Patents by Inventor Brian R. Fast

Brian R. Fast 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).

  • Publication number: 20210341896
    Abstract: Various embodiments of the present technology generally relate to condition monitoring in industrial environments. More specifically, some embodiments relate to an embedded analytic engine for motor drives. A drive-embedded analytic engine discussed herein enables industrial enterprises, employers, and other users to monitor an industrial operation comprising at least a motor and a mechanical load in order to detect failures before they occur. An embedded analytic engine may perform condition monitoring from within a frequency drive based on a configuration specific to a monitored fault condition. In order to detect fault conditions, the embedded analytic engine may obtain baseline signal data from an industrial operation using rotating machinery, obtain recent runtime signal data from the industrial operation, and use the signal data to produce data light metrics that may be used to detect fault conditions from within the drive.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 1, 2020
    Publication date: November 4, 2021
    Inventors: Robert J. Miklosovic, Brian R. Fast
  • Patent number: 11121660
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods, and software for improving drive efficiency in an industrial automation system. In one implementation, a system comprises a mechanical load, an electromechanical device attached to the mechanical load, and a drive coupled to the electromechanical device. A processor is programmed to generate and display an acceleration curve, a duplicate acceleration curve, an energy curve and a duplicate energy curve. A user input is received indicating a change to at least a portion of the duplicate acceleration curve, and a change to the duplicate energy curve is calculated and displayed. A modified command signal based on the user input is calculated, and the drive is configured to control the electromechanical device via the modified command signal to mechanically operate the mechanical load perform a task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian R. Fast, Robert J. Miklosovic
  • Publication number: 20200067439
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods, and software for improving drive efficiency in an industrial automation system. In one implementation, a system comprises a mechanical load, an electromechanical device attached to the mechanical load, and a drive coupled to the electromechanical device. A processor is programmed to generate and display an acceleration curve, a duplicate acceleration curve, an energy curve and a duplicate energy curve. A user input is received indicating a change to at least a portion of the duplicate acceleration curve, and a change to the duplicate energy curve is calculated and displayed. A modified command signal based on the user input is calculated, and the drive is configured to control the electromechanical device via the modified command signal to mechanically operate the mechanical load perform a task.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 4, 2019
    Publication date: February 27, 2020
    Inventors: Brian R. Fast, Robert J. Miklosovic
  • Patent number: 10469016
    Abstract: Provided herein are systems, methods, and software for improving drive efficiency in an industrial automation system. In one implementation, a system comprises a mechanical load, an electromechanical device attached to the mechanical load, and a drive coupled to the electromechanical device. A processor is programmed to generate and display an acceleration curve, a duplicate acceleration curve, an energy curve and a duplicate energy curve. A user input is received indicating a change to at least a portion of the duplicate acceleration curve, and a change to the duplicate energy curve is calculated and displayed. A modified command signal based on the user input is calculated, and the drive is configured to control the electromechanical device via the modified command signal to mechanically operate the mechanical load perform a task.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies, Inc.
    Inventors: Brian R. Fast, Robert J. Miklosovic
  • Patent number: 7986860
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described that employ high-intensity lasers to set up a thin plasma sheet, also called a waveguide or “hot shell”, in the atmosphere as a function of beam intensity and geometry. A laser beam can be spread and directed with physical optics (e.g., lenses, mirrors, other optical elements, etc.) to generate a thin inverted cone-shaped hot shell waveguide in the atmosphere. The hot shell of the waveguide has a different index of refraction (n) from that of the surrounding air layers and as such serves to internally reflect portions of the entering solar rays entering an aperture in the hot shell, toward the tip of the cone and a solar energy storage component positioned there, thus providing a virtual solar energy concentration system. In another embodiment, the solar energy storage component shuts down or otherwise rejects incoming solar energy when fully charged, to mitigate damage to system components.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 26, 2011
    Assignee: Cleveland State University
    Inventors: Taysir H. Nayfeh, Daniel E. Raible, Brian R. Fast
  • Publication number: 20090171477
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described that employ high-intensity lasers to set up a thin plasma sheet, also called a waveguide or “hot shell”, in the atmosphere as a function of beam intensity and geometry. A laser beam can be spread and directed with physical optics (e.g., lenses, mirrors, other optical elements, etc.) to generate a thin inverted cone-shaped hot shell waveguide in the atmosphere. The hot shell of the waveguide has a different index of refraction (n) from that of the surrounding air layers and as such serves to internally reflect portions of the entering solar rays entering an aperture in the hot shell, toward the tip of the cone and a solar energy storage component positioned there, thus providing a virtual solar energy concentration system. In another embodiment, the solar energy storage component shuts down or otherwise rejects incoming solar energy when fully charged, to mitigate damage to system components.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 5, 2008
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Inventors: Taysir H. Nayfeh, Daniel E. Raible, Brian R. Fast
  • Publication number: 20080245930
    Abstract: Systems and methods are described that facilitate refueling a vehicle with electrical energy by targeting receiver thereon and pointing a high-intensity laser source at the receiver. Vertical multi-junction (VMJ) photocells receive the laser energy and convert the laser energy into electrical energy. The laser source can operate at a range of output power levels depending on the vehicle's energy needs. The laser source can be pulsed or continuous near-infrared laser source. A heat exchanger can be coupled to the receiver to dissipate laser energy not converted into electrical energy. If the vehicle has a propeller, the heat exchanger can be mounted to the vehicle in the propeller wash path.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 3, 2008
    Publication date: October 9, 2008
    Inventors: Taysir H. Nayfeh, Brian R. Fast, Daniel Raible, Nick Tollis, Andrew Jalics, Dragos Dinca