Patents Examined by John Fitzgerald
  • Patent number: 11499902
    Abstract: A force sensing probe (100) for sensing snap-in and/or pull-off force of a liquid droplet (111) brought into and/or separated from contact with a hydrophobic sample surface (151), respectively, comprises: a sensing tip (101); a sensor element (102) connected to the sensing tip, capable of sensing sub-micronewton forces acting on the sensing tip in a measurement direction; and a droplet holding plate (104) having a first main surface (105) and a hydrophilic second main surface (106) connected via a peripheral edge surface (107), and being attached via the first main surface to the sensing tip (101) perpendicularly relative to the measurement direction for receiving and holding a liquid droplet (111) as attached to the second main surface; the droplet holding plate comprising an electrically conductive surface layer (115), the first and the second main surfaces and the peripheral edge surface being defined by the surface layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Aalto University Foundation sr
    Inventors: Quan Zhou, Robin Ras, Ville Liimatainen, Maja Vuckovac
  • Patent number: 11499900
    Abstract: A densitometer in the present disclosure comprises a piston attached to an end of a tube of the densitometer to reduce pressure dependence of density estimates of a sample fluid. The densitometer measures sample fluid density by vibrating the tube containing sample fluid and measuring the resonant frequency of the tube, then estimating the sample fluid density based on this resonant frequency. The piston is designed with a predetermined diameter that converts pressure inside the tube to tension in the tube. This tension produces an opposite effect on the resonant frequency of the tube to that caused by the fluid pressure itself and thereby reduces pressure dependence of the sample fluid density estimates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Michel Joseph LeBlanc, Christopher Michael Jones
  • Patent number: 11499422
    Abstract: A method for evaluating a gas well productivity with eliminating an influence of liquid loading includes steps of: collecting basic data of a liquid loading gas well; according to a relative density of natural gas, a formation depth, and a casing pressure during a productivity test, determining a pressure generated by a static gas column in an annular space between a casing and a tubing from a well head to a bottomhole of the gas well, and obtaining a bottomhole pressure without liquid loading; according to a pseudo-pressure of a formation pore pressure, pseudo-pressures of the bottomhole pressure respectively under the conditions of liquid loading and no liquid loading, and a production rate under the condition of liquid loading, determining a production rate without liquid loading, and determining an absolute open flow rate with eliminating the influence of liquid loading.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 19, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: Exploration & Production Research Institute of SINOPEC North-China Oil & Gas Company
    Inventors: Huanquan Sun, Faqi He, Yongyi Zhou, Xiaobo Liu, Yongming He, Linsong Liu, Kui Chen, Tongsheng Cao, Yaonan Yu, Yan Chen
  • Patent number: 11499947
    Abstract: A sample introduction device 10 includes a tube holding section 21 and a sample removing mechanism 40. The sample removing mechanism 40 removes a sample 6 in a sample tube 2 held by the tube holding section 21. Thus, in the sample introduction device 10, the sample 6 in the sample tube 2 held by the tube holding section 21 can be automatically removed. As a result, the operator no longer needs to perform an operation of taking out the sample 6 from the sample tube 2. Thus, a work load on the operator can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2022
    Assignee: SHIMADZU CORPORATION
    Inventors: Isao Sawamura, Akira Aono
  • Patent number: 11493402
    Abstract: A pressure sensor for an evaporated fuel leak detector includes a sensor unit, a case, and a sealing resin. The sensor unit has a pressure receiving portion, a plurality of conduction terminals, and a mold resin portion. The case has a fluid flow path and a housing recess. Each remaining inner wall surface of the housing recess except for an inner wall surface on the conduction terminal side is provided with an inclined surface and a vertical surface, in a cross section along an axial direction perpendicular to a pressure receiving surface of the sensor unit. The inclined surface is inclined inward as toward a pressure receiving side. The vertical surface extends from the end of the inclined surface on the pressure receiving side to define a filling gap in which the sealing resin is filled between the side surface of the mold resin portion and the vertical surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
    Inventors: Ryoyuu Kishi, Yasuo Katoh, Tomohiro Itoh
  • Patent number: 11492901
    Abstract: A shale shaker system. The system includes a fluid transport pipe configured to receive a stream of drill cuttings and fluid returns from a wellbore during a drilling operation; an analysis module configured to receive at least a portion of the stream of drill cuttings and fluid returns at an inlet; a cuttings chute configured to receive at least a portion of the stream of drill cuttings and fluid returns from an outlet of the container, and deliver them to a screen box; and one or more screens for filtering drill cuttings from the fluid returns. The analysis module comprises logging sensors configured to operate while drill cuttings are moving through the system. The logging sensors communicate with a processor to determine characteristics of the drill cuttings in real time. A method for analyzing drill cuttings at a well site is also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Inventor: Ahmed M. H. ElGamal
  • Patent number: 11492897
    Abstract: A method, a system, tools for use by the system, and an interpretation method for injecting and detecting tracers and conducting flow characterizing of a petroleum well are disclosed. The method describes monitoring of travel time and slip velocity between two/three different phases (oil/water and possibly gas) in the well. The travel time and slip velocity are determined using an injection too for injection of an over pressurized injection of the partitioning tracers each of which would follow certain phase. The tracers are detected by an optical detection probe in the pipe. The slip velocity is obtained from the difference of travel time of two tracers which partition to two different phases.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 3, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: RESMAN AS
    Inventors: Anton Kulyakhtin, Christian Andresen, Thomas Sperle
  • Patent number: 11493417
    Abstract: A method for determining a measurement error caused by a filling error, in particular the presence of gas bubbles, during measurement of the density of a liquid by means of a densimeter having a flexural resonator containing the liquid to be measured. During a measuring operation, a period duration of an oscillation of the flexural resonator induced by an induction unit is measured by a measuring device and the density of the liquid is determined by an evaluation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: ERALYTICS GMBH
    Inventor: Niklas Christensson
  • Patent number: 11493485
    Abstract: A sample injection device (100) includes a tubular suction and discharge unit (23) configured to suction a liquid sample (S), contain the sample therein, and discharge the suctioned sample, and at least a portion of an inner wall (23a) of the suction and discharge unit, the portion having the sample contained therewithin, is subjected to a surface treatment (V) to increase an interfacial tension (F) that acts between the inner wall and the sample.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: SHIMADZU CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yuki Komori
  • Patent number: 11492894
    Abstract: A support arm can be positioned in an inner area of a tubular body. The support arm can extend from the inner surface of the tubular body to retain a sensor in flow from a wellbore blowout passing through the tubular body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 1, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 8, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Arash Haghshenas, Andrew John Cuthbert
  • Patent number: 11486871
    Abstract: A method includes determining reservoir rock and fluid characteristics of a reservoir rock and, based on the reservoir rock and fluid characteristics of the reservoir rock, selecting a core. The method also includes selecting a first surfactant and selecting a second surfactant. In addition, the method includes performing a water block mitigation test using the selected core, the first surfactant and the second surfactant and performing a proppant phase trapping mitigation test using the selected core, the first surfactant and the second surfactant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: ALCHEMY SCIENCES, INC.
    Inventors: Luchao Jin, Shashidhar Rajagopalan, James Russum
  • Patent number: 11486853
    Abstract: A gas sensor includes a sensor element, an inner protective cover including a first member and a second member, and an outer protective cover having outer inlets. The inner protective cover has a sensor element chamber inside. The outer protective cover and the inner protective cover form an inlet-side gas flow channel from an outside to the sensor element chamber. The inlet-side gas flow channel has a first flow channel extending in an upward direction from the outer inlets and a second flow channel extending in a downward direction. A ratio W2/W1 between a flow channel width W1 of the first flow channel and a flow channel width W2 of the second flow channel is less than one. A tip end portion of the outer protective cover has a tapered portion that reduces in diameter toward a bottom portion of the tip end portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Fumiya Takahashi, Takeshi Omori
  • Patent number: 11486691
    Abstract: A method, system, and computer-readable medium related to control of mud motors in drilling systems, of which the method includes measuring an eccentricity of rotation of a rotor in a stator of a mud motor using a rotor-position sensor, determining a torque of the mud motor based in part on the eccentricity, and selecting a fluid flow rate, a pressure, or both of fluid delivered downhole, through the mud motor, based in part on the determined torque.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: SCHLUMBERGER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Samba Ba, Maxim Pushkarev, Anton Kolyshkin
  • Patent number: 11480053
    Abstract: A method for analyzing a drilling fluid receiving a drilling fluid sample from a flow of the drilling fluid at a surface of a borehole being drilled in a subterranean formation and extracting, using a gas extraction and sampling system, a dissolved gas from the drilling fluid sample. The method includes determining, using a gas chromatograph, a concentration over time of at least one chemical species of a dissolved gas from the drilling fluid sample and generating an area per concentration curve based on the concentration over time. The method includes determining, using a gas extraction and sampling system, at least one concentration value of the at least one chemical species of the dissolved gas from the drilling fluid sample and correcting bias caused by the gas extraction and sampling system, wherein correcting the bias comprises modifying the at least one concentration value based on the area per concentration curve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventor: Mathew Dennis Rowe
  • Patent number: 11473958
    Abstract: A printed circuit board device includes: a first capacitive sensor configured to measure a first capacitance within a contained volume having known dimensions, wherein the first capacitance changes as a substance is received into the contained volume; a second capacitive sensor having a plurality of trigger points at a plurality of corresponding known heights within the contained volume, the second capacitive sensor configured to detect when the substance received into the contained volume has reached each of the corresponding known heights within the contained volume; and wherein at least one of a level of the substance within the contained volume, a volume of the substance within the contained volume, or a flow rate of the substance into the contained volume is determined based on data from the first capacitive sensor and the second capacitive sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Stream Dx, Inc
    Inventors: Brian Holt, Scott McClellan, Alvin Y. Le, Kent Ogden
  • Patent number: 11473960
    Abstract: A fluid sensor assembly is provided. The fluid sensor assembly includes a base and a cap. The base is configured to receive a fluid sensor, the base forming a plurality of receiving apertures positioned about a perimeter of the base. The cap is configured to fit on the base and form a fluid-tight seal between the cap and the base, the cap including a plurality of articulating levers, each articulating lever of the plurality of articulating levers being configured to rotate about a central axis and including a latching feature configured to be inserted into a receiving aperture of the plurality of receiving apertures when the cap is fitted on the base and to lock the cap to the base upon rotation of the articulating levers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Scully Signal Company
    Inventors: Katrina Scully Ohl, Alex Kolnick, Daniel Airey, Daniel Maguire
  • Patent number: 11474021
    Abstract: Disclosed is a system for measuring mass transfer in a membrane and solutions. The system includes: a membrane module 10 including a feed solution reservoir 11 accommodating a feed solution f, a draw solution reservoir 13 accommodating a draw solution d whose osmotic concentration is higher than that of the feed solution f, and a holder 15 supporting a semipermeable membrane m arranged between the feed solution reservoir 11 and the draw solution reservoir 13 and whose performance is to be measured; a feed solution storage tank 20 storing the feed solution f; and a feed solution supply pump 30 supplying the feed solution f from the feed solution storage tank 20 to the feed solution reservoir 11 at a fixed flow rate corresponding to a water flux WF across the membrane m such that the water flux WF is maintained constant.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2020
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Korea University Research and Business Foundation
    Inventors: Dae Ryook Yang, Yoon Hyuk Jang, Kiho Park, Ji Woong Chang
  • Patent number: 11473426
    Abstract: A method comprising determining a concentration of one or more components of a wellbore servicing fluid during a wellbore servicing operation; and adjusting or maintaining a composition of the wellbore servicing fluid being introduced into a wellbore and/or an operational parameter of the wellbore servicing operation based on the determining of the concentration of the one or more components, wherein the determining of the concentration of the one or more components comprises contacting a sample of the wellbore servicing fluid with a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device to provide a sample response indicative of the concentration of the one or more components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2022
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Dale E. Jamison, William Walter Shumway, Preston Andrew May, Jay Paul Deville
  • Patent number: 11473999
    Abstract: A leak inspection device includes an inspection mechanism that executes a first inspection process for compressing the insides of a first inspection chamber and a reference chamber, and inspecting the first inspection chamber for a pressure leak based on a differential pressure therebetween, and a second inspection process for compressing the insides of a second inspection chamber and the reference chamber, and inspecting the second inspection chamber for a pressure leak based on a differential pressure therebetween, a first pre-compression valve that opens and closes a first pre-compression path, and a control device that opens, during the execution of the first inspection process, the first pre-compression valve to pre-compress the second inspection chamber, and causes, in a state where the inside of the second inspection chamber is pre-compressed, the inspection mechanism to execute the second inspection process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Tetsuya Matsukawa
  • Patent number: 11474089
    Abstract: A sensor element includes element main body including side surfaces, a detection unit, connector electrodes disposed on the rear end-side part of the side surfaces, a porous layer that covers at least front end-side part of the side surface, the porous layer having a porosity of 10% or more, and a water-penetration reduction portion. The water-penetration reduction portion is disposed on the side surface so as to divide the porous layer or to be located closer to the rear end than the porous layer. The length L of the water-penetration reduction portion is 0.5 mm or more. The water-penetration reduction portion includes, among a dense layer covering the side surface and having a porosity of less than 10% and a gap region in which the porous layer is absent, at least the dense layer. The water-penetration reduction portion reduces the capillarity of water.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2022
    Assignee: NGK INSULATORS, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuki Nakayama, Shota Kageyama, Yusuke Fujii, Kei Kosaka