Patents by Inventor Rainer Hoffmann

Rainer Hoffmann 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).

  • Publication number: 20260035246
    Abstract: A system and method of optimizing the production of argon in a cryogenic air separation unit using a temperature profile of a distillation column or distillation column section obtained via fiber optic temperature measurements on the exterior surface of the distillation column or the distillation column section is provided. The temperature profiles are used to determine the vertical location and/or spatial movement of the maximum argon concentration in the distillation column or the distillation column section. Distillation column operation is then adjusted such that the vertical location or spatial movement of the maximum argon concentration is aligned proximate with the location of an argon-rich draw from the distillation column.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2025
    Publication date: February 5, 2026
    Inventors: Henry E. Howard, Rainer Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 12508546
    Abstract: A membrane separation unit wherein the membrane separation unit has a pressure vessel and a membrane provided inside the pressure vessel in a membrane arrangement, and wherein the pressure vessel has an inlet nozzle for a feed gas mixture, an outlet nozzle for a permeate and an outlet nozzle for a retentate. The membrane separation unit has in this case measurement means that are arranged at least partially inside the pressure vessel and/or inside the inlet nozzle for the feed gas mixture and/or inside the outlet nozzle for the permeate and/or inside the outlet nozzle for the retentate and are set up to record one or more parameters relevant to operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2025
    Assignee: Linde GmbH
    Inventors: Christian Voss, Rainer Hoffmann, Patrick Schiffmann, Matthias Johannink
  • Patent number: 12508664
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for producing a plate heat exchanger (1) with a multiplicity of parting sheets (20) and a multiplicity of fins (11, 12), a fin being respectively arranged between two neighboring parting sheets, wherein at least one capillary (30) with at least one thermocouple and/or measuring resistor element (40) is introduced into at least one parting sheet (20), and wherein in each case a parting plate of the multiplicity of parting plates and a fin of the multiplicity of fins are alternately arranged and are connected to one another in a material-bonding manner, and concerns a plate heat exchanger (1) produced in such a way.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2020
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2025
    Assignee: Linde Aktiengesellschaft
    Inventors: Rainer Flueggen, Pascal Freko, Konrad Braun, Rainer Hoffmann, Stefan Gewald, Janine Blank
  • Patent number: 11958810
    Abstract: Preparation of optionally substituted dihydroisoquinolines. The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of optionally substituted dihydroi-soquinolines of the formula I.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2024
    Assignee: BASF SE
    Inventors: Bernd Mueller, Michael Rack, Michael Seet, Ana Escribano Cuesta, Jan Klaas Lohmann, Georg Christoph Rudolf, Markus Nett, Rainer Hoffmann
  • Publication number: 20220176319
    Abstract: A membrane separation unit wherein the membrane separation unit has a pressure vessel and a membrane provided inside the pressure vessel in a membrane arrangement, and wherein the pressure vessel has an inlet nozzle for a feed gas mixture, an outlet nozzle for a permeate and an outlet nozzle for a retentate. The membrane separation unit has in this case measurement means that are arranged at least partially inside the pressure vessel and/or inside the inlet nozzle for the feed gas mixture and/or inside the outlet nozzle for the permeate and/or inside the outlet nozzle for the retentate and are set up to record one or more parameters relevant to operation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 27, 2020
    Publication date: June 9, 2022
    Inventors: Christian VOSS, Rainer HOFFMANN, Patrick SCHIFFMANN, Matthias JOHANNINK
  • Publication number: 20210231382
    Abstract: The invention relates to a plate heat exchanger (1) for a process engineering system (2), having a plurality of lamellae (3, 4) and a plurality of separating plates (5-7), which are arranged alternately, wherein at least one separating plate (6) has an optical waveguide (35) that is embedded in the at least one separating plate (6) in such a way that the optical waveguide (35) is covered on both sides by material of the at least one separating plate (6) in a first direction (R1) and in a second direction (R2), which are each oriented perpendicular to a plane (E) defined by the at least one separating plate (6) and in opposite senses with respect to one another.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 17, 2019
    Publication date: July 29, 2021
    Inventors: Manfred Steinbauer, Rainer Flüggen, Axel Lehmacher, Clemens Baumgartner, Konrad Braun, Rainer Hoffmann, Alexander Woitalka, Stefan Gewald, Janine Blank, Christiane Kerber
  • Patent number: 11033875
    Abstract: The invention relates to a packing assembly for a material exchange column, comprising at least one structured packing plate and a container in which the at least one structured packing plate is arranged. The at least one structured packing plate has packing packets. Each packing packet has interconnected packing sheets. The packing sheets are corrugated and have corrugation peaks and corrugation valleys. Adjacent packing sheets contact each other at the corrugation peaks. Additional corrugated packing sheets are added between the packing packets such that the at least one packing plate is pretensioned against the container in a radial direction thereof. Both the corrugated packing sheets of the packing packets as well as the additional corrugated packing sheet added between the packing packets are arranged solely on a common preferred plane or parallel thereto.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2021
    Assignee: LINDE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Johann Ferstel, Anton Moll, Rainer Fluggen, Ludwig Bauer, Manh-Hung Nguyen, Rainer Hoffmann, Christian Matten
  • Publication number: 20200331885
    Abstract: Preparation of optionally substituted dihydroisoquinolines.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2019
    Publication date: October 22, 2020
    Inventors: Bernd Mueller, Michael Rack, Michael Seet, Ms. Ana Escribano Cuesta, Jan Klaas Lohmann, Georg Christoph Rudolf, Markus Nett, Rainer Hoffmann
  • Publication number: 20200215634
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for producing a plate heat exchanger (1) with a multiplicity of parting sheets (20) and a multiplicity of fins (11, 12), a fin being respectively arranged between two neighboring parting sheets, wherein at least one capillary (30) with at least one thermocouple and/or measuring resistor element (40) is introduced into at least one parting sheet (20), and wherein in each case a parting plate of the multiplicity of parting plates and a fin of the multiplicity of fins are alternately arranged and are connected to one another in a material-bonding manner, and concerns a plate heat exchanger (1) produced in such a way.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 8, 2020
    Publication date: July 9, 2020
    Inventors: Rainer FLUEGGEN, Pascal FREKO, Konrad BRAUN, Rainer HOFFMANN, Stefan GEWALD, Janine BLANK
  • Patent number: 10484138
    Abstract: A first communication subscriber transmits a first data packet comprising data and an identification character to the second communication subscriber. The first communication subscriber and the second communication subscriber respectively determine a first and a second acknowledgement character on the basis of the identification character. The second communication subscriber transmits a second data packet comprising the second acknowledgement character back to the first communication subscriber. The first communication subscriber can thus check, on the basis of the second acknowledgement character, whether the first data packet arrived at the second communication subscriber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2019
    Assignee: Beckhoff Automation GmbH
    Inventors: Holger Büttner, Florian Essler, Rainer Hoffmann, Dirk Janssen, Karl Weber
  • Publication number: 20190070580
    Abstract: The invention relates to a packing assembly for a material exchange column, comprising at least one structured packing plate and a container in which the at least one structured packing plate is arranged. The at least one structured packing plate has packing packets. Each packing packet has interconnected packing sheets. The packing sheets are corrugated and have corrugation peaks and corrugation valleys. Adjacent packing sheets contact each other at the corrugation peaks. Additional corrugated packing sheets are added between the packing packets such that the at least one packing plate is pretensioned against the container in a radial direction thereof. Both the corrugated packing sheets of the packing packets as well as the additional corrugated packing sheet added between the packing packets are arranged solely on a common preferred plane or parallel thereto.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 8, 2017
    Publication date: March 7, 2019
    Applicant: LINDE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT
    Inventors: Johann FERSTL, Anton MOLL, Rainer FLUGGEN, Ludwig BAUER, Manh-Hung NGUYEN, Rainer HOFFMANN, Christian MATTEN
  • Publication number: 20180123738
    Abstract: A first communication subscriber transmits a first data packet comprising data and an identification character to the second communication subscriber. The first communication subscriber and the second communication subscriber respectively determine a first and a second acknowledgement character on the basis of the identification character. The second communication subscriber transmits a second data packet comprising the second acknowledgement character back to the first communication subscriber. The first communication subscriber can thus check, on the basis of the second acknowledgement character, whether the first data packet arrived at the second communication subscriber.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 1, 2017
    Publication date: May 3, 2018
    Inventors: Holger Büttner, Florian Essler, Rainer Hoffmann, Dirk Janssen, Karl Weber
  • Publication number: 20160252215
    Abstract: A method is provided for regulating the pressure in a first vessel, having a substance mixture which is present in liquid and gaseous phases and which has a first component and a second component, wherein, in the method, the temperature of the substance mixture is set such that the pressure in the first vessel lies below a predefinable value and, at the set temperature and the pressure in the first vessel, the substance mixture is present only in the liquid and gaseous phases.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 30, 2014
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Inventors: Christoph Windmeier, Rainer Hoffmann, Dirk Rammes
  • Patent number: 9011608
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for measuring the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of a structure conducting a fluid stream of hydrocarbons, the method comprising the steps of: applying a first heat pulse or continuous heating to at least one first section of the structure removing deposits on the inner wall of the first section of the structure; applying a second heat pulse to both the first section of the structure and at least one second section of the structure, the first and second sections being spaced apart, which heat pulse does not loosen any deposit of material in the second section; measuring the temperature of the wall of the structure or the fluid during the second heat pulse at both the first and second sections; and determining the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of the structure at the second section based on the measured temperatures. The present invention also relates to a corresponding device and arrangement.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2015
    Assignee: Statoil Petroleum AS
    Inventors: Lene Amundsen, Rainer Hoffmann, Reidar Schüller
  • Patent number: 8966979
    Abstract: A method of measuring the thickness of any deposit of material (28) on an inner wall (12) of a structure (14). The method comprises: (a) causing vibrations in the structure; (b) detecting said vibrations in the structure; (c) determining a resonance frequency of the structure based on the detected vibrations; and (d) determining the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of the structure based on the determined resonance frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2015
    Assignee: Statoil Petroleum AS
    Inventors: Lene Amundsen, Rainer Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 8842297
    Abstract: A method is provided for measurement of the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of a pipeline at least partly filled with a medium including hydrocarbons, the medium being for instance oil or natural gas, wherein the method includes: projecting infrared light onto the inner wall of the pipeline along a line corresponding to the intersection between the inner wall of the pipeline and a cross-sectional plane of the pipeline; registering an image of the infrared light projected on the inner wall of the pipeline; and determining the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of the pipeline based on the registered image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Statoil Petroleum AS
    Inventors: Kjell Bjørnar Størksen, Rainer Hoffmann, Lene Amundsen
  • Patent number: 8747121
    Abstract: Described systems and methods allow the manufacture of compact television (TV) tuner modules comparable in size to standard RF connectors. In some embodiments, a compact TV tuner module (tuner can) includes a metallic housing mounted on an external printed circuit board (PCB), a radio-frequency (RF) connector, an internal PCB within the housing, and a bare-silicon TV tuner chip centrally mounted on a side of the internal PCB facing away from the RF connector, directly opposite a central contact made directly a central pin of the RF connector and a central area of the internal PCB. A major dimension of a shielded internal volume enclosed by the housing is less than 150% of an outer shell of the RF connector, and may be about equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the RF connector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 24, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2014
    Assignee: Cresta Technology Corporation
    Inventor: Rainer Hoffmann
  • Patent number: 8120146
    Abstract: The semiconductor device (100) comprises at least one semiconductor element (20), a metallization structure comprising a first (31) and a second line (32) and extending thereon a resistor. An electrically insulating protection layer (36) is present on the resistor (35) and is defined in a pattern that is substantially identical to the resistor pattern and has a temperature stability up to a temperature that is at least equal to a deposition temperature of a passivation layer (37) to be deposited thereon so as to cover the metallization structure. Both the resistor (35) and the protection layer (36) are deposited conformally on the metallization structure and any underlying substrate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2012
    Assignee: NXP B.V.
    Inventors: Joachim Stache, Rainer Hoffmann, Michael Burnus
  • Publication number: 20110308548
    Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for measuring the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of a structure conducting a fluid stream of hydrocarbons, the method comprising the steps of: applying a first heat pulse or continuous heating to at least one first section of the structure removing deposits on the inner wall of the first section of the structure; applying a second heat pulse to both the first section of the structure and at least one second section of the structure, the first and second sections being spaced apart, which heat pulse does not loosen any deposit of material in the second section; measuring the temperature of the wall of the structure or the fluid during the second heat pulse at both the first and second sections; and determining the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of the structure at the second section based on the measured temperatures. The present invention also relates to a corresponding device and arrangement.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 29, 2010
    Publication date: December 22, 2011
    Applicant: STATOIL ASA
    Inventors: Lene Amundsen, Rainer Hoffmann, Reidar Schüller
  • Publication number: 20110303012
    Abstract: A method of measuring the thickness of any deposit of material (28) on an inner wall (12) of a structure (14). The method comprises: (a) causing vibrations in the structure; (b) detecting said vibrations in the structure; (c) determining a resonance frequency of the structure based on the detected vibrations; and (d) determining the thickness of any deposit of material on the inner wall of the structure based on the determined resonance frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 15, 2010
    Publication date: December 15, 2011
    Applicant: STATOIL ASA
    Inventors: Lene Amundsen, Rainer Hoffmann