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:
Jan. 23, 2018
Filed:
Dec. 03, 2015
Regents of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Mohsen Saadat, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Pieter James Gagnon, Lakewood, CO (US);
Regents of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (US);
Abstract
A device for use in compressing or expanding a working fluid, such as a gas, includes a container, a piston, working fluid, ferrofluid, and at least one magnetic component. The piston includes a piston face. The piston face and the container define an interior cavity having a volume that varies in response to movement of the piston relative to the container. The working fluid and the ferrofluid are contained in the interior cavity. The at least one magnetic component has a magnetic field that exerts magnetic forces on the ferrofluid that stabilize the ferrofluid in a subset of the interior cavity. This displaces the working fluid within the interior cavity.