University of Virginia Patent Foundation

Other

Medforte Research Foundation

University of Utah Research Foundation

Medquest Products, Inc.

Trinity Flywheel Power

Rotor Bearings Solutions International, LLC

Paul E Allaire

Don B Olsen

Eric H Maslen

James W Long

Gill Brent Bearnson

Pratap S Khanwilkar

David W Lewis

Ronald D Williams

Robert R Humphris, Jr

Houston G Wood

James F Antaki

Chen Chen

Jed C Ludlow

Brad E Paden

B Ajit Kumar

Andres F Clarens

Michael Baloh

Zongli Lin

Steven W Day

James W Long, Jr

Tim Dimond

Xinwei Song

Alex Untaroiu

Ron Flack

Amy Throckmorton

Jianming Cao

Ronald Kipp

Wei Jiang

Guoxin Li

Dave B Paden

Steven W Yates

Shibo Wang

Panagoitis Tsiotras

Brad Nichols

Amir Younan

Robert O Bartlett

Gill B Bearnson

Jeffery Decker

A system, machine, device, manufacture, circuit, and/or a method that can comprise and/or relate to active thrust bearings and/or active radial bearings that each utilize electromagnetic and permanent magnetic flux paths that can influence a location of a shaft of a rotating machine in response to internal and/or external forces applied to the shaft.

Thrust and radial magnetic bearings using combined electromagnetic and permanent magnetic flux paths

Method and System of lubricating at least one moving part with a medium. The medium includes a dissolved mixture of lubricant and compressed gas. The amount of lubricant and compressed gas may be controlled in forming the dissolved mixture in response to input conditions. A user and/or external factors may be used to determine the input conditions. In response to the input conditions the amount of lubricant and compressed gas is delivered to the moving part that is housed in a pressurized chamber. The properties of the dissolved mixture can be adjusted, whereby the properties may include, but are not limited to, the following: viscosity, temperature, and thermal conductivity. This adjustment to the gas may be accomplished, for example, by releasing gas from the pressurized chamber in an amount to adjust the properties. In a further approach, lubricant may be scavenged from the pressurized chamber by returning surplus lubricant to its original source or other designated location.

Gas-expanded lubricants for increased energy efficiency and related method and system

A blood pump has an impeller rotatably disposed and magnetically suspended within a cavity of a stator by a plurality of magnetic bearings (passive permanent and active electromagnetic) having impeller magnets on the impeller and stator magnets or coils/poles on the stator. A motor includes impeller magnets on the impeller and coils/poles associated with the stator. A single, annular blood flow path extends axially through the cavity between the impeller and the stator, and between the impeller magnets on the impeller and the stator magnets or the coils/poles on the stator.

Streamlined unobstructed one-pass axial-flow pump

A blood pump has an impeller rotatably disposed and magnetically suspended within a cavity of a stator by a plurality of magnetic bearings including an axial bearing to support the impeller axially in the cavity. The axial bearing includes adjacent impeller magnets and adjacent stator magnets with axially aligned polarities and reverse polarities with respect to adjacent magnets. A motor includes impeller magnets on the impeller and coils and poles associated with the stator. Radial permanent magnet and electromagnetic bearings are also included. The magnetic bearings and the motor have stator magnets or coils and poles disposed radially across the fluid passage from corresponding impeller magnets to define an annular gap positioned radially between the impeller and the stator, and positioned radially between all of the plurality of magnetic bearings, creating a straight through blood path without secondary flow paths.

Axial-flow blood pump with magnetically suspended, radially and axially stabilized impeller

An apparatus and method for a centrifugal fluid pump for pumping sensitive biological fluids, which includes (i) an integral impeller and rotor which is entirely supported by an integral combination of permanent magnets and electromagnetic bearings and rotated by an integral motor, (ii) a pump housing and arcuate passages for fluid flow and containment, (iii) a brushless driving motor embedded and integral with the pump housing, (iv) a power supply, and (v) specific electronic sensing of impeller position, velocity or acceleration using a self-sensing method and physiological control algorithm for motor speed and pump performance based upon input from the electromagnetic bearing currents and motor back emf&mdash;all fitly joined together to provide efficient, durable and low maintenance pump operation. A specially designed impeller and pump housing provide the mechanism for transport and delivery of fluid through the pump to a pump output port with reduced fluid turbulence.

Hybrid magnetically suspended and rotated centrifugal pumping apparatus and method

An inventive blood pump in accordance with this invention includes a housing that has inlet and outlet ports for receiving and discharging blood. A rotor is positioned in the housing's interior for pumping blood between the housing's inlet and outlet ports, with the rotor being capable of motion in three translational and three rotational axes. An assembly for magnetically suspending and rotating the rotor in a contact-free manner with respect to the housing includes only one electromagnetic bearing that actively controls motion of the rotor with respect to one axis selected from the rotor's three translational and three rotational axes, an electromagnetic motor that actively drives motion of the rotor with respect to one of its three rotational axes, and magnetic bearings for passively controlling motion of the rotor with respect to the remaining four of its translational and rotational axes. The inventive blood pump can also be incorporated into an artificial heart.

Pump having a magnetically suspended rotor with one active control axis

An apparatus and method for a centrifugal pump for pumping sensitive biological fluids which includes (i) an integral impeller and rotor which is electromagnetically supported and rotated, (ii) a pump housing and arcuate passages for fluid flow and containment, (iii) a brushless driving motor embedded and integral with the pump housing, (iv) a power supply, and (v) specific electronic sensing and control algorithms&mdash;all fitly joined together to provide efficient, durable and low maintenance pump operation. A specially designed impeller and pump housing provide the mechanism for transport and delivery of fluid through the pump to a pump output port with reduced fluid turbulence.

Electromagnetically suspended and rotated centrifugal pumping apparatus and method

Rotor systems are provided comprising rotor, magnetic bearings and a magnetic bearing controller. The controller is one which varies in accordance with linear parameters and is preferably responsive to linear matrix inequalities. High speed, low loss flywheel systems, especially electromagnetic flywheel batteries are facilitated through such rotor systems.

Control of magnetic bearing-supported rotors

An apparatus and method for a centrifugal fluid pump for pumping sensitive biological fluids, which includes (i) an integral impeller and rotor which is entirely supported by an integral combination of permanent magnets and electromagnetic bearings and rotated by an integral motor, (ii) a pump housing and arcuate passages for fluid flow and containment, (iii) a brushless driving motor embedded and integral with the pump housing, (iv) a power supply, and (v) specific electronic sensing of impeller position, velocity or acceleration using a self-sensing method and physiological control algorithm for motor speed and pump performance based upon input from the electromagnetic bearing currents and motor back emf--all fitly joined together to provide efficient, durable and low maintenance pump operation. A specially designed impeller and pump housing provide the mechanism for transport and delivery of fluid through the pump to a pump output port with reduced fluid turbulence.

Hybrid magnetically suspended and rotated centrifugal pumping apparatus

A rotating machine having a rotor comprising a flexible shaft with a plurality of masses distributed along the shaft. Included within these masses are magnetic disks. Magnetic bearings are attached to the housing and coact to support the rotor in only a radial direction or in both radial and axial directions. Bearing sensors are used to measure the shaft position local to each bearing relative to a face of each bearing. Variable magnetic bearing parameters are controlled so as to change values of stiffness and damping of the magnetic bearings in response to the measurements from the bearing sensors. These controls can be direct analog circuitry, or digital components, or a combination of digital and analog components.

Magnetic bearings for pumps, compressors and other rotating machinery

A magnetic bearing system includes a rotor with a plurality of masses distributed along the shaft including a portion having a circular peripheral surface suspended radially from pole pieces of permanent and electromagnets. A fault tolerant adaptive system responds to detected parameters of the rotor for varying the stiffness and damping the rotor. Position and speed of rotor are sampled at a rapid rate for each of a plurality of control axes and are processed independently during each sampling period. Malfunction of any of the processors causes supervisory controller to reconfigure the processing of the samples.

Magnetic bearing systems

Growing community of inventors

Charlottesville, VA, United States of America

Paul E Allaire