Patents Examined by Roland G. McAndrews, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5271725
    Abstract: Apparatus and method for pumping fluids from horizontal wells with a dip tube used without requiring a packer in the well. Gas is separated from the liquid phase ahead of the pump to avoid slug flow of gas into the pump. This increases the amount of oil that can be pumped from the well by avoiding shutdowns resulting from gas-locking of the pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1993
    Assignee: Oryx Energy Company
    Inventors: Thomas G. Freet, Kurt P. McCaslin
  • Patent number: 5271720
    Abstract: A vane pump has a plurality of outwardly spring loaded vanes mounted within slots respectively formed in a rotor. The internal surface of the stator of the pump is of cylindrical form, and end plates at the opposite ends of the rotor and stator have inlet and outlet ports formed therein. Each vane is provided with a transfer port which communicates with the inner end of the associated slot and the transfer port is positioned to register with the inlet and outlet ports so that the movement of the vanes within the slots contributes to the pumping action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1993
    Assignee: Lucas Industries public limited company
    Inventor: Robin C. Wall
  • Patent number: 5269662
    Abstract: An aircraft air conditioner refrigerant compressor drive and mounting apparatus for use on aircraft of the type having free rotating power output gears in the accessory pads. The accessory pads accept the mounting of the compressor drive and mounting apparatus to which is mounted an air conditioner refrigerant compressor. The engine power output gear couples with the drive shaft within the compressor drive and mounting apparatus. The drive shaft extends linearly through the compressor drive and mounting apparatus, and is supported by bearings within. Bracket means are provided for mounting an air conditioner refrigerant compressor to the compressor drive and mounting apparatus such that the refrigerant compressor drive shaft is generally parallel with the compressor drive and mounting apparatus drive shaft. A pulley is attached to the refrigerant compressor drive shaft and generally aligned with a pulley on the compressor drive and mounting apparatus drive shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 14, 1993
    Inventors: John W. Denton, Jack A. Denton
  • Patent number: 5267836
    Abstract: A multiplicity of heaters 50 on the surface 10 of a hollow torus chamber 4 are employed to exobarically stimulate the fluid contained in the chamber to make a resonant traveling wave 20 which has its high pressure peaks 22 adjacent outlet ports 16 and its negative pressure peaks 26 adjacent inlet ports 12, thus pumping the fluid. The traveling wave can be composed of two waves having a phase difference. A controller 62 directs the heaters to exobarically stimulate the fluid so as to create the traveling wave in the fluid. Heaters 50 can act as anemometers to detect the position of the waves in the chamber so that the controller may determine when to add pulses to the wave. By having a traveling wave which always has a high pressure peaks 22 adjacent to outlet ports 16 and its negative pressure peaks 26 adjacent inlet ports 16, no valves are required to make the pump function, thus eliminating any moving parts in the pump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1992
    Date of Patent: December 7, 1993
    Assignee: Rockwell International Corporation
    Inventor: Gordon W. Culp
  • Patent number: 5263824
    Abstract: A safety shutdown system for a vehicle containing a hazardous fluid material such as gasoline, liquid propane gas (LPG) or anhydrous ammonia (NH.sub.3) permits turn-off of the vehicle's engine and closure of the vehicle's storage tank valves by the vehicle's operator remotely located from the vehicle. The system includes a hand-held controller including a receiver and transmitter as well as a receiver/transmitter combination located in the vehicle's cab. The transmitter in the cab is coupled to a vehicle-mounted flow meter for providing an RF signal to the remote receiver for display on the hand-held controller of the amount of material discharged from the vehicle's tank. The cab-mounted receiver is responsive to an operator-initiated shutdown signal emitted by the remote controller and is coupled to a pulling solenoid which is, in turn, coupled to the storage tank valves via a cable for closing the valves and stopping the flow of hazardous material when the controller is actuated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 23, 1993
    Assignee: Fredron Corp.
    Inventors: Fred J. Waldbeser, Ronald A. Warren
  • Patent number: 5259735
    Abstract: An evacuation system in an ultra-high vacuum sputtering apparatus capable of shortening the pumping time of the system. A main pump, composed of a turbo-molecular pump and a baffle is positioned upstream of a main pump and cooled to a temperature in which argon gas is not absorbed and only water is absorbed. The pump and a vacuum chamber are separated by a valve. A pipeline circulates a heating medium to rapidly heat and cool the vacuum chamber for enabling a gas discharge from the vacuum chamber whereby the pumping time can be reduced and the overall production of the system can be increased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 9, 1993
    Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
    Inventors: Kazue Takahashi, Shinjiro Ueda, Manabu Edamura, Naoyuki Tamura, Kazuaki Ichihashi
  • Patent number: 5253983
    Abstract: An axial piston pump, for pumping an operating oil in a hydraulic system, comprises a rotary cylinder block having a plurality of cylinder bores formed therein and disposed at regular intervals around a rotational axis thereof. Each bore is opened at a bottom thereof through a hole formed in an end wall of the cylinder block, a plurality of pistons being slidably received in the bores, respectively. Further, the pump comprises a fixed slant cam plate engaged with the pistons during a rotation of the block, for causing a reciprocation of the pistons within the cylinder bores, and a fixed valve plate having a suction port and a discharge port. The block end wall is resiliently pressed against the valve plate so that the holes of the bores are operatively connected with the suction and discharge ports of the valve plate during the rotation of the block.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1993
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toyoda Jidoshokki Seisakusho
    Inventors: Shigeru Suzuki, Kunifumi Goto, Wataru Minami
  • Patent number: 5253987
    Abstract: A fluid end for use in high-pressure, reciprocating, fluid pumps has a cylinder with a bore therethrough in which a plunger reciprocates. A valve body is disposed at one end of the bore and includes suction valve seat and a discharge valve seat, which are substantially coaxial with the axis of the bore in the cylinder. The suction and discharge valves include elastomeric, abrasion-resistant seal members. The valve body is provided with at least one fluid flow passage positioned about the periphery of the suction valve seat to permit purging of entrapped gas from the pressure chamber defined in the cylinder bore between the plunger and the valve body. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the suction and discharge valves are identical and interchangeable, and the valves are provided with urethane seal members to increase the abrasion resistance of the valves.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 3, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 19, 1993
    Inventor: Curtis W. Harrison
  • Patent number: 5251593
    Abstract: A liquid ring machine comprises an outer drum having a cylindrical outer wall 1 surrounding a central axis 2, a vaned rotor 3 rotatable within the drum about an axis 4 which is parallel to, but offset from, the central axis 2 of the drum, and a liquid disposed within the drum such that, when the rotor 3 rotates at a sufficient speed, the liquid forms a rotating ring 5 adjacent the outer wall 1 of the drum. The ends of the vanes 6 on the rotor are maintained in contact with the liquid during such rotation so that a series of chambers 8 is formed between the vanes 6 of the rotor 3. The chambers 8 are bounded at the outer periphery by the liquid ring 5 and vary in volume in dependence on the angular orientation of the rotor 3 in view of the offset between the axis 4 of rotation of the rotor and the central axis 2 of the drum. An inlet 23 and an outlet 25 are provided by means of which a working fluid is introduced into, and discharged from, each of the chambers 8 at appropriate angular positions of the rotor 3.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1991
    Date of Patent: October 12, 1993
    Inventor: John R. Pedersen
  • Patent number: 5249937
    Abstract: A medical peristaltic pump having improved pumping and sealing qualities, as well as providing increased flexibility of use and a high level of security. The pump is assembled from at least three modules, a pump rotor (22) being housed in a first module (36; 172) for compressing at least one tube (28; 28a; 28b) connecting a reservoir (30) for storing a liquid substance to the output (32) of the pump. The compression is effected against at least one support piece (34) of a second module (38, 174). The first and second modules are provided with first positioning elements and first assembly elements in a manner to define a set of two modules for compressing the tube to pump the liquid substance. The set of two modules and a third module (40, 176) are provided with second positioning elements and second assembly elements in a manner such that, once assembled, the third module (40, 176) assures sealing of the first module.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 5, 1993
    Assignee: SMH Management Services AG
    Inventor: Christophe Aubert
  • Patent number: 5242276
    Abstract: Disclosed is a multicylinder compressor including a cylinder block having a plurality of cylinders, a valve plate provided on an end of the cylinder block and having a plurality of inlet ports and outlet ports, a cylinder head provided on the valve plate and having a partition wall defining a discharge chamber, a discharge valve member provided on the valve plate, and a valve guard member provided in the discharge chamber and restricting the separation distance of each of the plurality of discharge valves of the discharge valve member from the valve plate. The outline of the fringe of the valve guard member is formed along the inner side surface of the partition wall. The valve guard member, particularly the valve guard portions of the valve guard member, can have a high rigidity, even if the thickness of the member is small. Therefore, the compressor according to the present invention can be made to be light-weight and can be produced inexpensively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 1992
    Date of Patent: September 7, 1993
    Assignee: Sanden Corporation
    Inventor: Shigemi Shimizu