Patents by Inventor Douglas M. Longyear

Douglas M. Longyear 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).

  • Patent number: 5044697
    Abstract: The brake valve control system for an aircraft wheel bracking system includes primary and backup brake valve control subsystems and isolates and switches between subsystems. Certain portions of the entire braking system are shared, and those portions which are not shared are isolated but interconnected for switching from a primary brake control mode to a backup subsystem upon failure of the primary subsystem. A unique metering spool valve, and the linking of metering spool valves and servocontrol valves with either a tandem selector valve or interlinked primary and secondary selector valves allows for significant reduction in weight and complexity for the backup or override system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1989
    Date of Patent: September 3, 1991
    Assignee: Crane Company
    Inventors: Douglas M. Longyear, Stanley R. Bluhm
  • Patent number: 4671650
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for determining aircraft position and velocity is disclosed. The system includes two CCD sensors which take overlapping front and back radiant energy images of front and back overlapping areas of the earth's surface. A signal processing unit digitizers and deblurs the data that comprise each image. The overlapping first and second front images are then processed to determine the longitudinal and lateral relative image position shifts that produce the maximum degree of correlation between them. The signal processing unit then compares the first and second back overlapping images to find the longitudinal and lateral relative image position shifts necessary to maximize the degree of correlation between those two images. Various correlation techniques, including classical correlation, differencing correlation, zero-mean correction, normalization, windowing, and parallel processing are disclosed for determining the relative image position shift signals between the two overlapping images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 1984
    Date of Patent: June 9, 1987
    Assignee: Crane Co. (Hydro-Aire Division)
    Inventors: Edgar A. Hirzel, Douglas M. Longyear, Jr.