282 results about "Retrofitting" patented technology

An apparatus for converting between mechanical and electrical energy, particularly suited for use as a compact high power alternator for automotive use and “remove and replace” retrofitting of existing vehicles. The apparatus comprises a rotor with permanent magnets, a stator with a winding, and a cooling system. Mechanisms to prevent the rotor magnets from clashing with the stator by minimizing rotor displacement, and absorbing unacceptable rotor displacement are disclosed. The cooling system directs coolant flow into thermal contact with at least one of the winding and magnets, and includes at least one passageway through the stator core. Various open and closed cooling systems are described. Cooling is facilitated by, for example, loosely wrapping the winding end turns, use of an asynchronous airflow source, and / or directing coolant through conduits extending through the stator into thermal contact with the windings.

An information need can be modeled by a binary classifier such as support vector machine (SVM). SVMs can exhibit very conservative precision oriented behavior when modeling information needs. This conservative behavior can be overcome by adjusting the position of the hyperplane, the geometric representation of a SVM. The present invention describes a couple of automatic techniques for adjusting the position of an SVM model based upon a beta-gamma thresholding procedure, cross fold validation and retrofitting. This adjustment technique can also be applied to other types of learning strategies.

An electrical power producing wind turbine eliminates the possibility of being struck by lightning, reduces the complexity of gear trains and simplifies maintenance at heights. The wind turbine is electrically isolated from ground to reduce the possibility of being struck by lightning and the generator is located at ground level to simplify maintenance. The turbine blade shaft is directly attached to a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic fluid is transmitted to ground level through dielectric tubing and acts both as an electrical isolating medium and a transmitter of mechanical energy to the generator located at ground level. The wind turbine blade, shaft and hydraulic pump are electrically isolated from the support structure at the upper end.

One embodiment of the present invention comprises an actuating mechanism for a turbine comprising a compliant member (meaning at least one compliant member) comprising a series of serpentine folds forming a plurality of fold sections and a central cavity (meaning at least one central cavity) interposed between the adjacent fold sections wherein the compliant member is movable between a first retracted position and a second extended position upon introduction of a pressurized medium into the central cavity and dispersion of the pressurized medium within the serpentine folds.

There is provided a high power shear laser module, which can be readily included in a blowout preventer stack. The shear laser module as the capability of delivering high power laser energy to a tubular within a blowout preventer cavity, cutting the tubular and thus reducing the likelihood that the tubular will inhibit the ability of the blowout preventer to seal off a well.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for providing a solid state light emitter and driving circuitry integrated into a component module that will retrofit common incandescent light bulb applications. The disclosed embodiment is directed to the retrofitting of small flashlights using miniature bulbs, such as the Mini Maglite®. Because the emitter and driving circuitry cannot readily fit within the envelope of the bulb being replaced, the volume occupied by the module needs to be acquired from within the flashlight's interior, such as from part of the volume occupied by the reflector. In that case, the invention includes a replacement reflector supplied with the module. The invention provides that no original functionality of the flashlight is sacrificed. Consideration is also given to the conduction of heat from the light emitter and module.

A surgical instrument tray RFID tag that includes a modular housing formed of two or more pieces of non-conductive, fluid impervious material. The two or more pieces are mated using an adhesive assisted seal to provide a sealed unitary structure that encases the RFID transponder circuit inside. Various fastening mechanisms may be used to fasten the tag to a surgical instrument tray such as adhesives, screws, bolts, rivets or other suitable mechanical fasteners. By hardening the outer case rather than the tag itself, various commercially available RFID transponder tags may be used with the various embodiments of the invention. The modular housing should be constructed of a protective material that will prevent ingress of moisture and dust, insulate from heat and cold but that will allow radio frequency waves to pass without significant attenuation. The tag may attached to surgical instruments during manufacture, or afterwards through a retrofitting process.

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for providing a solid state light emitter and driving circuitry integrated into a component module that will retrofit common incandescent light bulb applications. The disclosed embodiment is directed to the retrofitting of small flashlights using miniature bulbs, such as the Mini Maglite®. Because the emitter and driving circuitry cannot readily fit within the envelope of the bulb being replaced, the volume occupied by the module needs to be acquired from within the flashlight's interior, such as from part of the volume occupied by the reflector. In that case, the invention includes a replacement reflector supplied with the module. The invention provides that no original functionality of the flashlight is sacrificed. Consideration is also given to the conduction of heat from the light emitter and module.

RFID tags are affixed to vials used to store samples, such as biological samples stored in liquid nitrogen dewars or mechanical freezers. In one set of embodiments, an RFID tag is inserted into a recess at the bottom of a vial and held in place by an insert that engages with vial structure. In another set of embodiments, the RFID tag is retained in the recess by directly engaging with the vial structure and without using a separate insert. Mechanisms for keeping the insert and / or tag in place include tabs that gouge into the vial material, clips that allow the insert / tag to be inserted, but not removed, and holes in the side wall of the vial recess that receive tabs extending from the insert / tag. Tag-insertion techniques enable tags to be affixed to vials either before or after insertion of the sample, thereby enabling retrofitting of existing sample-storing vials with tags.

An electrical power producing wind turbine eliminates the possibility of being struck by lightning, reduces the complexity of gear trains and simplifies maintenance at heights. The wind turbine is electrically isolated from ground to reduce the possibility of being struck by lightning and the generator is located at ground level to simplify maintenance. The turbine blade shaft is directly attached to a hydraulic pump. The hydraulic fluid is transmitted to ground level through dielectric tubing and acts both as an electrical isolating medium and a transmitter of mechanical energy to the generator located at ground level. The wind turbine blade, shaft and hydraulic pump are electrically isolated from the support structure at the upper end.

An information need can be modeled by a binary classifier such as support vector machine (SVM). SVMs can exhibit very conservative precision oriented behavior when modeling information needs. This conservative behavior can be overcome by adjusting the position of the hyperplane, the geometric representation of a SVM. The present invention describes a couple of automatic techniques for adjusting the position of an SVM model based upon a beta-gamma thresholding procedure, cross fold validation and retrofitting. This adjustment technique can also be applied to other types of learning strategies.

A GPS receiver employing advanced spoofer mitigation, geolocation and tracking capabilities through the use of a utility channel coupled in parallel to a tracking channel. The tracking channel tracks the direct signal while the utility channel tracks one or more spoofer signals. A signal from the primary channel is used by the utility channel to locate spoofer signals, with the primary channel operating independently of the utility channel. Three complementary spoofer mitigation methods are disclosed for identifying advanced repeaters and security-compromised spoofers, which may also be used for geolocation of such spoofers: (1) the consistency routine; (2) the nuller routine; and (3) the multiple antennas routine. An improved architecture is disclosed to allow easy upgrading and retrofitting of an existing GPS receiver.

A method and device for replacing a fluorescent tube lamp with an LED lamp. The LED lamp includes an elongated electrical assembly having ends terminating in first and second electrical connectors, and a plurality of LEDs mounted to the elongated electrical assembly. Mounting adaptors connect with the first and second electrical connectors, and have protruding pins to connect with conventional lamp socket connectors. The mounting adaptors have rotating connectors for connecting with the first and second electrical connectors of the LED lamp, so that the LED lamp orientation can be rotated after the LED lamp is fully mounted to the lamp socket connectors.

An improved method of controlling air pollution, a combustion gas is passed through a solution of an alkaline-earth metal sulfide and a redox buffer (e.g., a mono alkaline-earth metal phosphate salt), preferably but not essentially in combination with an alkaline-earth metal carbonate FGD system. The reagents are provided in a fully soluble form enabling low cost application and retrofitting of existing facilities whilst also including alkaline-earth bases salts, which advantageously afford stability to the process product. The reagents co-precipitate when the solution achieves a pH of 4.5 to 6.5 such as is encountered in the acidic environment in conduits that carry combustion flue gases.

An RF antenna grid design in which the antenna array is installed on a patch panel cover allows for the retrofitting of an RF antenna grid on existing patch panel based systems without disrupting network operation. An apparatus for determining connectivity between device ports on a patch panel and cable ends having corresponding RFID tags attached thereto comprises a patch panel having a plurality of device ports and a patch panel cover comprising a plurality of RFID antennas, where each of the RFID antennas comprises one or more protruding portions thereof, each of the protruding portions of the RFID antennas being in close physical proximity to one or more of the plurality of device ports when the patch panel cover is positioned in a fixed positional relationship to the patch panel (e.g., when the patch panel cover is “attached” to the patch panel).

An electromechanical drive system with drop-in capability allows manipulation of the majority of existing endoscopes. The invention does not require retrofitting of existing endoscopes and maintains the current clinical workflow. The drive system can be controlled through a human / machine interface, which could consist of a variety of different input devices, including a joystick, keyboard, or game controller.

Adapters for retrofitting lamps which were originally designed to function with conventional incandescent light bulbs with arc-discharge lamps are provided. Use of an adapter according to the invention provides a system by which a lamp may employ an arc discharge lamp for illuminative purposes, which lamp does not receive its electrical energy through the threads of the socket on the lamp, as in conventional incandescent lighting, but rather receives its energy from a source external to the lamp. The original wiring which came with the lamp may be eliminated by use of a system according to the present invention.

There is provided a high power shear laser module, which can be readily included in a blowout preventer stack. The shear laser module as the capability of delivering high power laser energy to a tubular within a blowout preventer cavity, cutting the tubular and thus reducing the likelihood that the tubular will inhibit the ability of the blowout preventer to seal off a well.

A fluid inlet device suitable for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a vessel, which fluid inlet device comprises an inlet flow channel having an inlet end for receiving the mixture of liquid and gas; and a plurality of curved guiding vanes placed one behind the other along the inlet flow channel, wherein each vane comprises an intercepting part extending towards the inlet end of the inlet flow channel, and an outwardly directed deflecting part defining a generally convex side and a generally concave side of the curved vane, wherein the deflecting parts of two consecutive vanes form an outlet channel of the inlet device and define a main direction of gas flow in the outlet channel, and wherein at least one of the vanes is provided with a liquid catcher channel extending from an upstream position with respect to the vane to a downstream position, and wherein a virtual line along the vane between the upstream position and the downstream position deviates from the main direction of gas flow; the use of the fluid inlet device for introducing a mixture of liquid and gas into a gas-liquid contacting vessel; and liquid catcher channels as well as their use in a method of retrofitting an a fluid inlet device.

An apparatus for converting between mechanical and electrical energy, particularly suited for use as a compact high power alternator for automotive use and “remove and replace” retrofitting of existing vehicles. The apparatus comprises a rotor with permanent magnets, a stator with a winding, and a cooling system. Mechanisms to prevent the rotor magnets from clashing with the stator by minimizing rotor displacement, and absorbing unacceptable rotor displacement are disclosed. The cooling system directs coolant flow into thermal contact with at least one of the winding and magnets, and includes at least one passageway through the stator core. Various open and closed cooling systems are described. Cooling is facilitated by, for example, loosely wrapping the winding end turns, use of an asynchronous airflow source, and / or directing coolant through conduits extending through the stator into thermal contact with the windings.

A filter unit for sewage treatment and drinking water provision and components which are suitable for the production and the use of such filter units are described. The filter unit has at least one ceramic filter(3) and at least one holder for liquid-tight fixing of the filter in the holder(2), the filter being fixed in the holder by adhesive bonding with the aid of an adhesive. At the same time, the holder is adjusted to the design of the filter, especially to its design as a flat filter. A separate filtrate collecting channel (21)and a holding device (18)for the filter units or other components allow the provision of a finished filter system which is also suitable for retrofitting of already existing plants.

A closed circuit cooling tower for evaporative fluid cooler applications such as water-cooled residential and commercial air conditioning, geothermal cooling supplementation, and process cooling applications. Corrugated metal tubes are used for heat transfer to permit mechanical de-fouling, such as flexing the tubes. The cooling tower may operate at high dissolved solids, or gray water may be used in order to reduce water consumption. The cooling tower is lightweight and modular to permit retrofitting of existing rooftop air conditioning systems so that efficient evaporative cooling may be used to lower energy costs.

The invention relates to a steam generation plant, comprising a steam generator (1) with a combustion chamber (8), an evaporator, a superheater (9), an intermediate superheater (12), a condenser (14), a feed water preheater (16, 19, 19') regeneratively heated by steam, a steam turbine set (2) with a high-pressure section (4), a medium pressure section (5) and a low-pressure section (6), a flue gas line (22), connected to the combustion chamber (8), an air supply line (21), for the supply of combustion air to the burner in the combustion chamber (8) and an air preheater (3) with flue gas and combustion air passing therethrough. An air line (23) branches off from the air supply line (21) downstream of the air preheater (3) in said steam generation plant and supplies an air-fractionation unit (25). Air coolers (34, 35) are arranged in the air line (23) through which the condensate or feed water from the condensate / feed water circuit from the steam generator (1) flows. The oxygen output from the air fractionation unit (25) is connected to the burner of the combustion chamber (8) by means of an oxygen line (26).

Disclosed is a pipe-in-pipe apparatus comprising an inner pipe disposed within an outer pipe wherein the inner pipe is an engineered pipe or umbilical. The outer pipe will shield the inner pipe. As a result, the design of the inner pipe only needs to address the functions required for the engineered pipe-in-pipe apparatus. The end fittings of the system are designed for enabling maximum operation and intervention flexibility. The engineered pipe-in-pipe apparatus will allow longer sections of the inner pipe to be used which will reduce the amount of field fabrication and streamline the installation process. The apparatus may be used for both new piping systems as well as the updating or retrofitting of an existing onshore or offshore piping system.

A system for mounting armor to a structure such as a vehicle hull has a base for attachment to the structure, an adapter engaged with the base and with the armor for coupling the base to the armor, and a fastener, for example a pin or a bolt) for rigidly securing the adapter with the base. The system advantageously permits retrofitting of previously unarmored structures and / or permits replacement of damaged or obsolete armor. A kit for retrofitting a structure with armor has a base for attachment to the structure, an adapter for engagement with the base and with the armor for coupling the base to the armor, a fastener for rigidly engaging the adapter with the base, and instructions for mounting the armor on the structure using the base, the adapter and the fastener.

Disclosed are systems and related methods for mounting a ground-engaging motive device, such as a crawler track assembly, to a vehicle, such as a crane or the like, in either an extended or a retracted position. The systems and methods are adapted to ensure that proper alignment is reliably achieved between the mounting structures on the motive device and the corresponding mounting structures on the vehicle in both the extended and retracted positions. In one embodiment, the system and method are especially adapted for use in extending the crawler track assemblies on certain types of existing cranes without the need for extensive retrofitting.

A closed circuit cooling tower for evaporative fluid cooler applications such as water-cooled residential and commercial air conditioning, geothermal cooling supplementation, and process cooling applications. Corrugated metal tubes are used for heat transfer to permit mechanical de-fouling, such as flexing the tubes. The cooling tower may operate at high dissolved solids, or gray water may be used in order to reduce water consumption. The cooling tower is lightweight and modular to permit retrofitting of existing rooftop air conditioning systems so that efficient evaporative cooling may be used to lower energy costs.

An improved method of controlling air pollution, a combustion gas is passed through a solution of an alkaline-earth metal sulfide and a redox buffer (e.g., a mono alkaline-earth metal phosphate salt), preferably but not essentially in combination with an alkaline-earth metal carbonate FGD system. The reagents are provided in a fully soluble form enabling low cost application and retrofitting of existing facilities whilst also including alkaline-earth bases salts, which advantageously afford stability to the process product. The reagents co-precipitate when the solution achieves a pH of 4.5 to 6.5 such as is encountered in the acidic environment in conduits that carry combustion flue gases.

A system for incorporation into a manually controlled vehicle to provide unmanned operational capability to the vehicle, comprises a quantity of subsystem controllers. The subsystem controllers include: a throttle controller, integratable with an existing throttle system of the vehicle; a brake controller, integratable with an existing brake system of the vehicle; and a steering controller, integratable with an existing steering system of the vehicle. An actuator control system is operably coupleable to each of the subsystem controllers, and the actuator control system is capable of enabling remote or automated control of each of the subsystem controllers. An interrupt device is operably coupled to the actuator control system, the interrupt device providing selective: i) actuation of the actuator control system to provide remote or automated control of the subsystem controllers; and ii) deactivation of the actuator control system to return the subsystem controllers to a manually controlled state.