Patents Examined by Edward Look
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Patent number: 9127557Abstract: A nozzle assembly includes a nozzle having a trailing edge of an outer band and an anti-rotation pin slot. Also included is a retaining ring extending circumferentially about the outer surface of the outer band, wherein the retaining ring includes an anti-rotation pin and an anti-rotation pin hole, wherein the anti-rotation pin is configured to fittingly reside in an axial orientation within the anti-rotation pin slot and the anti-rotation pin hole. Further included is a seal plate seated on the outer surface of the outer band and configured to retain the anti-rotation pin. Yet further included is a washer disposed within a bored portion of the seal plate, wherein the bored portion is aligned with an aperture within the retaining ring, wherein a mechanical fastener extends into the retaining ring through the bored portion to operably couple the seal plate to the retaining ring.Type: GrantFiled: June 8, 2012Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANYInventors: Charles Lewis Davis, III, Ibrahim Sezer
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Patent number: 9127437Abstract: A hydraulic circuit capable of both a regeneration mode of operation and a full force mode of operation includes a poppet valve controlled by a control valve operating in conjunction with a shuttle valve. The opening of the poppet valve enables the regeneration mode of operation, and the closing of the poppet valve enables the full force mode of operation.Type: GrantFiled: December 6, 2011Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.Inventors: Timothy Hand, Kevin Bacon, Victor Wen
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Patent number: 9127570Abstract: Provided is a machine unit layout system that simplifies the layout of a compressor unit and an expander unit and is extremely effective in terms of not only the reliability of the entire machine but also maintainability. Two separate compressors, a low-pressure-side compressor and a high-pressure-side compressor (11A, 11b), are disposed on either side of a steam turbine (10). Two separate expanders, a low-pressure-side expander and a high-pressure-side expander (12A, 12B), are disposed outside the low-pressure-side and high-pressure-side compressors (11A, 11b). The steam turbine (10), the low-pressure-side and high-pressure-side compressors (11A, 11b), and the low-pressure-side and high-pressure-side expanders (12A, 12B) are coupled by rotor shafts comprising a single shaft. The torque distribution between rotator shafts is optimized.Type: GrantFiled: July 28, 2010Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATIONInventors: Hideki Nagao, Yasushi Mori, Masahiro Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Miyata
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Patent number: 9127758Abstract: A torque converter, including a front cover with an exterior surface at least partially facing in a direction parallel to an axis of rotation for the torque converter, and a portion at a furthest radial distance from the axis of rotation. The torque converter also includes: at least one angled mounting plate fixedly connected to the exterior surface of the front cover and including a portion disposed at an acute angle with respect to the axis of rotation; and at least one threaded fastener with: a first end fixedly connected to the portion of the at least one angled mounting plate; and a second end, opposite the first end, disposed further in the direction than the first end, disposed radially outward from the first end, and at a radial distance from the axis of ration less than the furthest radial distance for the front cover.Type: GrantFiled: February 15, 2012Date of Patent: September 8, 2015Assignee: Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KGInventor: Steven Olsen
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Patent number: 9120564Abstract: A rotor blade assembly is disclosed including a blade spar having a duct extending therethrough and having upper and lower surfaces. A mounting structure is secured to the blade spar and defines a fluid path in fluid communication with the duct. The mounting structure likewise has upper and lower surfaces. A tip jet is secured to the mounting structure in fluid communication with the fluid path. The blade spar and mounting structure abut one another at a joint and the upper surfaces of the blade spar and mounting structure lie on a common airfoil contour extending across the joint. The lower surfaces of the blade spar and mounting structure also lie on the common airfoil contour. One or both of the blade and mounting structure include a composite material. The mounting structure may include two portions secured to one another having a distal portion of the blade spar captured therebetween.Type: GrantFiled: September 7, 2011Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: GROEN BROTHERS AVIATION, INC.Inventor: Robert Owen White
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Patent number: 9121281Abstract: A turbine housing 11 includes a first shell body 40 in which a reinforcement portion 42 is superposed on an outer peripheral face 53A of a lateral wall portion 53 of a scroll portion. Further, a reinforcement portion having a slit portion 43 that is partially discontinuous in a circumferential direction is provided as the reinforcement portion 42. Further, a shell body 30 and a base body 60 are combined with each other such that a pillar portion 65 is so located as to intersect with those ones of tangential lines T1, T2 of a turbine wheel 21 which pass a thin-walled portion 32A of the shell body 30, namely, such that the pillar portion 65 is located in a travel path of a fragment of the wheel 21 moving from a main body of the wheel 21 toward the thin-walled portion 32A.Type: GrantFiled: February 2, 2011Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHAInventors: Takahiro Sadamitsu, Tatsuo Iida
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Patent number: 9121300Abstract: A variable geometry turbocharger includes a bearing housing rotatably supporting a turbine impeller; and an exhaust nozzle changing the flow rate of an exhaust gas supplied to the turbine impeller, wherein the exhaust nozzle has an exhaust inlet wall disposed at the bearing housing side, the turbocharger has a seal member exhibiting a ring shape and sealing a gap formed between the bearing housing and the exhaust inlet wall, and an inner circumferential edge of the seal member firmly contacts the bearing housing and an outer circumferential edge of the seal member firmly contacts the exhaust inlet wall.Type: GrantFiled: December 17, 2009Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: IHI CORPORATIONInventor: Yoshimitsu Matsuyama
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Patent number: 9121385Abstract: A wind turbine includes at least one wind turbine blade assembly. The blade assembly includes a blade and a pitch bearing arranged between the blade and a hub of the wind turbine, the blade assembly further including two or more hydraulic pitch cylinders for pitching the blade in relation to the hub. The two or more hydraulic pitch cylinders are arranged to expand in the same angular direction around the rotational axis of the pitch bearing. A method for pitching a blade of a wind turbine includes connecting a first end of the hydraulic pitch cylinders directly or indirectly to the hub; connecting a second end of the hydraulic pitch cylinders directly or indirectly to the blade; and expanding or contracting the hydraulic pitch cylinders in the same angular direction in relation to the rotational axis of the pitch bearing.Type: GrantFiled: November 21, 2011Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/SInventors: Jesper Lykkegaard Andersen, Jens Bay Madsen
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Patent number: 9120467Abstract: Disclosed herein are an electro-hydraulic brake and a control method thereof which provide hydraulic braking force to transfer a stable pedal feel and provide regenerative braking to improve fuel efficiency. The electro-hydraulic brake includes a master cylinder, a housing including a booster chamber and a base chamber, an oil reservoir, a hydraulic control unit connected to the oil reservoir, a simulation unit, and a pedal displacement sensor. The hydraulic control unit includes an accumulator, a pump to absorb oil from the oil reservoir and to discharge the oil to the accumulator, a motor to drive the pump, a normal cut valve, a simulation control valve, two control valves to control the pressure in the booster chamber, pressure sensors to sense the pressures in the base chamber, the accumulator and the booster chamber, and a controller to control the motor and the valves based on pressure information and pedal displacement information.Type: GrantFiled: January 26, 2012Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: MANDO CORPORATIONInventor: Yong Suk Hwang
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Patent number: 9121301Abstract: A thermal isolation apparatus is provided and includes an annular casing surrounding a turbine bucket stage and defining an annular recess from an interior facing surface thereof, an annular shroud disposed within the casing to provide for a predefined clearance about rotating bucket tips of the turbine bucket stage, the shroud including an annular main member and an annular flange extending from an outwardly facing surface of the main member and being sized to fit within the recess and a thermal barrier formed of porous material, which is interposed between opposing surfaces of the casing and the flange within the recess.Type: GrantFiled: March 20, 2012Date of Patent: September 1, 2015Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventors: Donald Earl Floyd, David Martin Johnson
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Patent number: 9114787Abstract: A pressure generating device generates a hydraulic pressure as a result of a tensile or compressive load. The device has connections, one of which can be rigidly connected to a frame by way of a mechanism for introducing a mechanical tensile or compressive load, a pressure cylinder and a piston unit extending at least partially and flexibly in the pressure cylinder and bounding a hydraulic chamber filled with hydraulic fluid jointly with the pressure cylinder. The chamber has a simple and inexpensive construction. The connections are connected to the pressure cylinder or the piston unit by way of a coupling device that is configured such that the same hydraulic chamber has pressure applied thereto under tensile load and under compressive load.Type: GrantFiled: July 7, 2010Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: Siemens AktiengesellschaftInventors: Julian Ewald, Matthias Liermann, Christian Stammen
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Patent number: 9115600Abstract: A turbine section of a turbine engine includes rotatable structure, an outer casing disposed about the rotatable structure, and an inner casing disposed about the rotatable structure and suspended radially inwardly from the outer casing. Rotation of the rotatable structure during operation drives at least one of a compressor and a generator. The inner casing defines a hot gas flow path through which hot combustion gases pass during operation. The inner casing comprises a plurality of wall sections. Each wall section includes a panel having an inner portion and an outer portion opposed from and affixed to the inner portion. The inner portion at least partially defines the hot gas flow path and the inner portion is radially spaced from the outer portion such that a substantially fluid tight chamber is formed therebetween. The fluid tight chamber reduces thermal energy transfer from the inner portion to the outer portion.Type: GrantFiled: August 30, 2011Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: Siemens Energy, Inc.Inventor: David J. Wiebe
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Patent number: 9115595Abstract: A system adapted for clearance control for a gas turbine including an outer turbine casing, an inner turbine casing and a plenum defined between the inner and outer turbine casings is disclosed. The clearance control system may include an impingement box disposed within the plenum. The impingement box may define a plurality of impingement holes. In addition, the clearance control system may include a first conduit in flow communication with the interior of the impingement box and a second conduit in flow communication with the plenum at a location exterior to the impingement box.Type: GrantFiled: April 9, 2012Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: General Electric CompanyInventor: Daniel David Snook
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Patent number: 9115593Abstract: An example turbomachine assembly includes, among other things, a nose cone of a turbomachine, and a pump that is selectively driven by a motor or a shaft to communicate air to an interior of the nose cone. The pump shaft is driven by a dedicated geared architecture.Type: GrantFiled: April 2, 2012Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: United Technologies CorporationInventors: Gabriel L. Suciu, Simon Pickford, William K. Ackermann, Nathan Snape
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Patent number: 9115591Abstract: A seal for a gas turbine engine is shown. The engine may have a first vane for imparting a first twist to air passing thereby and/or a second vane for imparting a second, different twist to air passing thereby, each of the first and second vanes having a mounting area for mounting the seal thereto. The seal includes a top, a bottom, a left side, a right side a back, and a front. The back is parallel to the front and the left side is parallel to the right side such that a non-square shape is formed by the intersection of the back, the left side, the front and the right side so that the seal may mate with the mounting area of the first vane and, if the seal is inverted, may mate with the mounting area of the second vane.Type: GrantFiled: August 30, 2011Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: UNITED TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATIONInventors: Bradley T. Duelm, Randall J. Brown, Nathan A. Shirk, Lewis M. Holby
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Patent number: 9115748Abstract: A machine and method for a hydrostatic axial sliding bearing that has bearing and sealing functions and is capable of exhibiting reduced power losses. The hydrostatic axial sliding bearing of the machine is defined by axial sliding bearing surfaces that are separated by a fluid film and adapted for movement relative to each other during operation of the machine. The machine has first and second elements that define a first and a second of the axial sliding bearing surfaces. In combination, the first and second axial sliding bearing surfaces function as bearing and sealing surfaces for the hydrostatic axial sliding bearing. The machine is adapted so that the first and second axial sliding bearing surfaces move relative to each other in a first direction of motion, and at least the second axial sliding bearing surface has a surface profile with an oscillatory waveform in the first direction of motion.Type: GrantFiled: April 1, 2009Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: Purdue Research FoundationInventors: Monika Marianne Ivantysynova, Jonathan Baker
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Patent number: 9114703Abstract: A modular transmission assembly is disclosed, including a bracket having separate, integrally formed pump and motor mounting areas disposed generally perpendicular to one another, a pump assembly engaged and fastened to the bracket proximate to the pump mounting area, the pump assembly having an end cap secured to a pump housing and having at least two system ports on one side of the end cap, a motor assembly engaged and fastened to the bracket proximate to the motor mounting area, the motor assembly having a front housing with at least two motor system ports and an output shaft and at least two hoses connecting the pump system ports to the motor system parts to form a hydraulic circuit.Type: GrantFiled: April 22, 2010Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: Hydro-Gear Limited PartnershipInventors: Michael L. Bennett, Michael W. Taylor
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Patent number: 9115587Abstract: Cooling air is provided from a source of cooling air through a cooling air circuit in a turbine section of a gas turbine engine. A first portion of cooling air is provided from the source along a first path of the circuit to a plurality of blades associated with a stage of the turbine section. A second portion of cooling air is provided from the source along a second path of the circuit. The second path includes a turbine disc bore where the cooling air provides cooling to a radially innermost portion of at least one turbine disc that forms a part of a rotor of the engine. The second path is independent from the first path such that the second portion of cooling air bypasses the stage and is not mixed with the first portion of cooling air in the circuit after leaving the source.Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 2012Date of Patent: August 25, 2015Assignee: Siemens Energy, Inc.Inventors: Jiping Zhang, Yan Yin
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Patent number: 9109560Abstract: A plunger stopper is installed to a cylinder hole forming portion of a cylinder forming member. The plunger stopper cooperates with a step portion of a plunger to limit movement of the plunger in a state where a slide surface of the plunger contacts an inner peripheral wall surface of the cylinder hole.Type: GrantFiled: January 27, 2012Date of Patent: August 18, 2015Assignees: DENSO CORPORATION, NIPPON SOKEN, INC.Inventors: Osamu Hishinuma, Teppei Matsumoto, Yuichi Irino
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Patent number: 9108609Abstract: In normal braking, the operation of an electric motor is controlled according to the amount of operation of a brake pedal to drive a pressing member through a belt drive mechanism and a ball-screw mechanism, thereby pressing a piston to generate a fluid pressure in a master cylinder to obtain a braking force. A predetermined reaction force is applied to the brake pedal by a reaction force spring of a stroke simulator, and a gap is maintained between the pressing member and a movable member, thereby eliminating an uncomfortable feeling in a brake operation caused by fluid pressure variations in the master cylinder. When the electric motor fails, the movable member abuts against the pressing member and directly presses the piston to maintain the braking function. The rear end of the pressing member is inserted into a guide member and the reaction force spring to reduce the axial size.Type: GrantFiled: December 8, 2011Date of Patent: August 18, 2015Assignee: HITACHI AUTOMOTIVE SYSTEMS, LTD.Inventor: Takuya Usui