Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2010

Separation of erosive and corrosive components from process fluid streams in industrial processes is essential to protect equipment and environment. Failure of any components of the separation device could damage the equipment, processes or environment. The financial losses due to unscheduled shut downs caused by such failures could be enormous. These losses could be avoided if reliable separation devices are Read More

Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) are two significantly different disciplines, and hence they require different shape models representations. As a result, models generated by CAD systems often need to be submitted to shape transformations for Finite Element Analysis (FEA). In this paper, a new approach is proposed to ease integration between CAD and CAE also outlining some patents Read More

This paper describes the design and manufacture of a pair of novel and patented grips for experimental study of cracked specimens made of industrial materials and subjected to the mixed-mode I, II and III fracture loading the details of which have not been made public prior to the patent date of 13 Feb 2009. The innovation patent number: 2008101040 entitled, “Mixed mode I/II/III fracture grip interface” and was granted i Read More

This work presents a recently-patented mechanical buffer design to reduce bolt carrier bounce in the M4 and M16 rifles. The buffer includes a main outer spring to store the energy in a rearward-traveling bolt carrier and a nested spring coupled to a mass to counter the rebound or “bounce” resulting in the impact of a forward-traveling bolt carrier. A dynamic model of the mechanical buffer is included to demonstrate bolt bou Read More

Aluminum alloy has an extensive range of industrial applications due to its consistent mechanical properties and structural integrity. Aluminum alloy 6063 was given various heat treatment on the solution treatment, artificial aging & natural aging. The study, also outlining recent patents, has been conducted on the mechanical properties upon age-hardening treatment to the mentioned alloy. The mechanical properties, namely tens Read More

Pressure differential flow meters and especially orifice plate flow meters continue to dominate industrial flow measurement despite the flood of ingenious and spohisticiated new instruments in the past three decades. This dominance is partly dependent on the essential simplicity of these devices and partly on the confidence that their performance can be predicted without the need for extensive calibration. The invention, Read More

The main disadvantage of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) systems is their variability and dependence on environmental conditions. This problem can be overcome by storing energy in the form of hydrogen either for long or short term. One of the most promising types of such systems is the solar hydrogen energy system (SoHyS) where essentially the electricity produced by the PVs is stored in the form of hydrogen by using a Read More

The patents annotated in this section have been selected from various patent databases. These recent patents are relevant to the articles published in this journal issue, categorized by different analytical methods, designs, manufacturing and analysis of automobiles, aircrafts, manufacturing plants, industrial instruments, machines, heating and cooling systems and processes involved and related to mechanical Read More