Patents by Inventor Kurt K. Lichtenfels

Kurt K. Lichtenfels 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: 9470414
    Abstract: A delivery system for remotely driving an eddy current probe through the tubing of a heat exchanger. The system uses a flexible shaft and air pressure to move an inspection probe through the heat exchanger tubes. The flexible shaft initially drives the probe through a sealed conduit to deliver the probe to the tube end at which point a seal on the shaft near the probe head contacts the tube inner surface allowing a buildup of air pressure behind the seal, thus driving the probe through the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 6, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2016
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Lyman J. Petrosky, Kurt K. Lichtenfels, Phillip J. Hawkins
  • Publication number: 20160146453
    Abstract: A delivery system for remotely driving an eddy current probe through the tubing of a heat exchanger. The system uses a flexible shaft and air pressure to move an inspection probe through the heat exchanger tubes. The flexible shaft initially drives the probe through a sealed conduit to deliver the probe to the tube end at which point a seal on the shaft near the probe head contacts the tube inner surface allowing a buildup of air pressure behind the seal, thus driving the probe through the tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 6, 2016
    Publication date: May 26, 2016
    Applicant: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Lyman J. Petrosky, Kurt K. Lichtenfels, Phillip J. Hawkins
  • Patent number: 9279582
    Abstract: A delivery system for remotely driving an eddy current probe through the tubing of a heat exchanger. The system uses a flexible shaft and air pressure to move an inspection probe through the heat exchanger tubes. The flexible shaft initially drives the probe through a sealed conduit to deliver the probe to the tube end at which point a seal on the shaft near the probe head contacts the tube inner surface allowing a buildup of air pressure behind the seal, thus driving the probe through the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Lyman J. Petrosky, Kurt K. Lichtenfels, Phillip J. Hawkins
  • Publication number: 20140332178
    Abstract: A delivery system for remotely driving an eddy current probe through the tubing of a heat exchanger. The system uses a flexible shaft and air pressure to move an inspection probe through the heat exchanger tubes. The flexible shaft initially drives the probe through a sealed conduit to deliver the probe to the tube end at which point a seal on the shaft near the probe head contacts the tube inner surface allowing a buildup of air pressure behind the seal, thus driving the probe through the tube.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2013
    Publication date: November 13, 2014
    Applicant: Westinghouse Electric Company LLC
    Inventors: Lyman J. Petrosky, Kurt K. Lichtenfels, Phillip J. Hawkins
  • Patent number: 5483033
    Abstract: A frame is coupled to a remotely operable service arm (ROSA), and a rotatable carousel, in turn, is carried by the frame to position several tool modules used in a welding operation adjacent to a damaged tube in a tubesheet of a nuclear steam generator. The arm positions an alignment module directly beneath the damaged tube and the module aligns the carousel. The carousel is rotated to sequentially align and register a laser welding module, a cleaning module, and an inspection module with the damaged tube for a welding operation on a lower portion of the damaged tube in the tubesheet area. One embodiment for the alignment module has a pneumatically operated pin which is operator controlled, and which has an increasing diameter from its distal end to obtain a gross to a vernier alignment of the carousel and, thus, a proper alignment for the remaining modules. A further embodiment provides an alignment pin which is automatically computer controlled without operator intervention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 8, 1993
    Date of Patent: January 9, 1996
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corporation
    Inventors: William E. Pirl, Kurt K. Lichtenfels
  • Patent number: 4845836
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for feeding a throughbolt through a bore in a dynamoelectric machine while initially feeding the same towards the end of the bore along a line forming an acute angle with the axis of the bore. The apparatus has a pair of opposed rotatable wheels and a support plate therefore, at least one guide roller spaced from one end of the support plate, and at least one guide roller spaced from the other end of the support plate. A carriage aligns the wheels and the rollers in two spaced parallel planes through which a through-bolt will pass and a reciprocable member on the carriage effects relative movement between the pair of spaced rotatable wheels and the first and second guide rollers, in a direction transverse the parallel planes such that the through-bolt is deflected from the acute angle at which it is being fed and coaxially aligned with the axis of the bore and adapted to be fed therethrough.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 1988
    Date of Patent: July 11, 1989
    Assignee: Westinghouse Electric Corp.
    Inventors: John M. Butler, III, Kurt K. Lichtenfels