Patents Examined by Jenna M Hopkins
  • Patent number: 11091007
    Abstract: A hybrid vehicle includes a thermal control system having a first high temperature cooling circuit, a second low temperature cooling circuit and a third cooling circuit for cooling/heating a battery pack. A system of valves is configured to connect the third circuit with the second circuit so as to create a loop consisting of a main portion of the third circuit and a main portion of the second circuit including the cooling portion of one or more electric motor assemblies of the hybrid vehicle, one or more additional components of the motor-vehicle, such as a turbocharger assembly and an intercooler assembly. In this operating condition, circulation of the liquid in the loop thus-formed can be activated by the pump of the third circuit and causes heating of the battery pack by the heat generated by the electric motor assemblies and, preferably, by the aforesaid additional components of the motor-vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 17, 2021
    Assignee: C.R.F. Societè Consortile per Azioni
    Inventors: Walter Ferraris, Federica Bettoja, Attilio Crivellari
  • Patent number: 11085357
    Abstract: To ventilate a heat management system of an internal combustion engine, in which coolants circulate in several coolant circuits, connected inlets of a rotary valve may be opened and closed in a predetermined sequence, in order to ventilate one or more of the coolant circuits in the direction of the compensation tank, by means of at least one ventilation circuit which is in fluid connection with a coolant compensation tank. The rotary valve may be controlled by means of a control unit, wherein a non-connected inlet of the rotary valve is in fluid connection with the coolant compensation tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 10, 2021
    Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Rainer Richter, Wolfgang Hofmann, Wolfram Enke
  • Patent number: 11073343
    Abstract: A metal heat exchanger tube has integral ribs formed on the outside of the tube. The ribs have a rib base, rib flanks, and a rib tip. The rib base protrudes substantially radially from the tube wall. A channel is formed between the ribs, in which channel additional structures spaced apart from each other are arranged. The additional structures divide the channel between the ribs into segments. The additional structures reduce the cross-sectional area in the channel between two ribs through which flow is possible by at least 60% locally and, at least thereby, limit a fluid flow in the channel during operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 27, 2021
    Assignee: WIELAND-WERKE AG
    Inventors: Achim Gotterbarm, Ronald Lutz, Jean El Hajal, Manfred Knab
  • Patent number: 11067308
    Abstract: A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system for regulating humidity of an enclosed space. The HVAC system includes an evaporator coil. A metering device is fluidly coupled to the evaporator coil. A variable-speed compressor is fluidly coupled to the condenser coil and the evaporator coil and a controller is operatively coupled to the variable-speed compressor. A humidity sensor is operatively coupled to the controller and exposed to the enclosed space. Responsive to a determination that the relative humidity of the enclosed space exceeds the maximum humidity threshold, the controller adjusts a speed of the variable-speed compressor to increase latent capacity of the HVAC system. Responsive to a determination that the relative humidity of the enclosed space falls below the minimum humidity threshold, the controller adjusts a speed of the variable-speed compressor to decrease latent capacity of the HVAC system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Lennox Industries Inc.
    Inventors: Rakesh Goel, Derek Phillips
  • Patent number: 11067301
    Abstract: Disclosed herein is a blower blowing air and an outdoor unit of air conditioner having the same. The blower includes a fan, a motor driving the fan, and a motor support member disposed on a flow path, through which air generated by a rotation of the fan flows, to support the motor. The motor support member includes a cross-sectional shape including a maximum width portion having a maximum width in a direction perpendicular to the airflow direction, an upstream portion having a width being increased from the upstream side to the downstream side, and a downstream portion having a width being reduced from the upstream side to the downstream side. A downstream end located downstream of the downstream portion has a width in a direction perpendicular to the airflow direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 12, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 20, 2021
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Nozomu Inoue
  • Patent number: 11060037
    Abstract: A process for the purification of a gas rich in hydrocarbons and comprising at least 10 ppm by volume of hydrocarbons having at least six carbon atoms nitrogen.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2021
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude
    Inventors: Nicolas Chambron, Pierre Costa De Beauregard, Henri Paradowski
  • Patent number: 11046147
    Abstract: A cabin condenser for a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system for a battery electric vehicle (BEV). The cabin condenser includes a first cabin condenser portion and a second cabin condenser portion. A regulator is configured to control flow of refrigerant from the first cabin condenser portion to the second cabin condenser portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 25, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: DENSO International America, Inc.
    Inventor: Kota Takeichi
  • Patent number: 11041679
    Abstract: An energy recovery wheel includes a frame positioned within a passage of a heating, ventilation, and/or air conditioning (HVAC) system. The frame is configured to rotate about an axis of the passage relative to the HVAC system and includes an opening that is configured to transmit an air flow. The energy recovery wheel also includes a heat transfer element coupled to the frame and positioned within the opening, where the heat transfer element is permeable and configured to transition between a closed orientation to occlude the opening and direct the air flow across the heat transfer element and an open orientation to substantially unblock the opening and mitigate interaction between the air flow and the heat transfer element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company
    Inventors: Sriram Ramanujam, Shashank B. Kadam, Karan Garg, Rammohan Sethuraj
  • Patent number: 11041682
    Abstract: A thermal switch having an on-state and an off-state is provided. First and second plates are composed from a thermally conductive material. The first and second plates are connected to form an internal cavity having a channel defining a gap between the first and second plate. The first reservoir is coupled to the channel and contains a thermally conductive liquid. The actuator is coupled to the first reservoir and the channel and is moveable between a first state and a second state corresponding to the on-state and the off-state of the thermal switch, respectively. Thermally conductive liquid is allowed to flow from the first reservoir to the channel when the actuator is in the first state and allowed to flow from the channel to the first reservoir when the actuator is in the second state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: ENVERTIC THERMAL SYSTEMS, LLC
    Inventor: Matthew Busche
  • Patent number: 11035614
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device (1) for producing a stream of air (F?), wherein said device comprises an enclosure (10), which is intended for containing a volume of liquid (V), and which comprises at least one air-discharge opening (101), air-injection means (12) which make it possible to create and pass an incoming stream of air (F) from the outside of the enclosure into a volume of liquid (V) contained in the enclosure, by injecting said incoming stream of air (F) into said volume of liquid (V) underneath the surface of said volume of liquid (V), such that an outgoing stream of air (F?), treated by direct contact with the volume of liquid, is discharged from said enclosure by passing through the air-discharge opening (101) of the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: STARKLAB
    Inventor: Jaouad Zemmouri
  • Patent number: 11035807
    Abstract: A cooling system, an apparatus for producing hyperpolarized samples, where the apparatus includes the cooling system, and a method for assembling and using the cooling system are disclosed. The cooling system includes a cryogenic chamber, a cooling plate, a sample sleeve, a thermal switch, and an interposer. Also, the cryogenic chamber includes a cryogenic fluid and the cooling plate is disposed in the cryogenic chamber, in contact with the cryogenic fluid. Further, the sample sleeve is configured to receive a sample. The sample sleeve is at least partially inserted in the cryogenic chamber. The thermal switch is disposed between the cooling plate and the sample sleeve. Moreover, the interposer is disposed between at least one of (i) the thermal switch and the cooling plate and (ii) the thermal switch and the sample sleeve. The interposer includes a gallium indium tin alloy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Ernst Wolfgang Stautner, Eric George Budesheim
  • Patent number: 11035597
    Abstract: A heat recovery variable-frequency multi-split heat pump system and a control method thereof. The system includes an outdoor unit and at least two indoor units. The system is a three-pipe heating recovery multi-split heat pump system designed on the basis of a four-way reversing valve, and one indoor unit thereof is provided with two electronic expansion valves and two heat exchangers so that any indoor unit in the system can operate independently under three working conditions of refrigeration, heating or heat recovery dehumidification. Under multi-split condition, the system can operate under six working conditions, namely, the full-refrigeration working condition, the full-heating working condition, the common-heat-recovery working condition, the common-heat-recovery-dehumidification working condition, the heat recovery dehumidification-refrigeration-combination working condition and the heat recovery dehumidification-heating-combination working condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignees: QINGDAO HISENSE HITACHI AIR-CONDITIONING SYSTEMS CO., LTD., HISENSE USA CORPORATION, HISENSE INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Min Liu, Yuanpeng Wang, Wenqiang Zhang, Rui Cao, Yajun Li, Yongmei Li
  • Patent number: 11029085
    Abstract: The present invention is to provide a BOG processing apparatus. The BOG processing apparatus includes a cooling device, a second cooling device, and a recovery device. The cooling device has a cooling drum, a BOC inlet part introducing the BOG, a first spray spraying LNG in an upward direction, a first filled layer contacting with the LNG and the BOG, a second spray spraying the LNG in a downward direction, a third spray spraying the LNG in a downward direction, a second filled layer adsorbing mist in the BOG, and a mist eliminator eliminating the mist in the BOG.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 8, 2021
    Assignee: Chiyoda Corporation
    Inventor: Takeshi Ikeda
  • Patent number: 11022369
    Abstract: A booster system for increasing pressure of an object gas includes: a first compression unit that compresses the object gas to intermediate pressure equal to or higher than the critical pressure and lower than the target pressure and generates an intermediate supercritical fluid; a cooling unit that cools the intermediate supercritical fluid with a cooling medium and generates an intermediate supercritical pressure liquid; a liquid extracting and pressure reducing unit that extracts a part of the intermediate supercritical pressure liquid; a flow regulating valve that regulates a flow rate of the extracted part of the intermediate supercritical pressure liquid; a second compression unit that increases pressure of the rest of the intermediate supercritical pressure liquid to be equal to or higher than the target pressure; and a pressure sensor that detects pressure of the intermediate supercritical pressure liquid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hideki Nagao, Masahiro Kobayashi
  • Patent number: 11022348
    Abstract: A heat pump system includes a magneto-caloric material disposed within a chamber of a regenerator housing. A back iron extends between an outer magnet and an inner magnet in order to provide a flux path between the outer and inner magnets. At least a portion of the back iron extends between the outer and inner magnets along the radial direction and is not positioned coplanar with the inner and outer magnets in a plane that is perpendicular to the axial direction. A related refrigerator appliance is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 1, 2021
    Assignee: Haier US Appliance Solutions, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Goodman Schroeder, Michael Alexander Benedict
  • Patent number: 11015763
    Abstract: An expansion turbine/compressor type high-pressure hydrogen gas filling system is simple in configuration, low in site work cost, small in the burden of maintenance work, and capable of reducing the operating cost including cost of power consumption, and it is not necessary to separately provide a way to take out the energy produced in the expansion equipment and effectively use outside such as generator, and that can be applied for temperature lowering system technology such as pre-cooler function in the final filling portion of the hydrogen station, the expansion turbine portion has with a process to incorporate the expansion turbine/compressor in the expansion turbine portion in the filling system to do the enthalpy lowering of the hydrogen gas using the expansion turbine, when the hydrogen gas accumulated at high pressure is pressurized and filled into the tank.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 25, 2021
    Assignee: TOKICO SYSTEM SOLUTIONS, LTD.
    Inventors: Jun Yoshida, Yukihiro Mimaki, Eito Matsuo
  • Patent number: 11009296
    Abstract: A heat exchange conduit includes a conduit body extending along a longitudinal axis between an inlet at one end thereof and an outlet at an opposed end. The conduit body has at least one conduit wall. At least one of said conduit walls is a heat-exchange wall shaped to be in heat exchange relationship with an object or fluid in contact therewith. An elongated turbulence strip is disposed within the conduit body and extends along a length thereof. The turbulence strip has longitudinally spaced-apart flow impact walls. Each flow impact wall has a peripheral rim and is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. A flow gap for fluid flow is defined between at least a portion of the peripheral rim of each flow impact wall and an adjacent inner surface of the at least one conduit wall.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: 6353908 CANADA INC.
    Inventor: David Velan
  • Patent number: 11009298
    Abstract: A thermal energy storage apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include a base and fluid flow plates which cooperate with the base to define a cavity; a phase change material contained within the cavity; an extendable extension spring at least partially contained within the phase change material; and end plates which cooperate with the fluid flow plates to define fluid flow channels. The apparatus may include a housing that holds a heat exchanger and phase change material. Inlet and outlet ports allow for the ingress and egress of a heat exchange fluid into the fluid flow channels or heat exchanger. In operation, the extension of the extendable extension spring induces solidification of at least a portion of the phase change material from a supercooled liquid state to a solid state, releasing thermal energy, allowing for the transfer of thermal energy across the fluid flow plates or heat exchanger from the phase change material to the heat exchange fluid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2017
    Date of Patent: May 18, 2021
    Assignee: Neothermal Energy Storage Inc.
    Inventors: Louis Desgrosseilliers, Mary Anne White, Dominic Groulx, Ali Kheirabadi
  • Patent number: 10989358
    Abstract: A method for loading liquefied nitrogen (LIN) into a cryogenic storage tank initially containing liquid natural gas (LNG) and a vapor space above the LNG. First and second nitrogen gas streams are provided. The first nitrogen stream has a lower temperature than the second nitrogen gas stream. While the LNG is offloaded from the storage tank, the first nitrogen gas stream is injected into the vapor space. The storage tank is then purged by injecting the second nitrogen gas stream into the storage tank to thereby reduce a natural gas content of the vapor space to less than 5 mol %. After purging the storage tank, the storage tank is loaded with LIN.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company
    Inventors: Robert D. Kaminsky, Fritz Pierre, Jr.
  • Patent number: 10989483
    Abstract: A thermosiphon device includes one or more flat multiport tube structures having at least one section that defines a plurality of flow channels and at least one web that extends from the section in a plane of the flat multiport tube structures. The flow channels may function as condensing channels, e.g., in a counterflow device, or as evaporation channels. A multiport tube structure may include two sections that each define a plurality of flow channels and the two sections may be joined by a web that extends between the sections in the plane of the multiport tube structure. The sections may function as condensing channels, as evaporation channels, or one section may function as a set of evaporation channel and the other section may function as a set of condensing channels. Multiport tube sections may alternately function as a vapor supply path or liquid return path.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 18, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 27, 2021
    Assignee: Aavid Thermalloy, LLC
    Inventors: Morten Søegaard Espersen, Maria Luisa Angrisani, Marco La Foresta, Sukhvinder S. Kang