Did You Know...
...that the Eveready Battery began as an invention called the "electric flowerpot," which was a tube with a battery and light bulb inside? The idea was to fasten this gizmo to the side of a flowerpot so it would illuminate the flowers from the bottom. The idea died on the vine and the businessman who licensed the flower pot, Conrad Huber, was left with a pile of useless tubes -- until he found a way to market them as batteries to light the world!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 5192493 | Median signal selector for feedwater control systems A system for improving the performance of nuclear power plant feedwater control systems and simplifying steam generator low water level reactor protection logic includes a plurality of water level channels for measuring steam generator water level and gen... | 03/09/1993 |
| 5180543 | Passive safety injection system using borated water A passive safety injection system relies on differences in water density to induce natural circulatory flow patterns which help maintain prescribed concentrations of boric acid in borated water, and prevents boron from accumulating in the reactor vessel a... | 01/19/1993 |
| 5169596 | Large panel design for containment air baffle The movable air baffle shield means in accordance with the present invention provides an efficient method of cooling the space surrounding the containment vessel while also providing the capability of being moved away from the containment vessel during in... | 12/08/1992 |
| 5149141 | Internally-located rotating union for a motor-generator set A motor-generator set, which has a rotatable central shaft, AC and DC rotors tandemly-arranged along the shaft for rotation therewith and a liquid coolant flow path defined through the shaft and rotors, includes rotating unions mounted internally of the s... | 09/22/1992 |
| 5125985 | Processing zirconium alloy used in light water reactors for specified creep rate This invention is for the processing of a somewhat broader range of compositions, including ZIRLO material. It controls creep rate in an alloy having, by weight percent, 0.5-2.0 niobium, 0.7-1.5 tin, 0.07-0.28 of at least one of iron, nickel and chromium ... | 06/30/1992 |
| 5121639 | Fluid flow measurement A method and apparatus for monitoring the velocity of flow of a fluid, by: causing fluid to flow through a conduit section defining a monitoring region, the conduit section having an interior defining a flow path which is free of any physical obstruction ... | 06/16/1992 |
| 5116026 | Modular annealing apparatus for in situ reactor vessel annealing and related method of assembly An annealing apparatus is described which is designed, manufactured, preassembled and tested at a factory in equal-sized, longitudinal, self-contained segments. In a typical arrangement each segment is one-quarter of the total unit. Each segment includes ... | 05/26/1992 |
| 5112573 | Zirlo material for light water reactor applications This is an alloy comprising, by weight percent, 0.5-2.0 niobium, 0.7-1.5 tin, 0.07-0.14 iron, and 0.03-0.14 of at least one of nickel and chromium, and at least 0.12 total of iron, nickel and chromium, and up to 220 ppm C, and the balance essentially zirc... | 05/12/1992 |
| 5100065 | Method of comminution of hydrided metals A reactive metal such as zirconium, hafnium, and titanium is subjected to comminution in a closed chamber containing a non-reactive gas modified by the addition of an amount of a vaporized liquid hydrocarbon.... | 03/31/1992 |
| 5089214 | Apparatus for monitoring the pressure within a cask containing radioactive material An apparatus for monitoring the pressure within a cask containing radioactive materials is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a differential pressure sensor sealingly connected to a bore that penetrates through the wall of the cask for directly monitoring... | 02/18/1992 |
| 5078957 | Incore instrumentation system for a pressurized water reactor A preferred embodiment of the present invention provides an incore instrumentation system for detecting conditions, e.g., neutron flux density, within the core of a pressurized water nuclear reactor (PWR). The instrumentation system includes a plurality o... | 01/07/1992 |
| 5077018 | Vented safety vessel with acoustic trap for rarefaction waves An acoustical wave trap is combined with the rupture disc or relief valve used in vessels for storing potentially explosive materials. The acoustical wave trap operates to substantially reduce the magnitude of the rarefaction wave produced within the vess... | 12/31/1991 |
| 5064605 | Apparatus for determining the thermal history of equipment using solid state track recorders An apparatus is provided for determining the thermal history of an environment for purposes of monitoring thermal aging in equipment or the extent to which a process has proceeded. The apparatus comprises a plurality of solid state track recorders, and th... | 11/12/1991 |
| 5064607 | Hybrid nuclear reactor grey rod to obtain required reactivity worth Hybrid nuclear reactor grey rods are described, wherein geometric combinations of relatively weak neutron absorber materials such as stainless steel, zirconium or INCONEL, and relatively strong neutron absorber materials, such as hafnium, silver-indium ca... | 11/12/1991 |
| 5049363 | Recovery of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides from titanium ore A process for extracting scandium from titanium ore includes the steps of: feeding the titanium ore to a fluidized bed chlorinator at about 1000° C. to produce a vaporous (generally titanium and possible iron chlorides) phase and a scandium-containing re... | 09/17/1991 |
| 5039336 | Recovery of scandium, yttrium and lanthanides from zircon sand This is a process for extracting scandium from zircon ore. It utilizes feeding zircon sand to a fluidized bed chlorinator at about 1000° C. to produce a vaporous (principally zirconium and silicon chlorides) phase and a solid residue and recovering scand... | 08/13/1991 |
| 5023984 | Deburring method and machine A method and machine adapted to deburr items having burrs, particularly pressed sponge metal compacts of zirconium or hafnium. The burrs are gently scraped away by one or more endlessly moving, substantially horizontal preferably rotary screens preferably... | 06/18/1991 |
| 5024801 | Reactor core model update system The present invention is a system that updates a pressurized water reactor core model, or data file describing the core, periodically using measured values determinable from core instrumentation. The system starts with a calibrated model calibrated from a... | 06/18/1991 |
| 5013357 | Direct production of niobium titanium alloy during niobium reduction A superconductive alloy of titanium and niobium is formed during reduction of niobium pentoxide by adding an effective quantity of titanium metal and/or titanium oxide to a reduction mixture of aluminum and niobium pentoxide. The resulting mixture is reac... | 05/07/1991 |
| 5009837 | Axially modular fuel assembly and rod for optimal fuel utilization A modular fuel assembly has a plurality of axially stacked subassemblies. The stacked subassemblies includes upper and lower subassemblies which incorporate top and bottom nozzles, and a plurality of intermediate subassemblies disposed between the upper a... | 04/23/1991 |
| 4991440 | Method of ultrasonically measuring thickness and characteristics of zirconium liner coextruded with zirconium tube A coextruded zirconium tube and tube liner are monitored along their lengths by well known ultrasonic measurement techniques that are modified by the blocking out of extraneous signals at opposite sides of a timing gate that varies in width according to v... | 02/12/1991 |
| 4490225 | Separation of isotopes of zirconium Vapor of dicyclopentadienyl zirconium dicyanate is irradiated by a laser beam of a CO2 laser tuned to the stretching frequency of the S Zr-O-C bond of the dicyanate where S Zr is a selected isotope of zirconium. The excite... | 12/25/1984 |
| 4472641 | Power supply apparatus The outputs of a plurality of modules or generators of electrical energy, such as fuel cells, chemical storage batteries, solar cells, MHD generators and the like, whose outputs are different are consolidated efficiently. The modules supply a power distri... | 09/18/1984 |
| 4461317 | Overflow control valve An overflow control valve for use in a liquid sodium coolant pump tank which valve can be extended to create a seal with the pump tank wall or retracted to break the seal thereby accommodating valve removal. An actuating shaft which controls valve disc po... | 07/24/1984 |
| 4460540 | Burnable poison rod for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly A burnable poison rod for use in a nuclear reactor fuel assembly which includes concentrically disposed rods having an annular space therebetween which extends the full length of the rods. The inner rod is hollow to permit circulation of coolant therethro... | 07/17/1984 |
| 4448343 | Sleeve preparation method The method comprises applying a braze material to a sleeve in a manner so that the sleeve may be attached to a tube so as to bridge the defective region of the tube. The sleeve is constructed to have a groove on the outside surface thereof that extends ar... | 05/15/1984 |
| 4445694 | All-metal expandable ultra high vacuum seal An all-metal expandable high vacuum seal which expands to a shape suitable for sealing during a material crystallization phase change of one component from martensitic to austenitic.... | 05/01/1984 |
| 4443685 | Fixture for laser scribing (of dendrite silicon cells) A fixture and a method for holding and aligning dendritic web silicon cells during laser scribing to delineate the cell from the dendrites, and includes a see-through support on which the cell is placed face down for viewing of a grid structure within an ... | 04/17/1984 |
| 4440714 | Inertial confinement fusion method producing line source radiation fluence An inertial confinement fusion method in which target pellets are imploded in sequence by laser light beams or other energy beams at an implosion site which is variable between pellet implosions along a line. The effect of the variability in position of t... | 04/03/1984 |
| 4438382 | Three phase AC motor controller A motor controller for a three phase AC motor (10) which is adapted to operate bidirectionally from signals received either from a computer (30) or a manual control (32). The controller is comprised of digital logic circuit means which implement a forward... | 03/20/1984 |
| 4434660 | Ultrasonic inspection and deployment apparatus An ultrasonic inspection apparatus for the inspection of metal structures, especially installed pipes. The apparatus combines a specimen inspection element, an acoustical velocity sensing element, and a surface profiling element, all in one scanning head.... | 03/06/1984 |
| 4432934 | Displacer rod for use in a mechanical spectral shift reactor A displacer rod for use in a mechanical spectral shift pressurized water nuclear reactor comprises a sectioned substantially hollow low neutron absorbing metal rod capable of displacing reactor coolant without absorbing a high amount of neutrons. The tubu... | 02/21/1984 |
| 4432930 | Spectral shift reactor control method A method of operating a pressurized water nuclear reactor comprising determining the present core power and reactivity levels and predicting the change in such levels due to displacer rod movements. Groups or single clusters of displacer rods can be inser... | 02/21/1984 |
| 4431603 | Self-actuated device A self-actuated device, of particular use as a valve or an orifice for nuclear reactor fuel and blanket assemblies, in which a gas produced by a neutron induced nuclear reaction gradually accumulates as a function of neutron fluence. The gas pressure incr... | 02/14/1984 |
| 4430291 | Packed fluidized bed blanket for fusion reactor A packed fluidized bed blanket for a fusion reactor providing for efficient radiation absorption for energy recovery, efficient neutron absorption for nuclear transformations, ease of blanket removal, processing and replacement, and on-line fueling/refuel... | 02/07/1984 |
| 4427624 | Composite nozzle design for reactor fuel assembly A composite nozzle for a fuel assembly adapted for installation on the upper or lower end thereof and which is constructed from two components. The first component includes a casting weldment or forging designed to carry handling loads, support fuel assem... | 01/24/1984 |
| 4424186 | Power generation Excessive swing of the feedwater in power supply apparatus on the occurrence of a transient is suppressed by injecting an anticipatory compensating signal into the control for the feedwater. Typical overshoot occurs on removal of a large part of the load,... | 01/03/1984 |
| 4421715 | Baffle maintenance apparatus The baffle maintenance apparatus comprises a peening apparatus mounted on a movable carriage for reducing the width of a gap between two adjacent baffle plates in a nuclear reactor. The peening apparatus comprises an hydraulic hammer mounted on a pivotabl... | 12/20/1983 |
| 4412910 | Recovery of fuel from oil shale Raw shale is supplied to a pyrolyzer where it is pyrolyzed by fuel gas and hot spent shale derived from a gasifier. Typically, the raw shale is Eastern U.S. shale and the pyrolyzer includes a fluidized bed. The pyrolyzed shale having given up its oil and ... | 11/01/1983 |
| 4405558 | Nuclear reactor shutdown system The nuclear reactor shutdown system comprises a temperature sensitive device connected to a magnetic latch of a neutron absorbing mechanism. The temperature sensitive device is disposed in the neutron absorbing mechanism in such a manner that it is expose... | 09/20/1983 |
