Patents Examined by Matthew J Daniels
  • Patent number: 11760041
    Abstract: A method of forming a wind turbine blade shear web flange section (36) by resin transfer moulding comprises providing a mould assembly (84) comprising a mould surface (86) defining a mould cavity and arranging a plurality of elongate flange elements (46) with the mould surface in an array (80) such that the flange elements are positioned one on top of another with first and second longitudinal ends (56,60) of each flange element longitudinally offset from respective first and second longitudinal ends of a neighbouring flange element so as to form a tapered portion (58,62) at each of a first and second longitudinal end of the flange section (36). A The method further comprises injecting resin to the mould cavity and curing the array of flange elements in a resin matrix to form a cured flange section having a laminate construction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: Vestas Wind Systems A/S
    Inventors: Jonathan Smith, Robert Charles Preston
  • Patent number: 11759993
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a composite plastic component having a first section surrounded by a second section. The method includes positioning a first section on a mold, the mold having a curved top surface. The method includes heating a second section in the form of a frame, and positioning the second section about the first section on the mold. The method includes pressing the first and second sections on the curved mold to curve the first and second sections in conformance with the curve of the mold, and to attach the frame to the first section. The method includes removing the curved first section and frame from the mold, cooling the curved first section and frame, and allowing the first section to return from a curved shape to a planar shape.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Inventor: Nissan Ringel
  • Patent number: 11752711
    Abstract: A composite part forming system for shaping a composite material blank having a plurality of plies, the composite part forming system comprising opposing tools including shape-forming features, an actuator, and a composite tensioning system. The composite tensioning system is connectable to a periphery of the composite material blank to apply tension to the composite material blank the first and second tools are moved together to cause the composite material blank to conform to the shape-forming features. The composite tensioning system is configured to apply more tension to wrinkle prone plies of the composite material blank than to non-wrinkle prone plies as the composite material blank is caused to conform to the shape-forming features.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
    Inventor: Mark Anthony Wadsworth
  • Patent number: 11752717
    Abstract: Provided are a tire vulcanization device and a tire vulcanization method. A container ring is disposed on an outer circumferential side of segments mounted on outer circumferential surfaces of sector molds. A bolster plate is disposed above an upper plate mounted on an upper surface of an upper side mold. A green tire is placed in a sideways state on a lower side mold mounted on an upper surface of a lower plate. In a state where the bolster plate is moved downward by a pressurizing mechanism and maintained in a mold closed position, a container ring held slidably in a vertical direction with respect to the bolster plate by a connecting body is moved downward by pressurizing fluid supplied, and the sector molds are assembled in an annular shape to be closed with the upper side mold pressed against upper surfaces of the sector molds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Yukihisa Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11752708
    Abstract: Uncured composite structures, cured composite structures, and methods of curing uncured composite structures are disclosed herein. The uncured composite structures include a structural layer that includes an uncured structural resin and a surface layer that includes an uncured surface resin. The cured composite structures include a cured structural layer that includes a cured structural resin, a cured surface layer that includes a cured surface resin, and an interface region between the cured surface layer and the cured structural layer. The methods include initially heating the uncured composite structure to an initial temperature to generate a partially cured composite structure. The initially heating is sufficient to gel the uncured surface resin but insufficient to gel the uncured structural resin. The methods also include subsequently heating the partially cured composite structure to a final cure temperature, which is greater than the initial temperature, to generate the cured composite structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2023
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Patrice K. Ackerman, Gwen Marie Lanphere Gross
  • Patent number: 11745396
    Abstract: The present application relates to the technical field of the research on energetic composite materials, and in particular to a device and a method for controlling transverse and longitudinal stress waves during the curing process of energetic composite materials. The device for controlling transverse and longitudinal stress waves comprises a curing vessel containing an energetic composite materials to be cured; a vertical exciter that is vertically incident to the curing vessel; and a plurality of oblique exciters which are arranged around the vertical exciter and obliquely incident to the curing vessel, wherein the oblique exciters have inclination angles between a first critical angle and a second critical angle. By means of incident transverse and longitudinal waves, the internal radial residual stress and the internal axial residual stress are reduced and homogenized, so as to improve stability and mechanical property of the energetic composite materials during curing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: BEIJING INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    Inventors: Chunguang Xu, Peng Yin, Yuren Lu, Jianfeng Song, Wenyuan Song, Shuangyi Li
  • Patent number: 11745397
    Abstract: A method of manufacturing a fragrance mat, comprising a material preparation step, which, by stirring at a predetermined stirring temperature, evenly mixes fragrance mat raw material and foaming related additives material to obtain an unformed fragrance mat foam material, the fragrance mat raw material containing polyvinyl chloride and essential oil, a mesh providing step, a material release step, a foaming step and a cooling step to obtain the fragrance mat having a specific diffusion coefficient and a specific diffusion flux.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 5, 2023
    Assignee: VONRANG INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION
    Inventors: Chun-Yi Wu, Tsu-Wei Liu
  • Patent number: 11738511
    Abstract: SLA-based additive manufacturing using radiation-curable foams enables the production by 3D printing of lightweight parts having desirable physical and functional attributes. A representative method of manufacturing such items includes processing a radiation-curable resin in liquid form to produce a stable, non-aqueous radiation-curable foam, on-demand deposition of the foam at a build layer of a build surface within a 3D printer, and then curing the non-aqueous radiation-curable foam to produce a layer of a 3D build item. Processing the resin typically includes agitation, mixing, shaking, gas injection, ultrasonic stimulation, or combinations thereof. 3D articles of manufacture made by the above-described manufacturing process are also provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 6, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Igneous IP Holdings, LLC
    Inventor: Matthew Noah Pearlson
  • Patent number: 11738530
    Abstract: A method for manufacturing a rotor blade component of a rotor blade includes feeding a flat sheet of material into a thermoforming system, wherein the material comprises at least one of a thermoplastic or thermoset material. The method also includes heating the flat sheet of material via the thermoforming system. Further, the method includes shaping the heated flat sheet of material via at least one roller of the thermoforming system into a desired curved shape. Moreover, the method includes dispensing the shaped sheet of material from the thermoforming system. In addition, the method includes cooling the shaped sheet of material to form the rotor blade component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Bensely Albert, Nicholas K. Althoff, Stephen Bertram Johnson
  • Patent number: 11738521
    Abstract: A manufacturing process of a fibrous preform for a composite material includes creating a fibrous texture by three-dimensional or multilayer weaving between a plurality of weft layers and warp layers, the fibrous texture including an extra-thick portion having a sacrificial portion and a useful portion adjacent to the sacrificial portion in the warp direction, the sacrificial portion, placing the fibrous texture in a forming toolset, shaping the fibrous texture so as to obtain a fibrous preform having a sacrificial portion and an adjacent useful portion, removing the sacrificial portion from the fibrous preform. When weaving the fibrous blank, one or more expansion elements are inserted into the weft layers located at the core of the sacrificial portion of the fibrous texture. Each expansion element has a cross-section greater than the cross-section or count of the weft threads or strands present in the useful portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2020
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: SAFRAN CERAMICS
    Inventors: Thierry Guy Xavier Tesson, Marie Lefebvre, David Mathieu Paul Marsal
  • Patent number: 11742224
    Abstract: Provided are a substrate chuck and a substrate bonding system including the substrate chuck. The substrate bonding system includes a lower substrate chuck and an upper substrate chuck disposed on the lower substrate chuck. The lower substrate chuck has a non-flat lower substrate contact surface, and the upper substrate chuck has a flat upper substrate contact surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Inventors: Youngbin Choi, Heebok Kang
  • Patent number: 11738527
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for applying a sealing member onto the cup-shaped container of a capsule intended for producing a beverage in a beverage production device, wherein the container has a bottom wall, a side wall with an outer surface, an open end and an annular flange which extends from the side wall of the container at the open end; the flange comprising a flange outer surface merging with the outer surface of the side wall at a transition area an flange inner surface opposite to the outer surface for being sealed with a beverage delivery wall, the method comprising the steps of: depositing molten thermoplastic polymer material by a depositing apparatus onto the outer surface of the annular flange and/or onto the transition area, subsequently pressing the thermoplastic polymer material by a punch-die while the material still being plastically deformable so as to conform it in its final shape onto the outer surface of the annular flange and/or onto the transition area thereby forming it into an
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Societe des Produits Nestle S.A.
    Inventors: Guido Bambagioni, Veith Behrmann
  • Patent number: 11731326
    Abstract: To produce sealing plates consisting of a plurality of sealing rings connected by radial webs by injection molding, wall-type guide elements are arranged obliquely to the direction of flow in the mold channel which is therefore initially largely constricted in the region of weld lines formed by the convergence of the fronts of the divided plastic melt streams, said guide elements being moved out of the mold channel during the further filling of same so that the strength is significantly improved in the region of the weld lines.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Hoerbiger Wien GmbH
    Inventors: Bernhard Spiegl, Marian Janko
  • Patent number: 11731338
    Abstract: A molding mold includes a shell mold provided with a plurality of vacuum suction holes and a backup mold for backing up the shell mold, a back surface of the shell mold and a front surface of the backup mold having the same shape and being fitted to each other. A ventilation groove is formed on the front surface of the backup mold or the back surface of the shell mold, leaving a receiving surface for receiving a mating surface, a plurality of striped grooves and ridges between the striped grooves are formed on the back surface of the shell mold or the front surface of the backup mold, the striped grooves having a feed pitch of 0.5 mm to 5.0 mm and a processing depth of 0.01 mm to 0.4 mm, and the vacuum suction holes and the ventilation groove communicate with each other through the striped grooves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2022
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: KTX CORPORATION
    Inventor: Katsuya Sato
  • Patent number: 11731379
    Abstract: The invention is used to manufacture a drive belt. To this end, mould core (1) and outer mould (20) of a casting tool (G) are provided. In the case of mould core (1) inserted into the outer mould (20), a cavity (22) is formed in the casting tool (G). The mould core (1) or the outer mould (20) are provided with a geometry (2) to be represented on the drive belt. Said geometry has projections (3a, 3b) protruding from a base surface (8) and arranged spaced apart from one another, which have a head surface (7) and lateral surfaces (5, 6) which each delimit a gap (4) of the geometry (2) with in each case a base surface (8) present between two adjacent projections (3a, 3b). A textile layer (12) is laid on the geometry (2), which is supported on the head surfaces (7) and in each case extends with a section (13) over the gaps (4). A tension member (13) is laid on the textile layer (12) such that the textile layer (12) is fixed between the tension member (14) and the respective head surface (7).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Walther Flender GmbH
    Inventor: Andreas Scholzen
  • Patent number: 11731363
    Abstract: In one example, an additive manufacturing system. An unsealed air supply enclosure for clean air is maintained at a first pressure above an ambient air pressure to inhibit unfiltered ambient air from leaking into the enclosure. An unsealed processing chamber is maintained at a second pressure below the ambient air pressure to inhibit processing chamber air from leaking out of the processing chamber. An air pathway is disposed between the air supply enclosure and the processing chamber to provide clean air from the air supply enclosure to the processing chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventors: Emilio Carlos Cano, Ignacio Alejandre, Esteve Comas
  • Patent number: 11731378
    Abstract: One embodiment of a method according to the present disclosure may use a fixture with one or more boot recesses formed therein. An embedded member may be engaged with a boot and placed in a boot recess. Substrate lay-up may be placed around all or a portion of the embedded member and an outer member may be positioned over the substrate lay-up. A cover may be positioned over the outer member and engaged with the fixture. The pressure within an interior portion of the fixture may be reduced to less than ambient pressure and resin may be introduced to interact with the substrate lay-up and allowed to cure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: Plastics Unlimited, Inc.
    Inventors: Travis Kieffer, Ben Clarke, Mike Rederer, Jason Gregorich, Terry Kieffer
  • Patent number: 11724421
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for demolding a composite part from a mandrel. The method includes mechanically coupling a first arm of an extraction tool to a first arcuate portion of a composite part that has been hardened onto a mandrel, mechanically coupling a second arm of an extraction tool to a second arcuate portion of the composite part, and separating the composite part from the mandrel by iteratively performing the following operations until the composite part no longer contacts the mandrel: elastically straining the first arcuate portion of the composite part via the first arm, and elastically straining the second arcuate portion of the composite part via the second arm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Assignee: The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Darrell D. Jones, Daniel R. Smith, Patrick B. Stone, David Raines, Byron James Autry, Matthew B. Moore
  • Patent number: 11724450
    Abstract: Aspects of the invention include systems and methods for producing fiber structures, and for producing three-dimensional (3D) biological structures from digital files. In some embodiments, the printed fibers comprise living cells. Aspects of the invention further include a print head for producing the fiber structure, the print head comprising: a dispensing channel comprising a distal and proximal end; a dispensing orifice located at the distal end of the dispensing channel; one or more material channels converging with the dispensing channel at its proximal end; a buffer solution channel converging with the one or more material channels at the proximal end of the dispensing channel; and a sheath solution channel converging with the dispensing channel at a position located between the proximal and distal ends of the dispensing channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Inventors: Simon Beyer, Tamer Mohamed
  • Patent number: 11724427
    Abstract: A plasticizing apparatus includes a drive motor, a rotor rotated by the drive motor and having a groove-forming surface provided with a groove, a barrel facing the groove-forming surface and having a communication hole, an enclosure that accommodates the rotor, a heating section that heats a material, and a wear suppressor provided in at least one of the portion between the rotor and the barrel and the portion between the rotor and the enclosure. When the wear suppressor is provided between the rotor and the barrel, the wear suppressor is fixed to the rotor or the barrel and has Vickers hardness higher than the Vickers hardness of one of the rotor and the barrel, the one to which the wear suppressor is fixed, whereas when the wear suppressor is provided between the rotor and the enclosure, the wear suppressor is fixed to the rotor or the enclosure and has Vickers hardness higher than the Vickers hardness of one of the rotor and the enclosure, the one to which the wear suppressor is fixed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 15, 2023
    Inventors: Hidenobu Maruyama, Kenta Anegawa