Did You Know...
...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8085895 | Spacer grid spring for increasing the conformal contact area with fuel rod A grid strap includes a spacer grid spring that increases the conformal contact area with a fuel rod of a nuclear fuel rod assembly. The shape of the spacer grid spring is optimized, thereby increasing the elasticity of the spacer grid spring contacting the fuel rod... | 12/27/2011 |
| 8009792 | Distance lattice for fuel rod assembly in nuclear reactor The invention relates to nuclear engineering and can be used for fuel clusters of nuclear reactors, for distancing and fixing fuel elements, in particular in the fuel clusters of PWR and BWR reactors. The inventive distance lattice comprises cells which are used for... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7418072 | Spacer A spacer for a fuel assembly for a light water nuclear reactor contains a plurality of intercrossed segments, which form a grid. The segments are formed from first and second metal strips which are assembled and provided with protruding parts or corrugations in such... | 08/26/2008 |
| 7215728 | Spent fuel housing square pipe, basket and spent fuel housing container Corner of each square pipe is molded into a terrace shape having steps. When a basket is constructed by these square pipes, steps of adjoining square pipes are assembled together face to face. Fuel rod aggregates are housed inside the square pipes and in a cells for... | 05/08/2007 |
| 7198242 | Vent cover bracket and process therewith The invention concerns a bracket, e.g., for securing a vent cover to a vent. The bracket includes a plate having a front face, a back face, a length, a width, and opposing side edges extending in respective length and width directions. The plate includes at least tw... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7149273 | Method of fabricating a nuclear reactor fuel assembly grid A method of fabricating a fuel assembly grid that includes providing a plurality of interconnected straps that form a lattice pattern, wherein the lattice pattern of the straps defines a plurality of cells, providing a sleeve that has a cylindrical portion and a fla... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7028765 | Heat exchanger tube support A tube support device is presented. The present invention includes at least two first plates and at least two second plates each having a plurality of slots mutually arranged and aligned so as to allow four or more plates to interlock and form a grid of depth-wise p... | 04/18/2006 |
| 6919534 | Welded joints in high strength, heat resistant steels, and a welding method therefor A welding method and a welded joint for high strength, temperature resistant steels produce the same strength as the base metal in the welded joint, thereby resolving strength problems in the heat affected area by making a simple change to the welding method. Additi... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6912264 | Fuel assembly A fuel element for a nuclear reactor has fuel rods with nuclear fuel guided through spacers. The spacers are equipped with devices that exert a swirling impulse upon a coolant flowing along the fuel rods. In order to present as little flow resistance as possible for... | 06/28/2005 |
| 6909766 | Production method for a nuclear fuel assembly support grid and a nuclear fuel assembly support grid produced by the same One object of the present invention is to provide a production method for a nuclear fuel assembly support grid that improves the corrosion resistance of welded parts without impairing the characteristics of the support grid so as to be able adequately withstand high... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6901128 | Foreign matter filter for fuel assembly in pressurized water reactor A foreign matter filter provided between a DFBN and a lower grid has two adjacent thin straps assembled into a lattice. The straps are equipped on the front and back sides with axially continuous protrusions. ... | 05/31/2005 |
| 6888911 | Method for preventing fretting damage to fuel rods, nuclear reactor fuel element, device for preventing fretting damage, and spacer in a fuel assembly of a nuclear reactor Transverse vibrations of the pellet columns included in the fuel rods of fuel elements are limited by elastically mounting the fuel rod jacket tubes in the mesh of spacer grids. When the fuel rods are supported in this way, flexural vibrations of a higher order occu... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6845138 | Spacer grid with hybrid flow-mixing device for nuclear fuel assembly A spacer grid with hybrid flow-mixing devices for nuclear fuel bundle is made up of an intersection of a plurality of thin straps at right angles to form a plurality of cells for receiving and supporting fuel rods. Each strap is composed of two types of strap units,... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6813327 | Core support for an F-lattice core of a boiling water nuclear reactor A core plate assembly for a nuclear reactor includes a plurality of support beams, a flat plate positioned on top of the support beams, a plurality of control rod guide tube openings arranged in staggered rows, and a plurality of fuel supports extending through the ... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6807246 | Lips-type multi-purposed nuclear fuel assembly spacer grid A lips-type multi-purposed spacer grid for supporting fuel rods within a nuclear fuel assembly is disclosed. In the spacer grid, the fuel rods are in contact with dimples and water strider-type springs in an equiangular surface contact manner. The spacer grid distri... | 10/19/2004 |
| 6778625 | Spent fuel housing square pipe, basket and spent fuel housing container Corner of each square pipe is molded into a terrace shape having steps. When a basket is constructed by these square pipes, steps of adjoining square pipes are assembled together face to face. Fuel rod aggregates are housed inside the square pipes and in a cells for... | 08/17/2004 |
| 6744842 | Fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor A fuel assembly for a pressurized-water reactor includes fuel rods held in cells of spacers, control rod guide tubes, and a headpiece and a foot piece, by which it is fixed to upper and lower core grids, respectively. A spacer having a first part, which lies on a ra... | 06/01/2004 |
| 6728329 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly having a plurality of fuel rods arranged in a square lattice array. The fuel rods include a plurality of short-length fuel rods each having a fuel active length shorter than that of each of remaining ones of the fuel rods. At least one water rod is a... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6721384 | Spacer grid with side welding support and flow mixing vane for nuclear reactor fuel assembly A spacer grid for nuclear fuel assemblies is disclosed. This spacer grid has a plurality of side weld supports, that is, main supports, upper sub-supports and lower sub-supports, on its interlaced inner straps, with two flow mixing vanes integrally extending upward ... | 04/13/2004 |
| 6707872 | Spacer grid for nuclear reactor fuel assemblies with grid springs maintaining conformal contact with fuel rods and enlarged elastic range A spacer grid used for placing and supporting fuel rods in nuclear reactor fuel assemblies is disclosed. The spacer grid of this invention has a plurality of grid springs designed to have an optimal shape of their vertical support parts, thus reducing fretting wear ... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6650723 | Double strip mixing grid for nuclear reactor fuel assemblies A double strip mixing grid for nuclear reactor fuel assemblies is disclosed. This grid is fabricated by intersecting at right angles a plurality of double strips, each fabricated by welding two thin sheets together into a single structure with coolant cha... | 11/18/2003 |
| 6608881 | Duct-type spacer grid with swirl flow vane for nuclear fuel assembly A duct-type spacer grid for nuclear fuel assemblies is disclosed. In this spacer grid, a plurality of duct-shaped grid elements, individually having an octagonal cell, are closely arranged in parallel and are welded together, thus forming a matrix structu... | 08/19/2003 |
| 6544361 | Process for manufacturing thin components made of zirconium-based alloy and straps thus produced The present invention relates to a method for making flat, thin elements which consist of: producing a zirconium alloy blank also containing, besides the inevitable impurities, 0.8 to 1.3% of niobium, 1100 to 1800 ppm of oxygen, and 10 to 35 ppm of sulfur... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6542567 | Grid for nuclear fuel assembly and a strap for such a grid At regular intervals, the grid strap has formed therein notches for assembly with transverse straps. Between at least some pairs of notches, it has a rod-holding spring comprising two resilient strips cut out from the plane wall of the strap and integral ... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6519309 | Pressurized water reactor fuel assembly spacer grid A spacer grid for PWR assemblies is characterized by curved flow channels between adjacent fuel rods and straight, essentially flat strips connecting opposite side plates of the spacer. The latter strips prevent bowing-out of the side plates during fuel a... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6467439 | Steam generator tube support grid array An array grid includes a plurality of interlocking elongate strips. The strips are structured and configured to provide sufficient lateral support for steam generator tubing while minimizing the risk of attack by stress corrosion cracking to the steam gen... | 10/22/2002 |
| 6421407 | Nuclear fuel spacer grid with dipper vanes A nuclear fuel spacer grid, fabricated by intersecting a plurality of zircaloy or inconel grid strips and used for placing and supporting a plurality of elongated fuel rods within a nuclear fuel assembly, is disclosed. In the spacer grid of this invention... | 07/16/2002 |
| 6400788 | Fuel assembly A fuel assembly, particularly, a fuel assembly including short-length fuel rods and fuel spacers, is used for a boiling water reactor, which is capable of sufficiently reducing the pressure loss of at least one of the fuel spacers positioned above the upp... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6393087 | Duct-type spacer grid with swirl flow vanes for nuclear fuel assemblies A duct-type spacer grid for nuclear fuel assemblies is disclosed. In this spacer grid, a plurality of duct-shaped grid elements, individually having an octagonal cell, are closely arranged in parallel and are welded together, thus forming a matrix structu... | 05/21/2002 |
| 6367430 | Scalloped lattice bar nuclear steam generator tube supports A lattice high bar for a nuclear steam generator tube support bar array has scalloped indentations along its length. The scalloped indentations are located at points on the high bar where water tubes will contact the high bar. The indentations extend from... | 04/09/2002 |
| 6335956 | Fuel assembly Each of short-length fuel rods 3 is arranged at a position other than in 3×3 corner regions 6 to 9 in such a manner as not to be simultaneously adjacent to a water rod 5 and others of the short-sized fuel rods. Gd fuel rods 4 are arranged at positions ex... | 01/01/2002 |
| 6320925 | Space for a fuel assembly of a nuclear power station A spacer of a fuel assembly having intersecting webs undergoes reduced longitudinal expansion as a result of corrosion during an operating period. The webs have intersection locations at which assembly gaps are provided. The assembly gaps have widths whic... | 11/20/2001 |
| 6320924 | I-Spring and associated ferrule assembly for a nuclear fuel bundle A sub-assembly for a spacer in a nuclear fuel bundle includes at least first and second ferrules lying adjacent one another for receiving respective nuclear fuel rods. Each ferrule has fuel rod contacting points along one side of the ferrule for abutting ... | 11/20/2001 |
| 6278759 | Spacer grid with multi-springs and dimple vanes for nuclear fuel assemblies A nuclear fuel spacer grid, fabricated by intersecting a plurality of grid strips and used for placing and supporting a plurality of elongated fuel rods within a nuclear fuel assembly, is disclosed. The spacer grid of this invention has a plurality of dim... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6278758 | Support grid for a nuclear reactor fuel assembly An improved support grid of a nuclear reactor fuel assembly is described. The support grid has a plurality of first and second straps which are assembled so as to form an eggcrate structure defining grid cells in a square arrangement. The support grid inc... | 08/21/2001 |
| 6272197 | Coolant mixing grid for nuclear fuel assembly A fuel assembly for a nuclear reactor is described, the fuel assembly including: a plurality of fuel pins (12) extending substantially parallel to the axis of the assembly and to each other; at least two structural grids spaced apart from each other, the ... | 08/07/2001 |
| 6240156 | Top guide grid attachment for a boiling water reactor A top guide assembly for securing a top guide to a shroud which enables the top guide to be remotely removed without removing any other parts of the shroud or the core support structure is described. In one embodiment, the top guide assembly includes a ha... | 05/29/2001 |
| 6236702 | Fuel assembly spacer grid with swirl deflectors and hydraulic pressure springs A fuel assembly spacer grid including swirl deflectors respectively arranged at interconnections between interconnecting longitudinally and laterally-extending straps on upper ends of the interconnecting straps adapted to support fuel elements of a nuclea... | 05/22/2001 |
| 6229868 | Nuclear fuel assembly The present invention relates to a fuel assembly for a light-water nuclear reactor with a substantially square cross section which comprises fuel rods (4) extending between a bottom tie plate (16) and a top tie plate (17). A coolant is adapted, during ope... | 05/08/2001 |
| 6226342 | Fuel assembly comprising a component for retaining elongated elements A fuel assembly (1) comprising a plurality of elongated elements (3) filled with nuclear fuel and at least one component (5, 6, 7) for retaining the elongated elements (3), wherein the retaining component (5, 6, 7) is completely or partly made of a cerami... | 05/01/2001 |
