ENGINEERINGNET.EU - Siemens' patent portfolio now comprises 57,300 patents worldwide. The number of invention disclosures submitted also reached a new high of 8,900.
Of the current total, some 20,200 are patents for ecofriendly offerings from the company's Environmental Portfolio, which comprises highly energy-efficient products and solutions, renewable energies and environmental technologies.
Twelve particularly successful Siemens researchers and developers play a leading role here. These individuals alone account for 613 invention disclosures and 734 individual patents. The twelve, two of whom are women, are working in Germany as well as in Denmark and the U.S.
Offerings developed on the basis of the prizewinners' innovations include a system that improves the quality of special computed tomography images and innovative luminescent coatings for X-ray equipment which increase the light input – with the goal to reduce patient exposure to radiation.
For wind power installations, the inventors have developed special serrated components which are attached to the trailing edge of turbine rotor blades, making the turbines quieter and increases their energy production.
And for combined cycle power plants, they've developed a process that enables operators to ramp up electricity production within seconds and maintain this level of power generation for a specified time.
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One of the 12 inventors is Philippe Leray. His inventions have helped make it possible for high-speed trains to roll along the rails at up to 400 kilometers per hour. Leray, a French engineer, has improved the retensioners that keep the overhead conductors of railroad tracks taut.
As a result, the conductors continue to operate reliably at high train speeds. The improved design of the retensioners also ensures that if a conductor breaks the retensioner will remain undamaged. Railroad operation can therefore quickly be resumed.
Leray, who moved to Germany directly after his graduation, works in the Infrastructure & Cities Sector in Erlangen.
