Patents by Inventor Richard J. Keck

Richard J. Keck 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: 6495942
    Abstract: A non-metallic structural enclosure for a generator rotor replaces conventional containment components including rotor wedges, rotor teeth and retaining rings. The enclosure includes a non-metallic tube formed of a plurality of spaced rings or of a continuous tube including ventilation holes or slots. The simplified rotor assembly serves to restrain the winding against centrifugal forces with a more highly optimized use of space and materials. The arrangement allows more space for copper and ventilation, thereby benefiting both efficiency and the performance of the machine. The use of individual rings has the additional benefit of providing restraint against centrifugal forces without reducing the effectiveness of cross slots in the rotor body from correcting peripheral dissymmetries in rotor stiffness. The rings also provide openings for ventilation without introducing stress concentrations in the enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2002
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Christopher A. Kaminski, Richard J. Keck, Yu Wang
  • Patent number: 6088904
    Abstract: The generator frame includes an inner frame module having openings at opposite ends sufficiently large to permit installation of various elements of the stator core, including the laminations and windings. Separate end cap modules having openings for receiving the rotor, as well as integral pedestal supports, are fabricated separately from the inner frame module and later secured, for example, by bolting, to the inner frame. Upon installation of the rotor, a packaged generator is afforded which can be bolted directly to a foundation at the installation site without an intervening base assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 1998
    Date of Patent: July 18, 2000
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Frank Zwack, Sr., Theodore S. Kralovic, Thomas E. Van Schaick
  • Patent number: 5744885
    Abstract: The generator frame includes an inner frame module having openings at opposite ends sufficiently large to permit installation of various elements of the stator core, including the laminations and windings. Separate end cap modules having openings for receiving the rotor, as well as integral pedestal supports, are fabricated separately from the inner frame module and later secured, for example, by bolting, to the inner frame. Upon installation of the rotor, a packaged generator is afforded which can be bolted directly to a foundation at the installation site without an intervening base assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 28, 1998
    Assignee: General Electric Co.
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Frank Zwack, Sr., Theodore S. Kralovic, Thomas E. Van Schaick
  • Patent number: 5423613
    Abstract: The tilt pad journal bearing assembly includes a conduit within the bearing housing for supplying lubricant hydrostatically to each tilt bearing pad. The conduit includes a flexible segment coupled at respective opposite ends to the tilt pad and to a quick connect/disconnect coupling extending through an aperture in the side wall of the bearing housing. A supply line is coupled to each supply conduit adjacent the side wall by the quick connect/disconnect coupling. The flexible segment within the bearing housing accommodates the rocking motion of the tilt pad and the design and routing of the external supply line is therefore not dependent on any requirements of the bearing assembly. To service the bearing assembly, a set screw is unscrewed, permitting a portion of a coupler, together with a bushing to be withdrawn through the aperture into the interior of the housing for withdrawal with the tilt pad as a discrete sub-assembly.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: June 13, 1995
    Assignee: General Electric Co.
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Blake W. Wilson, Gary G. Wegner, Thomas R. Byrne
  • Patent number: 5382856
    Abstract: A collector terminal and hydrogen seal assembly for insertion within a radial hole in a generator rotor and connectable to a conductor bar located within an axial bore formed in the rotor, the seal assembly comprising a substantially cylindrical terminal stud portion having threaded upper and lower sections and a smooth intermediate section; insulation wrapped about the intermediate section; a spacer block located between the seal elements and defining an annular space surrounding the insulation; and a conduit in the terminal stud adapted to introduce compressed air from outside the generator rotor to the annular space for testing the integrity of the seal elements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 17, 1995
    Assignee: General Electric Co.
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Kirk G. O'Brien, Michael J. Bigelow
  • Patent number: 5122698
    Abstract: Disclosed is a rotor body for an electric machine having slots for windings and slot keys with wedges for retaining the windings in the slots. The slot keys contain elongated spring strips underlying an amortisseur, in turn, underlying the wedges in the slot keys. The spring strips bias the amortisseur and wedges radially outwardly. Thus, the wedges lie in sufficient, low-resistance, efficient electrical contact with the rotor body at start-up and during low rotor speeds to prevent arcing and localized heating along the interfaces of the rotor parts otherwise resultant from induced surface currents at start-up and low rotor speeds. At the rotor ends, the spring strips bias the amortisseur ends radially outwardly into efficient electrical contact with retaining rings at opposite ends of the rotor body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 16, 1992
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Duncan N. Walker, Vincent G. Terry, Richard J. Keck, James R. Pedersen, Dennis R. Ulery, Edmund E. Kazmierczak, Brian E. Gott
  • Patent number: 5090114
    Abstract: A tool for applying slot wedges having a main arm, a pair of pivotally mounted dogs for engagement in the slot key and straddling the external surface of the slot key, respectively, whereby the tool may be fixed in axial position along the slot key by pressure on the main arm. A second pivotal arm carries a wedge-engaging head whereby the lever is fixed in the slot and the second arm drives the wedge longitudinally into axial position in the slot key.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 1991
    Date of Patent: February 25, 1992
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Duncan N. Walker, Vincent G. Terry, Dennis R. Ulery, Edmund E. Kazmierczak, Richard J. Keck, James R. Pedersen, Brian E. Gott
  • Patent number: 5075959
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for the assembly and disassembly of dovetail shaped wedges into and from the coil slots of dynamoelectric rotors using a fixture attached to a rotor shaft coupling in a selectable radial position so as to be aligned with a rotor slot. The method and apparatus further uses a pulling tool attached to a wedge and also connected to a winch located on the fixture via a winch belt extending between the tool and fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 31, 1991
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Dennis R. Ulery, Steven C. Walko
  • Patent number: 5048177
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for the assembly and disassembly of dovetail shaped wedges into and from the coil slots of dynamoelectric rotors using a fixture attached to a rotor shaft coupling in a selectable radial position so as to be aligned with a rotor slot. The method and apparatus further uses a pulling tool attached to a wedge and also connected to a winch located on the fixture via a winch belt extending between the tool and fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1990
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1991
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Dennis R. Ulery
  • Patent number: 5027500
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for the assembly and disassembly of dovetail shaped wedges into and from the coil slots of dynamoelectric rotors using a fixture attached to a rotor shaft coupling in a selectable radial position so as to be aligned with a rotor slot. The method and apparatus further uses a pulling tool attached to a wedge and also connected to a winch located on the fixture via a winch belt extending between the tool and fixture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 1990
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1991
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Richard J. Keck, Dennis R. Ulery, Steven C. Walko