Patents
US 9316178 B2: Internal combustion engine for natural gas compressor operation
- Granted
- 2016-04-19
- Filed
- 2014-04-03 application 14244807
- Type
- Utility · 21 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
This application concerns systems and methods for compressing natural gas with an internal combustion engine. In a representative embodiment, a system for compressing a gas comprises a reciprocating internal combustion engine including at least one piston-cylinder assembly comprising a piston configured to travel in a cylinder and to compress gas in the cylinder in multiple compression stages. The system can further comprise a first pressure tank in fluid communication with the piston-cylinder assembly to receive compressed gas from the piston-cylinder assembly until the first pressure tank reaches a predetermined pressure, and a second pressure tank in fluid communication with the piston-cylinder assembly and the first pressure tank. The second pressure tank can be configured to receive compressed gas from the piston-cylinder assembly until the second pressure tank reaches a predetermined pressure. When the first and second pressure tanks have reached the predetermined pressures, the first pressure tank can be configured to supply gas to the piston-cylinder assembly, and the piston can be configured to compress the gas supplied by the first pressure tank such that the compressed gas flows into the second pressure tank.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg160419.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State of Oregon acting by and through the State Board of Higher Ed. on Behalf of Oregon State Univ. 76 patents | US company or organization | Corvallis, OR | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Hagen | Bend, OR | 3 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Guy Robert Babbitt | Fort Collins, CO | 26 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Christopher Wayne Turner | Fort Collins, CO | 11 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Nick Echter | Fort Collins, CO | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Kristina Weyer-Geigel | Fort Collins, CO | 8 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| F02M | Supplying combustion engines in general with combustible mixtures or constituents thereof | F02M21/0215 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| F02D | Controlling combustion engines | F02D13/06 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| F02B | Internal-combustion piston engines; combustion engines in general | F02B1/04 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| Y02T | Climate change mitigation technologies related to transportation | Y02T10/12 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-06-29 | Government interest Confirmatory license | OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY signed 2014-05-02 | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON, DC | 39206/826 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2014-06-20 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | BABBITT, GUY signed 2014-06-05 ECHTER, NICK signed 2014-06-05 TURNER, CHRISTOPHER signed 2014-06-05 WEYER-GEIGEL, KRISTINA signed 2014-06-05 HAGEN, CHRISTOPHER L. signed 2014-06-16 | STATE OF OREGON ACTING BY AND THROUGH THE STATE BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION ON BEHALF OF OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OR | 33151/254 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.