Patents by Inventor Stephen Frank Burch

Stephen Frank Burch 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).

  • Detecting failures of flexible multistrand steel structures
    Patent number: 7268541
    Abstract: A flexible elongate structure, such as a flexible riser (10), comprising at least one layer (20) of steel wires near the surface which extend at least partly along the length of the structure, can be monitored by inducing a small, alternating magnetic field in the steel wires using an electromagnetic coil, and monitoring the magnetic flux density near the surface of the structure so as to asses the stress and hence detect if any wires have broken. By using an array of stress-measuring electromagnetic probes (24) around the structure some spatial resolution can be provided as to the location of any break in the wires.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 11, 2007
    Assignee: ESR Technology Limited
    Inventors: David John Buttle, William Dalzell, Peter John Thayer, Stephen Frank Burch, Geoffrey Charles Eckold