Patents by Inventor Lorne A. R. Whitehead

Lorne A. R. Whitehead 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).

  • Levitation system with permanent magnets and coils
    Patent number: 5168183
    Abstract: A levitation system for levitating a levitated magnetic element in a stable suspended position on one side of a separating plane using a magnetic arrangement on the opposite side of the separating plane. The magnetic arrangement provides a preselected static magnetic field configuration that interacts with a magnet in the levitated element so that the magnetic potential energy of this interaction increases for displacements of the element from its stable position in directions parallel to a stability plane and decreases for displacements of the element from the stable position perpendicular to the stability plane. Any movement perpendicular to the stability plane is sensed and used by a feedback control system to control a force applied to the levitated element to stabilize the element against displacement from the stable position in directions perpendicular to the stability plane.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 27, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 1, 1992
    Assignee: The University of British Columbia
    Inventor: Lorne A. R. Whitehead