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:
Oct. 11, 2011
Filed:
Jul. 17, 2008
Oleksiy Snezhko, Woodridge, IL (US);
Igor Aronson, Darien, IL (US);
Wai-kwong Kwok, Evanston, IL (US);
Maxim V. Belkin, Woodridge, IL (US);
Oleksiy Snezhko, Woodridge, IL (US);
Igor Aronson, Darien, IL (US);
Wai-Kwong Kwok, Evanston, IL (US);
Maxim V. Belkin, Woodridge, IL (US);
The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of driving liquid flow at or near a free surface using self-assembled structures composed of magnetic particles subjected to an external AC magnetic field. A plurality of magnetic particles are supported at or near a free surface of liquid by surface tension or buoyancy force. An AC magnetic field traverses the free surface and dipole-dipole interaction between particles produces in self-assembled snake structures which oscillate at the frequency of the traverse AC magnetic field. The snake structures independently move across the free surface and may merge with other snake structures or break up and coalesce into additional snake structures experiencing independent movement across the liquid surface. During this process, the snake structures produce asymmetric flow vortices across substantially the entirety of the free surface, effectuating liquid flow across the free surface.