Recent Patents on Mechanical Engineering - Volume 6, Issue 1, 2013

Macro/Micro actuators are comprised of two actuators connected in series with complementary characteristics: while the macro (primary) actuator possesses a long range of actuation but a slow response, the micro (secondary) actuator presents fast dynamics but short range. An improved performance is expected by a proper coordination of these actuators so that the limitations of one may be compensated by the merits of the other. This concept of parallel actuators working on the same task at the same time is widely spread in the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) industry and in academic publications, but relatively new to other potential applications. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview about the macro/micro actuation concept by addressing recent patents and scholarly articles on the subject of design, control and application of such systems.

Mechanical equipment condition monitoring and fault diagnosis techniques generally contain vibration signal, sound signal, temperature signal detection and lubricating oil analysis. Oil analysis provides a nondestructive testing diagnostic method for predicting possible impending failure and for avoiding catastrophic failures long before they occur and furthermore tends to determine the frequencies of oil changes and the remaining life of oil with the consequence of reducing maintenance costs and downtime. Oil analysis can be sorted into two categories, namely physical and chemical analysis and WDA analysis. An overview of various normal oil analysis technologies has been addressed. Some real cases resolving engineering problems with oil analysis technology are presented in this review. Fifty one various recent patents were reviewed in this paper on oil analysis technologies and the latent technology developments of oil analysis over the past decade were stated here. Those to some extent show evolution trends concerning latent oil analysis technology and expect future developments in this domain which is on-line and web-based remote intelligence oil analysis monitoring system and information fusion technology.

This paper focuses on review of the current patent landscape of toroidal rotary internal combustion engines. Toroidal engines are rotary-type internal combustion engines that use circular-sectioned pistons contained within a torus (or toroidal) shaped chamber. Recent engine designs are discussed and, depending on the fundamental design principals, are categorized using a classification system. It is found that the engine designs can be classified by the rotor configuration, the method of power transmission between the rotors and drive shaft, and the method of timing spark ignition and air-flow through the engine. From review of the patents presented, it is found that there are many all-encompassing patents covering the overall operation of toroidal engines. However, there is limited performance data, peer-reviewed articles, and commercial products to indicate the advantages of one design over the other. Therefore, it is recommended that development be focused on the design and configuration of the subset components of these engines. This will lead to an understanding of the physical limitations, trade-offs, and advantages of toroidal engine designs and components for comparison against one-another. This understanding will increase chances of commercial success of improvements made by developers, and strengthen the overall intellectual property archive and knowledge-base for toroidal rotary engines.

In recent years, large numbers of patents have been devoted to developing the nano-imprint lithography (NIL) process techniques for significant improvement in both nano-fabrication precision and feature size of the template pattern. Nano-imprint lithography is one of the most promising patterning technologies, in which nano- and micro-patterns are fabricated on various substrates. Nano-imprint pattern transfer is to let the resist flow and then fill in the cavity structure of the feature pattern on the surface of the mold by the compression of the mold; after completing the filling, make the resist continue thinning under the pressure to the extent permitted by the follow-up processes; then stop the compression and cure the resist. Adopting the traditional pattern replicating technology with the advantages of high throughput, low cost and simple process, nano-imprint lithography has become an important fabrication technology for nano-scale electronic devices. Based on the description of the constituent elements of the nano-imprint lithography, this paper makes a brief introduction of several traditional imprint technology processes and their varieties which were hot embossing lithography, ultra violet nano-imprint lithography, micro-contact printing and summarizes the key technique issues involved in the nano-imprint lithography, and analyzes the challenges faced in the application of this process in fabricating the integrated circuit.

Scanning probe microscope (SPM) brings human into the atomic world. Human can observe atomic arrangement. The atomic manipulation can be realized according to the human intention. Materials can be processed in the nanometer scale. Single atom, single molecule and single electronic production can be accomplished. SPM also plays important roles, such as genetic engineering, life science, materials science, biology technology, surface technology, etc. Firstly, this paper reviews the history of SPM series, including Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), Scanning Ion Conductance Microscope (SICM), Force Modulation Microscope (FMM), Phase Detection Microscope (PDM), Electrostatic Force Microscope (EFM), Scanning Capacitance Microscope (SCM), Scanning Thermal Microscope (SThM) and Near field Scanning Optical Microscope (NSOM). Secondly, it introduces their principles, main characteristics and recent patent about SPM. Then, it discusses the applications of SPM, especially in the molecular manipulation, nano processing, genetic engineering, single molecular device and information storage. The existing problems and solutions of SPM are also presented. The emphasis lies in the improvement of the scanning velocity with the hardware design and software algorithm. Finally, it summarizes SPM main directions.

After the Fukushima disaster and public concern about the performance of the existing safety mechanisms in present nuclear power plants, it is timely to devise new techniques to upgrade the safety levels of plants operation, particularly during shutdown and/or after natural disasters. In the recent years, significant patents have been devoted to developing the safety levels to secure the nuclear reactors. Here, several techniques are proposed which may be unified to design and construct a robust safety network capable of preventing core meltdowns of the potential disasters.

Vibration failure of piping is a serious problem and a matter of concern for safety and reliability of plant operations. Presently, there is no general analytical model available for a proper engineering design of the piping and supports. The major difficulty lies in the accurate estimation of the dynamic forces. In our study, we have used the theory of inverse problems to estimate the force from field measurements. After literature survey, we have found a good number of patents in the area of vibration reduction. In this context, the works of Mitchell and Huang are quite significant. In our study, we have derived the basic equations and established their existence and uniqueness in the mathematical framework. An analytical method has been presented along with numerical simulations and a case study.