A rechargeable battery which may be used with most presently available hearing aids (or other appliances) with no modification to the existing hearing aid is needed in order to use the described wireless charging system. The battery may be known a “Dynamic battery” as the battery is actively charged by means of an inductor circuit built into the battery housing itself or added onto the battery. The hearing aid may simply be placed within the charger housing (or cradle) to charge the battery. No electrical connection by either wires or electrical contacts is needed to recharge the battery, which is located inside the hearing aid housing. Moreover, the battery need not be removed from the hearing aid (or other appliance).

Wireless battery charging system for existing hearing aids using a dynamic battery and a charging processor unit

A container for compact discs comprises a lightweight sleeve formed of three thin sheets of polypropylene material that are die cut and heat bonded together A front pocket has a deep U-shaped notch formed on its outer face and provides for insertion of a Compact Disc (CD) A back pocket is provided for a printed CD package insert On both the front surface and the back surface, a pocket is formed at the top of the container to receive a narrow, information bearing strip, such as the title bar from a jewel box

Containers for compact discs

A shunt connected energy stabilizing system with isolation switching for providing stored energy to loads or to a utility or industrial electrical distribution system or source of electrical power. An energy backup and recovery system stores energy in a superconducting magnet and releases the energy to a real power/reactive power (VARs) generator which in turn delivers energy to either the loads or to both the loads and the source of electrical power. During periods of voltage sag or power outage, an isolation switch provide a means for isolating the loads from the source of power so that energy can be supplied to the loads only to provide "ride-thru". In effect, the isolation of the load sheds this load from the power system, thereby boosting the rest of the electrical distribution to a level so that other loads on the power system are not disturbed by the voltage sags. By supplying energy to the loads only, small superconducting magnets can be used thereby providing economic and size advantages. The isolation switch also provides a smooth transition from the real power generation to the VAR compensation mode, and vice versa. Additionally, the isolation switch can direct stored energy to both the electrical system and to the loads at the same time.

Shunt connected superconducting energy stabilizing system

A superconducting device, such as a superconducting rotor for a generator or motor or a superconducting magnet for a magnetic resonance imaging machine, etc. A vacuum enclosure surrounds and is spaced apart from a superconductive coil. Apparatus supports the coil in the enclosure during operation of the device, such apparatus including a first thermally insulative honeycomb assemblage positioned between the coil and the enclosure. In a first preferred construction, the first honeycomb assemblage is positioned between and connected to the coil and a thermal shield, and a second honeycomb assemblage is positioned between and connected to the shield and the enclosure. In a second preferred construction, the second honeycomb assemblage is replaced with a first suspension strap.

Support structure for a superconducting coil

A self-supported superconducting magnetic energy storage sytem is provided The system includes helically arranged, high current cable-in-conduit superconductor (32) located adjacent a dump shunt (38) Supporting the dump shunt (38) and the superconductor (32) is a fiber-reinforced support (40) The cable-in-conduit superconductor (32) includes a flexible tube (58) within a conduit (56) to create a space for carrying a coolant A plurality of superconducting sub-cables (60) are helically wrapped around the flexible tube (58) and located within the conduit (56) The dump shunt (38) serves an electrical shunt to the conductor (32) during magnet quench, as heat-absorbing material to dissipate the coil's stored energy during quench, and as structural support to react all of the electromagnetic forces The fiber-reinforced support (40) positions the elements, provides further support, and acts as an electrical insulation, and defines the coils' axial layers

Superconducting magnetic energy storage system

An inductor device having a superconducting coil winding capable of maintaining a relatively large current flowing therethrough, and a normal conducting shield winding surrounding the superconducting coil. The superconducting coil and the shield are electrically connected in parallel with the shield functioning to maintain the current and the magnetic field in the superconducting coil substantially constant. The superconducting inductor device can be used to store energy and to return the stored energy to an energy consuming load over a relatively short period without incurring large losses in the superconducting material. This result is obtained by making the self inductance of the shield substantially equal to the mutual inductance between the shield and the superconducting coil, or by inserting a controlled compensating voltage source in series with the shield, so that pulse currents are conducted by the shield. Proper spacing of the shield windings around the superconducting coil will result in substantially no magnetic field present in the coil due to current in the shield.

Shielded superconducting inductor device

A superconducting energy storage magnet is formed having inner (13) and outer (14) coils which are supported and restrained by an inner support structure (15) comprised of thermal and electrically conductive rails (33) which engage and parallel the turns of composite conductors (30, 31) in the two coils. Each of the support rails (33) is electrically isolated from adjacent support rails by insulating spacers (33) between layers and an insulating spacer (35) between the rails for the inner and outer coils. The spacing between turns in the inner and outer coils preferably progressively decreases toward the top and bottom ends of the magnet in a manner to best direct the magnetically induced forces on the composite conductors (30, 31) into the inner support structure. The two layer coil structure causes the forces on the conductors when current is flowing therethrough to be directed primarily inwardly toward the inner support structure (15).

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Superconducting energy storage magnet

An electrical magnet having at least one turn of electrical conductor which is continuously rippled in small radius arcs around is larger circumference. Each ripple in the conductor is formed to lie in a plane normal to the net magnetic field experienced by that ripple. For the special case of a planar turn of conductor, the ripples lie in substantially the same plane as the conductor turn itself. When current is flowing in the rippled conductor, the conductor will experience a magnetically induced force directed outward normal to the conductor. To oppose this outwardly directed force, the conductor is provided support by means which engage the conductor at the inner portions of the conductor between the ripples therein. The support means may consist of members or columns extending to a solid circular wall as, for example, a wall formed in bedrock. The tensile load in the rippled conductor is much less than in an unsupported large radius circular conductor, and, in addition, the rippled conductor is capable of undergoing expansions and contractions without building up damaging strain levels in the conductor. A superconducting rippled conductor magnet may be thermally insulated from warm support structure by thermal shields and vacuum dewars which are also rippled.

Support structure for rippled superconducting magnet

An electrical magnet having a support structure which comprises a flat plate of structural material and abutment means engaging the conductor of the electrical magnet to the plate. The abutment means may comprise a groove in a face of the plate which receives and restrains the conductor, a raised flange on a face of the plate which forms such a groove, or a flange which extends around and is affixed to the periphery of the plate and which is formed to fit tightly over a coiled conductor. When current is flowing in the conductor of the magnet, all points on the conductor will experience a magnetically induced force, one component of which is in an outward direction parallel to the plane of the plate. The abutment means opposes this component of the force and transmits it to the plate, which is consequently stressed in tension in two dimensions. Several individual magnets supported by the support structure may be combined to form large magnets having solenoidal, toroidal or other configurations. The magnets may be built with a normal or a superconducting electrical conductor.

Support structure for a superconducting magnet

A superconducting energy storage magnet is constructed for mounting in relatively shallow trenches or tunnels to provide superconductive energy storage for applications such as power system load leveling. The magnet includes composite superconductors arranged in substantially planar coil layers around a central axis. A first and second coil layer have an inner support structure between them to which the conductors of the layers are engaged. The inner support structure carries the magnetically induced forces on the conductors of the coils. The net radial magnetically induced force is opposed by the rigid structural material of the inner support structure and by support struts which extend from the periphery of the inner support structure to a surrounding support wall such as the wall of a trench. The conductors in each layer, and the inner support structure between them, have matching vertically (axially) undulating ripples over the circumference of the magnet. The ripples accommodate stresses imposed on the magnet during cool down from ambient temperatures to cryogenic temperatures, while the inner support structure is rigid radially to carry the magnetically induced radial forces on the conductors so that substantially no flexing of the conductors occurs during charge up and discharge of the magnet.

Roger W. Boom

Papers

Shielded superconducting inductor device

Superconducting energy storage magnet

Support structure for rippled superconducting magnet

Support structure for a superconducting magnet

Vertically rippled superconductive magnetic energy storage