Patents by Inventor Robert A. Charles

Robert A. Charles 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: 11642646
    Abstract: A system for production of hydrogen includes a steam methane reformer (SMR) including an outer tube, wherein a first end of the outer tube is closed; and an inner tube disposed in the outer tube, wherein a first end of the inner tube is open. An SMR flow channel is defined within the inner tube and an annular space is defined between the outer tube and the inner tube. The flow channel is in fluid communication with the annular space. The SMR includes a foam disposed in the annular space. The system includes a water gas shift reactor comprising a reaction tube, wherein a reaction channel is defined within the reaction tube, and wherein the reaction channel is in fluid communication with the SMR flow channel; a heat transfer material disposed in the reaction channel; and a catalyst disposed in the reaction channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2021
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: BAYOTECH, INC.
    Inventors: Robert Charles Moore, Herbert Lee Nigg, Millicent Capstaff, Viswanath Krishnamoorthy, Ranko P. Bontchev
  • Patent number: 11643917
    Abstract: A downhole tool for preventing pump blockage includes an outer conduit defining an outer flow path, an inner conduit located within the outer conduit defining an inner flow path and a space between the inner conduit and the outer conduit. The inner conduit includes one or more angled passageways to allow one-way debris flow. A pressure regulated valve is coupled to the upper end of the outer conduit and configured to open to expand an adjustable width angled passageway defined by the pressure regulated valve. An upper end of the inner conduit is configured to allow fluid bypass of the angled passageways of the inner conduit when the angled passageways are blocked with debris.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Halliburton Energy Services, Inc.
    Inventors: Casey Laine Newport, Robert Charles Delong
  • Patent number: 11643703
    Abstract: Apparatus and methods for lithium extraction from aqueous sources are described herein. Divalent ions are removed using staged membrane separation. The aqueous source is subjected to a solvent extraction process that extracts lithium. Aqueous and organic phases of streams produced by the solvent extraction process are separated using electrical and/or gas flotation separation. The solvent is de-complexed to unload lithium. Streams produced by the de-complexing may be subjected to electrical and/or gas flotation separation. Solvent de-complexing can be performed using an electrical separator. Aqueous streams are pH adjusted for return to the environment.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 18, 2020
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2023
    Assignee: Schlumberger Technology Corporation
    Inventors: Gary W. Sams, Robert Charles William Weston, Ankur D. Jariwala
  • Publication number: 20230137747
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed to detect, isolate, and/or mitigate an attack on a file system, for example, by malicious software, human actors, and/or compromised Internet-connected devices (bots). A processor of a data processing system detects an abnormal file system access pattern to a file system by applying statistical process control to network layer packets. Based on detecting the abnormal file system access pattern, the processor temporarily suspends file system access by at least one user ID contributing to the abnormal file system access pattern. The processor provides a notification identifying one or more file system object accessed in the abnormal file system access pattern.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2022
    Publication date: May 4, 2023
    Applicant: Alchemi Data Management, Inc.
    Inventors: Robert Charles Sims, Peter Anthony DeLine, Michael Randolph Jones
  • Patent number: 11638785
    Abstract: Medication delivery devices are provided having a dose delivery sensing capability. A sensed element is attached to a dose setting member of the device. The sensed element includes surface features radially-spaced from one another. A rotational sensor is attached to an actuator of the device. The rotational sensor includes a movable element that is contactable against the surface features. The rotational sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to the movement of the movable element over the surface features during their rotation. A controller is operatively coupled to the rotational sensor, and in response to receiving the generated signal, the controller is configured to determine a number of the surface features passing the movable element of the rotational sensor during dose delivery. The number can be associated with an amount of dose delivered. Sensing can be provided in a module or integrated in device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2022
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2023
    Assignee: Eli Lilly and Company
    Inventors: Roy Howard Byerly, Daniel Joseph Nelsen, Russell Wayne Perkins, Robert Charles Uschold
  • Publication number: 20230129406
    Abstract: An ice bucket for a refrigerator appliance, includes a bucket body; an auger provided inside the bucket and including an auger shaft rotatable about a first shaft axis and a collet at a first end of the auger shaft and including an axially beveled surface formed circumferentially around the auger shaft; and an agitator provided in the bucket in mechanical communication with the auger, the agitator including an agitator shaft rotatable about a second shaft axis non-parallel to the first shaft axis, a plurality of first tines extending radially from the agitator shaft within the bucket body to engage ice therein, and a projection that extends perpendicularly from the agitator shaft opposite the plurality of tines. The projection engages with the axially beveled surface to oscillate the agitator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 7, 2020
    Publication date: April 27, 2023
    Inventors: Yayu Song, Qianmao Zhou, Bo Yan, Lixin Zhou, Jun Teng, Xiaoyang Jiang, Jin Wu, Robert Charles Pfaffinger, JR.
  • Patent number: 11637050
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a package architecture and a method for making the same. The disclosed package architecture includes a package carrier, a first device die and a second device die mounted on the package carrier, and a heat spreader. The first device die includes a first device body with a thickness between 5 ?m and 130 ?m, a die carrier, and an attachment section between the first device body and the die carrier, while the second device die includes a second device body. The first device body and the second device body are formed of different materials. A top surface of the die carrier of the first device die and a top surface of the second device body of the second device die are substantially coplanar. The heat spreader resides over the top surface of the die carrier and the top surface of the second device body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: Qorvo US, Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony Chiu, Robert Charles Dry, Mihir Roy
  • Patent number: 11634311
    Abstract: A flow sensor includes a fluid chamber configured to receive a fluid. A diaphragm assembly is configured to be displaced whenever the fluid within the fluid chamber is displaced. A transducer assembly is configured to monitor the displacement of the diaphragm assembly and generate a signal based, at least in part, upon the quantity of fluid displaced within the fluid chamber.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2022
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2023
    Assignee: DEKA Products Limited Partnership
    Inventors: Russell H. Beavis, Benjamin W. Jones, Jr., John M. Kerwin, Larry B. Gray, Casey P. Manning, Felix Winkler, Robert A. Charles
  • Publication number: 20230124309
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to fiber optic connection systems including fiber optic connector having retractable noses for protecting bare fiber ends of ferrule-less connectors. In certain examples, the retractable noses are used in combination with protective shutters. In other examples, the retractable noses can accommodate multiple optical fibers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 22, 2022
    Publication date: April 20, 2023
    Inventors: Danny Willy August Verheyden, Marc Eugène Willem Bervoets, Robert Charles Flaig, Randall Bobby Paul, Michael Ward Zitsch, David Donald Erdman, Gregory J. Schaible
  • Patent number: 11632458
    Abstract: A protection circuit for use with an electronic DSL component having a tip connection and a ring connection, the protection circuit including: a first unidirectional transient-voltage-suppression (TVS) diode, having a negative TVS breakdown voltage BDV and diode forward voltage DV clamp, connected between Vcc and the tip connection of the DSL component; a second unidirectional TVS diode, having a diode forward voltage DV, connected between the tip connection of the DSL component and a negative ground clamp node; a third unidirectional TVS diode, having a negative TVS breakdown voltage BDV and diode forward voltage DV clamp, connected between Vcc and the ring connection of the DSL component; and a fourth unidirectional TVS diode, having a diode forward voltage DV, connected between the ring connection of the DSL component and the negative ground clamp node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 18, 2023
    Assignee: ARRIS ENTERPRISES LLC
    Inventors: Christopher John Choulos, Robert Charles Burk, Viswanath Bhagavatula Rao, Andrew Carl Brost
  • Publication number: 20230110597
    Abstract: A flow control device is disclosed. The flow control device includes a solenoid, the solenoid including an armature. Also, a piston connected to the armature. The piston includes a primary orifice. The piston having an open position and a closed position. A piston spring connected to the piston is also includes and at least one secondary orifice. The movement of the piston to the open position at least partially opens the at least one secondary orifice and the movement of the piston to the closed position at least partially closes the at least one secondary orifice. The movement of the armature actuates the piston movement and controls fluid flow from the primary orifice through the at least one secondary orifice.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 29, 2022
    Publication date: April 13, 2023
    Inventors: Russell H. Beavis, Benjamin W. Jones, John M. Kerwin, Larry B. Gray, Casey P. Manning, Felix Winkler, Robert A. Charles
  • Publication number: 20230110659
    Abstract: Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can access a plurality of schema-based encodings providing a structured representation of an environment captured by one or more sensors associated with a plurality of vehicles traveling through the environment. The plurality of schema-based encodings can be clustered into one or more clusters of schema-based encodings. At least one scenario associated with the environment can be determined based at least in part on the one or more clusters of schema-based encodings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2022
    Publication date: April 13, 2023
    Applicant: Lyft, Inc.
    Inventors: Lina Dong, Weiyi Hou, Somesh Khandelwal, Ivan Kirigin, Shaojing Li, Ying Liu, David Tse-Zhou Lu, Robert Charles Kyle Pinkerton, Vinay Shet, Shaohui Sun
  • Patent number: 11623911
    Abstract: The present invention relates to extracted plant lipid or microbial lipid comprising docosapentaenoic acid, and processes for producing the extracted lipid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 11, 2023
    Assignees: COMMONWEALTH SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ORGANISATION, GRAINS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, NUSEED NUTRITIONAL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD.
    Inventors: James Robertson Petrie, Surinder Pal Singh, Pushkar Shrestha, Jason Timothy McAllister, Robert Charles de Feyter, Malcolm David Devine
  • Publication number: 20230107031
    Abstract: Introduced here are methods, apparatuses, and systems for mitigating the contact pressure applied to a human body by the surface of an object, such as a chair, bed, or table. A pressure-mitigation apparatus can include a series of chambers whose pressure can be individually varied. When placed between a patient and a contact surface, a controller can vary the contact pressure on the human body by controllably inflating one or more chambers, deflating one or more chambers, or any combination thereof. By monitoring the pressure in each chamber over time, the controller can also gain an enhanced understanding of movement(s) performed by the human body when positioned on the pressure-mitigation apparatus.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2022
    Publication date: April 6, 2023
    Inventors: Rafael Paolo Squitieri, Robert Charles Deutsch, Steven Bruce Frazier, Robert Loiacono, Linda Seaman, Erica Kelly
  • Publication number: 20230090057
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for medical procedures are provided. The apparatus includes a base, a member having first and second ends, and a support configured to support a plurality of robotic arms. Each robotic arm configured to support and position a robotic instrument according to multiple surgical degrees of freedom.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 29, 2022
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Inventors: Alexander Shvartsberg, Robert A. Charles, Robert J. McCaffrey, James J. Kennedy, III
  • Publication number: 20230090325
    Abstract: An eating utensil having a fork head that includes a plurality of tines and a concave fork bowl portion is described. One or both of the outer tines include a chamfered or tapered surface that extends laterally inward from a curved outer edge of the corresponding outer tine such that the curved tine/fork head edge acts as a splitting feature. In some embodiments one or both of the curved fork head edges that act as a splitting feature is/are smooth. In some embodiments, the eating utensil is formed of a glass reinforced thermoplastic material such as a glass filled nylon.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 23, 2022
    Publication date: March 23, 2023
    Inventors: Christopher A. MIKSOVSKY, Clint N. SLONE, Evelyne CHAUBERT, Charlie NGHIEM, Robert Charles LANE, Jonathan Paul DOWNING
  • Patent number: 11608266
    Abstract: A method for producing hydrogen includes flowing a first gas along a bayonet flow path of a steam methane reformer (SMR) to produce a first product, including flowing the first gas through a foam disposed along the bayonet flow path; providing the first product produced in the SMR to an input of a water gas shift (WGS) reaction channel defined within a reaction tube of a WGS reactor; and flowing a second gas including the first product through the WGS reaction channel to produce a second product. Flowing the second gas includes flowing the second gas across a heat transfer material disposed in the WGS reaction channel to reduce the temperature of the flowing second gas; and flowing the second gas across a WGS catalyst disposed in the reaction channel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: BAYOTECH, INC.
    Inventors: Robert Charles Moore, Herbert Lee Nigg, Millicent Capstaff, Viswanath Krishnamoorthy, Ranko P. Bontchev
  • Patent number: 11609383
    Abstract: A fiber optic adapter includes a first side wall (110), a second side wall (112) opposite the first side wall, a top wall (114), and a bottom wall (116) opposite the top wall. A cavity (10) is defined by the top wall, the bottom wall, the first side wall, and the second side wall, and an optical fiber alignment device (20) is situated in the cavity. The top wall (114) has an opening (117) therein, and a cover (118) is configured to selectively close the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 21, 2023
    Assignee: CommScope Technologies LLC
    Inventors: Danny Willy August Verheyden, Erwin Junius, Detlev Thalemann, Bernardus Johannes Nicolas Geling, Robert Charles Flaig
  • Publication number: 20230080268
    Abstract: A vertical bundle air-cooled heat exchanger, a finned tube assembly for an air cooled condenser and method for forming the same, and a system for removing thermal energy generated by radioactive materials. In one aspect, an air cooled condenser sized for industrial and commercial application includes an inlet steam distribution header for conveying steam, a condensate outlet header for conveying condensate, an array of tube bundles each having a plurality of finned tube assemblies having a bare steel tube with an exposed outer surface and a set of aluminum fins brazed directly onto the tube by a brazing filler metal. The steel tubes may be spaced apart by the aluminum fins and have an inlet end fluidly coupled to the inlet steam distribution header and an outlet end fluidly coupled to the outlet header. A forced draft fan may be arranged to blow air through the tube bundles.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2022
    Publication date: March 16, 2023
    Inventors: Krishna P. SINGH, Joseph Gerald Leo RAJKUMAR, Indresh RAMPALL, Frank David SANDERLIN, William G. SCHOLFIELD, Dmitriy Yakov KATS, Joseph Paul MOSHER, Robert Charles SLOAN, Thomas G. HAYNES, III
  • Patent number: 11602774
    Abstract: This disclosure relates to systems and methods of integrated on-demand labeling of item containers. In particular, this disclosure relates systems and methods for automatically creating and using placards to label, track, and organize item containers and items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2020
    Date of Patent: March 14, 2023
    Assignee: United States Postal Service
    Inventors: Robert Charles Moran, Marlon Guy Wells