Granted Patent B2

US 12,635,829 · App. 18/972,090 · Granted May 26, 2026

Inventors: James T. Sears (Boulder, CO); Stephen Andrew Hibbs (Boulder, CO)

Assignee: SATED Space LLC

A47J36/32A23L5/15A47J27/004A47J36/16A47J36/36

Abstract

Claims (31)

1 . An artificial gravity heating method using a rotor comprises a hollow cylindrical compartment having a cylinder wall, a bottom base, and an open top end, comprising:

attaching a rotor dam to the open top end of the rotor, wherein the rotor dam comprises a central opening;

spinning the rotor;

injecting a material to be processed into the rotor through the central opening of the rotor dam while the rotor is spinning such that the material undergoes centripetal acceleration and presses against the cylinder wall of the rotor by centrifugal force exceeding ambient gravity;

heating the cylinder wall of the rotor to conduct heat into the material; and

processing the material while maintaining rotation and heating of the cylinder wall.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein spinning the rotor comprises operating an electric motor under control of a controller, wherein the electric motor is mechanically coupled to the rotor.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein spinning the rotor comprises spinning the rotor at a rotational rate sufficient to generate centrifugal force for pressing the material against the cylinder wall while in a low gravity environment.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein heating the rotor comprises turning on at least one heating element conductively coupled to the rotor.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising turning off the at least one heating element after a desired duration.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the material comprises cooking food ingredients.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising cooling the rotor.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein cooling the rotor comprises operating a fan, wherein the fan is fluidly coupled to a gap between an outside of the rotor and a shroud disposed around the outside of the rotor, such that air is moved through the gap via the fan to cool the rotor.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein cooling the rotor comprises operating at least one cooling element conductively coupled to an outside of the rotor.

10 . The method of claim 7 , wherein cooling the rotor comprises operating a Peltier device conductively coupled to an outside of the rotor, wherein the Peltier device is configured for heating and cooling.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to spinning the rotor, turning on a vacuum source fluidly coupled to the rotor through perforations in a bottom base of the rotor, wherein the vacuum source provides a negative pressure beneath a conformal insert for conforming the conformal insert to an internal shape of the rotor.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising covering rotor with a rotating cover having a rotary entry coupling, injecting liquid and slurry materials into the rotor while the rotor is spinning via the rotary entry coupling, and heating the liquid and slurry materials to a boiling temperature to produce a vapor phase.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising sealing the rotor with a rotating collection cap having a gasification product port connected to a hollow shaft and a sealing lip, and gasifying the material by heating the rotor to produce gasification vapors.

14 . An artificial gravity heating system, comprising:

a rotor comprising a hollow cylindrical compartment having a cylinder wall, a closed bottom base and an open top end;

a rotor dam removably attached to the open top end of the rotor, the rotor dam comprising a central opening for injecting materials into the rotor;

a motor operatively coupled with the rotor for rotating the rotor such that the centripetal acceleration exceeds ambient gravity thereby pressing the materials inside the rotor against the cylinder wall of the rotor due to centripetal acceleration greater than ambient gravity;

a heater and a cooler configured to heat and cool the cylinder wall of the rotor for heating and cooling the materials; and

a non-rotating insulating shroud disposed outside the rotor such that a cavity is formed between the non-rotating insulating shroud and the rotor.

15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the heater comprises a heating element conductively coupled along the cylinder wall of the rotor for heating the materials via conduction, and the cooler comprises a cooling element conductively coupled along the cylinder wall of the rotor for cooling the materials via conduction.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the heating element and the cooling element comprise a Peltier device configured to operate as the heating element when electrical current is applied in a first direction and to operate as the cooling element when electrical current is applied in a second opposite direction of electrical current applied to the Peltier device.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the heating element comprises a positive-temperature-coefficient material configured to passively limit an upper operating temperature of the heating element.

18 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a temperature sensor operatively coupled to the rotor for monitoring a temperature of the rotor.

19 . The system of claim 14 , further comprising a motor speed readout configured to display a rotational speed of the rotor.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein the motor speed readout is configured to display an indication of an artificial gravity G-level.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (87)