Abstract: A fiber optic magnetic switch device comprising a fiber optic transceiver ving a light source and a length of fiber optic cable for transmitting light to a fiber optic magnetic switch. The switch includes a magnet, a position biased shutter operably attached to the magnet, a pair of SMA type connectors positioned to align the shutter there between, a repelling orientation magnet positioned proximate the shutter to orient the shutter in a first, secured repelling orientation to allow light through the shutter and further operable to prevent passage of light through the shutter in a second, unsecured condition. An alarm signals the failure of light to be transmitted along the fiber optic cable and through the shutter. Alternatively, the device may include a second fiber optic cable operable between the transceiver and the alarm during operation of the device and positioned to activate the alarm upon interruption of light transmission therein such as when it is tampered with.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 25, 1998
Date of Patent:
July 18, 2000
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors:
Anthony Tartarilla, Emil Meyer, William Hughes, Linda Speth
Abstract: An electronic light source which replaces the hazardous tritium light sou used in the existing Muzzle Reference System (MRS) found on the M1 Series of tanks. The MRS is mounted near the muzzle end of the gun (opposite the breech) and is used by tank gunness to measure gun deflection for calibration of the tank's fire control computer to optimize accuracy. The electronic light source is an LED which is activated by the pulses from a microcontroller based on the input received from a small, low power, omnidirectional motion sensor which detects the movement of the tank mounted on the tank. In the current implementation, the motion sensor comprises a conductive rolling sphere in a cylindrical chamber having a conductive wall with one electrical pole and end plates electrically insulated from the conductive wall and having the other electrical pole such that movement of the element caused by movement of the cylinder will generate intermittent electrical contact between one end plate and the cylinder wall.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 15, 1999
Date of Patent:
June 6, 2000
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: A frequency-scanned end-fire phased-array antenna includes a board, a sinuous transmission line formed on the board, a plurality of end-fire antennas, and a plurality of couplers corresponding to the end-fire antennas, such that the transmission line is selectively coupled to the plurality of end-fire antennas via the plurality of couplers, for selectively coupling energy within the transmission line to the end-fire antennas. By varying the input frequency to the antenna over a narrow range, the direction of a main radiation beam emitted by the antenna can be scanned .+-.90 degrees from broadside. A single antenna board produces a frequency-scanned fan beam. Stacked antenna boards can produce a frequency-scanned pencil beam, or several independent frequency-scanned fan beams at different frequencies. The present antenna can operate in the microwave, millimeter-wave, terahertz, infrared, or optical frequency range.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 22, 1998
Date of Patent:
May 9, 2000
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: A fuze self-neutralizing system is used for munitions having fuzes with sng-forced sliders (13) and stab detonators (19). The self-neutralizing components include an auxiliary battery (5), a auxiliary timing circuit (3) and a physical barrier (11) that prevents the firing pin (18) from contacting the stab detonator (19). Once the barrier (1) is in place, the munition can be handled with relative safety.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 3, 1998
Date of Patent:
April 18, 2000
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: Processes and compositions for nitration of N-substituted isowurtzitane compounds with concentrated nitric acid at elevated temperatures to form HNIW and recovery of gamma HNIW with high yields and purities. Polymorphic conversion of HNIW crystals to epsilon HNIW crystals is also disclosed.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 1, 1998
Date of Patent:
January 18, 2000
Assignee:
The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: The disclosure is of a power supply system in which the primary source of wer is a battery which is connected to a plurality of channels each of which feeds power to a bank of devices having similar electrical noise characteristics.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 25, 1998
Date of Patent:
November 30, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: A partially ionized beam (PIB) deposition technique is used to heteroepitally deposit a thin film of CoGe.sub.2 (001) on GaAs (100) substrates 14. The resulting epitaxial arrangement is CoGe.sub.2 (001) GaAs (100). The best epitaxial layer is obtained with an ion energy 1100 eV to 1200 eV and with a substrate temperature of approximately 280.degree. Centigrade. The substrate wafers are treated only by immersion in HF:H.sub.2 O 1:10 immediately prior to deposition of the epitaxial layer. Contacts grown at these optimal conditions display ohmic behavior, while contacts grown at higher or lower substrate temperatures exhibit rectifying behavior. Epitaxial formation of a high melting point, low resistivity cobalt germanide phase results in the formation of a stable contact to n-GaAs.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 8, 1997
Date of Patent:
September 21, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors:
Sabrina L. Lee, Kevin E. Mello, Steven R. Soss, Toh-Ming Lu, Shyam P. Murarka
Abstract: An obturator for guarding the primary sealing surfaces of a step wedge brhblock gun from post-firing residue buildup assures greater survivability of the obturator without the necessity of cleaning after each firing. The device includes an active tube insert for facilitating face seal force multiplication, out of bore lip and face seals, an inbore piston polymer with expanding residue guard, and an out of bore face seal with a residue-tolerant polymer.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 25, 1997
Date of Patent:
July 27, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army.
Abstract: A system which enables the user to measure continuously or intermittently or by remote command the thickness changes, above or below the water, under variable temperature changes of underground culverts with reliability. A liquid delay is used to couple the sound to the culvert comprising a focused transducer (10) screwed into a hollow cone-like structure called a "squirter" or "bubbler" (11) providing the operator of the system a means for searching for good echoes from which calculations of thickness with a computer can be made using the known velocity and echo return times.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 17, 1998
Date of Patent:
July 27, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Army.
Inventors:
Julius Frankel, Agostino Abbate, Stephan C. Schroeder
Abstract: A segmented pilot ball is assembled within a spherical bearing for procesg a self lubricating liner. The two-part pilot ball includes a major annularly shaped hollow segment with a smaller cutout portion. A minor segment has the shape of the cutout portion so that when the major and minor segments are assembled, the minor segment complements the major segment to define the spherical outer shape of the pilot ball. An inner plug is shaped to fit within the assembled major and minor segments to provide a compressive force and interior support to the pilot ball within the outer race of the bearing. The bearing is formed by applying uncured liner material to the inner surface of the outer race either before or while rotating the outer race, to evenly distribute the liner and to increase the rate of drying. The outer race is then rotated while heating, in order to reduce liner flow and to form a uniform coating.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
February 16, 1998
Date of Patent:
July 20, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America, as Represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors:
Edward Troiano, Mark Fleszar, Craig Stanton
Abstract: The diffusion through a membrane assaying apparatus and method facilitates rapid detection of small or larger molecular weight substances such as hazardous wastes, toxic chemicals or the like by using a semipermeable membrane having a predetermined molecular weight cutoff. The semipermeable membrane is provided as part of a container having a removable barrier which facilitates control of diffusion through the membrane. The assaying method includes the use of a reaction mechanism for detection of a predetermined substance. The reaction mechanism includes one or more reagents which are designed to either react or compete for a substance for which assaying is being performed. By selecting the proper reagents and molecular weight cutoff of the semipermeable membrane, the presence or absence of a reaction such as a color change or production of vapor provides indication whether the substance being assaying for is present in the test sample.
Abstract: A method was developed for the nondestructive removal of thermoset foamed potting material from the electronics package of components in ammunition. The ultimate objective in this effort was to perform a systems technical analysis of the electronic guidance and fuse systems. This was being done in order to determine the electronic components used, the engineering design, functional circuitry, and overall performance of the ammunition.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 25, 1998
Date of Patent:
March 9, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Abstract: A motion detection device for monitoring patient movement. The device includes a sensor adapted to generate a voltage from mechanical vibrations and a circuit in operable relationship with the voltage for generating an alarm upon detection of a predetermined signal. The circuit provides a fixed impedance to the sensor. A micro controller is used for analyzing the signal to select from first and second conditions by sensing activity within sequences of preselected time intervals. The first condition represents a medical condition and the second condition represents casual motion. A switch is used for setting a time interval and a total sampling time for the micro controller. An alarm signal generates an alarm upon detection by the microprocessor of a predetermined activity. The preferred sensor comprises a housing having an outer shell and a hollow spherical opening therein.
Abstract: A collapsible training projectile includes a nose, a body and a tail. The dy has a forwardmost end secured to the nose, and a rearwardmost end secured to the tail. The body further includes one or more axial, longitudinal slots that extend radially through at least part of the body, such that when the projectile impacts with an object, the kinetic energy causes the body to plastically deform along the slots, thereby reducing the penetration energy of the projectile. In another embodiment, the projectile includes a wedge, a body and a tail. The forwardmost end of the body is secured to the wedge, and its rearwardmost end is secured to the tail.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 21, 1997
Date of Patent:
February 23, 1999
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
Inventors:
Leon Manole, Stewart Gilman, Paul Valenti
Abstract: Antibodies which neutralize botulinum neurotoxin serotype F are produced using biologically active botulinum neurotoxin instead of toxoid for immunization and exploiting the importance of cross reaction between various serotypes to obtain immune responses, or monoclonal antibodies, to additional serotypes of interest. Methods of preparation and uses of the neutralizing botulinum neurotoxin antibodies are described.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 20, 1995
Date of Patent:
September 15, 1998
Inventors:
Douglas Richard Brown, James Jude Schmidt
Abstract: A high energy propellant, comprising at least one oxidizer; a nitrocellul binder; an ethyl centralite stabilizer; a plasticizer; and an oxetane thermoplastic elastomer energetic binder. The oxetane thermoplastic elastomer energetic binder comprises from about zero percent to about fifteen percent by weight of the propellant. The preferred oxidizer is selected from the group consisting of CL-20, TNAZ, RDX, HMX and mixtures thereof. The oxidizer comprises from about five percent to about forth percent by weight of the propellant. The nitrocellulose binder comprises from about fifteen percent to about fifty percent by weight of the propellant and the ethyl centralite stabilizer comprises from about 0.7 percent to about 1.5 percent by weight of the propellant. The plasticizer is selected from the group consisting of TNAZ, BTTN, TMETN, TEGDN, BDNPA/F, methyl NENA, ethyl NENA and mixtures thereof. The plasticizer comprises from about five percent to about thirty-five percent by weight of the propellant.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 7, 1996
Date of Patent:
August 25, 1998
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors:
Thelma Manning, Bernard Strauss, Joseph P. Prezelski, Sam Moy
Abstract: A system can take transverse measurements of an elongated workpiece. The tem has a base for holding the workpiece oriented in an axial direction. A carriage mounted on the base can move axially. This carriage has a linear measurement device for providing a linear signal signifying the axial position of the carriage. An ultrasonic assembly is mounted on the carriage, and includes a nozzle for projecting a stream of liquid against the workpiece. This ultrasonic assembly also has an ultrasonic transducer for transmitting an ultrasonic wave into the stream and for detecting an ultrasonic wave returning in the stream. This ultrasonic transducer has a transducer terminal for exchanging signals signifying the occurrence of ultrasonic waves transmitted into and returning from the stream.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 4, 1996
Date of Patent:
May 5, 1998
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
Inventors:
Agostino Abbate, Julius Frankel, Mark Doxbeck