Patents by Inventor John J. Hanley

John J. Hanley 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: 5821430
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for the non-contact measurement of tensile loading (or tension) in ferromagnetic materials, particularly wire ropes, cables, and strands. The magnetostrictive effect is used to measure wave propagation properties within such materials to determine load forces imposed on the tested material based upon a signature obtained for like materials under like conditions. The apparatus and method contemplate an active measurement application, wherein a transmitting sensor generates an mechanical pulse within a material through the magnetostrictive effect, and a receiving sensor detects reflected mechanical waves within the material by the inverse magnetostrictive effect. Unlike other sensing methods, utilizing the magnetostrictive effect in this way has the advantage of generating and detecting mechanical waves in the tested material without direct physical or acoustical contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 13, 1998
    Assignee: Southwest Research Institute
    Inventors: Hegeon Kwun, Keith Bartels, John J. Hanley
  • Patent number: 4890496
    Abstract: A method for detecting hydrogen attack by ultrasound wave velocity measurements in which ultrasound waves (e.g. longitudinal, shear, or creeping) are transmitted from one transducer to another transducer along a fixed path through a steel body such as pipe. The velocity of the ultrasound wave is determined with an accuracy of 0.1 percent from the fixed path length and the time for a wave to travel from one transducer to the other transducer. A decrease in velocity by more than two percent indicates hydrogen attack. In one embodiment, either refracted longitudinal or refracted shear waves are transmitted, and the velocities thereof are determined. In another embodiment, a creeping wave is transmitted from one transducer to the other transducer with the creeping wave including a surface wave and a subsurface wave. Travel time of the subsurface wave is measured and used with the known fixed path length in determining velocity.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 7, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1990
    Assignee: Electric Power Research Institute
    Inventors: Anmol S. Birring, David G. Alcazar, Gary J. Hendrix, John J. Hanley