l Control system for a wind turbine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to a control system for a wind turbine, comprising an electrical device that is arranged for being used during normal operation of a wind turbine and a power source that is arranged to be used as an emergency power supply to a blade pitch motor, wherein the blade pitch motor is arranged to test at least one property of said power source. The invention also relates to a method for testing a power source. Full Article
l Nacelle main frame structure and drive train assembly for a wind turbine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A nacelle main frame structure and drive train assembly (1) for being mounted on a tower (2) of a wind turbine. The nacelle main frame structure and drive train assembly (1) comprises a nacelle main frame structure (4) with a central part (6) connecting a first part (7) to a second part (8). The first part (7), during wind turbine operation and/or servicing activities, takes up loads of a rotor (9). A drive train (5) is at least partially located between the first and second parts (7, 8). The central part (6) of the main frame structure (4) is located substantially above at least part of the drive train (5) and is such that at least part of the drive train (5) can only be removed from the main frame structure (4) by lowering at least part of the drive train (5) from the main frame structure (4). Full Article
l Rotor for an axial flow pump for conveying a fluid By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to a rotor for an axial flow pump for conveying a fluid having an axis of rotation and having an impeller blade which has at least one part surface which extends transversely to the axis of rotation and beyond it, wherein the impeller blade has throughgoing webs or a network of webs which connect a different marginal regions of the impeller blades to one another. A good compressibility is hereby achieved in the radial direction with high stability during operation. Full Article
l Turbomachine blade By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A turbomachine including securing means that extend between the pressure wall and the suction surface and which includes an energy absorbing portion for absorbing energy after impact to the blade by a foreign object. The energy absorbing portion has a catch that provides the blade with an improved resistance to bursting. Full Article
l Methods of manufacturing wind turbine blades By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An elongate web is attached to the root end of a spar of a wind turbine rotor blade to provide additional support along the width of the blade. The root end is formed by a winding operation, and a recess is then cut into the surface of the spar. The recess is defined by a relatively large first, cylindrical surface, which is coaxial with the longitudinal axis of the root end, and a relatively small second, conical surface. A tapered end of the elongate web is attached within the recess of the root end using a layer of suitable adhesive and an array of pins. Resilient spacer elements are arranged within the recess so as to surround the pins. The large area of the cylindrical surface causes the tensile and compressive stresses which arise along the elongate web in use to be transmitted to the spar as shear stresses. Full Article
l Method and system for monitoring bending strains of wind turbine blades By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention provides a method and system of monitoring bending strain on a wind turbine blade. The method in one aspect comprises: locating at least three strain sensors on the turbine blade, in use each strain sensor providing a strain measurement, the strain sensors located such that edgewise and flapwise bending can be determined from the strain measurements; calculating a plurality of resultant bending strains using the strain measurements; calculating an average resultant bending strain from the plurality of resultant bending strains; and calculating a confidence value for a first sensor based on a comparison of resultant bending strains derived from the strain measurement from the first sensor with the average resultant bending strain. Full Article
l Method of manufacturing a wind turbine blade having predesigned segment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A blade for a rotor of a wind turbine is manufactured with a root region with a substantially circular or elliptical profile closest to the hub, an airfoil region with a lift generating profile furthest away from the hub and a transition region having a profile gradually changing the root region to the airfoil region. A first blade design is used for the first base part on a first longitudinal section of an airfoil region of a second blade, so that an induction factor of the first base part on the second blade deviates from a target induction factor. The first longitudinal section of the second blade is provided with flow altering devices so as to adjust the aerodynamic properties of the first longitudinal segment to substantially meet the target induction factor at the design point on the second blade. Full Article
l Rotor blade assembly for wind turbine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A rotor blade assembly is disclosed. The rotor blade assembly includes a rotor blade having exterior surfaces defining a pressure side, a suction side, a leading edge, and a trailing edge extending between a tip and a root. The rotor blade further defines a span and a chord. The rotor blade includes a skin layer that includes the exterior surfaces. The rotor blade assembly further includes a passive spoiler assembly operable to alter a flow past an exterior surface of the rotor blade. The spoiler assembly includes a spoiler feature movable between a non-deployed position and a deployed position. Movement of the spoiler feature from the non-deployed position to the deployed position is caused by a change in an applied force to the spoiler feature by the skin layer. Full Article
l Horizontal axis wind turbine apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A control apparatus C of a horizontal axis wind turbine apparatus WTG calculates the value en of a pitch angle command for each blade based on the rate of change ΨD of the azimuth angle Ψ of a Nacelle N and the rotor azimuth angle of the blades B1, B2 and B3, causes the rotor R to generated torque around the yaw axis by periodically controlling the angle change of the pitch angle of the blades B1, B2 and B3, and using that torque, controls the rate of change of the azimuth angle of the nacelle N. The value of that angle change is calculated as a value that increases as the inputted value of the rate of the change ΨD increases. Full Article
l Wind turbine rotor and method of calibrating rotor blade pitch By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A wind turbine rotor includes a hub with a rotor blade mounted to a bearing of the hub wherein the rotor blade has a longitudinal axis extending in a radial direction relative to an axis of rotation of the hub, and the rotor blade is rotatable about its longitudinal axis whereby the pitch of the rotor blade is adjustable. The rotor blade has a tag such as an RFID tag fixed on the rotor blade at a predetermined angular position about the longitudinal axis of the rotor blade; and a sensor is fixed on the hub for contactless sensing of the tag when the tag is in a predetermined angular position about the longitudinal axis of the rotor blade. Repeated and accurate calibration of rotor blade pitch is hereby made possible. Full Article
l Blade for a turbine operating in water By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A blade for use in water, the blade comprising an outer shell of fiber reinforced plastic defining a cavity. A substantial portion of the cavity is filled with a resin which adheres to the inner wall of the shell. Full Article
l Propulsion device using fluid flow By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A propulsion device using fluid flow quickly discharges the vortex flow generated on an upper surface of the propulsion device to the outside to improve the propulsion and thrust of transportation means provided with the propulsion device. For this purpose, the propulsion device includes a fluid storage unit in which a downwardly curved fluid storage surface is formed between a first inlet line and a first outlet line such that a fluid storage space is formed on the fluid storage surface. A fluid flow unit in which a downwardly curved fluid flow surface is formed between a second inlet line and a second outlet line which are outwardly and backwardly inclined such that a fluid flow space is formed on the fluid flow surface. The-fluid flow surface adjacent to the second outlet line becomes gradually flattened as it extends outwardly. Full Article
l Means for locking a sealing ring on a turbine disk By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A mechanism compressing a sealing ring of a cooling circuit of blades of a turbine engine against a turbine wheel supporting the blades, the wheel supporting on a downstream surface thereof an annular flange positioned radially and defining with the surface a groove configured to house the sealing ring. The flange includes at least two cut-outs on the edge thereof located opposite the bottom of the groove, to form windows for axial insertion in the groove for claws supported by the circumference of the ring facing the groove of the wheel. The mechanism includes a bolt tab configured to be positioned in the groove between the surface of the wheel and the ring, and a clamping shaped to be supported by the surface of the wheel and to engage with the bolt to ensure that the ring is compressed against the flange. Full Article
l Impeller of centrifugal compressor By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An impeller of a centrifugal includes, a plurality of full blades provided from the fluid inlet part to the fluid outlet part of the impeller; a plurality of splitter blades provided on the hub surface, wherein the geometry of a flow entering part of the splitter blade is compatible with the complicated flow inside the compressor so that the evenly distributed flow rate distribution, the increased pressure ratio and the enhanced efficiency are achieved. The leading edge blade angle θ in the tip end part of the flow entering front-end-part of the splitter blade 7 in the area of the higher height level from the hub surface is further inclined smoothly toward the blade suction surface side Sb of the full blade 5 in comparison with the inclination standard curve, the increased inclination angle becoming smoothly greater in response to the increase of the height level. Full Article
l Impeller By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A combined fan-compressor impeller comprises a single hub and a plurality of spaced main blades extending outwardly from the hub such that an air passage channel is defined between two of the main blades. Each of the main blades is a mixed flow blade which continuously extends from a fan section at an inlet end of a channel to a compressor section at an outlet end of the channel without any axial clearance between the fan section and the compressor section, providing aerodynamic matching of pressurized air flowing through the channel from the fan section to the compressor section. Full Article
l Rotating airfoil component with platform having a recessed surface region therein By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A rotating airfoil component of a turbomachine, in which the component has an airfoil aligned in a spanwise direction of the component, a shank, and a platform therebetween oriented transverse to the spanwise direction. The platform has an outer radial surface adjacent the airfoil, and at least one recessed region defined in its outer radial surface. The recessed region extends opposite the spanwise direction from a platform plane that contains portions of the outer radial surface that are upstream and downstream from the recessed region. The recessed region is contiguous with an end wall of the platform and extends therefrom toward the airfoil. The recessed region defines a surface shape whose boundary is contained by the platform plane, and has a profile shape that extends from the end wall toward the airfoil. The recessed region is sized and shaped to increase the stiffness of the platform. Full Article
l Axially-split radial turbines and methods for the manufacture thereof By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Embodiments of an axially-split radial turbine, as are embodiments of a method for manufacturing an axially-split radial turbine. In one embodiment, the method includes the steps of joining a forward bladed ring to a forward disk to produce a forward turbine rotor, fabricating an aft turbine rotor, and disposing the forward turbine rotor and the aft turbine rotor in an axially-abutting, rotationally-fixed relationship to produce the axially-split radial turbine. Full Article
l Wind turbines and wind turbine rotor blades with reduced radar cross sections By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Wind turbine rotor blades include a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge, a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length, and a resistive cellular support structure disposed at least partially about the wind turbine rotor blade that physically supports at least a portion of the wind turbine rotor blade and at least partially absorbs radar energy. Full Article
l Wind turbines and wind turbine rotor blades with reduced radar cross sections By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Wind turbine rotor blades with a reduced radar cross sections include a shell having a leading edge opposite a trailing edge, a structural support member that supports the shell and is disposed internal the wind turbine rotor blade between the leading edge and the trailing edge and extends for at least a portion of a rotor blade span length, wherein the structural support member comprises fiberglass, one or more cavities internal the wind turbine rotor blade, and a lightweight broadband radar absorbing filler material disposed in at least one of the one or more cavities to provide the reduced radar cross section. Full Article
l Turbomachine blade or vane having complementary asymmetrical geometry By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A turbomachine blade or vane is made of composite material including fiber reinforcement obtained by three-dimensional weaving of yarns and densified by a matrix. The blade or vane includes a first portion constituting at least an airfoil exhibiting two faces each connecting a leading edge to a trailing edge, the first portion forming a single part with at least one second portion present only on one of the faces of the airfoil, the second portion constituting a portion of at least one of the following elements: a flowpath delimiting outer portion of an inner platform, an inner portion of an inner platform, a flowpath delimiting inner portion of an outer platform, and an outer portion of an outer platform, the portions of the fiber reinforcement corresponding to the first and the second portions of the blade being at least partially mutually imbricated, with yarns of the first portion of the fiber reinforcement penetrating into the second portion of the fiber reinforcement. Full Article
l Propeller fan and air conditioner having the same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Provided is a propeller fan including a hub having an oval shape in an axial direction, a plurality of wings that extend from the hub, and at least one reinforcement rib that extends from the hub and is formed closer to a leading edge of each of the plurality of wings. Through this configuration, the propeller fan has blowing efficiency and stiffness, and the weight and material cost of the propeller fan can be reduced. Full Article
l Seal assembly including grooves in a radially outwardly facing side of a platform in a gas turbine engine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A seal assembly between a disc cavity and a turbine section hot gas path includes a stationary vane assembly and a rotating blade assembly downstream from the vane assembly and including a plurality of blades that are supported on a platform and rotate with a turbine rotor and the platform during operation of the engine. The platform includes a radially outwardly facing first surface, a radially inwardly facing second surface, a third surface, and a plurality of grooves extending into the third surface. The grooves are arranged such that a space is defined between adjacent grooves. During operation of the engine, the grooves guide purge air out of the disc cavity toward the hot gas path such that the purge air flows in a desired direction with reference to a direction of hot gas flow through the hot gas path. Full Article
l Control of wind turbine blade lift regulating means By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention involves a wind turbine comprising at least one blade (5) in turn comprising a blade body (501), lift-regulating means (502) adapted for movement in relation to the blade body (501) so as to regulate the lift of the blade, and load sensing means (5022, 506) for determining a load acting on the lift-regulating means (502), the wind turbine further comprising an actuation control unit (6) adapted to control the movement of the lift-regulating means (502) based on output from the load sensing means (5022, 506). In addition to output from the load sensing means (5022, 506), the actuation control unit (6) is adapted to control the movement of the lift-regulating means (502) based on the movement of the lift-regulating means (502). Full Article
l Propeller windmill for small-sized power generator By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Provided is a small-sized propeller windmill which can efficiently generate power even when a wing speed is low, has no possibility that the windmill is broken even when a strong wind blows, can stably ensure a weathercock direction of a base blade, and can suppress an environmental burden, in such a propeller windmill, the blade having a corrugated wing shape is supported in a cantilever manner by way of an elastic body, and the blade and the elastic body are made of paper or plastic. Further, to stably ensure the weathercock. direction of the base blade, a weathercock stabilizing mechanism is arranged behind the base blade. Full Article
l Wind turbine nacelle with cooler top By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to a wind turbine nacelle having a first face with a longitudinal extension in a wind direction, comprising a cooling device having a cooling area and extending from the first face of the nacelle, and a cover having at least one inner face, the cooling device being enclosed by the first face of the nacelle and the inner face of the cover. A first distance between at least one of the faces and the cooling area is at least 30 mm. Full Article
l Wind turbine nacelle with cooler top By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present invention relates to a wind turbine nacelle having a top face with a longitudinal extension in a wind direction, comprising a cooling device extending from the top face of the nacelle and a cover having at least one inner face. The cooling device is enclosed by the top face of the nacelle and the inner face of the cover. Full Article
l Turbine nozzle By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A nozzle arrangement for a gas turbine engine comprising a first housing member and a second housing member. The nozzle arrangement may further include a first nozzle and a second nozzle. Each of the first nozzle and second nozzle may extend between the first housing member and the second housing member so as to form a doublet. A plurality of cooling apertures may be arranged on at least one of the first nozzle, the second nozzle, the first housing member, or the second housing member so as to provide a different degree of first order cooling across the doublet. Full Article
l Trailing edge cooling using angled impingement on surface enhanced with cast chevron arrangements By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A gas turbine engine component, including: a pressure side (12) having an interior surface (34); a suction side (14) having an interior surface (36); a trailing edge portion (30); and a plurality of suction side and pressure side impingement orifices (24) disposed in the trailing edge portion (30). Each suction side impingement orifice is configured to direct an impingement jet (48) at an acute angle (52) onto a target area (60) that encompasses a tip (140) of a chevron (122) within a chevron arrangement (120) formed in the suction side interior surface. Each pressure side impingement orifice is configured to direct an impingement jet at an acute angle onto an elongated target area that encompasses a tip of a chevron within a chevron arrangement formed in the pressure side interior surface. Full Article
l Wind turbine blade By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The invention relates to a wind turbine blade with at least one control surface and an actuator inside the main body of the wind turbine blade for moving the control surface, wherein the actuator comprises a fluidic muscle, a controller and a pump, and wherein the fluidic muscle is adapted to change in length and width when the pressure of the fluid within the fluidic muscle is varied. Full Article
l Blade-pitch control system with feedback lever By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT The present application includes a blade-pitch control system for controlling a pitch angle of each of a plurality of blades on an aircraft rotor. A feedback lever associated with each blade is pivotally mounted to the rotating portion of a swashplate assembly. A pitch link connects an output arm of a lever to a pitch horn of a corresponding blade, and a feedback link connects the input arm of the lever to a yoke. Flapping motion of the yoke causes motion of the feedback link, and this motion causes corresponding rotation of the lever. Rotation of the lever causes motion of the pitch link, which changes the pitch angle of the attached blade. This provides for selected pitch-flap coupling between flapping motion of the yoke and pitch motion of the blades. Full Article
l Non-axisymmetric airfoil platform shaping By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Turbine blade assemblies of a turbine include airfoils that are mounted on bases. The leading and/or trailing edges of the bases are provided with curved portions. Likewise, curved portions may be provided on leading and/or trailing edges of the angle wings of a turbine blade assembly. Also, curved portions may be provided on the leading and/or trailing edges of nozzle assemblies of a turbine. Full Article
l Support ring for a rotary assembly By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A support ring for a rotary assembly such as a propeller assembly includes support cups for receiving blade roots of propeller blades. The support cups are interconnected by bridging structures. Each bridging structure includes bridging walls which extend radially from a bridging web. The bridging structures thus have a channel-shaped cross-section. The bridging walls have a scalloped configuration at their radially outer edges. As a result of this configuration, the neutral axes of the bridging structures are straight, so that the support ring behaves, in structural terms, as a polygon. Full Article
l Fan assemblies and methods for assembling same By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT In general terms, embodiments of the present invention relate to fan assemblies and methods for installing the same. For example, some embodiments of the present invention include a fan assembly that includes: (a) a rotational member; (b) a connection member structured for connection to the rotational member and including a body portion and a head portion; and (c) a blade arm defining an opening therein, such that the opening includes an open end portion and a closed end portion. In some embodiments, the connection member and the blade arm are configured such that, (a) when the blade arm is positioned in a support state, the head portion of the connection member rests against the blade arm to support the blade arm relative to the rotational member, and (b) when the blade arm is positioned in a secure state, the head portion of the connection member at least partially bears against the blade arm adjacent to the opening defined in the blade arm. Also, some of these embodiments of the present invention may be characterized as “easy install” fan assemblies because they include an “easy install” blade arm to motor connection, as described above, and/or an “easy install” blade arm to fan blade connection. Full Article
l Marine propeller structure By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A marine propeller has at least two blades each having a body, a vane and connection members that enable the blades to be fixed together. The blades are formed with a one-piece vane and the bodies are attached to one another and with the bodies form the central hub of the propeller that may be fitted on a ship's shaft after mounting. Full Article
l Retention device for a composite blade of a gas turbine engine By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A liner for a composite blade of a gas turbine engine includes a metallic shoe, operable substantially to encase a blade root of a composite blade and defining an inner surface and an outer surface. The liner also includes a retention lug formed on the shoe and has inner and outer keys that project from opposed portions of the inner and outer surfaces. The keys engage corresponding recesses on a dovetail slot and a blade root to resist axial displacement of the composite blade. Full Article
l Winglet for a wind turbine rotor blade By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A winglet for a rotor blade is disclosed. The winglet may generally include a winglet body extending between a first end and a second end. The winglet body may define a sweep and may have a curvature defined by a curve fit including a first radius of curvature and a second radius of curvature. The sweep between the first end and the second end may range from about 580 millimeters to about 970 millimeters. Additionally, the first radius of curvature may range from about 1500 millimeters to about 2500 millimeters and the second radius of curvature may range from about 1200 millimeters to about 2000 millimeters. Full Article
l Wind turbine blade and method for manufacturing a wind turbine blade with vortex generators By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A wind turbine for generating electrical energy may include a wind turbine blade including a plurality of vortex generators integrally formed in the outer surface of the blade. The vortex generator includes a first component that defines a portion of the outer surface of the blade and a second component defining the shape of the vortex generator and at least partially surrounded by the first component. A method of manufacturing the wind turbine blade includes disposing a first plurality of layers of structural material over a mold main body and a removable insert member with a shaped cavity. A shaped plug is then pressed into the shaped cavity, and a second plurality of layers of structural material is disposed over the plug and the mold main body to complete manufacture of a wind turbine blade with a vortex generator. Full Article
l Blade skirt By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A blade of a gas turbine engine is provided having an airfoil, a platform, a shank, a dovetail, and a skirt. The airfoil may extend distally from the platform, and the shank may extend proximally from the platform. The dovetail may also be provided to extend proximally from the shank. The skirt may be disposed on an aft side of the shank and may extend from the shank in a direction at least partially axially aft from the shank. Full Article
l Wind turbine blade with lightning protection system By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 26 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A wind turbine blade with a lightning protection for a blade with a shell body has at least one lightning receptor arranged freely accessible in or on a surface of the shell body surface, and a lightning down conductor electrically connected to the lightning receptor and comprising an inner conductor made of electrically conductive material imbedded in a bedding insulation made of an electrically non-conductive material. The lightning down conductor further includes a first conductive layer having a resistance in the range of 10 to 10,000 Mega Ohm per meter (MΩ/m). The first conductive layer is located in a transverse distance from the inner conductor and being electrically isolated from the inner conductor. Full Article
l Cooled turbine blade and method for cooling a turbine blade By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 08 Sep 2015 08:00:00 EDT A cooled turbine blade comprises a root for fixing the blade to rotor, an airfoil extending along a radial axis from the root, and a tip shroud disposed at a radially outward end of the airfoil. The tip shroud extends in a circumferential direction from the airfoil and defines, within itself, a core plenum and a peripheral plenum. The airfoil defines an aft airfoil cooling passage that extends radially through the airfoil proximate a trailing edge portion of the airfoil. The airfoil also defines an aft cooling inlet for providing an aft stream of cooling fluid to the aft airfoil cooling passage. The airfoil also defines at least one aft cooling exit for discharging the aft stream of cooling fluid from the aft airflow cooling passage to the peripheral plenum. The tip shroud defines at least one peripheral plenum vent for discharging the aft stream of cooling fluid. Full Article
l Chemical liquid injector and CT apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 12 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Chemical liquid injector 100 includes two piston driving mechanisms 130 each moving a piston of a syringe forward, main injection condition determining section 171 determining injection conditions for a chemical liquid in main injection, test injection condition determining section 172 determining injection conditions for the chemical liquid in test injection performed prior to the main injection to inject a smaller injection amount of the chemical liquid than that in the main injection, and control section 161 creating an injection protocol in accordance with the injection conditions determined by test injection condition determining section 171 and main injection condition determining section 172 such that the chemical liquid is injected in a series of operations in which the test injection is performed, then a preset injection suspension time is present, and subsequently the main injection is performed, and further controlling operation of piston driving mechanisms 130 in accordance with the injection protocol. Full Article
l Arc-shaped medical imaging equipment By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT Medical imaging equipment is provided. The medical imaging equipment comprises a support assembly, an arc-shaped member slidably mounted on the support assembly, a radiation source mounted on the arc-shaped member in the vicinity of a first distal end of the arc-shaped member and being oriented to radiate along the direction of an imaging axis, and a detector mounted on the arc-shaped member in the vicinity of the second distal end of the arc-shaped member and being oriented to face the source along the imaging axis, wherein the radiation source and the detector are respectively mounted on one side and the other of the mid plane of the arc-shaped member. Full Article
l Medical imaging system for accurate measurement evaluation of changes By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system and method for nodule boundary visualization superimposed on a scan image, including generating phantom image measurements of at least one synthetic calibration object in relation to a body to calibrate a scanner; acquiring a first image of a nodule on the calibrated scanner; computing and marking a boundary on the image; displaying the first image with the boundary superimposed over the first image; presenting the initial boundary to a user for modification where the user can add one or more modification points to the image to create a modified boundary that is encompassed by the one or more modification points; once the user has marked the one or more modification points on the image, computing an updated boundary that adapts to include the new points. Full Article
l Spatial derivative-based ray tracing for volume rendering By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A machine-implemented display method that, with respect to a volume dataset being rendered, enables a user to navigate to any position in space and look in any direction. Preferably, the volume dataset is derived from a computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. With the described approach, the user can see details within the dataset that are not available using conventional visualization approaches. The freedom-of-motion capability allows the user to go to places (positions) within the volume rendering that are not otherwise possible using conventional “orbit” and “zoom” display techniques. Thus, for example, using the described approach, the display image enables a user to travel inside physical structures (e.g., a patient's heart, brain, arteries, and the like). Full Article
l System and method for denoising medical images adaptive to local noise By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A system and method is provided for estimating the local noise of CT images and denoising the images using a modified non-local means (NLM) algorithm that is adaptive to local variations of noise levels. A strategy for efficiently estimating the local noise of CT images is also described. Full Article
l Mirror for the EUV wavelength range, projection objective for microlithography comprising such a mirror, and projection exposure apparatus for microlithography comprising such a projection objective By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A mirror for the EUV wavelength range (1) having a layer arrangement (P) applied on a substrate (S), the layer arrangement having a periodic sequence of individual layers, where the periodic sequence has at least two individual layers—forming a period—composed respectively of silicon (Si) and ruthenium (Ru). Also disclosed are a projection objective for microlithography (2) including such a mirror, and a projection exposure apparatus for microlithography having such a projection objective (2). Full Article
l Method for X-ray phase contrast and dark-field imaging using an arrangement of gratings in planar geometry By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT An X-ray arrangement is suitable to record absorption, phase contrast, and dark field images of an object. The visibility of low absorbing specimens is improved and required radiation dose is reduced. The assembly includes an X-ray source; two or more gratings; a position-sensitive detector with spatially modulated detection sensitivity; a recorder for recording the images; an evaluator for evaluating the intensities for each pixel to identify the characteristic of the object for each individual pixel as an absorption and/or a differential phase contrast and/or an x-ray scattering dominated pixel. Images are collected by rotating from 0 to n or 2n either the sample or the assembly. The gratings are produced with planar geometry. The X-rays pass through the gratings parallel to the substrate. The grating structures extend along the X-ray path which determines the phase shift. The attenuation of the X-rays caused by the grating structures is no longer given by the thickness, but by the length of the grating structures. Full Article
l Press plate and radiographic imaging apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A press plate that includes: a plate shaped press portion that is capable of resilient deformation; a first slit that is provided to a first wall portion of a support body with length direction along a first edge portion of the press portion, and that penetrates the first wall portion; second slits that are provided to a second wall portions of the support body with length direction along second edge portions of the press portion, and that penetrate the second wall portions; and a first corner portion slit that is provided straddling a corner portion between the first wall portion and the second wall portion and penetrating the corner portion, that is connected to the first slit, and that is disposed at a separation to the second slit. Full Article
l Medical image processing apparatus By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A medical image processing apparatus according to an embodiment includes: an imaging unit configured to image an affected area in two directions using X-rays; a fluoroscopic image generating unit configured to generate two X-ray fluoroscopic images corresponding to the two directions, on a basis of imaging signals outputted from the imaging unit; a rendering image generating unit configured to project the affected area contained in three-dimensional image data acquired in advance, in two directions according to a same X-ray geometry as that used for imaging the X-ray fluoroscopic images, to thereby generate two affected area rendering images; and an image combining unit configured to combine the X-ray fluoroscopic images with the affected area rendering images for each corresponding direction, to thereby generate combined parallax images in two parallax directions corresponding to the two directions, and to output the two generated combined parallax images to a 3D display apparatus. Full Article
l System and method for measuring the thickness of a zinc layer on steel and for measuring the iron concentration in a zinc layer By www.freepatentsonline.com Published On :: Tue, 19 May 2015 08:00:00 EDT A Compton radiation detection device for determining of Compton radiation of iron, includes a sensor and a filter arrangement. The filter arrangement is adapted such that the radiation emitted by a test object due to Compton scattering passes a nickel layer and an iron layer before being detected by the sensor. A dispersive ionization chamber includes an ionization chamber having a plurality off ionization volumes and a window. Each ionization volume includes an electrode. Radiation can enter through the window. The ionization volumes are arranged in a beam propagation direction behind each other. Radiation having lower energy is statistically absorbed in ionization volumes located more proximal to the window. Radiation having higher energy is statistically absorbed in the ionization volumes located more distal from the window. Full Article