Patents by Inventor Joel V. Miller

Joel V. Miller 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: 5729987
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for desalinizing salt water which includes pumping refrigerant vapor from a first reservoir to a second reservoir wherein pressure is maintained to condense refrigerant vapor pumped into said second reservoir to condense. Salt water admitted into a third reservoir in thermal contact with the second reservoir such that seawater in said third reservoir is evaporated and passes through a vapor trap into a fourth reservoir. The fourth reservoir is in thermal contact with the first reservoir such that heat generated by water vapor condensing in the fourth reservoir is absorbed by liquid refrigerant in the first reservoir such as to aid in evaporation of refrigerant to complete the refrigerant cycle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 24, 1998
    Inventor: Joel V. Miller
  • Patent number: 5722249
    Abstract: A refrigerating system having multiple stages wherein each stage has a boiler for holding a solution of a first constituent being a gas dissolved in a second constituent being a liquid. The boiler communicates with a separator where the gas is separated from the liquid by the heat from the boiler and the gas is then passed to a condenser where it condenses to a liquid. The liquid first constituent passes to an evaporator. In one of the stages, the evaporating first constituent cools the region to be refrigerated in thermal contact with the evaporated of the respective stage. The gaseous first constituent then passes to an absorber where it dissolves in the second liquid constituent that has passed from the separator to the absorber. The solution of first and second constituents now passes to the boiler where the cycle is repeated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 1996
    Date of Patent: March 3, 1998
    Inventor: Joel V. Miller, Jr.
  • Patent number: 5644185
    Abstract: A thermoelectric generator system including a refrigerator of the of the absorption type having no moving parts and operating with ammonia, water and hydrogen to extract heat from a heat source and discharge heat from an absorber and having at least one thermocouple positioned to intercept heat flow from the heat source to the boiler and/or from the condenser to the evaporator. The system is arranged such that a boiler from one system absorbs heat discharged from the absorber of one or more other identical systems so that systems can be ganged together to produce a combine system having increased efficiency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: July 1, 1997
    Inventor: Joel V. Miller