Patents by Inventor Alfred E. Hess

Alfred E. Hess has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 5404946
    Abstract: A borehole probe containing one or more inflatable packers, usually, although not necessarily, in connection with geophysical sensors, is hung from a geophysical logging cable. The packers are inflated or deflated with liquid at ambient borehole pressure, advantageously, the liquid resident in the borehole, using a submersible, reversible electric pump which is part of the borehole packer assembly. The electric pump is powered and controlled from the surface through the interconnecting logging cable. A differential pressure actuated valve located between the pump and packer controls the flow of pumped fluid into and out of the packers. The packers may be used to control the movement of borehole fluid at any desired depth within a borehole, constrained only by the length of the interconnecting logging cable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 1993
    Date of Patent: April 11, 1995
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Interior
    Inventor: Alfred E. Hess
  • Patent number: 5226333
    Abstract: The flowmeter includes a planar wire grid immersed in the fluid flow perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow. Capacitors discharge an electrical current through the wire grid to heat the wire grid and thereby produce, by heat conduction, a thermopulse in the fluid. Temperature detectors are provided on both sides of the wire grid to detect the thermopulse. A timing device is provided for measuring the time interval between production of the thermopulse and detection thereof by the detectors. The time interval is representative of the flow rate of the fluid flow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 1991
    Date of Patent: July 13, 1993
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Interior
    Inventor: Alfred E. Hess