Patents by Inventor Barry Odell Christenson

Barry Odell Christenson 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: 5749223
    Abstract: An exhaust management system comprising a catalytic converter having a catalyst operative to reduce HC emissions from a flow of exhaust gas from an automotive internal combustion engine when the catalyst is above a light-off temperature and a heater assembly mounted in the flow of exhaust gas, upstream of the catalyst and exterior of the catalytic converter, wherein the heater assembly includes an electric heater located more than one inch from a front surface of the catalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 1996
    Date of Patent: May 12, 1998
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: John Eric Kreucher, Barry Odell Christenson, Roger Kurt Starke, Stephen Joe Myers, John Arthur Horton
  • Patent number: 5695722
    Abstract: A catalyst heater assembly for use in a catalytic converter comprising: an electric heater through which a flow of gas passes, wherein the electric heater heats the gas; a plurality of legs around an exterior of the heater, each leg extending in an axial direction toward a flow inlet of the catalytic converter; a flow tube having an inlet end and an outlet end, wherein each of the legs is attached to an exterior peripheral surface of the outlet end and wherein the inlet end is mounted at the flow inlet of the catalytic converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 13, 1996
    Date of Patent: December 9, 1997
    Assignee: General Motors Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen Joe Myers, Theodore Rogers Turner, Jr., Barry Odell Christenson, Albert Hunter Mayfield, John Eric Kreucher, Charles Scott Nelson