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Ketcham, US

David P. Ketcham, Charlotte, NC US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20080205577Systems for aligning and handling fuel rods within a nuclear fuel bundle - In a spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant, there is provided a system for aligning a nuclear fuel bundle and handling selected fuel rods within the fuel bundle. The bundle includes water rods, full-length and part-length fuel rods extending through a plurality of fuel spacers provided between top and bottom ends of the bundle, each spacer having a plurality of cells accommodating corresponding fuel and water rods. The system includes a bundle alignment system for aligning the fuel rods and water rods, a rod grapple tool to extract selected part-length rods from the bundle, and a fuel rod guide block slidable onto the top end of the bundle for protecting an uppermost fuel spacer of the bundle, and for aligning fuel rods within individual cells of all the fuel spacers in the fuel bundle08-28-2008
20100232564SYSTEMS FOR ALIGNING AND HANDLING FUEL RODS WITHIN A NUCLEAR FUEL BUNDLE - In a spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant, there is provided a system for aligning a nuclear fuel bundle and handling selected fuel rods within the fuel bundle. The bundle includes water rods, full-length and part-length fuel rods extending through a plurality of fuel spacers provided between top and bottom ends of the bundle, each spacer having a plurality of cells accommodating corresponding fuel and water rods. The system includes a bundle alignment system for aligning the fuel rods and water rods, a rod grapple tool to extract selected part-length rods from the bundle, and a fuel rod guide block slidable onto the top end of the bundle for protecting an uppermost fuel spacer of the bundle, and for aligning fuel rods within individual cells of all the fuel spacers in the fuel bundle.09-16-2010
20100246742SYSTEM FOR ASSEMBLING OR DISASSEMBLING A SEGMENTED ROD - An embodiment of the present invention takes the form of a system that allows for simultaneously assembling or disassembling multiple segmented nuclear fuel rods (hereinafter “segmented rods”). An embodiment of the present invention, may receive, secure, and move the segmented rods into a position that allows for performing the tasks of either assembly or disassembly, allowing for an operator to use a tool to complete the aforementioned tasks.09-30-2010
20110069802CONTROL ROD DRIVE OUTER FILTER REMOVAL TOOL - An outer filter removal tool for a boiling water reactor control rod drive that uses a mechanical advantage obtained through the use of lead screw threads to pull the outer filter off of the control rod drive. Fingers on the tool are closed around the upper flange of the outer filter by sliding a collar over the outwardly biased fingers. A shaft extending through the tool is rotated which in turn extends a push plate against the control rod drive index tube causing the fingers to pull against the upper flange on the outer filter until the filter is freed from the control rod drive. The tool will hold the filter in place until affirmatively released for proper disposal.03-24-2011
20110219609UNDER VESSEL LOCAL POWER RANGE MONITOR EXCHANGE TOOL - A tool for use in servicing an LPRM assembly of a nuclear reactor vessel includes a structural member having a first bore that is structured to receive an LPRM device associated with the LPRM assembly, a headpiece provided at a first end of the structural member, and a nut engaging assembly slideably mounted on the structural member. The headpiece has a plurality of projections structured to mate with a plurality of bores provided in a seal of the LPRM assembly to enable the seal to be removed, and the nut engaging assembly has a housing that defines a second bore and that has first and second nut engaging portions. The nut engaging assembly is free to slide along the structural member and over the headpiece to a position wherein the engaging portions extend beyond the headpiece so that they may be used to remove the assembly nut.09-15-2011
20110274231DUAL DRIVE WINCH AND NUCLEAR REACTOR VESSEL MAINTENANCE APPARATUS EMPLOYING SAME - A dual drive winch having a drive assembly having a first shaft that is selectively movable between a first engaged position and a first disengaged position, and a second shaft that is selectively movable between a second engaged position and a second disengaged position. When the first shaft is in the first engaged position and the second shaft is in the second engaged position simultaneously, rotation of either the first shaft or the second shaft will, through a coupling mechanism, cause rotation of the other of the first shaft and the second shaft.11-10-2011
20120039428METHOD FOR ALIGNING AND HANDLING FUEL RODS WITHIN A NUCLEAR FUEL BUNDLE - A method of aligning a nuclear fuel bundle and handling selected fuel rods within the fuel bundle located in a spent fuel pool of a nuclear power plant. The bundle includes water rods, full-length and part-length fuel rods extending through a plurality of fuel spacers provided between top and bottom ends of the bundle, each spacer having a plurality of cells accommodating corresponding fuel and water rods. The method includes insertion of a rod grapple tool into a top end of a fuel bundle and down to a desired location within the bundle. A guide pin retrieval tool inserts into a side of the fuel bundle to remove a guide pin from a distal end of a gripper of the rod grapple tool, allowing the guide pin retrieval tool to grip a part-length fuel rod within the fuel bundle.02-16-2012
20120069947SYSTEM FOR EXCHANGING A COMPONENT OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR - A system for installing or removing a component of a nuclear reactor, such as a CRDM, includes a riser apparatus having a lift assembly structured to hold and support the component and a first drive assembly coupled to the lift assembly and structured to selectively move the lift assembly and the component along a length of the riser apparatus, and a transition cart movable along an under vessel area of the nuclear reactor and having a pivot mechanism, wherein the riser apparatus is selectively engageable with the pivot mechanism and the pivot mechanism is structured to selectively rotate the riser apparatus from a horizontal position to a vertical position. The riser apparatus may also include a second drive assembly structured to selectively move the riser apparatus relative to the transition cart in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis of the riser apparatus.03-22-2012

Patent applications by David P. Ketcham, Charlotte, NC US

James Ketcham, Shelbyville, KY US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20110184813TARGETING OFFERS TO USERS OF A WEB SITE - A computer system for targeting offers to users of a web site comprises a memory and a processing circuit. The memory is configured to store a plurality of user attributes for a user and a plurality of rules defining when an offer is to be presented to a user. The processing circuit is configured to transmit a web page to a client device, to receive user interaction data from the client device representing interaction with the web page, to update the user attributes stored in memory in response to the received user interaction data, to determine whether the updated user attributes satisfy a rule, and based on whether the updated user attributes meet the rule to transmit an offer to the client device for display on the web page or a next web page.07-28-2011

James Ketcham, Malibu, CA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090231492SMART SLATE - Techniques used for movie, video, or television production, including: generating production information about recorded data of one of: (1) audio sequence; (2) video sequence; and (3) audio and video sequences; tagging the generated production information with timing information; displaying the generated production information on a display; recording the tagged production information, wherein a clapstick of a slate is used to initiate the recording automatically; and associating the tagged production information with corresponding recorded data.09-17-2009
20100158473CAMERA EVENT LOGGER - A camera event logger device coupled to a motion picture camera, including: a data port configured to receive control signals to manage the logger device including a particular receive frequency; a radio-frequency receiver configured to receive time signal of the particular receive frequency to enable fine adjustment of a timecode; a timecode manager including a plurality of timecode readers and at least one timecode generator, a first timecode reader of the plurality of timecode readers configured to receive the time signal from the radio-frequency receiver and make the time signal available to the at least one timecode generator, wherein the at least one timecode generator is configured to generate the timecode by conditioning the time signal, the timecode manager configured to receive camera timecode from the motion picture camera, and to send back adjusted camera timecode adjusted in accordance with the conditioned timecode; a processor configured to receive camera status information from the motion picture camera and the conditioned timecode from the timecode manager, wherein the camera status information is tagged with the conditioned timecode and processed to generate metadata files; and a storage unit configured to store the metadata files. Keywords include logger, timecode, and slate.06-24-2010
20110249128CAMERA EVENT LOGGER - A camera event logger device coupled to a motion picture camera, including: a data port configured to receive control signals to manage the logger device including a particular receive frequency; a radio-frequency receiver configured to receive time signal of the particular receive frequency to enable fine adjustment of a timecode; a timecode manager including a plurality of timecode readers and at least one timecode generator, a first timecode reader of the plurality of timecode readers configured to receive the time signal from the radio-frequency receiver and make the time signal available to the at least one timecode generator, wherein the at least one timecode generator is configured to generate the timecode by conditioning the time signal, the timecode manager configured to receive camera timecode from the motion picture camera, and to send back adjusted camera timecode adjusted in accordance with the conditioned timecode; a processor configured to receive camera status information from the motion picture camera and the conditioned timecode from the timecode manager, wherein the camera status information is tagged with the conditioned timecode and processed to generate metadata files; and a storage unit configured to store the metadata files. Keywords include logger, timecode, and slate.10-13-2011

Patent applications by James Ketcham, Malibu, CA US

James R. Ketcham, Salt Point, NY US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100132253FUEL ADDITIVES AND FUEL COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR MAKING AND USING THE SAME - The present invention provides friction-modifying fuel additives and fuel compositions including an alkanolamine, which are effective for enhancing engine performance wherein the additive is free of esters or the ratio of amides to esters is greater than 1.4 to 1 and methods for making and using the same.06-03-2010
20110290207SYSTEM FOR ENHANCING THE FUEL ECONOMY OF A DIESEL ENGINE - Methods and system for enhancing the fuel economy of a diesel engine is disclosed. The system is useable in a four stroke diesel engine to allow a first injection step to be performed whereby fuel is injected into the cylinders of a diesel engine to initiate combustion of the fuel within the cylinder. A second injection step then occurs, whereby an additive is injected into the cylinder, during the cycle but at a time different than the first injection step wherein the additive reaches the cylinder wall. The additive, which reaches the cylinder wall, provides friction modification and fuel economy benefits for a diesel engine.12-01-2011

James S. Ketcham, Garner, NC US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20120255186Door Frame Tool - Apparatuses and methods are provided for squaring, positioning, and leveling a door frame. The apparatus comprises a generally rectangular body, at least two magnets, and at least one leveling device. The method generally comprises positioning the apparatus of the invention in the center of where a doorway will be placed, contacting the vertical sides of the door frame with the apparatus such that each of the magnets on the apparatus is in magnetic contact with a vertical side of the door frame, and using the apparatus to correctly square, level, and set the door frame.10-11-2012

Rich Ketcham, Ames, IA US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20100089178Corn Stalk strength measuring device - An apparatus for measuring stalk strength of a plant is disclosed. A force sensor is mounted to a harvester in a position to measure the resistance to crushing of the plant stalk by a stalk roll of the harvester. The apparatus may include a pair of counter rotating stalk rolls that pull and crush the plant stalk between them and a pair of stain gauges attached on either side of a mounting apparatus of the stalk rolls to sense both the tension and compression forces induced in the mounting apparatus by each of the rolls in response to the resistance to crushing of the plant stalk. Data collected by the invention can be advantageously used in a breeding program wherein breeding decisions are made based at least in part on stalk strength.04-15-2010

Thomas D. Ketcham, Horseheads, NY US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20120006059ALUMINA ISOPIPES FOR USE WITH TIN-CONTAINING GLASSES01-12-2012
20120180528HIGH STATIC FATIGUE ALUMINA ISOPIPES07-19-2012

Thomas Dale Ketcham, Horsehesds, NY US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20110198785Methods and Appartus for Casting Ceramic Sheets - A method for making a thin, free-standing ceramic sheet may include drawing a carrier film proximate a casting head and across a casting bed of a tape caster at a rate from about 2 cm/min to about 500 cm/min. Depositing a thin film of ceramic slip less than about 150 μm on the carrier film with the casting head. The ceramic slip may comprises a ceramic powder with an ultimate crystallite size of less than about 10 μm dispersed in a fluid vehicle such that the ceramic slip has a ceramic solids fraction of greater than about 20% by volume. The deposited ceramic slip may be dried on the carrier film thereby forming a green ceramic sheet on the carrier film. After the green ceramic sheet is dried, the green ceramic sheet may be sintered.08-18-2011

Thomas Dale Ketcham, Big Flats, NY US

Patent application numberDescriptionPublished
20090081512Micromachined electrolyte sheet, fuel cell devices utilizing such, and micromachining method for making fuel cell devices - A sintered electrolyte sheet comprising: a body of no more than 45 μm thick and laser machined features with at least one edge surface having at least 10% ablation. A method of micromachining the electrolyte sheet includes the steps of: (i) supporting a sintered electrolyte sheet; (ii) micromachining said sheet with a laser, wherein said laser has a wavelength of less than 2 μm, fluence of less than 200 Joules/cm03-26-2009
20100126133Coated Particulate Filter And Method - A particulate filter is provided having a filter body with at least one porous wall, and a porous coating on the wall, the coating having a median pore diameter less than 20 microns and a coating pore size deviation of less than 3 times the coating median pore diameter, and the coating having an average thickness of less than 50 microns. A method of manufacturing a particulate filter is also disclosed which includes providing a filter body with at least one porous wall, and depositing particles onto the wall, the particles having a mean particle diameter of less than about 30 microns.05-27-2010
20100140330Conductive Coatings, Sealing Materials and Devices Utilizing Such Materials and Method of Making - According to one embodiment t of the present invention a method of manufacturing metal-to-ceramic seals comprising the steps of: (a) providing a ferric stainless steel part selected from the group consisting of high temperature stainless steels and high temperature superalloy; (b) providing a ceramic part; (c) providing a braze material in between the ferric stainless steel part and said ceramic part, the braze containing Ag and metal oxide wetting agents; and (d) heating said ferric stainless steel part, braze material, and ceramic part in an oxidizing atmosphere.06-10-2010
20100297534Seal Structures for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Devices - Disclosed are seals and seal structures for use in electrochemical devices such as solid oxide fuel cell devices. Exemplary seal structures are configured such that at least a portion of the interface between the seal and electrolyte sheet deviates from planarity by extending either (i) upwardly and inwardly (ii) or downwardly and inwardly, toward the active portion of the electrolyte sheet surface where one or more device electrodes are deposited. By angling the seal portion of the electrolyte sheet, the sharpness of any resulting bends or deformations that may occur during use can be reduced, thus reducing the likelihood of any cracks forming in the typically high stress regions of the electrolyte sheet. Further, preferably at least a portion of the electrolyte sheet contacting the seal composition, the seal-electrolyte interface may deviate from planarity by at least 0.1 mm from the seal-electrolyte interface, where the deviation from planarity extends normal to the seal or inwardly toward the active surface region of the electrolyte sheet. Also disclosed are methods for manufacturing the inventive seal structures and electrochemical device assemblies comprising same.11-25-2010
20110033779Insulation for SOFC Systems - The invention is directed to insulating compositions for use in solid oxide fuel cells. Such compositions can be used to prevent seal damage and increase the electrical and ion efficiency.02-10-2011
20110041469Ceramic Radial Wall Flow Particulate Filter - The present disclosure relates to radial wall flow particulate filters comprised of ceramic material. The filters include a filter body that has a plurality of adjacent troughs circumferentially arranged around a longitudinal axis.02-24-2011
20120243853Micromachined Electrolyte Sheet, Fuel Cell Devices Utilizing Such, and Micromachining Method For Making Fuel Cell Devices - A sintered electrolyte sheet comprising: a body of no more than 45 μm thick and laser machined features with at least one edge surface having at least 10% ablation. A method of micromachining the electrolyte sheet includes the steps of: (i) supporting a sintered electrolyte sheet; (ii) micromachining said sheet with a laser, wherein said laser has a wavelength of less than 2 μm, fluence of less than 200 Joules/cm09-27-2012

Patent applications by Thomas Dale Ketcham, Big Flats, NY US