ALEXANDRIA, Va., Sept. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,416,301, issued on Sept. 16, was assigned to Southwest Research Institute (San Antonio).
"Traveling wave fluid energy machine" was invented by Craig R. Nolen Jr. (San Antonio).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A fluid energy machine for imparting energy to a fluid. A channel contains a fluid flow. A flexible membrane extends the length of the channel and has a width generally corresponding to the inside width of the channel. A drive actuator at the input end of the channel imparts an activating force to the membrane at the input end of the channel, causing a transverse wave to propagate along the membrane and drive fluid through the channel...