Patents by Inventor Thomas J. Skinner

Thomas J. Skinner 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: 5859620
    Abstract: A low cost, highly efficient multiband feedhorn mount assembly for co-locating first and second feedhorns on a ground satellite receiving antenna comprises a first mounting bracket adapted to be secured to an antenna bridge for adjustably supporting the first feedhorn. A second mounting bracket carrying the second feedhorn is adjustably attached to the first mounting bracket such that the first and second feedhorns, when attached respectively to the first and second mounting brackets, may be individually oriented relative to the antenna reflector. Co-located transmissions in different frequency bands from one or more satellites may thus be received without the need for a costly hybrid multiband feedhorn. Methods for installing the assembly are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 27, 1996
    Date of Patent: January 12, 1999
    Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation
    Inventors: Thomas J. Skinner, Keith E. Hannon
  • Patent number: 5581638
    Abstract: A method for automatically registering an image pair having a common coverage area, wherein a pair of image data sets, each representing an image of an image pair, are processed to generate initial dewarping coefficients for the image data sets. The translational offset between the images is estimated using a phase correlation process. Next, the common coverage area of the data image sets is determined by finding the vertices defining the limits of the common coverage area. Conjugate point pairs are extracted from the common coverage area by defining a series of block and subblock grids and defining the center point of the grid as a conjugate point location. The determined conjugate point sets are used to generate geometrically corrected registered dewarping coefficients and the image data sets are resampled using the registered dewarping coefficients to generate a registered image pair.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1996
    Assignee: E-Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Fenton L. Givens, Thomas J. Skinner, Paul M. Ingram