Patents Examined by Michael Forrest
  • Patent number: 8828583
    Abstract: A battery module includes a plurality of flat batteries stacked upon one another in a thickness direction. The plurality of flat batteries each have an outer cover and plate-shaped electrode terminals connected. A power generating element is sealed within the outer cover of each of the plurality of flat batteries. The electrode terminals include substantially flat plates connected to the power generating element and projecting out of the outer cover in a projecting direction. The electrode terminals of the plurality of batteries are electrically connected to each other. Each of a plurality of electrically insulating spacers receives the electrode terminals of more than one of the flat batteries and the spacers are stacked in the thickness direction of the flat batteries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 9, 2014
    Assignee: Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Ryuichi Amagai
  • Patent number: 8815766
    Abstract: Embodiments include metal (102) containing composites (100) and methods of forming metal containing composites. A metal containing composite can be formed by contacting an oxide support surface (104) with coordination compounds having metal atoms for a first predetermined time, where the metal atoms of the coordination compounds deposit on the oxide support surface; contacting the oxide support surface with a first reagent for a second predetermined time; and contacting the first reagent with a second reagent for a third predetermined time, where the first reagent and the second reagent react to form another layer of the oxide support surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Northwestern University
    Inventors: Junling Lu, Peter C. Stair
  • Patent number: 8802329
    Abstract: A method of transferring a nanostructured thin catalytic layer from its carrying substrate to a porous transfer substrate and further processing and restructuring the nanostructured thin catalytic layer on the porous transfer substrate is provided. The method includes transferring the nanostructured catalytic layer from its carrying substrate to a transfer substrate. The nanostructured catalytic layer then is processed and reconstructed, including removing the residual materials and adding additional components or layers to the nanostructured catalytic layer, on the transfer substrate. Methods of fabricating catalyst coated membranes with the reconstructed electrode including the nanostructured thin catalytic layer, reconstructed electrode decals, and catalyst coated proton exchange membranes are also described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2014
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventors: Chunxin Ji, Matthew Dioguardi
  • Patent number: 8795886
    Abstract: A secondary battery capable of improving cycle characteristics is provided. An anode includes: an anode active material layer on an anode current collector, the anode active material layer including a plurality of anode active material particles, in which the average particle area of the plurality of anode active material particles observed from a surface of the anode active material layer is within a range of 1 ?m2 to 60 ?m2 both inclusive.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 5, 2014
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Momoe Adachi, Shunsuke Kurasawa, Isamu Konishiike, Kenichi Kawase
  • Patent number: 8785061
    Abstract: To provide a CO conversion catalyst for use in a fuel cell in a DSS operation, which includes a Cu—Al-Ox catalyst, in which the Cu—Al-Ox catalyst has a boehmite phase formed in at least a part of the Cu—Al-Ox catalyst. The CO conversion catalyst has an improved degree of dispersion of Cu metal by the boehmite phase formed therein, and hence can be prevented from sintering of copper caused due to steam, thereby achieving improved durability with respect to the function as the CO conversion catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Masanao Yonemura, Toshinobu Yasutake, Tetsuya Shishido
  • Patent number: 8784566
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention overcome the well-known recalcitrance of lignocellulosic biomass in an economically viable manner. A process and system are provided for the efficient fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass into cellulose, hemicellulose sugars, lignin, and acetic acid. The cellulose thus obtained is highly amorphous and can be readily converted into glucose using known methods. Fermentable hemicellulose sugars, low-molecular-weight lignin, and purified acetic acid are also major products of the process and system. The modest process conditions and low solvent/solid ratios of some embodiments of the invention imply relatively low capital and processing costs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 22, 2014
    Assignee: Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.
    Inventor: Y. H. Percival Zhang
  • Patent number: 8778825
    Abstract: Partition walls are provided with small pores and large pores, a porosity of the partition walls is from 50 to 70%, a porosity of the large pores of the partition walls is 30% or larger, a ratio of a total volume of the small pores to a total volume of the large pores is 20% or larger, and in a graph showing a pore diameter distribution of the partition walls, the pore diameter at a maximum peak value of the large pores is from 20 to 200 ?m, and the pore diameter at a maximum peak value of the small pores is from 0.1 to 8 ?m. Furthermore, a value obtained by dividing a porosity value (%) of the large pores by a thickness value (?m) of the partition walls is 0.2 or larger in a honeycomb structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 4, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2014
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shogo Hirose, Yukio Miyairi
  • Patent number: 8771626
    Abstract: This invention relates to a process for purifying at least one of perfluoromethane and nitrogen trifluoride from a mixture thereof using an ionic liquid. The process may be performed by a technique such as extractive distillation or absorption wherein at least one ionic liquid is used as the entraining agent or absorbent, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2014
    Assignee: E I du Pont de Nemours and Company
    Inventors: Mark Brandon Shiflett, Akimichi Yokozeki
  • Patent number: 8765624
    Abstract: A coating suspension for coating catalyst substrates comprises at least two different particulate metal and/or semi-metal oxides with a sedimentation mass (MS), characterized in that the sedimentation mass (MS) of the particulate metal and/or semi-metal oxide with the smallest sedimentation mass is between 70% and 100% of the sedimentation mass of the particulate metal and/or semi-metal oxide with the largest sedimentation mass. Further, a method for producing a coating suspension, the use of the coating suspension to coat a catalyst substrate, as well as a catalyst produced using the coating suspension are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2014
    Assignee: Sued-Chemie IP GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Ulrich Meyer, Olaf Helmer, Sascha Podehl
  • Patent number: 8728257
    Abstract: The invention provides a high tensile strength steel material having a tensile strength of 600 MPa, which is excellent in delayed fracture resistance property, and a method of manufacturing the steel material. As means for this, a steel material contains, in mass percent, C of 0.02 to 0.25%, Si of 0.01 to 0.8%, Mn of 0.5 to 2.0%, Al of 0.005 to 0.1%, N of 0.0005 to 0.008%, P of 0.03% or less, and S of 0.03% or less. In addition, the steel material contains at least one element selected from Mo, Nb, V, and Ti, and contains at least one of Cu, Ni, Cr, W, B, Ca, REM and Mg, as needed. The remainder includes Fe and inevitable impurities. In addition, in the steel material, precipitates having an average grain size of 20 nm or less, which contains at least one of Mo, Nb, V and Ti, are contained in steel in the number of at least 5 per 250000 nm2, and a microstructure includes residual austenite in a volume fraction of 0.5 to 5%. When Ca to be added is specified to be 0.0010% to 0.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2014
    Assignee: JFE Steel Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Oi, Akihide Nagao, Kenji Hayashi
  • Patent number: 8716169
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to the field of emission control equipment for boilers, heaters, kilns, or other flue gas-, or combustion gas-, generating devices (e.g., those located at power plants, processing plants, etc.) and, in particular to a new and useful method and apparatus for preventing the poisoning and/or contamination of an SCR catalyst. In another embodiment, the method and apparatus of the present invention is designed to protect an SCR catalyst, while simultaneously providing emission control.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: May 6, 2014
    Assignee: Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Mandar R. Gadgil, S. Behrooz Ghorishi, Donald P. Tonn
  • Patent number: 8709371
    Abstract: A method of growing high-quality, group-III nitride, bulk single crystals. The group III-nitride bulk crystal is grown in an autoclave in supercritical ammonia using a source material or nutrient that is a group III-nitride polycrystals or group-III metal having a grain size of at least 10 microns or more and a seed crystal that is a group-III nitride single crystal. The group III-nitride polycrystals may be recycled from previous ammonothermal process after annealing in reducing gas at more then 600° C. The autoclave may include an internal chamber that is filled with ammonia, wherein the ammonia is released from the internal chamber into the autoclave when the ammonia attains a supercritical state after the heating of the autoclave, such that convection of the supercritical ammonia transfers source materials and deposits the transferred source materials onto seed crystals, but undissolved particles of the source materials are prevented from being transferred and deposited on the seed crystals.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 29, 2014
    Assignees: The Regents of the University of California, Japan Science and Technology Agency
    Inventors: Kenji Fujito, Tadao Hashimoto, Shuji Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8691719
    Abstract: The present invention relates generally to the field of emission control equipment for boilers, heaters, kilns, or other flue gas-, or combustion gas-, generating devices (e.g., those located at power plants, processing plants, etc.) and, in particular to a new and useful method and apparatus for reducing or preventing the poisoning and/or contamination of an SCR catalyst. In another embodiment, the method and apparatus of the present invention is designed to protect the SCR catalyst. In still another embodiment, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for increasing the service life and/or catalytic activity of an SCR catalyst while simultaneously controlling various emissions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2014
    Assignee: Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc.
    Inventors: Mandar R. Gadgil, S. Behrooz Ghorishi
  • Patent number: 8609581
    Abstract: A honeycomb structure includes: porous partition walls having a large number of pores and disposed to form a plurality of cells communicating between two end faces, and plugged portions disposed to plug each of the cells on one of the end faces. A percentage of the number of carbon particulates contained in combustion exhaust gas satisfying the following condition (1) and passing through a honeycomb structure is 80% or more at a space velocity of 25000/h. The condition (1) is that the carbon particulates has a mean diameter of 0.07 to 0.2 ?m, a ratio of the carbon particulates having a diameter of 1 ?m or more is 0.1% or less in number and that a concentration of the carbon particulates is 10 mg/m3. The honeycomb structure is excellent in purification efficiency, has low pressure loss, and is mountable even in a limited space.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: NGK Insulators, Ltd.
    Inventor: Yukio Miyairi
  • Patent number: 8609045
    Abstract: A reaction chamber enables a reaction between received elemental mercury gas and an oxidizing agent gas. The reaction chamber includes a porous (or permeable) medium through which to pass the elemental mercury gas and the oxidizing agent gas. Passing of the elemental mercury gas and the oxidizing agent gas through the porous medium supports a number of useful functions. For example, the porous medium enhances mixing of the elemental mercury gas with the oxidizing agent gas to enhance a reaction. Also, the porous medium increases an amount of surface area in a reaction chamber on which reactions (e.g., heterogeneous surface reactions) can take place between the elemental mercury gas and the oxidizing agent gas to form oxidized mercury gas. Accordingly, the reaction chamber configured to include a porous medium enhances a conversion of elemental mercury gas into oxidized mercury gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 21, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.
    Inventors: Dieter Kita, Jeffrey Socha, Bryan A. Marcotte
  • Patent number: 8609058
    Abstract: A fluidized bed reactor and a Siemens reactor are used to produce polycrystalline silicon. The process includes feeding the vent gas from the Siemens reactor as a feed gas to the fluidized bed reactor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2013
    Assignee: Hemlock Semiconductor Corporation
    Inventors: Arvid Neil Arvidson, Michael Molnar
  • Patent number: 8580703
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a catalyst composition for polymerising olefin monomers to polyolefins comprising a catalyst component and a first additive component. The first additive component is a fossil and may for example be obtained from coal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2013
    Inventors: Helmut Alt, Tim Bast
  • Patent number: 8557212
    Abstract: Provided are a CNT-mesoporous silica composite, a CNT-mesoporous carbon composite, a supported catalyst using the CNT-mesoporous carbon composite as a support, and a fuel cell using the supported catalyst as the anode, cathode, or both anode and cathode. The CNT-mesoporous carbon composite is prepared using the CNT-mesoporous silica composite. The CNT-mesoporous carbon composite has a high electrical conductivity due to the CNTs contained therein, and thus, when the CNT-mesoporous carbon composite is used in an electrode of a fuel cell, the fuel cell has a remarkably improved performance relative to the conventional catalyst support which does not contain CNTs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2013
    Assignee: Samsung SDI Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Chan-ho Pak, Hyuk Chang, Dae-jong Yoo, Ji-man Kim
  • Patent number: 8507151
    Abstract: A membrane electrode assembly (MEA) comprises a polymer electrolyte membrane having at least one electrode layer on each of the opposing sides of the membrane. The electrode layer comprises a catalyst, an electrically conductive particulate material and an ionomer binder. The ionomer binder concentration on the exterior surface of the MEA is lower than the ionomer binder concentration near the electrode membrane interface. The electrode layer is formed by casting and drying a solvent ink layer between a nonporous release surface and a porous releasable decal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2013
    Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC
    Inventor: Michael K. Budinski
  • Patent number: 8501354
    Abstract: Using a non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery containing lithium iron phosphate as a positive electrode active material and graphite as a negative electrode active material, a low-cost, high energy density battery is provided that exhibits good performance at high rate current and good cycle performance even at high temperature. The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery has a positive electrode having a positive electrode current collector and a positive electrode active material-containing layer formed on a surface of the positive electrode current collector, the positive electrode active material-containing layer containing a conductive agent and a positive electrode active material including lithium iron phosphate, a negative electrode containing a carbon material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte. The non-aqueous electrolyte contains vinylene carbonate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2013
    Assignee: SANYO Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazunori Donoue, Denis Yau Wai Yu, Takao Inoue, Masahisa Fujimoto, Hiroshi Kurokawa