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:
Nov. 20, 2001
Filed:
Jan. 27, 1999
Reiner Manzel, Nürnberg, DE;
Werner Jahreiss, Nürnberg, DE;
Norbert Schmidt, Coburg, DE;
Josef Steven, Neunkirchen am Brand, DE;
Peter Dewes, Erlangen, DE;
Friedrich Garzarolli, Höchstadt, DE;
Erhard Ortlieb, Kalchreuth, DE;
Franz-Josef Bökers, Fürth, DE;
Matthias Rudolph, Weisendorf, DE;
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, Munich, DE;
Abstract
A spacer of a fuel assembly having intersecting webs undergoes reduced longitudinal expansion as a result of corrosion during an operating period. The webs have intersection locations at which assembly gaps are provided. The assembly gaps have widths which correspond essentially, at most over a fraction of their total length, to the wall thickness of an intersecting web, but are wider in a remaining region. Since corrosion layers growing from an edge of an assembly gap toward the intersecting web cannot touch the web, no solid pressure, which could lead to longitudinal expansion, builds up.