Patents Represented by Attorney Derrick Michael Reid

Find this attorney in the Justia Lawyer Directory

  • Spacecraft for removal of space orbital debris
    Patent number: 6655637
    Abstract: A deorbiting spacecraft includes a grabber for grabbing an orbiting debris object in space and a deorbitor for deorbiting the debris object. The grabber includes inflatable fingers with loop eyes for bending inflated fingers around and to grab the space debris object using controlled motors and tension lines. The deorbitor is a dragsphere for deorbiting low earth orbit debris objects into the atmosphere for burn up, or is a surface for collecting solar wind for pushing the debris into an outer disposal orbit, or is a thruster for transorbiting a high earth orbit debris object to an outer waste orbit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: December 2, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventor: Ernie Y. Robinson
  • Quadrature vestigial sideband digital communications method
    Patent number: 6606010
    Abstract: A quadrature vestigial sideband (QVSB) communication system provide bandwidth efficient data transmission using cross coupled data signaling during both transmit and receive having controlled intersymbol interference. The QVSB modem includes cross coupled arm transmit and receive data filtering on both of the I&Q channels providing a bandwidth efficient QVSB spectra. A quadrature crosstalk maximum likelihood sequence estimator implements a Viterbi decoding algorithm for providing estimated data sequence outputs. The receiver is a coherently aided demodulator synchronized by a synchronization loop providing time and phase references using the estimated data sequence outputs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 12, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: John J. Poklemba, Gregory S. Mitchell
  • Double loop antenna
    Patent number: 6590542
    Abstract: Compensating electrical circuits are incorporated into loop antenna configurations for improved energy efficiency and extension of the magnetic fields for improved magnetic field coupling and reading of the tag by a reader. The tuning and compensating circuits provide a reader magnetic response having maxima at the center carrier frequency and at the low sideband frequency for improved reception of return signals from the tag to the reader.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2003
    Inventor: James B. Briggs
  • Adhesive strengthening embedded micromachines
    Patent number: 6588969
    Abstract: A micromachine is embedded into an adhesive film for increasing the shear strength of the adhesive used to form a bonding joint. The micromachine has an irregular shaped cross section, such as a trapezoid, so that when the micromachine tends to rotate between two bonded adherents, a surface portion of the micromachine tends to penetrate into and compress the adhesive towards a bonding interface with the constrained adherent for increasing the shear strength of the bonding joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 13, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 8, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventor: Gary F. Hawkins
  • Unambiguous integer cycle attitude determination method
    Patent number: 6587761
    Abstract: A vehicular position and attitude can be accurately determined from GPS signals by positioning a master and two slave orthogonally disposed receiver antennas rigidly mounted together enabling the rotation of the slave receiver antennas about the master antenna. The slave antennas are rotated and then dither back and forth so that differential phase measurements between the slave antennas and the master antenna is nulled in carrier phase alignment of the GPS signals for determining azimuth angles and elevation angles to the GPS satellites for determining the position and attitude of the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Lalit Kumar, Randal K. Douglas
  • Loop antenna compensator
    Patent number: 6567050
    Abstract: Compensating electrical circuits are incorporated into loop antenna configurations for improved energy efficiency and extension of the magnetic fields for improved magnetic field coupling and reading of the tag by a reader. The tuning and compensating circuits provide a reader magnetic response having maxima at the center carrier frequency and at the low sideband frequency for improved reception of return signals from the tag to the reader.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Inventor: James B. Briggs
  • Body part imaging system
    Patent number: 6549639
    Abstract: An imaging system places an object upon a background pattern of regular repetitive marks and records a 2D image that is then processed for determining where in the image the repetitive marks are interrupted by the object, thereby indirectly determining the edge of the object. Multiple 2D images from different perspective are used to create a 3D image of the object. When the object is a human foot, individual bar codes and imaged foot dimensions can be cross-referenced to manufactured shoe sizes for accurate ordering of correctly sized footwear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Genovation Inc.
    Inventor: Leonard J. Genest
  • Body part imaging method
    Patent number: 6546356
    Abstract: An imaging method places an object upon a background pattern of regular repetitive marks and records a 2D image that is then processed for determining where in the image the repetitive marks are interrupted by the object, thereby indirectly determining the edge of the object. Multiple 2D images from different perspectives are used to create a 3D image of the object. When the object is a human food, individual bar codes and imaged foot dimensions can be cross-referenced to manufactured shoe sizes for accurate ordering of correctly sized footwear.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Genovation Inc.
    Inventor: Leonard J. Genest
  • GPS airborne target geolocating method
    Patent number: 6535816
    Abstract: A geolocation method is applied for accurate targeting of a target using an airborne beacon as a pseudo star generated by a high altitude vehicle, and using optical sensors by a low altitude vehicle for imaging the beacon and target for generating accurate relative GPS positioning of the target for improved the geolocation of the target preferably for precise delivery of a payload to the target. The method is applicable to military and civilian needs for accurate delivery of a payload to a target, such as for precise delivery of humanitarian aid or weapon munitions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventor: Patrick Lawrence Smith
  • Rocket engine gear defect monitoring method
    Patent number: 6526356
    Abstract: Vibration and tachometer measurements are used to assess the health of rotating equipment to compute and store two sided cepstrum parameters used to compare the engine performance to a class of engines for determining out-of-family performance indicating the healthy or defective nature of the engine under test. The cepstrum parameter can be viewed after static test firing of a rocket engine and analyzed for changes in the cepstrum parameter further indicating defect growth during static test firing. Engine-to-engine comparisons of vibration-related parameters can be used to provide information on abnormal gear behavior. The cepstrum is defined as the inverse discrete Fourier transform of the logarithm of two-sided autospectral density. The test method is an effective screen for determining defective rocket engine components during preflight static testing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 25, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Samuel J. DiMaggio, Brian H. Sako
  • Tunable solid state thin film optical filter
    Patent number: 6522469
    Abstract: A thin film electrical optical filter includes a thin film electrooptical dielectric having a voltage controlled electrooptical refractive index that is disposed between opposing stacks of alternative layers having differing refractive indices for transmitting received incident light through a target passband. An applied voltage to the electrooptical dielectric can serve to alter the actual passband to the target passband for compensating for thin film manufacturing tolerances for producing controllable optical filters with precise passbands.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 19, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 18, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Peter D. Fuqua, James D. Barrie
  • Global positioning systems and inertial measuring unit ultratight coupling method
    Patent number: 6516021
    Abstract: An ultratight coupling method generates navigation error state information from an integration Kalman filter for updating the navigation solution based upon inertial measurement data and computes pseudorange and pseudorange rate data from the navigation solution and from ephemeris data, to generate the prompt, early and late replica signals that drive the signal correlators having quadrature outputs samples by a federation of Kalman prefilters providing errors residuals to the integration Kalman filter in a closed coupled tracking loop. The coupled tracking loops offer improved tracking of the received signal based upon updated navigation solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 1999
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Anthony S. Abbott, Walter E. Lillo
  • Spacecraft solar panel spherical trickle charger
    Patent number: 6511022
    Abstract: A solar power sphere having solar cells arrays is used in combination with a main solar flat panel array of a spacecraft for respectively providing omnidirectional solar power collection by the power sphere and unidirectional solar power collection by the main flat panels. The power sphere effectively provides trickle charging power for charging backup batteries and for providing trickle power when the main flat panel solar array is edge wise incident to solar illuminations when the main flat panel solar array does not collect any power, so that the power sphere collects power sufficient to recover and operate the spacecraft until the main solar flat panels again collect sufficient energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 24, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 28, 2003
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventor: Ernie Y Robinson
  • Tire pressure monitoring system
    Patent number: 6507276
    Abstract: A tire pressure monitoring system includes plurality of sensor modules having respective motion switches and pressure sensors respectively attached to the tires of a vehicle. The sensor modules communicate, by RF broadcast transmission, tire pressure messages at staggered times so that the transmitted messages to a passenger compartment monitor do not interfere with each other for improve reliable reception of the messages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 2000
    Date of Patent: January 14, 2003
    Assignee: CM Automotive Systems Inc.
    Inventors: Jorge A. Young, Chander P. Mittal, Joe Huayue Zhou
  • Lateral exhaust microthruster
    Patent number: 6494402
    Abstract: A microthruster having an inverted exhaust system traps burst diaphragm fragments providing a clean exhaust while an exhaust port provides increased back pressure for efficient combustion of a propellant charge in a fuel cell. A converging diverging micronozzle provides a predictable exhaust vector for improved microthrusting well suited for propulsion system on small spacecraft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Ernest Y. Robinson, Margaret H. Abraham, Peter D. Fuqua
  • Intermodulation grating lobe suppression method
    Patent number: 6496158
    Abstract: A grating lobe suppression method is applied to a phased array antenna system having antenna array elements that are grouped in regularly spaced subarrays each having a plurality of regularly spaced antenna elements within the subarrays for suppressing intermodulation grating lobes generated within a field of view of the antenna system when amplifying two modulated carrier communication signals at respective two different frequencies.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2001
    Date of Patent: December 17, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: David A. Ksienski, Gwendolyn M. Shaw
  • Addressable diode isolated thin film cell array
    Patent number: 6483368
    Abstract: An address element, including a polysilicon resistor functioning as a heating element and blocking diode preventing sneak current to unaddressed elements, is selectively addressed using row and column address lines in a thin film structure having a minimum number of address lines and a minimum number of layers. The resistor heater element is well suited for igniting a fuel cell such as a fuel cell in an array of fuel cells disposed in a thin film microthruster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Donald C. Mayer, Jon V. Osborn, Siegfried W. Janson, Peter D. Fuqua
  • High concentration spectrum splitting solar collector
    Patent number: 6469241
    Abstract: A solar concentrator includes high concentrating reflective or refractive optics concentrating collected solar light along a first axis and includes spectrum splitting reflective or refractive optics splitting collected solar light along a second axis for illuminating photovoltaic solar panels with spectrum split light having a plurality of frequency components respectively illuminating horizontally aligned subarrays of cells of associated bandgaps forming a panel matrix of cells for high concentration spectrum splitting solar power collection for efficient solar power conversion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 22, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventor: Jay P. Penn
  • Covert surveillance system for tracking light sensitive tagged moving vehicles
    Patent number: 6465787
    Abstract: A surveillance system uses pulsed laser near infrared light to illuminate a retroreflecting tag attached to a target for providing a return image that pulsates and that can be monitored by a camera for covert tracking of a target. The surveillance system may instead use pulsed near infrared polarized laser light to illuminate a transparent ¼ waveplate tag affixed to a moving vehicle or transitory containers for monitoring enhanced return images reflected from the tags serving to change the polarization of the illuminating laser beam so as to provide a co-located camera with return images that pulsate relative to background images for enhanced viewing and surveillance of the vehicle or container.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: John K. Coulter, Christopher F. Klein
  • GPS patch antenna attitude reference system
    Patent number: 6459406
    Abstract: A pair of patch antennas are used to form a null slit antenna pattern for receiving GPS signals from at least three GPS satellites functioning as pseudo stars for spin rate and spin axis attitude determination for a spinning space vehicle in an earth orbit below the GPS satellites.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2002
    Assignee: The Aerospace Corporation
    Inventors: Gan-Tai Tseng, Jo-Lien Yang, Steven Lloyd Johns, Cheng A. Wu