Patents by Inventor Peter Thomas Tennessen
Peter Thomas Tennessen 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).
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Patent number: 11811269Abstract: The invention is a flywheel rotor that includes a number of adjacent laminations, stacked one on top of another, where each of the laminations has the same shape and is rotationally symmetric around a center axis, and where the shape is substantially circular and includes a plurality of protrusions exterior to the circumference, and each of the laminations includes at least one hole for a fastening bolt to pass through. The invention typically includes an endplate at each end of stack of laminations. One of the two endplates may attach to a stubshaft.Type: GrantFiled: April 27, 2022Date of Patent: November 7, 2023Assignee: AMBER KINETICS, INC.Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Kyle B. Gaiser, Greg Olsen, Mark J. Holloway, Roger Nelson Hitchcock, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew K. Senesky, Edward Young Chiao, Darlene Conolly, Keenan Rodewald
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Patent number: 11682943Abstract: The invention is a motor/generator that includes a motor/generator housing that encloses a rotor assembly, which rotates a shaft, and a stator assembly that remains stationary, and where the motor/generator is inside a vacuum chamber, which, during normal operation, is evacuated of gas and operates at a lower air pressure than atomospheric air pressure, and a cylindrical vacuum barrier between the rotor assembly and the stator assembly that together with the motor generator housing partitions the motor/generator into an interior rotor volume and an exterior stator volume, enabling the rotor volume and stator volume to operate at different atmospheric pressures.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 2021Date of Patent: June 20, 2023Assignee: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Mark J. Holloway, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Publication number: 20220320955Abstract: The invention is a motor/generator that includes a motor/generator housing that encloses a rotor assembly, which rotates a shaft, and a stator assembly that remains stationary, and where the motor/generator is inside a vacuum chamber, which, during normal operation, is evacuated of gas and operates at a lower air pressure than atomospheric air pressure, and a cylindrical vacuum barrier between the rotor assembly and the stator assembly that together with the motor generator housing partitions the motor/generator into an interior rotor volume and an exterior stator volume, enabling the rotor volume and stator volume to operate at different atmospheric pressures.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 30, 2021Publication date: October 6, 2022Applicant: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Mark J. Holloway, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Publication number: 20220255382Abstract: The invention is a flywheel rotor that includes a number of adjacent laminations, stacked one on top of another, where each of the laminations has the same shape and is rotationally symmetric around a center axis, and where the shape is substantially circular and includes a plurality of protrusions exterior to the circumference, and each of the laminations includes at least one hole for a fastening bolt to pass through. The invention typically includes an endplate at each end of stack of laminations. One of the two endplates may attach to a stubshaft.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 27, 2022Publication date: August 11, 2022Applicant: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Kyle B. Gaiser, Greg Olsen, Mark J. Holloway, Roger Nelson Hitchcock, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew K. Senesky, Edward Young Chiao, Darlene Conolly, Keenan Rodewald
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Patent number: 11362558Abstract: The invention is a flywheel rotor that includes a number of adjacent laminations, stacked one on top of another, where each of the laminations has the same shape and is rotationally symmetric around a center axis, and where the shape is substantially circular and includes a plurality of protrusions on the circumference, and each of the laminations includes at least one hole for at fastening bolts to pass through. The invention typically includes an endplate at each end of stack of laminations and one of the two endplates attaches to a stubshaft.Type: GrantFiled: February 11, 2020Date of Patent: June 14, 2022Assignee: AMBER KINETICS, INC.Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Kyle B. Gaiser, Greg Olsen, Mark J. Holloway, Roger Nelson Hitchcock, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew K. Senesky, Edward Young Chiao, Darlene W. Conolly, Keenan William Rodewald
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Patent number: 11271452Abstract: A flywheel device that includes a housing that surrounds a vacuum chamber, a flywheel rotor within the vacuum chamber, which rotates during normal operation of the flywheel, thus agitating residual gasses, an exhaust chamber that receives the exhaust gases from the vacuum chamber, and an annular shaped stationary element, within the vacuum chamber that includes scroll channels where some of the scroll channels have an intake port on an inner diameter of the stationary element and some of the scroll channels have an intake port on an outer diameter of the stationary element, and the scroll channels enable gasses to flow from the vacuum chamber, through the scroll channels, into the exhaust chamber.Type: GrantFiled: October 27, 2019Date of Patent: March 8, 2022Assignee: AMBER KINETICS, INC.Inventors: Daniel Bakholdin, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Patent number: 11085420Abstract: A flywheel device includes an enclosure, a top plate that fastens to the enclosure, where the top plate includes a first opening, and a cap, where the cap has a top side and a bottom side, which when fastened to the first opening forms a seal between the bottom side and the first opening, the bottom side including an o-ring groove configured to hold an o-ring, a grease channel concentric with the o-ring groove, and an inlet port configured to enable grease to flow into the grease channel.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 2018Date of Patent: August 10, 2021Assignee: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Daniel Bakholdin, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mark J. Holloway
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Patent number: 10995820Abstract: A flywheel apparatus that magnetically unloads a top rotor bearing is described. The apparatus includes a flywheel housing, a rotor with a vertical axis of rotation that includes a magnetic material, a magnet configured to apply a desired upward off-loading force along the vertical axis of rotation, an upper bearing connected to an upper shaft of the rotor, and a bearing housing disposed between the upper bearing and the flywheel housing that substantially prevents downward axial motion of the upper bearing. The magnet includes an electromagnet. A force sensor is used to measure a force on the upper bearing which is provided as input to a controller that updates the current to the electromagnet. The rotor is maintained in a fixed axial position and a spring disposed below a lower bearing absorbs axial dimension growth of the rotor.Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 2017Date of Patent: May 4, 2021Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Daniel Bakholdin, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mark J. Holloway, Matthew K. Senesky
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Publication number: 20200259379Abstract: The invention is a flywheel rotor that includes a number of adjacent laminations, stacked one on top of another, where each of the laminations has the same shape and is rotationally symmetric around a center axis, and where the shape is substantially circular and includes a plurality of protrusions on the circumference, and each of the laminations includes at least one hole for at fastening bolts to pass through. The invention typically includes an endplate at each end of stack of laminations and one of the two endplates attaches to a stubshaft.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 11, 2020Publication date: August 13, 2020Applicant: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Kyle B. Gaiser, Greg Olsen, Mark J. Holloway, Roger Nelson Hitchcock, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew K. Senesky, Edward Young Chiao, Darlene W. Conolly, Keenan William Rodewald
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Publication number: 20200141471Abstract: A flywheel device that includes a housing that surrounds a vacuum chamber, a flywheel rotor within the vacuum chamber, which rotates during normal operation of the flywheel, thus agitating residual gasses, an exhaust chamber that receives the exhaust gases from the vacuum chamber, and an annular shaped stationary element, within the vacuum chamber that includes scroll channels where some of the scroll channels have an intake port on an inner diameter of the stationary element and some of the scroll channels have an intake port on an outer diameter of the stationary element, and the scroll channels enable gasses to flow from the vacuum chamber, through the scroll channels, into the exhaust chamber.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 27, 2019Publication date: May 7, 2020Applicant: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Daniel Bakholdin, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Patent number: 10240660Abstract: A flywheel device includes structures allowing the flywheel system to be assembled offsite, transported safely, and installed with relatively few steps. The flywheel includes a rotor and a housing enclosing the rotor, where the housing includes a bottom plate, a top plate and side walls. The bottom plate and the top plate each includes a hole aligned with the center axis of the rotor. The flywheel also includes multiple bearing housings substantially covering the holes of the bottom plate and the top plate that are aligned to the center axis of the rotor. The flywheel also includes posts that physically contact the primary rotational mass of the rotor to prevent motion of the rotor during transport of the flywheel system. Some or all of these posts may be repositioned or removed during installation so that the rotor can spin freely.Type: GrantFiled: June 23, 2016Date of Patent: March 26, 2019Assignee: Amber Kinetics, Inc.Inventors: Eric Sun, Daniel Bakholdin, Edward Young Chiao, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mike M. He, Mark J. Holloway, Seth R. Sanders, Matthew K. Senesky, Alan Michael Sledd, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Publication number: 20190011001Abstract: A flywheel device includes an enclosure that surrounds an interior chamber that includes a rotor, which during normal operation is maintained in a vacuum state and spinning, the enclosure includes a first opening, and a valve that attaches to the enclosure, configured to enable, when actuated, ambient air to flow from the exterior of the enclosure into the chamber through the first opening, thus allowing the internal air pressure to rapidly approach ambient air pressure and thereby increase the air drag which acts as a brake on the spinning rotor.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 5, 2018Publication date: January 10, 2019Inventors: Seth Robert Sanders, Daniel Bakholdin, Matthew K. Senesky, Mark J. Holloway, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Roger Nelson Hitchcock
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Publication number: 20190010927Abstract: A flywheel device includes an enclosure, a top plate that fastens to the enclosure, where the top plate includes a first opening, and a cap, where the cap has a top side and a bottom side, which when fastened to the first opening forms a seal between the bottom side and the first opening, the bottom side including an o-ring groove configured to hold an o-ring, a grease channel concentric with the o-ring groove, and an inlet port configured to enable grease to flow into the grease channel.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 25, 2018Publication date: January 10, 2019Inventors: Daniel Bakholdin, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mark J. Holloway
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Patent number: 10020550Abstract: An energy storage pack includes a coolant inlet manifold, a coolant outlet manifold, and a plurality of thermal-exchange tubes extending between the coolant inlet manifold and the coolant outlet manifold to exchange heat between coolant passing through the plurality of thermal-exchange tubes and a plurality of battery cells mounted adjacent to and among the plurality of thermal-exchange tubes within the energy storage pack. In one embodiment, at least one of coolant inlet manifold and the coolant outlet manifold includes a plurality of thermal-exchange tube terminating structures and a plurality of hose segments intercoupling the plurality of thermal-exchange tube terminating structures. The energy storage pack may further include a coolant inlet opening located on the coolant inlet manifold and a coolant outlet opening located on the coolant outlet manifold.Type: GrantFiled: February 20, 2017Date of Patent: July 10, 2018Assignee: Tesla, Inc.Inventors: Robert David Sumpf, Jr., Ernest Matthew Villanueva, David Elias Hegeman, Satvik Vipin Batavia, Ganesh Ramanarayan Singh, Alex Prilutsky, Scott Ira Kohn, Bruce Phillip Edwards, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Jayesh Bharat Gorasia, Hugh Burnett Ross
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Publication number: 20180080525Abstract: A flywheel apparatus that magnetically unloads a top rotor bearing is described. The apparatus includes a flywheel housing, a rotor with a vertical axis of rotation that includes a magnetic material, a magnet configured to apply a desired upward off-loading force along the vertical axis of rotation, an upper bearing connected to an upper shaft of the rotor, and a bearing housing disposed between the upper bearing and the flywheel housing that substantially prevents downward axial motion of the upper bearing. The magnet includes an electromagnet. A force sensor is used to measure a force on the upper bearing which is provided as input to a controller that updates the current to the electromagnet. The rotor is maintained in a fixed axial position and a spring disposed below a lower bearing absorbs axial dimension growth of the rotor.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 28, 2017Publication date: March 22, 2018Inventors: Seth R. Sanders, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Daniel Bakholdin, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mark J. Holloway, Matthew K. Senesky
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Publication number: 20170162922Abstract: An energy storage pack includes a coolant inlet manifold, a coolant outlet manifold, and a plurality of thermal-exchange tubes extending between the coolant inlet manifold and the coolant outlet manifold to exchange heat between coolant passing through the plurality of thermal-exchange tubes and a plurality of battery cells mounted adjacent to and among the plurality of thermal-exchange tubes within the energy storage pack. In one embodiment, at least one of coolant inlet manifold and the coolant outlet manifold includes a plurality of thermal-exchange tube terminating structures and a plurality of hose segments intercoupling the plurality of thermal-exchange tube terminating structures. The energy storage pack may further include a coolant inlet opening located on the coolant inlet manifold and a coolant outlet opening located on the coolant outlet manifold.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 20, 2017Publication date: June 8, 2017Applicant: Tesla, Inc.Inventors: Robert David Sumpf, JR., Ernest Matthew Villanueva, David Elias Hegeman, Satvik Vipin Batavia, Ganesh Ramanarayan Singh, Alex Prilutsky, Scott Ira Kohn, Bruce Phillip Edwards, Peter Thomas Tennessen, Jayesh Bharat Gorasia, Hugh Burnett Ross
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Publication number: 20160377147Abstract: A flywheel device includes structures allowing the flywheel system to be assembled offsite, transported safely, and installed with relatively few steps. The flywheel includes a rotor and a housing enclosing the rotor, where the housing includes a bottom plate, a top plate and side walls. The bottom plate and the top plate each includes a hole aligned with the center axis of the rotor. The flywheel also includes multiple bearing housings substantially covering the holes of the bottom plate and the top plate that are aligned to the center axis of the rotor. The flywheel also includes posts that physically contact the primary rotational mass of the rotor to prevent motion of the rotor during transport of the flywheel system. Some or all of these posts may be repositioned or removed during installation so that the rotor can spin freely.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 23, 2016Publication date: December 29, 2016Inventors: Eric Sun, Daniel Bakholdin, Edward Young Chiao, Matthew Brandon Garten, Mike M. He, Mark J. Holloway, Seth R. Sanders, Matthew K. Senesky, Alan Michael Sledd, Peter Thomas Tennessen
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Patent number: 8758924Abstract: A cooling manifold assembly for use in a battery pack thermal management system is provided. The cooling manifold assembly includes a coolant tube that is interposed between at least a first row of cells and a second row of cells, where the first and second rows of cells are adjacent and preferably offset from one another. A thermal interface layer is attached to the cooling tube, the thermal interface layer including a plurality of pliable fingers that extend away from the cooling tube and are interposed between the cooling tube and the first row of cells, and interposed between the cooling tube and the second row of cells, where the pliable fingers are deflected by, and in thermal contact with, the cells of the first and second rows of cells.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2011Date of Patent: June 24, 2014Assignee: Tesla Motors, Inc.Inventors: Peter Thomas Tennessen, Jeffrey C. Weintraub, Weston Arthur Hermann
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Patent number: 8647763Abstract: A battery coolant jacket for use with a plurality of cells is provided, the jacket comprised of a hollow enclosure configured to permit a liquid coolant to flow through the enclosure, entering via a coolant inlet and exiting via a coolant outlet; a plurality of cell apertures that extend completely through the hollow enclosure, where each cell aperture is sized to fit a cell; and a plurality of coolant segregation walls that are integrated into the hollow enclosure and separate the cells into groups of cells, and where each coolant segregation wall forms a barrier between the cell group contained within that coolant segregation wall and the liquid coolant flowing through the hollow enclosure. The coolant jacket may include at least one flow control wall integrated within the hollow enclosure that controls the coolant flow pathway between the enclosure's coolant inlet and outlet, for example causing the coolant flow pathway to alternate directions between adjacent cell groups.Type: GrantFiled: June 30, 2011Date of Patent: February 11, 2014Assignee: Tesla Motors, Inc.Inventors: Peter Thomas Tennessen, Jeffrey C. Weintraub, Weston Arthur Hermann
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Patent number: 8541127Abstract: A cooling manifold assembly for use in a battery pack thermal management system is provided. The cooling manifold assembly includes a coolant tube that is interposed between at least a first row of cells and a second row of cells, where the first and second rows of cells are adjacent and preferably offset from one another. A thermal interface layer is overmolded onto the cooling tube, the thermal interface layer including a plurality of pliable fingers that extend away from the cooling tube and are interposed between the cooling tube and the first row of cells, and interposed between the cooling tube and the second row of cells, where the pliable fingers are deflected by, and in thermal contact with, the cells of the first and second rows of cells.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2011Date of Patent: September 24, 2013Assignee: Tesla Motors, Inc.Inventors: Peter Thomas Tennessen, Jeffrey C. Weintraub, Weston Arthur Hermann