Patents by Inventor Bradley L. Osman

Bradley L. Osman has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Methods employing permanent magnets for marking, locating, tracing and identifying hidden objects such as buried fiber optic cables
    Patent number: 5122750
    Abstract: In order to locate, trace, and identify hidden elongated objects, such as buried fiber optic cables, the objects are provided with elongated permanent magnet identifier devices having magnetic fields that may be detected at a distance from the objects. In one embodiment the identifier device comprises an elongated strip magnetized in the direction of its width and formed into a long-pitch helix, producing a characteristic "magnetic field signature" that enhances detection and identification of the object, as by a portable gradiometer that is moved over the surface of the earth along a line generally parallel to the length of the object. This embodiment may provide a magnetic field that diminishes as the square of the distance from the identifier device (rather than the usual cube of the distance), thereby enabling detection at substantial distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 1991
    Date of Patent: June 16, 1992
    Assignee: Schonstedt Instrument Company
    Inventors: John B. Rippingale, Charles R. Upton, Erick O. Schonstedt, Bradley L. Osman
  • Methods and apparatus employing permanent magnets for marking, locating, tracing and identifying hidden objects such as buried fiber optic cables
    Patent number: 5017873
    Abstract: In order to locate, trace, and identify hidden elongated objects, such as buried fiber optic cables, the objects are provided with elongated permanent magnet identifier devices having magnetic fields that may be detected at a distance from the objects. In one embodiment the identifier device comprises an elongated strip magnetized in the direction of its width and formed into a long-pitch helix, producing a characteristic "magnetic field signature" that enhances detection and identification of the object, as by a portable gradiometer that is moved over the surface of the earth along a line generally parallel to the length of the object. This embodiment may provide a magnetic field that diminishes as the square of the distance from the identifier device (rather than the usual cube of the distance), thereby enabling detection at substantial distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 1990
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1991
    Assignee: Schonstedt Instrument Company
    Inventors: John B. Rippingale, Charles R. Upton, Erick O. Schonstedt, Bradley L. Osman
  • Methods and apparatus employing permanent magnets for marking, locating, tracing and identifying hidden objects such as burried fiber optic cables
    Patent number: 5006806
    Abstract: In order to locate, trace, and identify hidden elongated objects, such as buried fiber optic cables, the objects are provided with elongated permanent magnet identifier devices having magnetic fields that may be detected at a distance from the objects. In one embodiment the identifier device comprises an elongated strip magnetized in the direction of its width and formed into a long-pitch helix, producing a characteristic "magnetic field signature" that enhances detection and identification of the object, as by a portable gradiometer that is moved over the surface of the earth along a line generally parallel to the length of the object. This embodiment may provide a magnetic field that diminishes as the square of the distance from the identifier device (rather than the usual cube of the distance), thereby enabling detection at substantial distances.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 1989
    Date of Patent: April 9, 1991
    Assignee: Schonstedt Instrument Company
    Inventors: John B. Rippingale, Charles R. Upton, Erick O. Schonstedt, Bradley L. Osman