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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7716927 | Stirling engine assembly A Stirling engine assembly comprising a Stirling engine having a generally cylindrical head. An annular burner surrounds the head and defines a combustion chamber between the burner and head. An annular seal between the burner and head provides a seal for combustion... | 05/18/2010 |
| 7690199 | System and method for electrically-coupled thermal cycle In one embodiment according to the invention, there is provided a method for generating electrical energy using a thermal cycle of a working gas. The method comprises using the motion of a piston in a cylinder, containing the working gas performing the thermal cycle... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7654084 | Metering fuel pump A device and method for controlling the flow of a gaseous fuel from a fuel supply to a pressurized combustion chamber. A fuel pump is included in the gas train from supply to chamber. The fuel pump increases the pressure of the gas to allow efficient injection into ... | 02/02/2010 |
| 7610756 | Cooling/heating apparatus and mounting apparatus A cooling/heating apparatus for circulating the cooled or heated transfer medium to a load to thereby cool or heat the load includes a heat transfer medium circulation path and a Stirling heat engine. The Stirling heat engine includes a first and a second cylinder c... | 11/03/2009 |
| 7607299 | Thermal cycle engine with augmented thermal energy input area A method and apparatus for producing electrical energy from a thermal dynamic cycle. The apparatus can include a heat exchange apparatus portion that allows for a large surface area for thermal energy collection while maintaining an efficiency of the thermal dynamic... | 10/27/2009 |
| 7458213 | Heating arrangement A heating arrangement for heating a fluid, the arrangement comprising an elongate housing having a main axis. An inner chamber (21) for a first fluid surrounds the axis. A plurality of axially extending fins (22) project into the inner chamber. An exha... | 12/02/2008 |
| 7377107 | Cogeneration system A Stirling engine-equipped cogeneration system is capable of utilizing thermal energy, without waste, and of offering high thermal usage efficiency at every stage of the thermal energy utilization process. The system includes a combustion chamber (11), a burn... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7325399 | Coolant penetrating cold-end pressure vessel An improvement is provided to a pressurized close-cycle machine that has a cold-end pressure vessel and is of the type having a piston undergoing reciprocating linear motion within a cylinder containing a working fluid heated by conduction through a heater head by h... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7310945 | Work-space pressure regulator A device and method for equalizing the pressure between work-space and crankcase in a pressurized engine, such as a Stirling engine. The device consists of a two-way valve connected between the work-space and the crankcase. The valve is connected to the work-space w... | 12/25/2007 |
| 7308787 | Thermal improvements for an external combustion engine An external combustion engine having an exhaust flow diverter for directing the flow of an exhaust gas. The external combustion engine has a heater head having a plurality of heater tubes through which a working fluid is heated by conduction. The exhaust flow divert... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7296408 | Heat engine The heart of a heat engine is a reciprocating expansion chamber, which converts heat from a hot fluid into mechanical work. The expansion chamber utilizes a refrigerant in a liquid state as an input, and heats and expands the refrigerant to move pistons and generate... | 11/20/2007 |
| 7284373 | Thermodynamic cycle engine with bi-directional regenerators and elliptical gear train and method thereof A thermodynamic cycle heat engine comprising a regenerator housing with two bi-directional regenerators, compression and expansion chambers connected to different ends of the housing, and a gear train. Each of the bi-directional regenerators comprises a low pressure... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7278460 | Ceramic casting core and method A ceramic core for use in casting an article such as for example an airfoil, wherein the ceramic core has a pocket located at or near a region of the core that is otherwise associated with occurrence of a localized casting defect in the cast article. A covering is d... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7270295 | Solar thermal aircraft A solar thermal powered aircraft powered by heat energy from the sun. A heat engine, such as a Stirling engine, is carried by the aircraft body for producing power for a propulsion mechanism, such as a propeller. The heat engine has a thermal battery in thermal cont... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7258086 | Four-cylinder, four-cycle, free piston, premixed charge compression ignition, internal combustion reciprocating piston engine with a variable piston stroke A four-cycle, four-cylinder, premixed charge compression ignition internal combustion reciprocating free piston engine with a variable piston stroke and a compression ratio that varies as needed to provide charge ignition, to offer the potential of higher efficiency... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7257949 | Stirling engine Through stroke control whereby the stroke of a piston is detected and controlled to be equal to a target stroke, the piston is prevented from colliding with a displacer, and the refrigerating performance of a Stirling refrigerator is enhanced. Different target strok... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7234506 | Ceramic casting core and method A ceramic core for use in casting an article such as for example an airfoil, wherein the ceramic core has a pocket located at or near a region of the core that is otherwise associated with occurrence of a localized casting defect in the cast article. A covering is d... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7185493 | Solar energy power plant and method of producing electricity A power plant that uses a lens to focus solar energy onto a closed system loop is disclosed wherein a closed loop system is provided having a chamber that converts a liquid into a gas by absorbing heat. The heat being created has been generated by the focused solar ... | 03/06/2007 |
| 7177535 | Apparatus for generating power and hybrid fuel vaporization system A hybrid fuel vaporization system and an apparatus for producing power from a source of liquid fuel. The hybrid fuel vaporizing system includes at least one capillary flow passage, the at least one capillary flow passage having an inlet end and an outlet end, the in... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7168234 | Recuperative heater for an external combustion engine A recuperative heater for heating the heater heads of an external combustion machine includes a recuperative heat exchanger having an axial pass section partially surrounding the combustion chamber. Combustion products pass from the recuperative heat exchanger to a ... | 01/30/2007 |
| 7152404 | Power unit with reciprocating linear movement based on stirling motor, and method used in said power plant The invention concerns a reciprocating linear movement power unit. The powering element consists of a Stirling heat engine and the generator consists of a piston (1) and displacers (2,3) of the heat engine acting as rotors and fixed electromagnetic ele... | 12/26/2006 |
| 7137251 | Channelized stratified regenerator with integrated heat exchangers system and method A channelized stratified regenerator with integrated heat exchangers are disclosed using micromachining to precisely construct structural geometries, such as fins and axial stratification of material to be used in a Stirling cycle based system. In operation, a worki... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7121974 | Transmission, in particular epicyclic transmission A drive, particularly a planetary drive, comprising a drive shaft and at least one driven shaft which are connected by at least one element. The drive shaft and the driven shaft are mounted opposite the housing parts by bearings. The drive is characterized in that t... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7114334 | Impingement heat exchanger for stirling cycle machines Impingement style heat exchanger through which significant heat transfer improvements can be obtained. The heat exchanger of the present invention operates such that the bulk of heat transfer between the heat source and the working fluid occurs during the portion of... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7111460 | Metering fuel pump A device and method for controlling the flow of a gaseous fuel from a fuel supply to a pressurized combustion chamber. A fuel pump is included in the gas train from supply to chamber. The fuel pump increases the pressure of the gas to allow efficient injection into ... | 09/26/2006 |
| 7093645 | Ceramic casting core and method A ceramic core for use in casting an article such as for example an airfoil, wherein the ceramic core has a pocket located at or near a region of the core that is otherwise associated with occurrence of a localized casting defect in the cast article. A covering is d... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7089735 | Channelized stratified regenerator system and method A channelized stratified regenerator with integrated heat exchangers are disclosed using micromachining to precisely construct structural geometries, such as fins and axial stratification of material to be used in a Stirling cycle based system. In operation, a worki... | 08/15/2006 |
| 7084518 | Method and apparatus for solar power conversion A solar power conversion system using a plurality of engines to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The plurality of engines are supported adjacent to a housing having a single thermal cavity. The cavity is provided with solar energy from a solar collector. E... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7076941 | Externally heated engine An externally heated engine is provided which has at least two pistons. The first piston has a first side (working side) and a second side opposite the first side. The first side of the first piston and the first cylinder define a first working chamber containing wo... | 07/18/2006 |
| 7028473 | Hot-gas engine The hot-gas engine comprises a cylinder, a working piston which together with a cylinder cover delimits a cylinder space designed to accommodate a working medium, a displacement piston which divides the cylinder space into a first and a second working space, as well... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7026722 | Method and apparatus for solar power conversion A solar power conversion system using a plurality of engines to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The plurality of engines are supported adjacent to a housing having a single thermal cavity. The cavity is provided with solar energy from a solar collector. E... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7021054 | Stirling engine assembly A Stirling engine assembly comprising a Stirling engine (1) with a hot head (3) and a cold region (4). An annular burner (9) surrounds the head and is arranged to provide heat to the head. A corrugated seal (2) between the Stirling... | 04/04/2006 |
| 7013640 | Stirling engine assembly A seal between the head of a Stirling engine (1) and surrounding burner assembly (2). The seal comprises an annular trough (11) attached to one component and filled with a viscous liquid (14), and an annular blade attached to the other co... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7007469 | Dual shell Stirling engine with gas backup A Stirling engine which utilizes an inner and outer dual shell pressure containment system surrounding the high pressure and temperature engine components. The space between the shells is filled with a pressure backup gas and an insulation material with the backup g... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6979911 | Method and apparatus for solar power conversion A solar power conversion system using a plurality of engines to convert solar energy to electrical energy. The plurality of engines are supported adjacent to a housing having a single thermal cavity. The cavity is provided with solar energy from a solar collector. E... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6971236 | Domestic combined heat and power unit A DCHP unit with a Stirling engine (1), a burner (3) and a supplementary burner (11). Water is heated by exhaust gas from the Stirling engine and from the supplementary burner. If a sensor (18) detects that the water temperature has risen... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6966182 | Stirling engine thermal system improvements A thermal cycle engine having a heat exchanger for transferring thermal energy across the heater head from a heated external fluid to the working fluid. The heat exchanger has a set of heat transfer pins each having an axis directed away from the cylindrical wall of... | 11/22/2005 |
| 6952921 | Heater head assembly system and method A heater head assembly is provided with potential advantages of low assembly and integration requirements. A significant portion of the heater head assembly is formed or machined as a single piece of material to reduce assembly demands. The heater head assembly has ... | 10/11/2005 |
| 6941754 | Heating appliance The heating appliance, and particularly a dchp system, comprising two burners (3, 17). A splitter valve (23) splits a stream of air (24) into two streams, one for each burner. Combustible fuel is mixed with the air. A controller controls the com... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6935108 | Heat fan assembly and method of controlling a fan A fan assembly comprising two fans (4, 10) for supplying combustible gases to two burners (5, 9) respectively. The flow parts from the first and second burners are combined in a common manifold. Temperature censor (6, 11) detect the temperature ... | 08/30/2005 |