Patent application number | Description | Published |
20100308689 | TRANSDUCER - A multistage flextensional transducer includes at least one inner elongate driver member within and mechanically coupled to an inner shell that is nested within an outer shell; the inner shell comprising a pair of contact portions abutting the driver member and a pair of transmission portions on opposite sides of the inner shell between the contact portions; the outer shell being arranged so that the transmission portions act as bridging driver members between the said inner and outer shells, flexure of the outer shell being driven, on actuation of the transducer, by movement of the bridging driver members. The transducer may act as a push or pull actuator or sensor, may magnify displacement and may employ smart materials as driver members. Also cylindrical modules containing thin flextensional actuators may provide axial displacement in a downhole environment and may move a device axially along a downhole pipe or close a valve opening or inch along the pipe. | 12-09-2010 |
20100320870 | TEMPERATURE COMPENSATING FLEXTENSIONAL TRANSDUCER - A flextensional transducer that can be stored at room temperature and activated and operated at an elevated temperature in excess of 200° C., comprises (i) an elongate driver, (ii) a flextensional housing shell containing the elongate driver, comprising a pair of contact portions located on opposite sides of the housing shell and in mechanical contact with the ends of the driver, and having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from that of the driver, and (iii) thermal compensating members; the flextensional housing shell moving by flexing on actuation, the thermal compensating members being located in, or on, parts of the housing shell that move on actuation, and comprising a material having a different coefficient of thermal expansion from that of surrounding parts of the housing shell, such that as the temperature increases up to the said elevated temperature the thermal compensating members expand more or less than the said surrounding parts of the housing shell, causing the housing shell to flex so as to urge the contact portions of the housing shell towards each other to compensate for the greater thermal expansion of the housing relative to that of the driver member. | 12-23-2010 |
20120217845 | TRANSDUCER - A multistage flextensional transducer includes at least one inner elongate driver member within and mechanically coupled to an inner shell that is nested within an outer shell; the inner shell comprising a pair of contact portions abutting the driver member and a pair of transmission portions on opposite sides of the inner shell between the contact portions; the outer shell being arranged so that the transmission portions act as bridging driver members between the said inner and outer shells, flexure of the outer shell being driven, on actuation of the transducer, by movement of the bridging driver members. The transducer may act as a push or pull actuator or sensor, may magnify displacement and may employ smart materials as driver members. Also cylindrical modules containing thin flextensional actuators may provide axial displacement in a downhole environment and may move a device axially along a downhole pipe or close a valve opening or inch along the pipe. | 08-30-2012 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090106149 | GLOBAL COMPLIANCE PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR A MONEY TRANSFER SYSTEM - A money transfer system generally includes a rules database, a customer database, a transaction processing system, and an administrator port. The rules database includes information representative of transaction rules. The transaction rules include transaction type-based rules, point of entry-based rules, customer-based rules, and transaction location-based rules. At least some of the transaction rules include an aggregation threshold. The customer database includes information representative of customers' transaction histories. The transaction processing system is connected to the rules database and customer database and generally includes point of entry ports, a customer identifier, a rules coordinator, an aggregation engine, and a transaction rules service. The point of entry ports receive transaction requests from points of entry and provide transaction responses to the points of entry. Based on information received in transaction requests, the customer identifier identifies customers and the rules coordinator determines applicable transaction rules. The aggregation engine determines aggregation values as a function of customers' transaction histories. The transaction rules service determines whether information received in the transaction requests meets the applicable transaction rules, generates transaction responses requesting additional information if additional information is needed to meet the applicable transaction rules, causes the aggregation engine to determine aggregation values if the applicable transaction rules include aggregation thresholds, generates transaction responses, and updates the customer database as a function of the transaction responses. Transaction responses authorizing transactions are generated if the information received in the transaction requests, including any information received in response to additional information requests and any aggregation values, meet the applicable transaction rules. Transaction responses denying transactions are generated if the information received in the transaction requests, including any information received in response to additional information requests and any aggregation values, do not meet the applicable transaction rules. The administrator port communicates rule update information and the transaction processing system updates the rules database as a function of the rule update information. | 04-23-2009 |
20110282790 | GLOBAL COMPLIANCE PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR A MONEY TRANSFER SYSTEM - An improved money transfer system includes a rules database, a customer database, and a transaction processing system. The rules database includes information representative of transaction rules, at least some of which include an aggregation threshold. The customer database includes information representative of customers' transaction histories. The transaction processing system is connected to the rules database and customer database and includes point of entry ports, a customer identifier, a rules coordinator, an aggregation engine, and a transaction rules service. The point of entry ports receive transaction requests from points of entry and provide transaction responses to the points of entry. Based on information received in transaction requests, the customer identifier identifies customers and the rules coordinator determines applicable transaction rules. The aggregation engine determines aggregation values as a function of customers' transaction histories. The transaction rules service determines whether information received in the transaction requests meets the applicable transaction rules and causes the aggregation engine to determine aggregation values if the applicable transaction rules include aggregation thresholds. The transaction rules service generates transaction responses based upon the information received in the transaction requests along with any information received in response to any requests for additional information and any aggregation values, and updates the customer database as a function of the transaction. | 11-17-2011 |
20130325720 | GLOBAL COMPLIANCE PROCESSING SYSTEM FOR A MONEY TRANSFER SYSTEM - An improved money transfer system. A rules database includes transaction rules that include an aggregation threshold. A customer database includes customers' transaction histories. A processing system receives transaction requests from points of entry and provides transaction responses. Based on information received in transaction requests, the processing system identifies customers and determines applicable transaction rules. An aggregation engine determines aggregation values as a function of customers' transaction histories. A transaction rules service determines whether information received in the transaction requests meets the applicable transaction rules and causes the aggregation engine to determine aggregation values if the applicable transaction rules include aggregation thresholds. Transaction responses are generated by the processing system in response to any aggregation values and other information. | 12-05-2013 |
Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090082657 | INTELLIGENT HELIUM COMPRESSOR - A magnetic resonance imaging system has a superconducting magnet contained within a cryostat, the cryostat being cooled by a cooling system that includes a healing and compressor, a refrigeration device and a local supervisory system. The helium compressor provides compressed helium to the refrigeration device, and the local supervisory system controls operation of the refrigeration device. The helium compressor is in communication with the local supervisory system, and also is able to communicate, independently of the local supervisory system, with a remote service provider. | 03-26-2009 |
20090096452 | HELIUM COMPRESSOR WITH CONTROL FOR REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION - A magnetic resonance imaging system has a superconducting magnet housed within a cryostat, a cryogenic refrigerator that cools within the cryostat, a helium compressor that supplies compressed helium to the cryogenic refrigerator and to receive a return flow of compressed helium from the refrigerator, and a magnet supervisory system controlling operation of the magnet resonance imaging system. An apparatus is provided for controlling the speed and/or timing of operation of the helium compressor in accordance with predefined algorithms in response to system state data. | 04-16-2009 |
20090200905 | Panel Mounted Equipment, Cables and Conduits - In a method and apparatus for mounting and retention of ancillary equipment to cover panels of a magnetic field generator of a magnetic resonance imaging system having a cryogenic refrigerator and/or liquid cryogen housed within at least an outer vacuum container, ancillary equipment, cables and conduits are attached to the magnetic field generator, by integrating the electronic assemblies, cables and conduits into a set of modular covers which are connected to each other on installation. The covers may be mechanically mounted directly to the OVC, enabling them to be quickly fitted either in the factory or on the user's site. | 08-13-2009 |
20100041976 | CRYOSTAT FOR REDUCED CRYOGEN CONSUMPTION - A cryostat has a cryogen vessel retained within an outer vacuum container, a thermally insulating jacket surrounding the outer vacuum container and insulating it from ambient temperature. | 02-18-2010 |
20100192359 | Method of Attaching Magnet Assembly to Helium Vessel - A method for assembling a cylindrical magnet assembly to a bore tube, wherein the cylindrical magnet assembly comprises at least one coil mounted on a former, comprising the steps of providing a cavity in the former at selected locations;
| 08-05-2010 |
20100226058 | Method for Progressively Introducing Current into a Superconducting Coil Mounted on a Former - A method for progressively introducing current into, or removing current from, a superconducting coil mounted on a former, in which the coil vibrates relative to the former. | 09-09-2010 |
20130009734 | Method for Assembling a Cylindrical Magnet Assembly to a Bore Tube - A tool for assembling a cylindrical magnet assembly to a bore tube and a resulting assembly. The cylindrical magnet assembly includes at least one coil mounted on a former. A cavity is provided in the former at selected locations. At each of the selected locations, the material of the bore tube is deformed to form a radially-directed protrusion. Each protrusion is brought to bear against a periphery of each corresponding cavity. | 01-10-2013 |
20130176090 | SOLENOIDAL MAGNETS COMPOSED OF MULTIPLE AXIALLY ALIGNED COILS - A magnet assembly has a number of axially-aligned coils, the radial mid-point of each coil being axially-aligned with a portion of a radial extent of an adjacent coil in the assembly. Compression blocks are provided between adjacent coils at circumferential intervals, to retain the coils in fixed relative positions. | 07-11-2013 |
20130293326 | Assembly - A cylindrical magnet assembly has at least one coil mounted on a former, assembled to a bore tube by a number of inserts within holes formed in a material of the former. Each insert can bear on a dished radially outer extremity of a radially-outwardly directed protrusion or each insert can bear on a radially outer concave surface of a radially-inwardly directed protrusion. | 11-07-2013 |
20150099639 | SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNET APPARATUS WITH CRYOGEN VESSEL - In a superconducting magnet apparatus, at least one superconducting winding and an outer vacuum chamber are provided. A thermal radiation shield is located between the superconducting winding and the outer vacuum chamber. A cryogen vessel is positioned within the thermal radiation shield and within the outer vacuum chamber. The superconducting winding is positioned outside of the cryogen vessel. A refrigerator is operable to cool the cryogen vessel to a liquid cryogen temperature and to cool the at least one thermal radiation shield to an intermediate temperature between the liquid cryogen temperature and a temperature of the outer vacuum chamber. A substantial portion of an outer surface of the cryogen vessel has a thermal emissivity at the liquid cryogen temperature which is greater than an average surface emissivity of the superconducting winding by at least 0.1. | 04-09-2015 |