fan groups for generating a defined setpoint value (VG,setpoint, ?pG,setpoint), wherein, by changing the operating points of at least one fan (1) depending on which setpoint value is fixedly predetermined, at least one of the fans (1) is brought to an optimal operating point and thereby the efficiency ?G of the system is increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: ebm-papst Mulfingen GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Andreas Fessel, Stefan Schwab, Walter Eberle
  • Patent number: 11480196
    Abstract: An axial fan includes an impeller rotatable about a central axis extending in a vertical direction, a motor, and a housing. The motor includes a stator and a rotor. The impeller includes blades on a radially outer surface of an impeller cup fixed to the rotor. The housing includes a motor base portion below the motor to support the stator, a tubular portion radially outside of the impeller, a first rib below the blades to join the motor base portion to the tubular portion, and a second rib being annular, centered on the central axis, and joined to the first rib. A lower edge of each blade includes a first blade region that is convex downward. A radially inner end of the second rib is radially outward of a lower end of the first blade region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: NIDEC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Ryosuke Ishida
  • Patent number: 11480164
    Abstract: To provide a viscous material supply device facilitating removal operation of viscous material that could be adhered to a platen, a covering sheet used in the viscous material supply device, and a viscous material supply method. A viscous material supply device can include a tank provided with a storage space storing viscous material; a piston slidably inserted into the tank, and is provided with a pressing surface that presses the viscous material and a suction passage through which the viscous material inside the tank flows by pressing force of the pressing surface; and a covering sheet including a covering part covering the pressing surface in the piston and a communication hole communicating with the suction passage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: THREEBOND CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Kenta Mori, Shigeyuki Ohno
  • Patent number: 11466680
    Abstract: A methods and system to operate hydraulic fracturing units may include utilizing hydraulic fracturing unit profiles. The system may include hydraulic fracturing units may include various components. The components may include an engine and associated local controller and sensors, a transmission connected to the engine, transmission sensors, and a pump connected to the transmission and powered by the engine via the transmission and associated local controller and sensors. A supervisory controller may control the hydraulic fracturing units. The supervisory controller may be in communication with components of each hydraulic fracturing unit. The supervisory controller may include instructions to, for each hydraulic fracturing units, obtain hydraulic fracturing unit parameters, determine a hydraulic fracturing unit health assessment, and build a hydraulic unit profile including the health assessment and parameters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 11, 2022
    Assignee: BJ Energy Solutions, LLC
    Inventors: Tony Yeung, Ricardo Rodriguez-Ramon, Andres Alvarez, Joseph Foster
  • Patent number: 11460016
    Abstract: A pumping system includes a pump array of multiple pump-engine assemblies. Each pump-engine assembly comprises a pump and a gas turbine engine driving the pump. A manifold is coupled to the pumps. A master controller is coupled to each of the pump-engine assemblies either directly or via one or more intermediate controllers. The master controller and any intermediate controllers are collectively programmed to respond to user input including a desired hydraulic output at the manifold by automatically calculating and applying inputs to the individual pump-engine assemblies to provide the desired hydraulic output.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignees: Tucson Embedded Systems, Inc., Turbine Powered Technology, LLC
    Inventors: David Crowe, Elden Crom
  • Patent number: 11460051
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for pressurizing well operations fluids via a pressure exchanger. The pressure exchanger has a housing, a rotor within the housing, a first cap covering the rotor at a first end of the housing, and a second cap covering the rotor at a second end of the housing. The rotor includes chambers distributed around a central axis of the rotor and a first fluid passage. Each of the chambers and the first fluid passage extend through the rotor between a first face of the rotor and a second face of the rotor. The first cap includes a first fluid inlet, a first fluid outlet, and a second fluid passage, and the second cap includes a second fluid inlet and a second fluid outlet. The second fluid passage fluidly connects the first fluid passage with the first fluid outlet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 4, 2022
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Rod William Shampine
  • Patent number: 11454223
    Abstract: A direct drive air pump has a motor and a pumping mechanism connected to an end of the motor, and further has an auxiliary pumping mechanism connected to the other end of the motor, and a tube connected with the pumping mechanism and the auxiliary pumping mechanism. In each one of the pumping mechanism and the auxiliary pumping mechanism, a cylindrical body has a top plate having an exhaust hole. A single O-ring is used to seal between the cylindrical body and a cylindrical cover for reducing the sealing portions. A valve block of a non-return valve can co-work with a spring for opening and closing the exhaust hole. The valve block is soft for closing the exhaust hole well and reducing the noise of collision between the valve block and the top plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2022
    Inventor: Wei-Chi Wang
  • Patent number: 11448206
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, a computer program product, and a system for removing gas locking in a pump. The method includes setting the pump into a gas interference condition based on a variable speed drive driving a pump at a first frequency and a choke valve set at a first restriction value and adjusting the variable speed drive to a second frequency and the choke valve to a second restriction value such that the adjustment produces a backpressure that lets free gas get dissolved in a fluid phase and keeps fluids drawn by the pump at a single-phase flow based on pressure-volume-temperature characteristics of the fluids.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Inventors: Jesus S. Armacanqui, Paul A. Munding, Jr., Nick Martin
  • Patent number: 11448217
    Abstract: A technique is provided that can further reduce power at the time of “unload operation control” in a gas compressor that generates a compressed gas at a set pressure by constant-speed control. The gas compressor includes a compressor main unit, a drive source, an intake throttle valve, a gas release valve, rotation speed converting means, a pressure detecting device that detects a discharge pressure, and a controller that, the relationship between an upper-limit pressure H and a lower-limit pressure L being H>L, carries out opening the intake throttle valve and closing the gas release valve and operating the drive source at a full-load rotation speed until the discharge pressure reaches the upper-limit pressure H. The controller carries out at least one of closing the intake throttle valve and opening the gas release valve to reduce the discharge pressure to within a predetermined range when the discharge pressure reaches the upper-limit pressure H.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2022
    Assignee: Hitachi Industrial Equipment Systems Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Masakazu Hase, Hideharu Tanaka, Akira Iyozumi, Masahiko Takano, Kenji Morita, Shigeyuki Yorikane, Takashi Nakajima, Yoshihiko Sagawa
  • Patent number: 11441555
    Abstract: A pump includes a vibrating plate having a piezoelectric body on a first main surface, a cover including a top panel and a side wall, the top panel opposing a second main surface of the vibrating plate opposite to the first main surface, the top panel having a first cavity, and the side wall being connected to an outer peripheral portion of the top panel to surround a space between the top panel and the vibrating plate, a support portion connected to the side wall and supporting an outer periphery of the vibrating plate, and a second cavity formed between the side wall and the vibrating plate in a cross-sectional view in a direction orthogonal to a direction in which the second main surface of the vibrating plate and a main surface of the top panel oppose each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: MURATA MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Nobuhira Tanaka
  • Patent number: 11441557
    Abstract: A pump monitoring system for use in wellbore operations includes a strain gauge that can be positioned on a fluid end of a pump and at least one pressure transducer to measure relative pressure. A computing device can be connected to the strain gauge and the pressure transducers. The computing device executes programming instructions to identify failures of specific valves by correlating the strain signal to an actual pressure associated with the specific valve in the pump section. The processor then determines whether a pump pressure corresponds to the actual pressure associated with the specific valve, and if so, displays an indication that the specific valve in the pump section has failed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 29, 2017
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventor: Joseph A. Beisel
  • Patent number: 11434893
    Abstract: A micropump and its use, the micropump including a vibration unit with piezo actuator, which is arranged on an vibration diaphragm, a vibration plate arranged opposite the vibration diaphragm and having a blower opening, as well as a wall arranged between the vibration diaphragm and the vibration plate, so that a blower chamber is formed, and a housing, in which the vibration unit is mounted, with an suction opening, as well as an output opening, which lies opposite the blower opening. The housing forms a closed space and has at least one suction opening arranged radially, or on an underside opposite the vibration unit, with a suction channel leading into a pump chamber located between the vibration plate and the inside of the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: BARTELS MIKROTECHNIK GMBH
    Inventors: Frank Bartels, Anja Strube, Florian Siemenroth
  • Patent number: 11434914
    Abstract: An electric pump includes: a motor; an impeller rotated by the motor; a motor housing portion that houses the motor; an impeller housing portion that houses the impeller and is positioned at one side with respect to the motor housing portion in a rotation axis of the motor; an introduction pipe portion that introduces a fluid into the impeller housing portion and is positioned at the one side with respect to the motor housing portion; a discharge pipe portion that discharges the fluid from the impeller housing portion; and a printed circuit board electrically connected to a coil of the motor and positioned at the one side with respect to the motor housing portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: SHINANO KENSHI CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Takeshi Miyasaka
  • Patent number: 11434931
    Abstract: A fuel system includes a fuel reservoir configured to be located within the fuel tank such that the fuel reservoir defines a fuel reservoir volume which is a subset of a fuel tank volume; a fuel pump configured to pump fuel from within the fuel reservoir volume to the fuel consuming device through a fuel supply line; a jet pump configured to 1) receive excess fuel, through a fuel return line, which had been supplied to the fuel consuming device through the fuel supply line and 2) aspirate fuel into the fuel reservoir volume from the fuel tank volume; and a valve which allows fuel flow in both directions between the fuel return line and the jet pump when a differential pressure across the valve is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: DELPHI TECHNOLOGIES IP LIMITED
    Inventors: Thomas R. Martin, Abel Melgar
  • Patent number: 11428244
    Abstract: A heat pump including a two-stage, high speed fluid compressor including a case having a fluid inlet and a compressed fluid outlet and containing a shaft rotatably mounted about a longitudinal axis, a first compression wheel and a second compression wheel mounted back-to-back on the shaft, the first compression wheel forming a first compression stage and the second compression wheel forming a second compression stage, and a motor positioned between the first compression wheel and the second compression wheel and arranged to rotate the shaft. The case includes an inner through housing extending coaxially to the longitudinal axis and inside which is arranged at least the motor, the inner housing having an inner wall arranged to form, with the motor, channels between at least the inner wall and the motor to cool the motor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: BELENOS CLEAN POWER HOLDING AG
    Inventors: Rexhep Gashi, Lucie Meyrat