Patents by Inventor Timothy S. Lucas

Timothy S. Lucas 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: 11965529
    Abstract: A linear fan including a fan blade attached a fan frame by a wire spring having a first end attached to the fan blade and a second end attached to the fan frame. The fan blade includes a free end such that the blade oscillates by pivoting on the wire spring. The the wire spring flexes to enable the fan blade to oscillate. The fan includes a motor for driving the oscillation of the fan blade. The motor includes an armature or permanent magnet connected to the fan blade and a stator assembly connected to the fan frame. The stator assembly includes a current carrying coil wrapped around a leg of a stator core. The motor is controlled to vary the direction of the current being carried in the coil to thereby change the direction of the magnetic field created by the stator assembly and cause the fan blade to oscillate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: Neofan, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20230349396
    Abstract: A linear fan blade assembly including a wire spring having a first end attached to a fan blade and a second end attached to a fan frame. The fan blade includes a free end such that the blade can oscillate by pivoting on the wire spring. The wire spring flexes to enable the fan blade to oscillate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2020
    Publication date: November 2, 2023
    Applicant: PERPETUA, INC.
    Inventor: Timothy S. LUCAS
  • Patent number: 11788559
    Abstract: A cantilever fan including a blade and a blade permanent magnet. The blade is clamped at one end to a base and has a distal end which is free to oscillate with distal end having the largest swept displacement of any portion of the blade. The blade extends from the clamped end to the distal end. The blade permanent magnet is attached only to the blade at a point along the blade's length and is free to move with the blade. The fan includes a stationary permanent magnet attached only to the base. The respective locations and relative orientation of the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet result in a repulsive magnetic force between the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet. The fan is configured so that the repulsive force increases as the blade's deflection brings the blade permanent magnet closer to the stationary magnet.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2023
    Assignee: NeoFan, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20230049263
    Abstract: A linear fan including a fan blade attached a fan frame by a wire spring having a first end attached to the fan blade and a second end attached to the fan frame. The fan blade includes a free end such that the blade oscillates by pivoting on the wire spring. The the wire spring flexes to enable the fan blade to oscillate. The fan includes a motor for driving the oscillation of the fan blade. The motor includes an armature or permanent magnet connected to the fan blade and a stator assembly connected to the fan frame. The stator assembly includes a current carrying coil wrapped around a leg of a stator core. The motor is controlled to vary the direction of the current being carried in the coil to thereby change the direction of the magnetic field created by the stator assembly and cause the fan blade to oscillate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 4, 2021
    Publication date: February 16, 2023
    Applicant: Perpetua, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy S. LUCAS
  • Publication number: 20200025217
    Abstract: A cantilever fan including a blade and a blade permanent magnet. The blade is clamped at one end to a base and has a distal end which is free to oscillate with distal end having the largest swept displacement of any portion of the blade. The blade extends from the clamped end to the distal end. The blade permanent magnet is attached only to the blade at a point along the blade's length and is free to move with the blade. The fan includes a stationary permanent magnet attached only to the base. The respective locations and relative orientation of the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet result in a repulsive magnetic force between the blade permanent magnet and stationary magnet. The fan is configured so that the repulsive force increases as the blade's deflection brings the blade permanent magnet closer to the stationary magnet.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2017
    Publication date: January 23, 2020
    Applicant: Perpetua, Inc.
    Inventor: Timothy S. LUCAS
  • Patent number: 9523367
    Abstract: A cantilever fan including a cantilever blade that is clamped at one end. The fan includes an actuator that applies a periodic force to the blade resulting in periodic deflections of the blade.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 19, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 20, 2016
    Assignee: Aavid Thermalloy, LLC
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20140252120
    Abstract: A synthetic jet ejector (201) is provided which includes a housing assembly (239, 241) which is equipped with a first plurality of openings (203, 207) and a second plurality of openings (205, 209), and a diaphragm assembly disposed within the housing assembly. The diaphragm assembly includes first (229) and second (243) armatures, a coil (235) disposed between the first and second armatures, first (221) and second (255) end caps, a first diaphragm (223) disposed between the first end cap and the first armature, and a second diaphragm (249) disposed between the second end cap and the second armature. The first and second diaphragms contain a first set of keying features (273) which keys them to the housing assembly. The synthetic jet ejector emits a first plurality of synthetic jets out of the first plurality of openings, and emits a second plurality of synthetic jets out of the second plurality of openings.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 10, 2014
    Publication date: September 11, 2014
    Applicant: NUVENTIX, INC.
    Inventors: Timothy S. Lucas, Stephen P. Darbin, Raghavendran Mahalingam, Andrew Poynot, Daniel N. Grimm, Randall P. Williams
  • Publication number: 20130230419
    Abstract: A fluid mover includes a first dynamic armature attached to a flexible member and a second dynamic armature attached to a second flexible member. The fluid mover also includes a housing and first and second flexible members being attached to the housing so as to form a fluid chamber volume bounded by the housing and first and second flexible members. A stationary current carrying coil positioned between first and second armatures. The current carried by the coil generates a magnetic force acting on the armatures and wherein coil and armatures are positioned and configured so as to ensure that the instantaneous magnetic force experienced by the two armatures will always be identical regardless of the relative positions of the armatures and regardless of the time varying properties of the current.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 7, 2011
    Publication date: September 5, 2013
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20130183154
    Abstract: A cantilever fan including a cantilever blade that is clamped at one end. The fan includes an actuator that applies a periodic force to the blade resulting in periodic deflections of the blade.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 1, 2012
    Publication date: July 18, 2013
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20130039787
    Abstract: An energy transfer fluid diaphragm including a diaphragm substrate including cutouts. The cutouts are covered with a sealing layer bonded to the diaphragm substrate. The cutouts are configured to bend thereby allowing displacement of a center portion of the diaphragm. The displacement of the center portion transfers energy to a fluid located adjacent to the diaphragm.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 25, 2011
    Publication date: February 14, 2013
    Applicant: Influent Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 8272851
    Abstract: A fluid energy transfer device, including a chamber for receiving a fluid, at least a portion of the chamber comprising a movable portion relative to another portion of the chamber, the movable portion being adapted to change the volume of the chamber from a first volume to a second volume by movement of the movable portion. The device further includes an actuator attached to the movable portion, wherein the displacements of the movable portion can be larger than the displacement of the actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 25, 2012
    Assignee: Influent Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20090148320
    Abstract: A fluid energy transfer device, including a chamber for receiving a fluid, at least a portion of the chamber comprising a movable portion relative to another portion of the chamber, the movable portion being adapted to change the volume of the chamber from a first volume to a second volume by movement of the movable portion. The device further includes an actuator attached to the movable portion, wherein the displacements of the movable portion can be larger than the displacement of the actuator.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 7, 2007
    Publication date: June 11, 2009
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Publication number: 20080304979
    Abstract: A fluid energy transfer device, including a chamber for receiving a fluid, at least a portion of the chamber comprising a movable portion relative to another portion of the chamber, the movable portion being adapted to change the volume of the chamber from a first volume to a second volume by movement of the movable portion. The device further includes a bender actuator attached to the movable portion, wherein the bender actuator is at least one of (i) connected directly to the movable portion and (ii) linked to the movable portion, to form a bender-movable portion assembly, wherein the bender is effectively not connected and effectively not linked to any other component of the device other than the movable portion, and wherein the bender-movable portion assembly is adapted to move substantially only due to oscillation of the bender at a drive frequency.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2005
    Publication date: December 11, 2008
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 6230420
    Abstract: Physical effects produced within RMS resonators are utilized as a means to process materials within the resonator including for example one or more of comminution, converting liquids into vapors and gases, drying of powders, rapid mixing of gases and various materials, agglomeration, de-agglomeration, granulation, chemical reactions, stratification/separation, and the destruction of biological material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 2, 1998
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2001
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher C. Lawrenson, Timothy S. Lucas, Thomas W. VanDoren, James N. Wisner
  • Patent number: 6163077
    Abstract: An energy conversion device comprises an acoustic resonator, a pulse combustion device for creating a standing wave within said resonator, and an electric alternator. The alternate is coupled to the resonator to convert acoustically driven mechanical vibrations into electrical power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 12, 1999
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2000
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 5994854
    Abstract: A vibrational acoustic unit comprises a dynamic force motor, a power take-off spring having one end attached to the dynamic force motor and the other end attached to a fluid filled acoustic resonator. The motor oscillates the entire acoustic resonator so as to excite a resonant mode of the acoustic resonator.A method of delivering power to an acoustic resonator comprises resiliently connecting a motor to the resonator, and driving the motor to oscillate the entire acoustic resonator so as to excite a resonant mode of the acoustic resonator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 1997
    Date of Patent: November 30, 1999
    Assignee: MacroSonix Corporation
    Inventors: Christopher C. Lawrenson, Thomas W. Van Doren, F. Joseph Keith, Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 5892293
    Abstract: An energy conversion device comprises an acoustic resonator, a pulse combustion device for creating a standing wave within said resonator, and an electric alternator. The alternator is coupled to the resonator to convert acoustically driven mechanical vibrations into electrical power.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1999
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 5579399
    Abstract: An acoustic resonator includes a chamber which contains a fluid. The chamber has a geometry which produces self-destructive interference of at least one harmonic in the fluid to avoid shock wave formation at finite acoustic pressure amplitudes. The chamber can have reflective terminations at each end or a reflective termination at only one end. A driver mechanically oscillates the chamber at a frequency of a selected resonant mode of the chamber. The driver may be a moving piston coupled to an open end of the chamber, an electromagnetic shaker or an electromagnetic driver.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 22, 1994
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1996
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corporation
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas
  • Patent number: 5515684
    Abstract: An acoustic resonator includes a chamber containing a fluid. The chamber has anharmonic resonant modes and provides boundary conditions which predetermine the harmonic phases and amplitudes needed to synthesize a non-sinusoidal, unshocked waveform.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1994
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1996
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corporation
    Inventors: Timothy S. Lucas, Thomas W. Van Doren
  • Patent number: 5357757
    Abstract: A compressor for compression-evaporation cooling systems, which requires no moving parts. A gaseous refrigerant inside a chamber is acoustically compressed and conveyed by means of a standing acoustic wave which is set up in the gaseous refrigerant. This standing acoustic wave can be driven either by a transducer, or by direct exposure of the gas to microwave and infrared sources, including solar energy. Input and output ports arranged along the chamber provide for the intake and discharge of the gaseous refrigerant. These ports can be provided with optional valve arrangements, so as to increase the compressor's pressure differential. The performance of the compressor in either of its transducer or electromagnetically driven configurations, can be optimized by a controlling circuit. This controlling circuit holds the wavelength of the standing acoustical wave constant, by changing the driving frequency in response to varying operating conditions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 26, 1993
    Date of Patent: October 25, 1994
    Assignee: Macrosonix Corp.
    Inventor: Timothy S. Lucas