Patents by Inventor David Lee Stucker

David Lee Stucker 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: 6606369
    Abstract: An improved grid for use in a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor includes a plurality of straps connected in a lattice, with a plurality of mixing vanes being disposed on the straps and being arranged such that the hydraulic forces on the mixing vanes generally cancel one another out. The mixing vanes of diagonal quadrants of the grid are generally aligned with diagonally disposed imaginary alignment planes. Each strap includes a plurality of strap members, with each strap member including a spring and a pair of dimples. The spring includes a contoured spring embossment having a greater radius of curvature in a relaxed condition than the radius of a fuel rod. Each dimple includes a similarly configured contoured dimple embossment. The spring embossment is mounted on a pair of legs that extend nonlinearly between a first plate and a second plate of each strap member to increase compliance thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Levie David Smith, III, Yonghwan Kim, Yu Chung Lee, David Lee Stucker