Helix Technology Corporation

Other

Arthur D. Little, Inc.

Allports LLC International

General Scanning, Inc.

Litton Industrial Automation Systems, Inc.

Allports, Inc.

Niels O Young

Thomas M Young

John E McCullough

Alan L Weeks

Graham J Higham

William J Sell

Steven A Michaud

By Lucy J Young

William Sand

A vaporization module is provided that includes a capillary member to convert non-pressurized liquid to pressurized vapor. The pressure is sustained by capillary pressure of the liquid in the capillary member. The capillary member has low thermal conductivity and small-sized pores that permits liquid to travel by capillary action toward the vaporization zone. Often, the pores of the capillary member are substantially uniform in size. The capillary member may comprise ceramic material. The module also includes an orifice plate that has one or more orifices to permit release of pressurized vapor, e.g. as a pressurized vapor jet. The orifice plate is associated with a sealing member to form an at least partial enclosure of the module so that vapor may accumulate and pressure may be increased within the module. In addition, other aspects of the present invention relating to the vaporization and pressurization of liquid are described.

Vaporization and pressurization of liquid in a porous material

A vaporization/pressurization module employs a porous member having a low thermal conductivity and a substantially uniform, small pore size. Liquid feed is introduced to the porous member and is heated, vaporized, and pressurized within and/or on a surface of the porous member to produce a vapor jet having a pressure higher than that of the liquid feed. A substantially vapor impermeable barrier facilitates accumulation and pressurization of the vapor, which is released from the module as a pressurized vapor jet from one or more restricted passages. The vaporization/pressurization module is especially useful for liquid fuel combustion applications.

Liquid vaporization and pressurization apparatus and methods

The invention is an improved boiler for generating vapor at low pressure from liquid in reservoirs that are not pressurized. Liquid from a reservoir is fed through a supply wick by capillary action to a boiler wick in which the liquid is heated and boiled to a vapor. The heat for vaporization is transmitted by a porous hot seat which sits atop and is in contact with the boiler wick. The boiler wick and hot seat are contained within an insulating cylindrical shroud, which forms a tight seal with the edges of the boiler wick. If the liquid to be vaporized is a fuel for a burner, then combustion heat can be used to supply the heat to the boiler. A resistive heat source can also be used to heat the hot seat and boiler wick.

Capillary feed boiler

A boiler for generating vapor at low pressure from liquid in reservoirs that are not pressurized is provided. Liquid from a reservoir is fed through a supply wick by capillary action to a boiler wick in which the liquid is heated and boiled to a vapor. The heat for vaporization is transmitted by a porous hot seat which sits atop and is in contact with the boiler wick. The boiler wick and hot seat are contained within an insulating cylindrical shroud, which forms a tight seal with the edges of the boiler wick. If the liquid to be vaporized is a fuel for a burner, then combustion heat can be used to supply the heat to the boiler. A resistive heat source can also be used to heat the hot seat and boiler wick.

The invention is a linear electromagnetic motor which operates to reciprocate a pump plunger within a central pump barrel. The motor has a ferromagnetic armature annularly connected to the pump plunger, located in an annular space in the motor core about the pump plunger. The armature is itself annularly surrounded by a permanent polarizing ring magnet located between two motor drive coils. The motor operates by switching the polarizing magnetic flux of the ring magnet by a control magnetic flux created by electric current in the motor drive coils. On its backward end, the pump plunger is biased by a spring in the direction of its forward stroke. However, when the armature is latched by the magnet at its backward stroke location (distance A=0), the strength of the magnet overcomes the bias in this spring. As soon as the control magnetic flux changes, the magnetic latch at the backward stroke location is released, and the spring bias plus the magnetic attraction in the forward stroke direction act to quickly accelerate the armature and the pump plunger in the forward stroke direction at high speed and force. Before the end of its forward stroke, the pump plunger contacts a check slug whose location is mechanically adjusted to create a desired volume of fuel to be delivered. The contact of the check slug with the plunger suddenly seals off a volume of fuel existing within the voids of a spray valve. The pump plunger can be said to have crashed into the fuel, whose pressure builds rapidly as a result. When the fuel pressure reaches the set pressure of a relief valve it escapes as a spray into an engine headspace until the plunger reaches its mechanical end-stop.

Electromagnetic fuel injector linear motor and pump

A linear drive motor of a cryogenic refrigerator, where a reciprocating armature is coupled to a piston which alternately compresses and expands a gaseous fluid in a thermodynamic cycle. The piston has a clearance seal and is attached at one end to a flexible coupling to reduce cross-bearing loads exerted by the piston along the clearance seal. A displacer assembly of the cryogenic refrigerator employs a displacer piston that reciprocates along a clearance seal. The displacer piston is coupled to the displacer cylinder and/or the armature of a displacer drive motor by a flexible coupling that reduces radial forces exerted by the displacer piston on the clearance seal.

Linear drive motor with flexible coupling

A gearing system includes a pair of gear support plates arranged to rotate about parallel but offset axes with the plates extending parallel to each other in parallel radially extending plates. Each plate includes axially extending teeth in the form of sections of lune shaped elements having concave and convex opposed surfaces. The teeth are interdigited axially such that various pairs of interdigited teeth will be in cooperating surface contact. Rotation of each support plate about its own axis causes the teeth to orbit relative to each other and engage in a driving relationship in a smooth manner, with the convex portion of certain teeth engaging smoothly with the concave portion of adjacent teeth. The gearing system provides a 1:1 speed ratio and has application as an Oldham coupling or synchronizer for a scroll fluid device.

Gearing system having interdigited teeth with convex and concave surface

A scroll fluid device is provided with a toothed ring synchronizer coupled to sprocket teeth provided of each scroll wrap back plate. The coupling between the teeth does not restrict relative axial motion between the scroll wraps and evenly distributes torque loads resulting from forces tending to rotate one wrap relative to the other between the back plates. The ring synchronizer may include internal or external teeth cooperating with adjoining sprocket teeth provided on the scroll back plates.

Scroll fluid device using flexible toothed ring synchronizer

A clamp for a cylindrical workpiece, such as a shaft, pipe, cable or the like. The clamp includes a threaded sleeve for circumferentially engaging the workpiece and at least one correspondingly threaded nut in threaded engagement on the sleeve for engaging either another nut on the sleeve or a stationary workpiece integrally formed with the sleeve. The sleeve is provided with a shallow thread configuration having a flank angle which produces a radial force component that exceeds the axial force component when the nut is tightened, thereby imparting a uniform radial clamping force along the entire extent of the threaded engagement.

Clamp assembly

A reference mirror (50) in an interferometer is fixed in position with respect to a laser (34). A refractive block (40) having parallel upper and lower surfaces is mounted for pivoting about a pivot axis (60) parallel to the reference mirror (40). The refractive block (40) is disposed in the path of the light beam (36) produced by the laser (34), and it includes a partially reflective surface (42) on its lower face that divides the incident beam (36) into two components (44 and 46), which travel along different paths, in which they are reflected from different portions (48 and 54) of the surface of the reference mirror (50) and from different portions (52 and 56) of a reflective surface on the upper face of the refractive block (40). A second partially reflective coating (58) rejoins portions of the two components to form an exit beam (32) in which the radiation from the two beams interferes in accordance with the angle of the refractive block (40). The angle that the exit beam (32) makes with the surface of the reference mirror (50) is independent of the angle of the refractive block (40).

Interferometer

An auto-changer for optical discs. At least one carousel rotatable about a horizontal axis stores a large number of discs. A picker moves into the carousel to grasp a disc in a horizontal position in the carousel and then move the disc to a position outside of the carousel. A transfer arm grabs the disc from the picker and swings the disc in an arcuate path over to a disc player, where it is deposited for playing.

Optical disc auto-changer

A cryogenic refrigerator includes opposing pistons driven by linear electromagnetic machines. Magnetic elements on armatures reciprocate adjacent to first and second flux paths and a transfer of flux between the flux paths with movement of either armature causes the other armature to move in a balanced fashion in an opposite direction. The armatures are driven by coils which transfer the flux from one flux path to the other. Tapers in the flux paths cause the armatures to seek a centered position, or are tailored to minimize compressor input power.

Magnetically balanced and centered electromagnetic machine and cryogenic

In a Stirling cryogenic refrigerator, the movement of the displacer is monitored by sensing the back EMF in the displacer drive coil throughout displacer stroke. The back EMF signal is applied through a feedback circuit to control the phase relationship of displacer movement with a reference signal related to the pressure wave.

Linear drive motor control in a cryogenic refrigerator

A gas bearing system for a piston 24 of a linear compressor 20 in which gas from the piston head space 26 is injected into a high pressure reservoir 106 within the piston when the working fluid in the piston head space is at high pressure. In one embodiment, gas from a low pressure reservoir 104 is exhausted into it when the piston working space fluid is at low pressure. Gas flow is directed between high pressure and areas of low pressure during operation of the piston. This gas flow is directed between the piston and its surrounding sleeve 30 in a manner which holds the piston 24 in suspension away from the sleeve 30 to thereby reduce the friction and wear experienced by the piston and sleeve.

Linear motor compressor with clearance seals and gas bearings

A fluid pump including a double-entry impeller whose outer boundary is defined by a dissected spherical surface. The spherical surface includes an equatorial region which may be a groove or a cylindrical surface. The impeller is polarized magnetically and forms a dipole whose axis is normal to the plane of the equatorial region. The rotating magnetic field of a polyphase stator winding spins the impeller, and aligns the impeller spin axis along the stator axis.

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Eagle, ID, United States of America

Niels O Young