Patents Examined by Charles Reid, Jr.
  • Patent number: 11223307
    Abstract: A rotary machine includes a rotor rotatable about a rotation axis and a stator mechanically divided into stator segments, each covering a respective section in relation to the rotation axis. Coils of one individual multi-phase rotary system are respectively arranged in the stator segments, each having terminals which connect phase lines of an individual multi-phase rotary system and are connected to the coils. A converter unit includes multiple subunits operated independently of one another, each forming an individual multi-phase rotary system. The number of phases of the subunits corresponds to the number of stator segments. The terminals of the stator segments are each connected to a subunit. The stator segments form groups of directly successive stator segments when viewed about the rotation axis. The terminals of the stator segments are connected to the same sub-unit within each group, but connected to different sub-units from group to group of stator segments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: FLENDER GMBH
    Inventors: Michael Ade, Andreas Jöckel, Norbert Schönbauer
  • Patent number: 11223256
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a hybrid generator. The hybrid generator according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a housing having an empty space through which a fluid flows; a rotor received inside the housing, rotated by a fluid flowing inside the housing, and having a magnet; and a stator coupled between the housing and the rotor, surrounding the rotor, and having at least one coil. According to the present invention, the rotor includes a rotating shaft having a first blade on the outer circumferential surface thereof, and further includes a second blade detachably coupled to the rotating shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 11, 2022
    Assignee: ORA CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Young San Shin
  • Patent number: 11215159
    Abstract: A kinetic modular machine for producing electricity from flows, either mono or bi-directional, moving at different speeds, includes one or more turbines that are “open center” and coaxial; a floating/positioning system; and a connection between the kinetic modular machine and a docking. Each turbine has a rotor, a stator, and a synchronous generator. In different configurations, the turbines are structurally, mechanically and electrically independent. The floating/positioning system includes a floater, a wing, and a fixture linking the turbines to the floater, implementing the control of the rotational axes (roll, pitch, yaw), with the wing keeping the machine at a given distance from the shore and the fluid surface. The modular design, having independent turbines, allows for a flexible design, keeping the installation and maintenance costs low.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: MAZO ENERGY TECH LTD
    Inventors: Giacomo Francesco Lo Zupone, Enrico Fiore, Silvio Barbarelli, Teresa Castiglione
  • Patent number: 11215160
    Abstract: The present disclosure discloses a horizontal-axis ocean current power generation device for an underwater vehicle. The power generation device is disposed in a groove of a rotary body of the underwater vehicle, and includes an undercarriage unit, a yawing unit, and a power generation unit. The undercarriage unit can realize elevation and descent of the entire power generation device, and the power generation unit is capable of realizing arbitrary rotation within 360° in a horizontal plane through the yawing unit. The power generation device can actively yaw based on change of an ocean current direction to perform an incident flowing function. The power generation unit respectively drives an outer shaft and an inner shaft to rotate through a front blade and a rear blade that rotate in opposite directions, so as to drive inner and outer rotors of a motor, thereby cutting magnetic induction to generate electric power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 5, 2021
    Date of Patent: January 4, 2022
    Assignee: ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Bin Huang, Pengzhong Wang, Pengcheng Du, Dazhuan Wu, Peng Wu, Shuai Yang, Kexin Pu, Lu Wang
  • Patent number: 11208980
    Abstract: A closed dual-bladder wave energy system that is capable of capturing a continuous supply of energy derived from wave movements for nearshore implementations. Rather than employing an onshore bladder in communication with an offshore bladder, and rather than focusing on capturing more incremental potential energy derived from tidal movement, the system accomplishes continuous captures potential energy from waves via a dual-bladder system employed offshore. Fluid within the system translates between a first offshore bladder and a second offshore bladder based on a pressure differential between a crest and a trough of a wave external to the system. By utilizing compliant bladders, the system is capable of capturing energy even during inclement weather conditions without the risk of faults resulting from strong waves. As such, the system provides for the efficient and effective capture of potential energy from waves in any weather condition and in any water environment that experiences waves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 28, 2021
    Assignee: University of North Florida Board of Trustees
    Inventors: Donald Thomas Resio, Brian Thomas Kopp, Abdallah Walid Mohamed Kamal El Safty
  • Patent number: 11205945
    Abstract: An annular field of a superconducting generator includes a partial cryogenic shielding assembly and a superconducting field winding surrounded by a thermal shield. The thermal shield is surrounded by a housing defining an insulating vacuum enclosure. The annular field includes a torque tube assembly disposed within the housing and coupling the thermal shield to the housing. A blanket of multi-layer thermal insulation is disposed within the vacuum enclosure, extending generally between the housing and the thermal shield. The annular field further includes a partial cryogenic shielding assembly including a floating shield disposed within the vacuum enclosure, between the housing and the thermal shield. The floating shield extends only a portion of an overall length of the housing. The floating shield includes an insulative stack of multi-layer thermal insulation. A superconducting generator and a wind turbine utilizing the superconducting generator with improved partial shielding are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventor: Ernst Wolfgang Stautner
  • Patent number: 11199175
    Abstract: A system and method are provided for determining a geographic location of a tower top pivot point (TPP) of a wind turbine tower having a nacelle that includes a machine head and rotor at a top thereof. At least one rover receiver of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) is configured at a fixed position on the nacelle. A plurality of 360-degree yaw sweeps of the nacelle are conducted and the geo-location signals received by the rover receiver during the yaw sweeps are recorded. With a controller, the geo-location signals are converted into a circular plot and a radius of the plot is determined, the radius being a distance between the rover receiver and the TPP. Based on a GNSS geo-location of the rover receiver and the radius, a geo-location of the TPP is computed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 14, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bernard P. Landa, Pierino Gianni Bonanni, Xu Fu, Samuel Bryan Shartzer
  • Patent number: 11196311
    Abstract: An electric generator that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy includes, among other things, a first axial flow electrical machine that includes a first rotor mounted in rotation about a first axis and surrounding a first stator; a second axial flow electrical machine that includes a second rotor coaxial to the first rotor and surrounding a second stator; and first azimuthal securing means that joins together the first and second rotors so that the first and second rotors can be simultaneously set in rotation about the first axis. The electrical generator may be used as part of a wind turbine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2021
    Assignee: DDIS
    Inventor: Jean-Marc Canini
  • Patent number: 11183956
    Abstract: An electric propulsion system includes a prime mover, a starter-motor generator configured to be driven by the prime mover to generate electric power, and an electric propulsion motor, and an integrated generator-motor controller arranged to control the supply of the electric power to the electric propulsion motor in response to a control signal, wherein the integrated generator-motor controller includes an active rectifier configured in a first mode to feed-forward to the starter-motor generator a power demand parameter associated with the control signal so as to control the power output of the starter-motor generator in order to start the prime mover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation
    Inventors: Mustansir Kheraluwala, Tadashi Sawata, Michael C. Harke
  • Patent number: 11181098
    Abstract: The present invention relates to an offshore wind turbine on a floating support (1) comprising either a rotor with a horizontal rotation axis (horizontal-axis wind turbine HAWT) or a rotor with a vertical rotation axis (vertical-axis wind turbine VAWT) with the rotor being mounted on a floating support having a principal axis. According to the invention, the principal axis of the floating support is offset by an angle ? with respect to either the axis of a tower carrying the horizontal-axis rotor or to the rotation axis of the vertical-axis rotor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2013
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: IFP ENERGIES NOUVELLES
    Inventors: Claude Mabile, Jean-Christophe Gilloteaux
  • Patent number: 11181091
    Abstract: A wave energy conversion system has a float and a power generation drum with a drum housing rotationally attached to the float by a shaft attachment. The shaft attachment allows a rotational movement of the drum housing and the float relative to each other. The drum housing holds a cable reel with a cable having a first end part connected to the cable reel and a second end part, where the cable reel is an integral part of or connected to the drum housing to rotate with the drum housing. The float can be positioned in the sea by having the second end part of the cable attached to a submerged structure or to the sea bed. When the float is positioned in the sea, the float may be moved by the waves, which movements cause a rotational movement of the drum housing with electric power being generated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2021
    Assignee: RESEN WAVES APS
    Inventor: Per Resen Steenstrup
  • Patent number: 11174835
    Abstract: A rotor unit for a folding blade wind turbine. The turbine includes two blades rotatable with respect to each other between an open position and a folded position. In the open position, the two blades are arranged angularly spaced from each other in order to be able to be affected by the wind to rotate the rotor body. In the folded position, the two blades are arranged angularly close to each other so as to reduce the aerodynamic resistance of the wind turbine. The rotor unit is connectable to an electric generator to generate electric energy by the rotation of the rotor body when the blades are in the open position. The rotor unit includes two blade folding structures connected to the rotor body and pivotally connected to each other about a single hinge axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2021
    Assignee: Omegawind S.r.l.
    Inventor: Daniele Garaviani
  • Patent number: 11171543
    Abstract: A device for utilizing groundwater, characterized by an upper well shaft and an upper well water reservoir having a first water level; a lower well shaft and a lower well water reservoir having a second water level; wherein the second water level is lower than the first water level; a water line between the upper well water reservoir and the lower well water reservoir including a first line extending downwardly inside the well shaft of the upper well and into the upper well water reservoir, a second line extending downwardly inside the well shaft of the lower well and into the lower well water reservoir, and a connecting line connecting the first branch line and the second branch line; at least one turbine coupled to the water line; and an electrical generator coupled to the at least one turbine for delivering electric power to the power grid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 9, 2021
    Inventor: Jan Franck
  • Patent number: 11156208
    Abstract: A method for detecting a shadow condition from a wind turbine and a system for detecting a shadow condition are provided. An atmospheric condition detected from an atmospheric condition detector is compared to a threshold. From the comparison a determination is made that the atmospheric condition is shadow producing. The shadow condition is detected using the determination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2021
    Assignee: SIEMENS GAMESA RENEWABLE ENERGY A/S
    Inventors: Albert Leyte-Vidal, Kurt Straub, Nakiesa Faraji-Tajrishi, Pamela S. Caraballo
  • Patent number: 11152844
    Abstract: An electric machine including a stator having a fully non-magnetic core and stator windings formed of a non-superconducting transposed conductor to reduce eddy current losses. It further includes a rotor having a fully non-magnetic core and superconducting windings or superconducting magnets which produce a magnetic field for interaction with the stator windings. A cryogenic cooling system is arranged to cool the stator windings to reduce conduction losses in the stator windings.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 19, 2021
    Assignee: ROLLS-ROYCE plc
    Inventors: Paul R Miller, Stephen M Husband, Alexander C Smith, Charalampos Manolopoulos, Matteo Iacchetti
  • Patent number: 11133728
    Abstract: Interested parties would like to track the location of one or more towed transport platforms continuously when they are in motion. Existing monitoring systems are powered by a combination of solar power, batteries, and intermittent tractor platform power for electrical power. All of these power sources have limitations in providing power when a towed transport platform is in motion. Solar power is not available at night. Batteries run out of energy and must be recharged. Tractor platform power is not always available to a towed transport platform. The embodiments of the invention convert the kinetic energy of a moving towed transport platform into electrical power, providing continuous power for a monitoring system to operate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: TelemeTrak, Inc.
    Inventor: Frederick Steinway Ziegler
  • Patent number: 11131208
    Abstract: A turbine engine is described that includes an intake, an inlet duct configured to receive fluid from the intake, and an outer bypass duct configured to receive fluid from the intake. The turbine engine further includes a drive shaft, a tower shaft mechanically coupled to the drive shaft, and an electric generator mechanically coupled to the tower shaft. The electric generator is located between the inlet duct and the outer bypass duct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2021
    Assignee: Rolls-Royce North American Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Bradley Eugene Auker, Edward Claude Rice
  • Patent number: 11125251
    Abstract: An exchanger includes a seal; a first channel with an inlet and an outlet; a second channel alongside the first channel and isolated from the first channel by the seal, the second channel including an inlet and an outlet; and a transfer turbine including a first portion with one or more blades located within the first channel, a second portion with one or more blades located within the second channel, and a shaft connecting the first portion and the second portion such that rotation of the first portion is synchronized with rotation of the second portion, the shaft extending through the seal. Related apparatus, systems, techniques, and articles are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
    Inventor: Kamal Jaffrey
  • Patent number: 11128146
    Abstract: An electrical substation for a wind farm is configured to raise or to lower the voltage of the electricity generated by wind turbines of the wind farm in order to ensure the transmission thereof to an electricity distribution network. It includes n modules, n being an integer at least equal to 2, these modules being identical in terms of shape and exterior dimensions. Each module encloses at least one electrical transformer configured to raise or to lower the voltage, these modules being linked to one another so as to be able to deliver to the network an overall electrical power equal to the sum of the powers of each transformer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2021
    Assignee: Chantiers De L'Atlantique
    Inventors: Eric Coulon, James Gazeau, Antoine Simard
  • Patent number: 11111898
    Abstract: A river, tidal, wave or ocean current or a wind turbine for generating electricity harnesses a predetermined minimum or baseload value of hydrokinetic/wind energy from variable water/wind flow. A harnessing module may have a waterwheel or propeller and a-generator or a waterwheel or propeller alone. A harnessing module harnesses wind or water energy and may be connected to a land module of electrical and mechanical apparatus by an electrical cable. Received variable electrical input from the harnessing module is converted to a-constant electrical frequency by a connected generator feeding a grid, for example, using a Hummingbird speed converter. The received variable electrical load power may be mechanically corrected by feedback to a Kingfisher converter. An output generator to output constant frequency may use a voltage regulator, a variable voltage transformer and a control motor to provide feed forward control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 7, 2021
    Assignee: Differential Dynamics Corporation
    Inventor: Kyung Soo Han