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US 7,744,133 B2Granted
Jointed head with temporary clamp for stirling machine
AssigneeSunPower Corporation
InventorsJames Gary Wood, Joseph P. Carroll
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSunPower Corporation
InventorsJames Gary Wood, Joseph P. Carroll
Estimating the term…
A clamping apparatus for allowing pre-close-out access to the head of a Stirling machine and facilitating subsequent close-out welding of the head. The head is axially separable into removable and fixed portions that engage each other. Each portion has an annular flange extending radially outwardly at its engaging end, and each flange has an annular groove. O-rings are seated in the grooves. A temporary sealing ring surrounds and engages the O-rings. Clamping rings seat against axially opposite sides of the abutting annular flanges. Fasteners draw the rings together, thereby drawing the fixed and removable portions of the head together and securing them against relative axial movement. For close-out of the machine, the clamping rings, temporary sealing ring, and O-rings are removed and the grooved annular flanges serve as weld reliefs for final hermetic close-out welding.
A clamping apparatus for allowing pre-close-out access to, and facilitating the permanent sealing of, the regenerator packing of a Stirling machine having a head axially separable into a removable portion and a fixed portion, each portion having an end that engages the other, the apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.