Patents Examined by K. B. Rinehart
  • Patent number: 6647902
    Abstract: To improve slag quality, on a fired grate, at the end of the main combustion process, where burnable fractions are still present in addition to slag components which are already forming, the burnup rate or burnup intensity is changed by varying the primary air rate in sequential time sections, the time sections preferably being in a ratio of 1:1 and the reduced primary air rate being 50 to 70% of the standard primary air rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Assignee: Martin GmbH für Umwelt-und Energietechnik
    Inventors: Johannes Martin, Peter Spichal
  • Patent number: 6647640
    Abstract: A drying station for drying printed sheets transported by a transport belt includes an irradiation device for irradiating the printed sheets, a deflection section located in vicinity of the irradiation device for guiding the transport belt away from the irradiation device, and a shielding device disposed between the transport belt and the irradiation device for shielding the transport belt against radiation from the irradiation device while the sheets are exposed to the radiation. A printing machine including the drying station and a method for drying printed sheets are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventor: Martin Greive
  • Patent number: 6647901
    Abstract: An automatic coal stoker is disclosed having at the base of its hopper an enclosed reciprocating pusher assembly rectangular box shaped which delivers compressingly a defined but variable quantity of coal into a restricted passageway. Successive quantities form a compressed strip of coal to be burned between side rails of a fire grate situate and over an air box fed with a forced air supply. As the strip works its way across the substantially horizontal grate, it burns without forming clinkers, discharges ashes at the bottom of the incline, and effects a minimal degree of uncombusted coal in the ashes. The fire grate of the present invention is substantially horizontal throughout its functional length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 7, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Assignee: Keystoker, Inc.
    Inventor: George E. Somers
  • Patent number: 6647643
    Abstract: A clothes dryer, for drying washed clothes, including a drum supported in a case rotatably, for drying clothes inserted to the inside of the case, a driving means installed in the case, for rotating the drum, a suction duct connected to a side of the drum, for supplying heated air to the inside of the drum, an exhaust duct connected to the other side of the drum, for exhausting air which dried the clothes in the drum, a first blowing means installed in the suction duct or the exhaust duct, for flowing air to the inside of the drum and exhausting the air at the same time and a suction increasing means installed in the case, for blowing air into an inlet of the suction duct can improve clothes drying performance and reduce time for drying clothes by increasing the amount of air supplied into the drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 9, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventors: Sung Bae Song, Sang Wook Hong, Sang Heon Yoon, Hwan Joo Myung
  • Patent number: 6647903
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for generating fuel gas and optionally, activated carbon gasification from biomass fuel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2003
    Inventor: Charles W. Aguadas Ellis
  • Patent number: 6643951
    Abstract: A method and an apparatus are disclosed for detecting an occurrence of a liquid dry condition in a container containing a liquefied compressed gas while the gaseous phase of the liquefied compressed gas is being removed from the container over time. The apparatus includes a first sensor, a second sensor, and a computer, preferably a programmed logic controller (PLC). The first sensor senses temperature (T) inside the container and provides a signal indicative thereof. The second sensor senses pressure (P) inside the container and provides a signal indicative thereof. The computer receives signals from the first and second sensors, and determines the rates of change in the pressure (dP/dt) and the temperature (dT/dt) inside the container over time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2000
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.
    Inventors: Naser Mahmud Chowdhury, Sukla Chandra, Warren Matthew Janigian
  • Patent number: 6644222
    Abstract: The system for continuous thermal combustion of matter, such as waste, comprises an incinerator, air supply means for supplying heated air to the incinerator, and a steam generator for generating steam on the basis of heat generated in the incinerator. The system further comprising a controller which generates at least one control signal for setting the magnitude of a supply stream of the amount of material to the incinerator and/or for setting the amount of air which is supplied to the incinerator by means of the air supply means. The controller controls the at least one control signal, such that by the steam generator an amount of steam per unit time is generated which is equal to a first value and/or that by the air supply means so much air is supplied that an amount of oxygen is present in the incinerator which is equal to a second value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 5, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: Nederlandse Organisatie voor toegepast-natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO
    Inventors: Lambertus Bernardus Maria van Kessel, Martijn Leskens
  • Patent number: 6643949
    Abstract: A heat-drying device of a knife holder includes a heat-generating member installed in a knife groove base of a knife holder consisting of a front shell and a rear shell and an upper cover having a plurality of insert holes for knives to insert. A knife groove base with open knife grooves are fitted in the shell body and has a pull-push water-collecting tray provided at the bottom. A fundamental base is positioned under the shell body and is collapsible for convenience of being placed on a flat surface or on a table. The heat-generating member is installed in the knife groove base and a cement resistor or an electric-heating tube or an electric-heating rod can be used as the heat-generating member to generate heat energy for heat-drying the knife blades inserted in the knife grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Inventor: Lin Wen Yen
  • Patent number: 6640463
    Abstract: A vehicle air supply system having a compressor, an air dryer, a reservoir adapted to receive air from the compressor via the air dryer, and control means operable to cause a standard regeneration of the air dryer when a predetermined system condition is met, the control means being further operable to cause an intermediate regeneration of the air dryer in advance of said predetermined system condition being met.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Wabco Automotive UK Limited
    Inventors: Andrew Howard Beck, David Townsend
  • Patent number: 6640462
    Abstract: Disclosed is a method of drying timbers loaded in a drying chamber, which comprises the steps of heating the drying chamber by a heating system up to a temperature of 80 to 100° C., subjecting the timbers to vacuum blowing by connecting the inside of the drying chamber with a vacuum chamber (receiver) evacuated by a rotary pump until the inside pressure of the drying chamber drops to 1 to 10 mmHg, disconnecting the inside of the drying chamber from the vacuum chamber, connecting the drying chamber with the atmosphere. When the inside of the drying chamber is connected with the vacuum chamber, the moisture content of the timbers is sharply reduced, so that their temperature sharply drops. Thereafter, when it is disconnected from the vacuum chamber, and connected with the atmosphere, the inside temperature of the drying chamber is again increased. Meanwhile, the heating system is worked during the whole process.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Inventors: Sun Tae Choi, Vladimir Petrovich Golitsyn, Natalya Vladimirovna Golitsyna, Nam Joo Huh, Kun Pyo Kim
  • Patent number: 6637354
    Abstract: A process for recovering the byproducts of a process that burns coal and for reusing the byproducts is disclosed. The process includes the steps of identifying a disposal site that contains the byproducts (typically flyash and bottom ash), removing at least a portion of the byproducts from the disposal site, analyzing a sample of the portion of the byproducts to determine the loss on ignition of the portion of the byproducts, introducing the portion of the byproducts along with pulverized coal into a pulverized coal furnace if the portion of byproducts have a loss on ignition greater than or equal to a predetermined loss on ignition value (typically greater than or equal to 1 to 5%), and burning the portion of the byproducts in the furnace with the pulverized coal to render the byproducts into a commercially valuable fly ash and bottom ash having very low loss on ignition, typically lower than 3%.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Assignee: Wisconsin Electric Power Company
    Inventor: Bruce W. Ramme
  • Patent number: 6638396
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for processing a waste product and producing a synthesis gas is provided. The system includes a sealed, heated rotatable drum for preheating and preparing the waste material suitable for a plasma reactor, and processing the material in the reactor. The synthesis gas created by the reactor is used to preheat the waste material by circulating the hot synthesis gas around the drum. In an alternative embodiment, the hot synthesis gas flows through the drum to preheat the waste material and to clean the synthesis gas. Different methods of cooling and cleaning the synthesis gas are used. The system may comprise two plasma reactors in combination with a rotating desorber drum.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2003
    Inventor: Jim Smith Hogan
  • Patent number: 6631567
    Abstract: The invention concerns an apparatus for the removal of moisture from particulized, solid food products, comprising; a housing (9); a perforated plate (2), creating two chambers (3, 4) in the housing (1), gas-inlets (5, 6), present below the perforated plate (2); an outlet (8) in the perforated plate (2), provided with a removable plug (9); heating means (15, 18) for the gases. The invention further concerns a process for the removal of moisture from solid, small particles, by subjecting these particles, while in an annular, fluidized bed to a heat treatment for a specific time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2002
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: Unilever Patent Holdings BV
    Inventor: Sander ten Have
  • Patent number: 6631566
    Abstract: A method of drying a paper web is provided. The method utilizes a dryer, such as a through-dryer, having a first dryer section and a second dryer section. Within the first dryer section, a relatively wet paper web is dried at an elevated temperature, such as between about 400° F. to about 500° F. After being dried by the first dryer section, the web is relatively dry and is further dried by the second dryer section at a reduced temperature, such as between about 300° F. to about 400° F. A variety of control techniques can also be utilized to control the temperature of each dryer section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 14, 2003
    Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
    Inventors: Russell F. Ross, Jack C. Lau
  • Patent number: 6622645
    Abstract: A method and system for combustion of fuel in a boiler in which flue gasses are produced. The boiler includes a source of fuel, a source of air, and a controller for controlling the ratio of the source of air and the source of fuel inputted into the boiler. A sensor is used for measuring the concentration of oxygen in the flue gasses. The controller is adapted to calculate the amount of air entering the boiler based on the amount of oxygen in the flue gasses to thereby adjust the air to fuel ratio to include calculated air input and air input from the source of air. A preferred fuel is pulverized coal. The method and system provide for the air to fuel ratio to be adjusted to optimize efficiency as well as to minimize NOx production.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2003
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventor: Vladimir Havlena
  • Patent number: 6619217
    Abstract: A decomposition processing apparatus for PCBs prolongs the staying time of the PCBs in a vertical furnace. The apparatus heats and decomposes the PCBs and includes porous staying plates through which the falling PCBs pass, to delay the progress of the PCBs through the apparatus and thus subject the PCBs to sufficient thermolysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Inventors: Kanji Kokubu, Yutaka Hayano, Masamitsu Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 6619216
    Abstract: An incinerator includes a furnace, a heat-insulating shield, an air conduit, an air blower, and a dryer. The heat-insulating shield has a top wall, a vertically extending peripheral wall that extends downwardly from the top wall and that surrounds and that is spaced apart from the furnace by a gap, and an open bottom end. The peripheral wall of the heat-insulating shield has an air outlet that is disposed adjacent to the top wall and that is in fluid communication with the gap. Atmospheric air is introduced via the open bottom end through the gap and the air conduit and into the dryer. A feed motor is used to deliver solid waste into the furnace. A control unit controls rotating speed of the feed motor based on temperature in the dryer so as to adjust the temperature in the dryer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Inventor: Dai-You Lin
  • Patent number: 6619218
    Abstract: A method for making harmless a material to be treated containing a pollutant, including the steps of arranging a pair of ejecting nozzles such that nozzle openings thereof are opposed to each other inside a pressure-proof furnace, thermally treating that material, ejecting the thermally treated material through each of the nozzle openings of the nozzles, respectively, and colliding the material ejected through one of the nozzles with that ejected through the other in a space inside the pressure-proof furnace and between a pair of the nozzle openings such that a portion of the pollutant of the material remaining non-decomposed by the thermal treatment may be decomposed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Assignees: San Iku Co., Ltd., International Preserve Environment Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Hisao Tsuruta
  • Patent number: 6619215
    Abstract: An incinerator includes a furnace, a heat-insulating shield, an air conduit, an air blower, and a dryer. The heat-insulating shield has a top wall, a vertically extending peripheral wall that extends downwardly from the top wall and that surrounds and that is spaced apart from the furnace by a gap, and an open bottom end. The peripheral wall of the heat-insulating shield has an air outlet that is disposed adjacent to the top wall and that is in fluid communication with the gap. Atmospheric air is introduced via the open bottom end through the gap and the air conduit and into the dryer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Inventor: Dai-You Lin
  • Patent number: 6619214
    Abstract: An apparatus for treating waste material that comprises four major cooperating subsystems, namely a pyrolytic converter, a two-stage thermal oxidizer, a steam generator and a steam turbine driven by steam generated by the steam generator. In operation, the pyrolytic converter is uniquely heated without any flame impinging on the reactor component and the waste material to be pyrolyzed is transported through the reaction chamber of the pyrolytic converter by a pair of longitudinally extending, side-by-side material transfer mechanisms. Each of the transfer mechanisms includes a first screw conveyor section made up of a plurality of helical flights for conveying the heavier waste and a second paddle conveyor section interconnected with the first section for conveying the partially pyrolyzed waste, the second section comprising a plurality of paddle flights. Once operating, the apparatus is substantially self-sustaining and requires a minimum use of outside energy sources for pyrolyzing the waste materials.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2001
    Date of Patent: September 16, 2003
    Inventor: William C. Walker