PITTSBURGH, Oct. 31, 2016 – Today in 1865, George Westinghouse received his first patent for the rotary steam engine, beginning a tradition for innovation, growth and success at Westinghouse Electric Company. Recently, 129 U.S.-based employees were recognized for their participation in the U.S. patent process during the past year. This included the issuing of 32 U.S. patents, 42 applications for U.S. patents and 51 inventors who submitted disclosures in FY 2015. These individuals were congratulated at the 2016 Westinghouse Patent Award Lunch for their achievements and contributions to the nuclear industry as they continue to foster George Westinghouse’s spirit of innovation.
“In today’s competitive energy markets, forward-thinking inventions aren’t a nice-to-have, they are a need-to-have,” said Jim Brennan, senior vice president, Engineering Center of Excellence. “Technology advances are how we distinguish nuclear from other energy sectors and how we differentiate Westinghouse from our competitors. We continue to seek and find improvements to our processes, performance and products and continue to raise the bar to honor George Westinghouse’s spirit.”
These patents, applications and ideas will be translated into future technologies and solutions for the nuclear industry, which include:
- (Patent) Method and Apparatus for Delivering a Tool to the Interior of a Heat Exchange Tube: A unique method of moving inspection probes through the tubing of nuclear steam generators, it greatly reduces the friction and difficulty of inserting these probes, which improves both speed and productivity.
- (Patent) Nuclear Fuel Assembly with Pivot Dimpled Grids: Taking six years to complete, this patent protects the new Intermediate Flow Mixing grid design for the AP1000 nuclear power plant’s fuel assembly design, which is important as the AP1000 nuclear power plants being built come on-line.
- (Application) Method of Detecting and Outputting Radiation Dose Rate Information: A system that wirelessly monitors and displays real-time dose rate information utilizing interactive, wearable technology.
