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 |
| 8164313 | Power generation controlling device for vehicles, which device has bi-directional communication function with external control unit A power generation controlling device for vehicle includes a communication controlling circuit, a power generation voltage and excitation current controlling circuit, and a communication frame processing circuit. The communication controlling circuit communicates wi... | 04/24/2012 |
| 8134345 | Cryogenic exciter The disclosed technology is a cryogenic static exciter. The cryogenic static exciter is connected to a synchronous electric machine that has a field winding. The synchronous electric machine is cooled via a refrigerator or cryogen like liquid nitrogen. The static ex... | 03/13/2012 |
| 8085004 | Generator with quadrature AC excitation A generator system is configured to supply two phase excitation current from an exciter rotor to a main generator rotor. When driven by a variable speed prime mover, the generator system provides relatively constant frequency AC power by independently controlling th... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8072191 | Shorted rotating diode detection and protection An electric generator with a rotating diode fault detection device built in that operates by comparing a voltage buildup across the exciter DC supply with a preset threshold value and determining if a fault condition is present based on the comparison. ... | 12/06/2011 |
| 8018206 | Excitation device for an electric machine With an aim of minimizing excitation losses in electric machines having electrically excited and displaceable secondary parts, bi-directional inductive transmission of energy is carried out by a rotating inductive transmission device. An associated electronic system... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8008895 | Static exciter system for a generator and method of operation A static exciter system (20) for the field winding (17) of a generator (16) which is connected to a grid system via a busbar (19) includes a first device (12, 18, 21) for production of a DC voltage, which is connected to the field ... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7969122 | Pole count changing generator Disclosed is a pole count changing generator capable of altering the number of poles contained within a generator. This pole count change is accomplished by changing the path through which electrical current is capable of traveling in response to a control signal se... | 06/28/2011 |
| 7915869 | Single stage starter/generator with rotor quadrature AC excitation When driven by a variable speed prime mover, a generator system provides relatively constant frequency AC power by independently controlling the main rotor flux rotational speed. The generator system includes an exciter stator that induces current in the exciter rot... | 03/29/2011 |
| 7759909 | Generator control circuit A generator control circuit is disclosed. One embodiment provides a first active switching circuit configured to connect a first terminal of an excitation coil either to a first or to a second terminal of a voltage source, a second active switching circuit configure... | 07/20/2010 |
| 7705568 | Power-generator control apparatus for addressing occurrence of voltage transient In a power-generator control apparatus, a control circuit intermittently controls the supply of a field current from a battery to a field winding of a power generator in normal mode so as to adjust power induced in an output winding of the power generator. The contr... | 04/27/2010 |
| 7692414 | Regenerative static excitation system for superconducting rotor The present invention provides for a static excitation system for a superconducting rotor that comprises multiple brushes (12) in contact with the superconducting rotor winding (6), normally via collector rings and field leads. A power conditioning dev... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7656135 | Method and apparatus for controlling rotary machines A wind turbine generator includes at least one rotating member, at least one stationary member, and a clearance gap control system. The stationary member is positioned such that a clearance gap is defined between a portion of the rotating member and a portion of the... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7633272 | Load-off transient acceleration generator control system An electric generator is operated under conditions in which rapid off-loading may occur. A generator control unit (GCU) employs a detector to detect rates of change of output of the generator. In response to a rapid change of output, e.g. an off-loading, an overvolt... | 12/15/2009 |
| 7602153 | Concept for providing a regulated, limited generator excitation current to a generator A device for providing a regulated, limited generator excitation current to a generator to acquire a regulated output voltage of the generator, the device including a combiner for weighted combining a first system deviation on the basis of a setpoint voltage and of ... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7592786 | Aircraft engine starter/generator A rotor resistor and switch combination may cause a starter/generator device to function as an asynchronous device when in a start mode. Thus, starting torque may result. A starter/generator device may include an exciter rotor winding, a main rotor winding, and a re... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7592785 | Output control apparatus and method for field winding type dynamo-electric machine A control apparatus for controlling an exciting current of a field winding type dynamo-electric machine having an exciting winding so as to obtain a demanded output thereof comprises an exciting current detecting circuit being configured to detect an exciting curren... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7528585 | Vehicle-use power generation control apparatus The vehicle-use power generation control apparatus regulates an output voltage of a vehicle generator driven by a vehicle engine at a set value by on/off controlling an excitation current flowing through an excitation winding of the vehicle generator The vehicle-use... | 05/05/2009 |
| 7466109 | Systems and methods involving variable speed generators An electrical generation system comprising a generator. The generator including, a stator portion, and a rotor portion, and a variable frequency generator (VFG) exciter. The VFG exciter including, a first converter, operative to convert DC current to AC current conn... | 12/16/2008 |
| 7443143 | Controller of AC generator for vehicle A controller of a generator for a vehicle in the invention includes a battery voltage detecting circuit and an output terminal voltage detecting circuit of an AC generator. A value of a detected voltage of the output terminal voltage of the AC generator is set to be... | 10/28/2008 |
| 7408327 | Buck/boost method of voltage regulation for a permanent magnet generator (PMG) The output voltage generated by permanent magnet generator (PMG) is regulated by controlling a buck/boost voltage applied to selected sub-coils within the PMG. The PMG includes a number of stator coils that are each divided into a number of sub-coils. A buck/boost v... | 08/05/2008 |
| 7394229 | Switched reluctance generator A Switched Reluctance (SR) generator having improved efficiency at low and high speed is disclosed. The SR generator includes a step-up converter for controlling an excitation voltage of an excitation capacitor capable of providing a phase winding with an excitation... | 07/01/2008 |
| 7375499 | Fault tolerant synchronisation source for excitation control of a three phase power generating system A fault-tolerant synchronisation source for excitation control of a three-phase generator system that combines point of regulation (POR) signals representing parameters comprising voltage and current for each phase at the POR to generate a fault-tolerant synchronisa... | 05/20/2008 |
| 7369960 | Device and method for detecting an angular position of a rotating object In detecting the time at which a rotating object passes a given angular position, a value range of an angular position sensor output signal which varies relatively rapidly with angular position acts as a trip threshold that, when exceeded, indicates the object has a... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7368893 | Voltage control apparatus for electric generator of vehicle In a vehicle voltage control apparatus which regulates the output voltage of the vehicle electric generator and which receives an external control signal for lowering the regulated voltage value, from an external apparatus such as the engine ECU during engine starti... | 05/06/2008 |
| 7365519 | Excitation system having inner loop voltage regulator with by-pass capability An excitation system that includes an exciter for generating a field voltage for a rotor, a first automatic voltage regulator and a second automatic voltage regulator. The first regulator receives an output voltage of the power generation system as an input, and the... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7365521 | Fault tolerant architecture for permanent magnet starter generator subsystem A permanent magnet starter/generator subsystem configured in a fault tolerant architecture is described herein for small engine applications. The system allows for lighter system weight, improved system reliability, higher performance capability and reduced maintena... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7345457 | Brushless exciters using a high temperature superconducting field winding A brushless exciter for a synchronous generator or motor generally includes a stator and a rotor rotatably disposed within the stator. The rotor has a field winding and a voltage rectifying bridge circuit connected in parallel to the field winding. A plurality of fi... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7332895 | Regulator for eliminating noises generated by automotive power generator A regulator for eliminating noises generated by an automotive power generator is composed of a front-end circuit, a semiconductor power element, a resistor, and a capacitor. The front-end circuit includes a plurality of electronic components for offering control sig... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7327123 | Controller for AC generator A control system that can accommodate the wide variations in the output of a generator, such as a permanent magnet alternator, while providing an output with relatively uniform phase ripple. The control system includes a zero crossing detector and variable ramp gene... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7315149 | Vehicle generator The vehicle generator includes a rotor around which a field winding is wound, a stator around which an armature winding is wound, a rectifier rectifying an AC voltage induced in the armature winding to generate a DC output current. The rectifier has a plurality of r... | 01/01/2008 |
| 7304455 | Power generation controller The power generation controller includes a control command receiving section receiving a control command transmitted from an external control unit for controlling an internal combustion engine, a control command holding section holding the control command received b... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7301310 | Excitation controlled synchronous permanent magnet machine The present invention provides an apparatus and methods for providing constant voltage from a permanent magnet generator at varying prime mover speeds or under varying loads. A constant voltage permanent magnet generator includes a housing, a magnetized rotor, a pri... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7301309 | Method and device for providing the supply voltage for the loads of a vehicle on-board electrical system, using a plurality of generators A method and a device for providing the supply voltage for the loads of a vehicle on-board electrical system, using a plurality of generators. A regulator unit having at least one output stage transistor is allocated to each of the generators. The output stage trans... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7301311 | Brushless starter-generator with independently controllable exciter field A starter-generator system supplies a controllable torque to a gas turbine engine, to thereby assist in starting the gas turbine engine, by independently controlling excitation frequency and/or voltage magnitude. The starter-generator includes a multi-phase exciter ... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7294991 | Method and apparatus for calculating/controlling power generation torque In an apparatus, a first detecting unit detects the number of revolutions of a power generator, a second detecting unit detects an output voltage of the power generator, and a third detecting unit detects an output current of the power generator. A torque calculatin... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7288923 | Voltage-limited electric machine An electric alternator having a rotor, stator and at least one winding in the stator adapted to conduct a current, the machine also having and first and second magnetic circuits around different portions of the winding which may be configured relative to one another... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7276882 | Regulator control circuit and method Switching devices control the rectification and flow of alternating current power from a source such as an alternator to a load such as a battery in response to both the voltage of the battery and a minimum selected time period that is selected to eliminate or reduc... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7276831 | Split-pole field-match motor An electric motor having a plurality of rotor and stator poles, the poles of one element being alternately polarized and neutralized due to the use of direct current and alternating current windings on each pole. The poles of like current are connected in series, an... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7271500 | Electrical rotating machine control unit and power generation system Because of the necessity of resolver for detecting a rotating position, which is very expensive, and noise suppression of the rotating position signal line on a doubly-fed machine, cost increase of the generator and reduced reliability due to possible failures are i... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7268522 | Excitation control for wound field synchronous dynamoelectric machines A wound field synchronous (WFS) dynamoelectric machine comprises: a rotor assembly; an exciter generator section comprising a stationary multiphase exciter stator winding for receiving excitation power from a multiphase alternating current (AC) source to generate an... | 09/11/2007 |
