| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080282707 | Cryocooler with moving piston and moving cylinder - A thermal-cycle cryocooler, such as a Stirling-cycle cryocooler, has a single working volume that is utilized by both the compressor and the displacer. The compressor and the displacer have respective movable parts, one of which is surrounded by the other. One of the parts may be a piston, a portion of which moves within a central bore or opening in a cylinder that is the other movable part. The piston may be a component of the compressor and the cylinder may be a component of the displacer, or vice versa. The working volume is located in part in a bore of the cylinder, between the piston and a regenerator that is coupled to the cylinder. Movements of either the piston or the cylinder can directly (i.e. without the use of a gas transfer line or flow passage) cause compression or expansion of the working gas in the working volume. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080288206 | Noncontinuous resonant position feedback system - A system and method for sensing position of an oscillating moving element. The inventive position sensor includes a first arrangement for sampling the position of the element at first positions thereof and providing samples in response thereto and a second arrangement for calculating other positions of the element using the sample of the first position. In the illustrative application, the first arrangement includes an LED and a photodiode and the moving element is a piston of a long-life cryogenic cooler. A processor receives samples from the photodiode and solves an equation of motion therefor. The equation of motion is P(t)=A·sin(ωt+θ)+B, where P(t)=the position of the element; A=position waveform amplitude; B=position waveform DC Offset; ω=angular frequency of operation; t=time; and θ=position waveform phase. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20090107150 | Inertance tube and surge volume for pulse tube refrigerator - An inertance tube and a surge volume for a pulse tube refrigerator system may be integrally coupled together, such as by the inertance tube being at least in part a channel in a wall of the surge volume. The surge volume may have a helical channel in an outer wall that forms part of the inertance tube. The surge volume tank may be surrounded by a cover that closes off the channel to form the inertance tube as an integral part of the surge volume. The inertance tube may have a non-circular cross section shape, such as a square shape or non-square rectangular shape. The channel may be tapered, perhaps changing aspect ratio. Alternatively, the inertance tube may be a separate tube having a non-circular shape, which may be wrapped around at least part of the surge volume. | 04-30-2009 |
| 20100037639 | Monitoring The Health Of A Cryocooler - According to certain embodiments, monitoring the health of a cryocooler includes monitoring physical properties of the cryocooler to obtain failure precursor parameters that indicate cryocooler health. A health fingerprint of the cryocooler is accessed. The health fingerprint associates the failure precursor parameters with a health level of the cryocooler. The health of the cryocooler is estimated in accordance with the health level. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100313577 | HIGH EFFICIENCY COMPACT LINEAR CRYOCOOLER - A method of removing heat due to compression of a working gas from a linear cryocooler is disclosed. The cryocooler includes a sealed housing, a displacer including a displacer piston and a displacer cylinder, and a compressor all arranged within the housing. The compressor includes a compressor piston that is movable within a compression chamber. The method includes providing a port in the compression chamber to remove heat from the compression chamber due to the compression of the working gas to the housing prior to entering the displacer piston. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20110000228 | HYBRID CRYOCOOLER WITH MULTIPLE PASSIVE STAGES - A multi-stage cryocooler has three or more stages, including an active first stage and passive second and third stages. The active stage may include a Stirling expander, and the passive second and third stages may be pulse tube coolers. The cryocooler may provide cooling at three different temperatures. The coldest cooling temperature may be at or below 10 K, and may be at or below 5 K. The system may provide cooling at such low temperatures while still operating at a relatively high frequency, for example, at a frequency of at least about 20 Hertz. | 01-06-2011 |
