Patents by Inventor Christopher W. Johnson

Christopher W. Johnson 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: 20200199562
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are compositions of non-naturally occurring enzymes to enable microbial syringol utilization with GcoAB.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2019
    Publication date: June 25, 2020
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Jennifer DuBOIS, Melodie M. MACHOVINA, Simon James Bradshaw MALLINSON, John E. McGEEHAN, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Alexander William MEYERS
  • Publication number: 20200071731
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a genetically modified microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a vanillate demethylase, where the microbial cell is capable of metabolizing at least one S-lignin decomposition molecule including at least one of syringate and/or 3-O-methyl gallate, and the genetically modified microbial cell is capable of producing gallate. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the vanillate demethylase may include VanAB.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2019
    Publication date: March 5, 2020
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Sandra Fabienne NOTONIER
  • Publication number: 20190367865
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a non-naturally occurring microorganism that includes an endogenous genetic deletion that eliminates the expression of at least a pyruvate kinase, where the genetically modified prokaryotic microorganism is capable of producing 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 30, 2019
    Publication date: December 5, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher W. JOHNSON, Peter Corbin ST. JOHN, Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Joshua Ryan ELMORE, Adam Michael GUSS, Davinia Salvachua RODRIGUEZ, Gayle Joann BENTLEY, George Lee PEABODY V
  • Publication number: 20190316861
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for creating the apparatus that holds a bolt open after a last round is fired from a magazine is disclosed. A lower receiver may include at least two cavities. A transfer bar may be configured to fit into a first cavity of the at least two cavities. A hold down may be configured to fit into a second cavity of the at least two cavities. At least a portion of the hold down may be configured to overlap with at least a portion of the transfer bar to hold the transfer bar in place. The transfer bar, when a final round is fired from a magazine in the lower receiver, may be pushed up by a bump in the magazine to transfer upward movement to the transfer bar that catches a bolt and holds the bolt open until activation of a release button.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 11, 2019
    Publication date: October 17, 2019
    Inventor: CHRISTOPHER W. JOHNSON, JR.
  • Patent number: 10337034
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to compositions and methods for converting biomass to various chemical intermediates and final products including fuels. Aspects include the depolymerization of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose to a wide slate of depolymerization compounds that can be subsequently metabolized by genetically modified bacterium, and converted to cis,cis-muconic acid. Other aspects include the use of monometallic catalysts for converting the cis,cis-muconic acid to commodity chemicals and fuels, for example adipic acid and/or nylon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler Beckham, Christopher W. Johnson, Derek Richard Vardon, Mary Ann Franden
  • Patent number: 10310879
    Abstract: An embodiment of the invention sets forth a primary processing unit, a secondary processing unit coupled to the primary processing unit and accessible via a plurality of channels and a plurality of guest virtual machines executing on the primary processing unit. Each guest virtual machine includes a driver associated with the secondary processing unit, and a privileged virtual machine executing on the primary processing unit and configured to allocate a different set of channels of the plurality of channels to each of the drivers included in the guest virtual machines, where a first set of channels allocated to a first driver enables the first driver to access the secondary processing unit without conflicting with any of the other and with minimal performance overhead by directly accessing the secondary processing unit channels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 10, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: NVIDIA CORPORATION
    Inventors: William J. Earl, Kevin J. Kranzusch, Satya Kiran Popuri, Christopher W. Johnson
  • Publication number: 20190153485
    Abstract: An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2019
    Publication date: May 23, 2019
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Derek R. VARDON
  • Patent number: 10266852
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods for the production of fuels, chemicals, or materials from biomass-derived lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Also provided are methods for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from lignocellulosic biomass and the subsequent thermal and catalytic conversion of polyhydroxyalkanoates to hydrocarbons. In addition, methods for the production of ethanol from the fermentation of polysaccharides are described.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2019
    Assignees: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
    Inventors: Gregg T. Beckham, Jeffrey G. Linger, Derek R. Vardon, Michael T. Guarnieri, Eric M. Karp, Mary Ann Franden, Christopher W. Johnson, Timothy J. Strathmann, Philip T. Pienkos
  • Patent number: 10253338
    Abstract: An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler Beckham, Christopher W. Johnson, Derek R. Vardon
  • Publication number: 20190100778
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are enzymes and organisms useful for the dealkylation of products derived from lignin depolymerization, including the conversion of guaiacol or guaethol to catechol or the conversion of anisole to phenol. Methods of converting guaiacol or guaethol to catechol or anisole to phenol using enzymes or organisms expressing the same are also disclosed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 6, 2018
    Publication date: April 4, 2019
    Inventors: Christopher W. JOHNSON, Gregg T. BECKHAM
  • Publication number: 20190041146
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for enabling handgun magazines to function in a rifle lower forging, may include a rifle lower forging. The rifle lower forging may include but is not limited to a recessed area on a side portion of the rifle lower forging configured to receive a handgun magazine release. The rifle lower forging may further include a vertical hole on a top portion of the rifle lower forging configured to receive an elongated portion to hold the handgun magazine release. The rifle lower forging may further include a hole perpendicular to the vertical hole configured to receive a handgun magazine release spring. The rifle lower forging may further include a horizontal slit on the top portion of the rifle lower forging configured to receive an ejector. The rifle lower forging may further include one or more apertures perpendicular to the horizontal slit each configured to receive a fastener to secure the ejector to the rifle lower forging.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 1, 2018
    Publication date: February 7, 2019
    Inventor: CHRISTOPHER W. JOHNSON, JR.
  • Patent number: 10196656
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are enzymes and organisms useful for the dealkylation of products derived from lignin depolymerization, including the conversion of guaiacol or guaethol to catechol or the conversion of anisole to phenol. Methods of converting guaiacol or guaethol to catechol or anisole to phenol using enzymes or organisms expressing the same are also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 9, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg T. Beckham
  • Publication number: 20180371502
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods for the production of fuels, chemicals, or materials from biomass-derived lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Also provided are methods for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from lignocellulosic biomass and the subsequent thermal and catalytic conversion of polyhydroxyalkanoates to hydrocarbons. In addition, methods for the production of ethanol from the fermentation of polysaccharides are described.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 8, 2014
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Gregg T. BECKHAM, Jeffrey G. LINGER, Derek R. VARDON, Michael T. GUARNIERI, Eric M. KARP, Mary Ann FRANDEN, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Timothy J. STRATHMANN, Philip T. PIENKOS
  • Publication number: 20180291405
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to compositions and methods for converting biomass to various chemical intermediates and final products including fuels. Aspects include the depolymerization of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose to a wide slate of depolymerization compounds that can be subsequently metabolized by genetically modified bacterium, and converted to cis,cis-muconic acid. Other aspects include the use of monometallic catalysts for converting the cis,cis-muconic acid to commodity chemicals and fuels, for example adipic acid and/or nylon.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 27, 2018
    Publication date: October 11, 2018
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Derek Richard VARDON, Mary Ann FRANDEN
  • Patent number: 10087425
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are enzymes useful for the dealkylation of aromatic substrates, including the conversion of guaiacol or guaethol to catechol. Methods of converting aromatic substrates found in lignin-based feedstocks such as pyrolysis oil into products such as catechol are also disclosed. Also presented herein are methods for rapidly evolving and optimizing genetic regions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Ellen Lee Neidle, Christopher W. Johnson, Gregg Tyler Beckham, Jeffrey G. Linger, Mark Andrew Eiteman, Melissa Tumen-Velasquez, Alaa Ashraf Mahmoud Ahmed
  • Patent number: 10017792
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to compositions and methods for converting biomass to various chemical intermediates and final products including fuels. Aspects include the depolymerization of lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose to a wide slate of depolymerization compounds that can be subsequently metabolized by genetically modified bacterium, and converted to cis,cis-muconic acid. Other aspects include the use of monometallic catalysts for converting the cis,cis-muconic acid to commodity chemicals and fuels, for example adipic acid and/or nylon.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2018
    Assignee: Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC
    Inventors: Gregg T. Beckham, Christopher W. Johnson, Derek R. Vardon, Mary Ann Franden
  • Patent number: 9878737
    Abstract: A hydraulic fluid supply portion of a hydraulic steering control system may include an accumulator holding a quantity of pressurized steering fluid, and a priority valve. The priority valve may have a priority supply inlet port fluidly connected to the accumulator for receiving pressurized steering fluid from the accumulator, and a priority supply outlet port fluidly connected to a steering flow amplifier circuit. The priority valve may have a normally open position with a minimal pressure drop between the priority supply inlet port and the priority supply outlet port, and a flow restriction position where fluid flow between the ports is restricted. A load signal line from a steering control circuit to the priority valve may bias the priority valve toward the normally open position in response to an operator steering command to provide pressurized steering fluid to the steering flow amplifier circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2018
    Assignee: Caterpillar Inc.
    Inventors: Carl McIlheran, David A. Mork, Daniel T. Mather, Christopher W. Johnson, Michael D. Hudson
  • Publication number: 20180023061
    Abstract: Disclosed herein are enzymes useful for the dealkylation of aromatic substrates, including the conversion of guaiacol or guaethol to catechol. Methods of converting aromatic substrates found in lignin-based feedstocks such as pyrolysis oil into products such as catechol are also disclosed. Also presented herein are methods for rapidly evolving and optimizing genetic regions.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 25, 2017
    Publication date: January 25, 2018
    Inventors: Ellen Lee NEIDLE, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Jeffrey G. LINGER, Mark Andrew EITEMAN, Melissa TUMEN-VELASQUEZ, Alaa Ashraf Mahmoud AHMED
  • Publication number: 20170275655
    Abstract: An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 23, 2017
    Publication date: September 28, 2017
    Inventors: Gregg Tyler BECKHAM, Christopher W. JOHNSON, Derek R. VARDON
  • Publication number: 20170072600
    Abstract: A method for creating a product and a product mold kit for creating the product may include two halves of a mold casing for at least a portion of a product. The mold casing may include one or more chambers to enable escape of air bubbles. The mold casing may include at least one reservoir for applying downward pressure. The product mold kit may include one or more mold casing parts to create an internal structure of at least the portion of the product by being placed in the two halves of the mold casing. The two halves of the mold casing may be secured together. The two halves of the mold casing, when secured together, may receive resin to a fill point. The two halves of the mold casing may be separated after curing the resin. The resin may be removed from the two halves of the mold casing.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 12, 2016
    Publication date: March 16, 2017
    Inventor: CHRISTOPHER W. JOHNSON, JR.