Patents by Inventor Wolfgang Hummel

Wolfgang Hummel 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: 11443861
    Abstract: An analysis device for detecting fission products by measurement of a radioactivity includes a first line for carrying a liquid sample, a first detector connected to the first line and designed for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained in the liquid sample, a second line for carrying a gas sample and a second detector connected to the second line and designed for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained in the gas sample. The analysis device includes a separation device for separating gas from the first line carrying the liquid sample, which line has an outlet opening into the second line for gas separated from the liquid sample. The outlet opening fluidly connected to the second lines in such a manner that the gas separated from the liquid sample is suppliable as a gas sample to the second detector for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2022
    Assignee: FRAMATOME GmbH
    Inventors: Carsten Burchardt, Christoph Zimmermann, Jan Langenberger, Marc Michalsky, Peter Zeh, Thomas Albrecht, Wolfgang Hummel
  • Publication number: 20210110945
    Abstract: An analysis device (10) for the detection of fission products by measurement of a radioactivity includes a first line (12) for carrying a liquid sample, a first detector (17) connected to the first line (12) and designed for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained in the liquid sample, a second line (23) for carrying a gas sample and a second detector (29) connected to the second line (23) and designed for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained in the gas sample. The analysis device includes a separation device (18) for separating gas from the first line (12) carrying the liquid sample, which line has an outlet opening into the second line (23) for removed gas in such a manner that the removed gas can be supplied as a gas sample to the first detector (17) for measuring the radioactivity of fission products contained therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 14, 2018
    Publication date: April 15, 2021
    Inventors: Carsten Burchardt, Christoph Zimmermann, Jan Langenberger, Marc Michalsky, Peter Zeh, Thomas Albrecht, Wolfgang Hummel
  • Patent number: 10566099
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a device for checking a fuel rod comprising a testing container having first and second chambers, a first checking device arranged in the testing container, wherein the testing container has at least one inlet opening, at least one outlet opening, and an insertion opening for inserting the fuel rod into the second chamber, and wherein a valve is arranged in a connecting channel connecting the first and the second chamber. A method is disclosed for checking a fuel rod in a water-filled basin of a submerged nuclear plant having such a device, wherein the fuel rod is inserted into the second chamber of the testing container through the insertion opening while the valve is closed, wherein a fluid is fed in via the at least one inlet opening, and wherein the valve is opened in order to check the fuel rod with the first checking device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2020
    Assignee: Framatome GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Hummel
  • Patent number: 10345189
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for performing a leak test on a fuel rod capsule, which contains at least one fuel rod and test gas, which device comprises a test container, which is designed to accommodate at least one fuel rod capsule and can be lowered into a pool of a nuclear plant flooded with water. According to the invention, a mass spectrometer is fluidically connected to the interior of the test container in such a way that a gas flow can be fed to the mass spectrometer in order to sense the concentration of the test gas that has diffused into the test container from the fuel rod capsule.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2019
    Assignee: FRAMATOME GMBH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Hummel
  • Patent number: 10332645
    Abstract: A method for encapsulating a fuel rod or a fuel rod section in a container includes inserting the fuel rod or fuel rod section into the container. One of the ends of the container is connected to a purging-gas line. The container is dehydrated and purged by use of a purging gas. The ends of the container are connected to a bypass line in such a way that a closed gas circuit is produced and a hot gas is circulated in the gas circuit until the absolute moisture content reaches an end value at which the absolute moisture content no longer rises. The container is disconnected from the gas circuit and subsequently the container is closed in a fluid-tight manner at both ends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 15, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2019
    Assignee: Framatome GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Hummel, Egon Neubauer, Werner Hoefers, Klaus Kurzer
  • Patent number: 9916912
    Abstract: A method for encapsulating a fuel rod or a fuel rod section in a container includes inserting the fuel rod or fuel rod section into the container. One of the ends of the container is connected to a purging-gas line. The container is dehydrated and purged by use of a purging gas. The ends of the container are connected to a bypass line in such a way that a closed gas circuit is produced and a hot gas is circulated in the gas circuit until the absolute moisture content reaches an end value at which the absolute moisture content no longer rises. The container is disconnected from the gas circuit and subsequently the container is closed in a fluid-tight manner at both ends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 13, 2018
    Assignee: Areva GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Hummel, Egon Neubauer, Werner Hoefers, Klaus Kurzer
  • Publication number: 20180033502
    Abstract: The disclosure relates to a device for checking a fuel rod comprising a testing container having first and second chambers, a first checking device arranged in the testing container, wherein the testing container has at least one inlet opening, at least one outlet opening, and an insertion opening for inserting the fuel rod into the second chamber, and wherein a valve is arranged in a connecting channel connecting the first and the second chamber. A method is disclosed for checking a fuel rod in a water-filled basin of a submerged nuclear plant having such a device, wherein the fuel rod is inserted into the second chamber of the testing container through the insertion opening while the valve is closed, wherein a fluid is fed in via the at least one inlet opening, and wherein the valve is opened in order to check the fuel rod with the first checking device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 5, 2016
    Publication date: February 1, 2018
    Inventor: Wolfgang HUMMEL
  • Publication number: 20180010979
    Abstract: The invention relates to a device for performing a leak test on a fuel rod capsule, which contains at least one fuel rod and test gas, which device comprises a test container, which is designed to accommodate at least one fuel rod capsule and can be lowered into a pool of a nuclear plant flooded with water. According to the invention, a mass spectrometer is fluidically connected to the interior of the test container in such a way that a gas flow can be fed to the mass spectrometer in order to sense the concentration of the test gas that has diffused into the test container from the fuel rod capsule.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Publication date: January 11, 2018
    Inventor: Wolfgang HUMMEL
  • Patent number: 9747679
    Abstract: A method for measuring the deflection of a fuel element can for a fuel element of a boiling water reactor involves taking an image of the fuel element can with a camera and evaluating the image using photogrammetry. By means of the method, it is possible to determine the deflection of a fuel element can by taking a single image, even in the absence of external structural features recognizable in the image, and without knowledge of the relative position between the camera and the fuel element can.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2017
    Assignee: AREVA GMBH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Hummel
  • Publication number: 20170154690
    Abstract: A method for encapsulating a fuel rod or a fuel rod section in a container includes inserting the fuel rod or fuel rod section into the container. One of the ends of the container is connected to a purging-gas line. The container is dehydrated and purged by use of a purging gas. The ends of the container are connected to a bypass line in such a way that a closed gas circuit is produced and a hot gas is circulated in the gas circuit until the absolute moisture content reaches an end value at which the absolute moisture content no longer rises. The container is disconnected from the gas circuit and subsequently the container is closed in a fluid-tight manner at both ends.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 15, 2017
    Publication date: June 1, 2017
    Inventors: WOLFGANG HUMMEL, EGON NEUBAUER, WERNER HOEFERS, KLAUS KURZER
  • Patent number: 9581813
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for improving the imaging properties of a micro lithography projection objective, wherein the projection objective has a plurality of lenses between an object plane and an image plane, a first lens of the plurality of lenses being assigned a first manipulator for actively deforming the lens, the first lens being deformed for at least partially correcting an aberration, at least one second lens of the plurality of lenses furthermore being assigned at least one second manipulator, and the second lens being deformed in addition to the first lens. Furthermore, a method is described for selecting at least one lens of a plurality of lenses of a projection objective as actively deformable element, and a projection objective.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
    Inventors: Olaf Conradi, Heiko Feldmann, Gerald Richter, Sascha Bleidistel, Andreas Frommeyer, Toralf Gruner, Wolfgang Hummel
  • Patent number: 9224509
    Abstract: A container, a device, and a method encapsulate a fuel rod or a fuel rod portion in a gas-tight manner. The container has a hollow cylindrical container part which is closed at the free ends of the container part in a fluid-tight manner by a respective single-piece closure stopper. The closure stopper is provided with a channel that fluidically connects the flushing chamber of the container part to the exterior exclusively in an intermediate position, which is assumed prior to reaching an end position during the assembly process and in which the closure stopper additionally projects out of the container part by an axial length compared to the end position of the closure stopper.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2015
    Assignee: Areva GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Hummel, Egon Neubauer
  • Publication number: 20150293352
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for improving the imaging properties of a micro lithography projection objective, wherein the projection objective has a plurality of lenses between an object plane and an image plane, a first lens of the plurality of lenses being assigned a first manipulator for actively deforming the lens, the first lens being deformed for at least partially correcting an aberration, at least one second lens of the plurality of lenses furthermore being assigned at least one second manipulator, and the second lens being deformed in addition to the first lens. Furthermore, a method is described for selecting at least one lens of a plurality of lenses of a projection objective as actively deformable element, and a projection objective.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2015
    Publication date: October 15, 2015
    Inventors: Olaf Conradi, Heiko Feldmann, Gerald Richter, Sascha Bleidistel, Andreas Frommeyer, Toralf Gruner, Wolfgang Hummel
  • Publication number: 20150235720
    Abstract: A method for encapsulating a fuel rod or a fuel rod section in a container includes inserting the fuel rod or fuel rod section into the container. One of the ends of the container is connected to a purging-gas line. The container is dehydrated and purged by use of a purging gas. The ends of the container are connected to a bypass line in such a way that a closed gas circuit is produced and a hot gas is circulated in the gas circuit until the absolute moisture content reaches an end value at which the absolute moisture content no longer rises. The container is disconnected from the gas circuit and subsequently the container is closed in a fluid-tight manner at both ends.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 2, 2014
    Publication date: August 20, 2015
    Inventors: WOLFGANG HUMMEL, EGON NEUBAUER, WERNER HOEFERS, KLAUS KURZER
  • Publication number: 20150193922
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for measuring the deflection of a fuel element can for a fuel element of a boiling water reactor. According to said method an image of the fuel element can is taken with a camera and evaluated by photogrammetry. By means of the method according to the invention, it is possible to determine the deflection of a fuel element can by taking a single image, even in the absence of external structural features recognisable in the image, and without knowledge of the relative position between the camera and the fuel element can.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2013
    Publication date: July 9, 2015
    Inventor: Wolfgang Hummel
  • Patent number: 9069263
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method for improving the imaging properties of a micro lithography projection objective, wherein the projection objective has a plurality of lenses between an object plane and an image plane, a first lens of the plurality of lenses being assigned a first manipulator (ml, Mn) for actively deforming the lens, the first lens being deformed for at least partially correcting an aberration, at least one second lens of the plurality of lenses furthermore being assigned at least one second manipulator, and the second lens being deformed in addition to the first lens. Furthermore, a method is described for selecting at least one lens of a plurality of lenses of a projection objective as actively deformable element, and a projection objective.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
    Inventors: Olaf Conradi, Heiko Feldmann, Gerald Richter, Sascha Bleidistel, Andreas Frommeyer, Toralf Gruner, Wolfgang Hummel
  • Publication number: 20140364673
    Abstract: A container, a device, and a method encapsulate a fuel rod or a fuel rod portion in a gas-tight manner. The container has a hollow cylindrical container part which is closed at the free ends of the container part in a fluid-tight manner by a respective single-piece closure stopper. The closure stopper is provided with a channel that fluidically connects the flushing chamber of the container part to the exterior exclusively in an intermediate position, which is assumed prior to reaching an end position during the assembly process and in which the closure stopper additionally projects out of the container part by an axial length compared to the end position of the closure stopper.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 28, 2014
    Publication date: December 11, 2014
    Inventors: WOLFGANG HUMMEL, EGON NEUBAUER
  • Patent number: 8514371
    Abstract: An imaging device in a projection exposure machine for microlithography has at least one optical element and at least one manipulator, having a linear drive, for manipulating the position of the optical element. The linear drive has a driven subregion and a nondriven subregion, which are movable relative to one another in the direction of a movement axis. The subregions are interconnected at least temporarily via functional elements with an active axis and via functional elements with an active direction at least approximately parallel to the movement axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 20, 2013
    Assignee: Carl Zeiss SMT GmbH
    Inventors: Wolfgang Hummel, Juergen Fischer, Karl-Eugen Aubele, Erich Merz, Raoul Reiner, Klaus Rief, Stefan Schoengart, Markus Neumaier, Baerbel Trossbach, Ulrich Weber, Michael Muehlbeyer, Hubert Holderer, Alexander Kohl, Jochen Weber, Johannes Lippert, Thorsten Rassel
  • Patent number: 8453514
    Abstract: A method and a device measure for a deformation of a fuel element of a pressurized water reactor having a plurality of control rod guide tubes. A probe displaceable in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the control rod guide tube is inserted in the interior of at least one control rod guide tube having at least one reference axis, and supported in at least one section of the control rod guide tube on the interior wall thereof, such that the orientation of the at least one reference axis is unambiguously a function of the orientation of the longitudinal axis of the control rod guide tube in the section. The orientation of the at least one reference axis in the section of the control rod guide tube is determined relative to the orientation of the or a further reference axis of the probe in a different section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2013
    Assignee: Areva GmbH
    Inventor: Wolfgang Hummel
  • Publication number: 20120222489
    Abstract: A method and a device measure for a deformation of a fuel element of a pressurized water reactor having a plurality of control rod guide tubes. A probe displaceable in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the control rod guide tube is inserted in the interior of at least one control rod guide tube having at least one reference axis, and supported in at least one section of the control rod guide tube on the interior wall thereof, such that the orientation of the at least one reference axis is unambiguously a function of the orientation of the longitudinal axis of the control rod guide tube in the section. The orientation of the at least one reference axis in the section of the control rod guide tube is determined relative to the orientation of the or a further reference axis of the probe in a different section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 14, 2012
    Publication date: September 6, 2012
    Applicant: AREVA NP GMBH
    Inventor: WOLFGANG HUMMEL