The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 18, 1987
Filed:
Nov. 13, 1984
John F Wilson, Murrysville Boro, PA (US);
Robert K Gjertsen, Monroeville Boro, PA (US);
Samuel Cerni, Churchill Boro, PA (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corp., Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
An improved water displacer rod includes an elongated hollow thin-walled tube with a pair of end plugs attached to opposite ends of the tube to hermetically seal the tube and a plurality of support pellets disposed in a stacked relationship within the tube. The pellets allow the thin-walled tube to be laterally flexible while still able to resist collapse due to high external pressure. Each pellet is preferably formed of a body having a hollow annular cross-sectional shape and a pair of end webs extends across and closing opposite ends of the body. The body defines a central void and the webs seal the void. Thus, when the pellets are stacked within the tube, each void is sealed individually one from the next. A double barrier is provided in the displacer rod by the hermetically sealed tube and the individually sealed pellets. Even if the tube should fail, moderator water will not flood the tube interior since the stacked pellets occupy and encapsulate substantially all of the empty space within the failed tube. As a result, the displacer rod containing the failed tube will still be able to perform its intended function.