Patents Examined by Gregory N. Clements
  • Patent number: 4413817
    Abstract: The cylinder of a gas spring has a bottom constituted by a plug designed for allowing gastight penetration of a plunger rod into the cylinder thanks to a seal having a lip surrounding this rod in sliding frictional engagement therewith. The seal is sandwiched between two annular holders respectively located on the outer side and on the inner side of the seal. The outer holder plays the part of a mechanical guide for the plunger rod whereas the inner holder plays the part of an oil retainer for lubrication of the seal lip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1980
    Date of Patent: November 8, 1983
    Assignee: Societe J. G. Allinquant
    Inventor: Rene Bich
  • Patent number: 4397793
    Abstract: Means for increasing the efficiency of effluent discharge from a cooling tower or other stack by means of introducing gaseous fluid streams through at least one or more vertical slots positioned about the periphery of a chimney of said tower or stack wherein said slots are capable of directing said fluid streams tangentially within the periphery of said chimney to create a vortex within said chimney. Each of said slots extend at least a portion of the height of said chimney, and preferably extends from above a fill at the base of said chimney to approximately the mouth of said chimney. Means are provided for introducing cooling gaseous fluid streams into and through said fill to a cavity within said fill which also contains heat transfer or other effluent constituent removal surfaces or passages or other means to provide heat or other effluent constituent dissipation. The upper limit of said cavity is bounded by a floor, which defines the demarcation between said chimney and said fill.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 20, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 9, 1983
    Inventors: Gerald I. Stillman, Rudolf A. Wiley
  • Patent number: 4380529
    Abstract: The invention is for a fixed bed reactor with two phase gas and liquid flow. The reactor has at least one auxiliary bed of solid particles disposed above the main bed of solid particles. The auxiliary bed has separate liquid and gas bypasses comprised of hollow tubing extending through the auxiliary bed to a distributor tray. A liquid layer on the tray provides a liquid seal above the liquid bypasses, thereby preventing gas from bypassing along with the liquid. This feed arrangement allows for a low pressure drop bypassing of the auxiliary bed, when the auxiliary bed becomes fouled and clogged. The invention is also applicable to other apparatuses which use a flow arrangement similar to fixed bed reactors, but which do not necessarily utilize a chemical reaction. One example of such apparatus is a packed absorption tower having co-current downflow of gas and liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1983
    Assignee: Exxon Research and Engineering Co.
    Inventor: Ramesh Gupta
  • Patent number: 4367073
    Abstract: This invention relates to the preparation of sodium metasilicate. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for the preparation of solid, crystalline, substantially anhydrous sodium metasilicate which comprises the steps of:(a) reacting an SiO.sub.2 -containing material with a concentrated aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide in an SiO.sub.2 to Na.sub.2 O molar ratio of from about 1.2:1 to 1:1.2 under elevated pressure and at an elevated temperature, to form a sodium metasilicate suspension;(b) filtering the suspension from step (a) to obtain a filter cake and filtrate;(c) crushing the filter cake from step (b) at elevated temperature;(d) removing water from the crushed filter cake to recover substantially anhydrous sodium metasilicate;(e) concentrating the filtrate from step (b); and(f) returning the concentrated filtrate from step (e) to the reaction mixture of step (a).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 4, 1983
    Assignee: Henkel Kommanditgesellschaft auf Aktien
    Inventor: Gunther Just
  • Patent number: 4367200
    Abstract: A single crystal manufacturing device, in which there are provided a crucible having a melting part for holding a molten liquid of a raw material and a nozzle part for continuously taking out a predetermined amount of the molten liquid by the action of gravity; a heater for heating the raw material to melt it in the melting part; and temperature control means for heating the nozzle part to take out the molten liquid of the raw material from the nozzle part and for providing as large a thermal gradient as possible in the solid-liquid interface between the molten liquid taken out from the nozzle part and a grown single crystal continuous to the molten liquid.The crucible can be double-structured. A guide pipe filled with fibrous material may be provided between the nozzle and the rollers of the grown single crystal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 1981
    Date of Patent: January 4, 1983
    Assignee: Kokusai Denshin Denwa Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Yoshinori Mimura, Yoshihisa Komazawa, Yasuyuki Okamura
  • Patent number: 4356132
    Abstract: A mass-transfer apparatus comprises a vertical cylindrical housing, contact trays accommodated inside said housing and made up of perforated and non-perforated sectors, the neighboring trays being arranged so that the perforated sectors thereof overlie the non-perforated sectors and vice versa, overflow passageways of said contact trays positioned on said non-perforated sectors, overflow deflectors arranged on said contact trays, and baffles adapted to extend downwardly from each of said contact tray from the borderline between said perforated and non-perforated sectors and inclined towards said perforated sector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1982
    Inventors: Viktor P. Belyakov, Alexandr S. Bronshtein, Viktor S. Kortikov
  • Patent number: 4356152
    Abstract: An improved liner for crucibles and dies used to melt silicon comprising one or more sheets of graphite each of which has on at least the surface facing the silicon melt a layer of silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1981
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1982
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventors: Samuel Berkman, Michael T. Duffy, Harold E. Temple
  • Patent number: 4352713
    Abstract: A vapor growth method of forming deposition film on a plurality of substrates disposed within a cylindrical reaction vessel by causing flow of reaction gas under a reduced pressure through the reaction vessel, in which the treated surfaces of substrates are inclined to the upstream side of the reaction gas flow with respect to the axis of the reaction vessel and the individual substrates but the most upstream side one are each shifted in position with respect to the preceding one in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the reaction vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1982
    Assignee: Tokyo Shibaura Denki Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shigeru Morita
  • Patent number: 4350558
    Abstract: A process for the manufacture of a polycrystalline garnet containing aluminium and/or gallium and/or indium and at least one element taken from the group comprising the rare earths and yttrium, and to the corresponding monocrystal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 21, 1982
    Assignee: Rhone-Poulenc Industries
    Inventors: Bernard Boudot, Georges Nury
  • Patent number: 4350559
    Abstract: A process for the manufacture of a polycrystalline garnet and to the corresponding monocrystal.The process comprises the following steps:(1) a solution containing the salts of the constituent cations of the garnet, in the proportions corresponding to the composition of the latter, is prepared;(2) corresponding hydroxides are co-precipitated by means of a base in order to obtain a co-hydroxide;(3) if appropriate, the co-hydroxide is left to age;(4) it is filtered off;(5) it is washed;(6) it is dried; and(7) it is then calcined at a temperature above the temperature for the formation of the desired garnet structure.The monocrystals obtained by Czochralski drawing of the polycrystalline garnets of the invention can be used, in particular, as substrates in magnetic bubble memory devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 21, 1982
    Assignee: Rhone-Poulenc Industries
    Inventors: Bernard Boudot, Georges Nury
  • Patent number: 4350560
    Abstract: An apparatus for and a method of handling grown crystal ingots from a crystal-growing furnace, which apparatus and method include: lifting and moving an upper crystal chamber with the crystal supported therein to one side of the furnace; and gently lowering the crystal into a lower crystal chamber positioned beneath the upper crystal chamber and on a wheeled vehicle, which permits ease in removal and transport of hot heavy crystals with minimum damage or fracture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 21, 1982
    Assignee: Ferrofluidics Corporation
    Inventors: Walter Helgeland, Alex Teverovsky, Kenneth H. Kerwin, II, Carl P. Chartier
  • Patent number: 4348362
    Abstract: An improved rotatable collector, which by its position becomes a filtering and adsorbing station and a combustion and desorbing station, and an oxidizer are utilized in an apparatus and process for removing airborne particulate materials and organic vapors from an air stream. The rotatable collector comprises an assembly of alternate layers of refractory microfiber, metal screens, and a thin layer of adsorbent carbon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 1980
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1982
    Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: George D. Foss
  • Patent number: 4348365
    Abstract: A crystal seed holder assembly for retaining a crystal seed used to grow a ribbon of crystal by the EFG technique is disclosed. The holder assembly is arranged so that the seed is not subjected to fastener stress, can expand without thermal stress and can slide a limited distance relative to the holder assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 1981
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1982
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventors: Nicholas F. Gubitose, Malcolm R. Schuler, David L. Patterson
  • Patent number: 4341590
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for growing liquid phase epitaxial (LPE) crystals upon only one surface of a supporting substrate. The method requiring the insertion of a gasket between a pair of substrates, upon whose exposed surfaces it is desired to grow an LPE crystal. The gasket essentially acting to contain a meniscus of entrapped flux and thereby entrap an air bubble between the substrates so as to prevent growth upon the interior surfaces of the assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1981
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1982
    Assignee: Sperry Corporation
    Inventors: Gary L. Nelson, William A. Harvey
  • Patent number: 4341589
    Abstract: Large surface silicon crystal layers with a columnar structure are produced by directing a plurality of spaced-apart cooling gas streams arranged relative to one another to correspond to a desired columnar structure and positioned a relatively short distance above a free surface of a silicon melt surface located below such system so that a spontaneous seed crystal formation occurs at the regions or areas of the melt immediately below each gas stream and thereafter the affected melt surface is solidified, and then removing the so-formed plate or disc-shaped silicon body from the melt. Dopant material can be incorporated within the so-formed plate or disc-shaped silicon crystal so that a pn-juncture parallel to the surface of such plate or disc is attained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 20, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 27, 1982
    Assignee: Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventor: Josef Grabmaier
  • Patent number: 4340399
    Abstract: A method is described for effecting the removal of alkali metal contaminants from a super heated gaseous mixture useful in power generation. Finely divided refractory oxide particles are introduced into the hot gaseous mixture without effecting a substantial reduction in the temperature and operating efficiency of the system. The alkali metal contaminants are substantially removed from the hot gaseous mixture by being adsorbed onto the surface of the finely divided refractory oxide particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1982
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Krishan L. Luthra, Henry S. Spacil
  • Patent number: 4339302
    Abstract: A Group III element Q selected from gallium, indium and thallium containing a Group VI element X selected from oxygen, sulphur, selenium and tellurium as an impurity can be purified by adding, to molten Q, an element M capable of forming with X a stable solid compound substantially insoluble in liquid Q. The stable solid compound can be separated and the purified Q used in the epitaxial growth of a semiconductor material such as indium phosphide. Alternatively, in a process for the epitaxial growth of a semiconductor compound of Q in molten Q, X can be removed in situ by the addition of a suitable element of the M-type.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 13, 1982
    Assignee: The Post Office
    Inventors: Marc M. Faktor, John Haigh
  • Patent number: 4338285
    Abstract: Mixing of two liquid phases can be advantageously conducted when the two phases are supplied at steady flow rates. Variations in the rates of supply of the phases are compensated for by pumping each liquid at a constant flow rate higher than the maximum flow rate provided by the supply, and permitting recirculation of disengaged phase in the amount necessary to meet the demand of the system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1981
    Date of Patent: July 6, 1982
    Assignee: A. H. Ross & Associates
    Inventor: Donald H. Eberts
  • Patent number: 4338267
    Abstract: The disclosure is of an improved method and apparatus for humidifying medical gases. The apparatus improved is of the type which comprises a portable housing enclosing a water reservoir, a gas chamber, gas inlet and outlet conduits to carry the gas through the water reservoir and gas chamber. The improvement comprises an audible pressure relief valve in association with the gas chamber. When a predetermined pressure within the gas chamber has been exceeded, the pressure relief valve opens to relieve the excess pressure and to simultaneously warn the operator than the predetermined pressure level has been exceeded. The alerted operator may then check to determine if there has been a malfunction in the apparatus or ancillary apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 17, 1980
    Date of Patent: July 6, 1982
    Assignee: Becton, Dickinson and Company
    Inventors: Arduino E. Riuli, Robert W. Anastasia, Bernard F. Kopacz
  • Patent number: 4337068
    Abstract: A method for the removal of entrained solids from gases in a cyclone separator having a dipleg attached to the bottom thereof comprises the basic steps of, (1) injecting the gases with the entrained solids in an inlet (54) of cyclone separator in the range of substantially 52 feet per second (16 m/s) to 80 feet per second (24 m/s), (2) spinning the injected gases with the entrained solids around and down the cyclone separator to the inlet (70) of the dipleg (34) by a vertical distance (L) below the gas outlet (74) proportional to the diameter (D) of the top of the separator by an amount of L/D=4.49-1.09 (O/I) or about 4, and (3) ejecting the solids-free-gases through a gas outlet (74) in the range of substantially 52 feet per second (16 m/s) to 200 feet per second (61 m/s) having an area (O) in proportion to the area (I) of the separator inlet (54) in the range of substantially O/I=0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 20, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 29, 1982
    Assignee: Texaco Inc.
    Inventors: John P. MacLean, J. Edward Cantwell, John D. Brown, Harold D. Hoy