Patents Represented by Attorney L. D. Wofford, Jr.
  • Patent number: 3958179
    Abstract: An electric impedance network for AC carrier frequency control systems which provides optimal arithmetical symmetry in frequency response with respect to the carrier frequency, characterized by having a symmetrical even amplitude response and a symmetrical odd phase response for a substantial frequency band around the carrier frequency.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1973
    Date of Patent: May 18, 1976
    Inventor: Van A. McAuley
  • Patent number: 3957030
    Abstract: A solar energy vapor (freon) powered system for generating electrical energy in which a portion of the heat absorbed from the sun in daylight is stored for use during darkness by a thermal capacitor in which a mass of Pyrone, having a high thermal capacity, liquifies when heat is applied to it and goes through a solidification process to provide a heat output. A highly efficient solar boiler is constructed utilizing an anodized titanium surface and a particular combination of shaped boiler tubes and complementary reflectors. The overall efficiency of the system is further improved by a unique arrangement of heat recovery devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1975
    Date of Patent: May 18, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Billy K. Davis
  • Patent number: 3952590
    Abstract: An apparatus for reducing the background noise produced by the porous walls of the test section of a wind tunnel includes a finely meshed screen member placed over the perforations in the test section walls. The mesh wire screen attached to the interior wall provides a smoother surface for the air stream to flow against reducing the vorticies produced by the edges of the perforations in the test section walls.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1975
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Paul W. Howard, Luke A. Schutzenhofer
  • Patent number: 3952976
    Abstract: A pressurized flexible tunnel which employs a plurality of equal length cables between ends of the tunnel. The cables are lengthened or shortened together by a single winch to adjustably constrain elongation. By positioning one set of cables on one side of the tunnel and another on the opposite side of the tunnel, the tunnel may be expanded or contracted along a straight line or along a curve as permitted by externally positioned orienting means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1976
    Inventors: James C. Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with respect to an invention of Fletcher, Newton D. Brown, Gordon L. Jeppesen, Nicholas C. Costakos
  • Patent number: 3952998
    Abstract: A device for installing rocket engines supported at a cant relative to vertical, an axially extensible, tiltable pedestal, a lifting platform for supporting a rocket engine at its thrust chamber exit, including a mount having a concentric base characterized by a concave bearing surface, a plurality of uniformly spaced legs extended radially from the base, and an annular receiver coaxially aligned with the base and affixed to the distal ends of said legs for receiving the thrust chamber exit. The lifting platform rests on a seat concentrically related to the pedestal and affixed to an extended end portion thereof having a convex bearing surface mated in sliding engagement with the concave bearing surface of the annular base for accommodating a rocking motion of the platform about an axis angularly related to the longitudinal axis of the pedestal, whereby excessive asymmetric loading on the thrust chamber is avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 1975
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1976
    Inventors: James C. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with respect to an invention of Fletcher, Thomas R. George, Jr.
  • Patent number: 3952980
    Abstract: A translatory shock absorber is provided for mounting an attitude sensor thereon for isolating a sensor from translatory vibrations. The translatory shock absorber includes a hollow block structure formed as one piece to form a parallelogram. The absorber block structure includes a movable top plate for supporting the attitude sensor and a fixed base plate with opposed side plates interposed therebetween. At the junctions of the side plates, and the base and top plates, there are provided machined-out grooves which act as flexible hinges for attenuating translatory vibrations. A damping material is supported on a pedestal which is carried on the base plate between the side plates thereof. The top of the damping material rests against the bottom surface of the top plate for eliminating the resonant peaks of vibration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 27, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: George L. VON Pragenau, Irvin T. Morgan, Jr., Clifton A. Kirby
  • Patent number: 3951366
    Abstract: An improved hanger for resiliently supporting delicate instrumentation charactrized by an elongated elastic body, having omnidirectional rigidity, adapted to be supported at each of its opposite ends and connected in supporting relation with a mounting block disposed midway between the opposite ends thereof. The body includes a plurality of mutually spaced flexure plates disposed in substantially parallel planes and interconnected through a plurality of abaxially aligned flexure pins spaced in sequential helical progression about a common axis normally related to said planes for serially interconnecting the plates for imparting a predetermined coefficient of elasticity to the body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1976
    Inventors: William J. Abernathy, Lowell G. Snoddy
  • Patent number: 3951129
    Abstract: A solar energy absorber including a tubular absorber surface through which a fluid passes for transferring thermal energy from the absorber to other devices. Positioned above the tubular absorber surface are a plurality of spaced glass layers. Positioned between an upper layer and the next layer is vacuum or air for minimizing thermal energy losses through convection. A clear liquid passes between two intermediate layers of glass for transferring by means of conduction the thermal energy absorbed therein by either the initial passage of the visible spectrum of electromagnetic rays or by infrared radiation radiated from an absorber positioned therebelow.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 20, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Lott W. Brantley, Jr.
  • Patent number: 3948470
    Abstract: An improved system for use in imposing directional stability on a rocket-propelled vehicle. The system includes a pivotally supported engine-mounting platform, a gimbal ring mounted on the platform and adapted to pivotally support a rocket engine, an hydraulic actuator connected to the platform for imparting thereto selected pivotal motion, an accelerometer and a signal comparator circuit for providing error intelligence indicative of aberration in vehicle acceleration, and an actuator control circuit connected with the actuator and responsive to error intelligence for imparting pivotal motion to the platform, whereby a relocation of the engine's thrust vector is achieved for imparting directional stability to the vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Harold Perkins
  • Patent number: 3949206
    Abstract: An electrical filter for removing noise from a voice communications signal in which, for example, seven sample values of the signal are obtained continuously updated and subjected to filtering. Filtering is accomplished by adding balanced, with respect to a mid-point sample, spaced pairs of the sampled values and then multiplying each pair by a selected filter constant. The signal products thus obtained are summed to provide a filtered version of the original signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 17, 1974
    Date of Patent: April 6, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Thomas R. Edwards, Hugh W. Zeanah
  • Patent number: 3941355
    Abstract: A device for mixing foam ingredients. The device comprises an arrangement of lands situated about a cylindrical elongated shaft-like member with each land having a slot therein. The slots of alternate lands are positioned 180.degree. from each other so that as the ingredients flow through the mixing chamber it flows from adjacent one side of the housing to the other dividing as such passes around the shaft-like member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1974
    Date of Patent: March 2, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: William G. Simpson
  • Patent number: 3939816
    Abstract: A self-energized plasma compressor which compresses plasma discharged from coaxial plasma generator. The device includes a helical shaped coil which is coaxially aligned with the center axis of the coaxial plasma generator. The plasma generator creates a current through the helical coil which, in turn, generates a time varying magnetic field that generates a force which acts radially upon the plasma. A seal is carried on the end of the coaxial plasma generator for containing gas therein. As the plasma is accelerated out the outer end of the generator, it forces the gas outwardly also compressing such. Beads are carried adjacent the small end of the helical shaped coil for being accelerated to hypervelocities by the plasma and gas. As a result of utilizing gas in the coaxial plasma generator, such minimizes ablation of the beads as well as accelerates such to higher velocities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 1974
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of General Counsel-Code GP
    Inventor: Patrick N. Espy
  • Patent number: 3940621
    Abstract: An improved heat transfer device particularly suited for use as an evaporator plate in a diffusion cloud chamber. The device is characterized by a pair of mutually spaced heat transfer plates, each being of a planar configuration, having a pair of opposed surfaces defining therebetween a heat pipe chamber. Within the heat pipe chamber, in contiguous relation with the pair of opposed surfaces, there is disposed a pair of heat pipe wicks supported in a mutually spaced relationship by a foraminous spacer of a planar configuration. A wick including a foraminous layer is contiguously related to the external surfaces of the heat transfer plates for uniformly wetting these surfaces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1975
    Date of Patent: February 24, 1976
    Inventors: James C. Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, with respect to an invention of Fletcher, Larry R. Eaton
  • Patent number: 3938892
    Abstract: An electronic optical analyzer for use in systems such as optical transfer function analyzers eliminates mechanical scanning systems and comprises entirely electronic image dissection means for dissecting an image transmitted by an optical system under test and producing an electric output signal representative of the beam intensity at a selected element of the image. The image dissection means is preferably (in the case of visible light) an image dissector tube whose positioning coils serve as an image element addressing means. The system is useable with any optical system including visible light, other electromagnetic radiation or charged particles (ions or electrons) so long as the image dissection means is responsive to the beam in question. The optical system under test must produce a real image at the image dissection surface of the image dissection means in order for readily evaluatable data to be obtained.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 24, 1973
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Edwin E. Klingman, III
  • Patent number: 3937055
    Abstract: An improved portable peening gun characterized by a pneumatic motor, an axially reciprocable hammer supported to be driven by the motor from an initial position along a linear path, and an improved peening head including an axially reciprocable rod bundle coaxially aligned with the hammer and disposed within the path thereof. The improved head includes a plurality of peening rods, each being characterized by an anvil defined at one end thereof for receiving the hammer in impacting engagement, and a peening surface defined at the other end of a configuration substantially conforming to a segment of a sphere having a radius substantially equal to one-half the thickness of the rod, a barrel for supporting the rod bundle for axial reciprocation, and a helical spring disposed within the barrel for urging the bundle in displacement toward its initial position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 1974
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Vincent P. Caruso, Elbert J. Minter
  • Patent number: 3936942
    Abstract: An optical pantograph for directing light beams and the like from a source to a receiver according to the movement of a pointer. The device can be used for, among other things, directing a laser beam and the like to a target for etching patterns on a target according to the movement of a pointer relative to a pattern trace.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 1974
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1976
    Assignee: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of General Counsel-Code GP
    Inventors: Robert R. Belew, Donald E. Davis
  • Patent number: 3937555
    Abstract: A holographic motion picture camera for producing three dimensional images employing an elliptical optical system and where there is provided in one of the beam paths (the object or reference beam path) a motion compensator which enables the camera to photograph faster moving objects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 17, 1974
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Robert L. Kurtz
  • Patent number: 3938037
    Abstract: A device is provided for measuring the ferrite content of austenitic stainless steel weld material. The device includes a base plate for rotatably mounting a mechanical vernier member thereupon; the mechanical vernier member supports a cantilever beam in a manner to provide vertical positioning of the beam. Suspended from the free end of the beam is a permanent magnet below which is positioned the specimen of austenitic weld material which is to be tested. Strain gauges are provided on the top surface of the beam for measuring the magnetic force between the magnet and weld material by measuring the amount of downward deflection of the beam. The measurement is then converted into a reading which indicates the percentage of ferrite of the weld material in the joint.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 29, 1974
    Date of Patent: February 10, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Wayman N. Clotfelter, Benjamin F. Bankston
  • Patent number: 3933050
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring the velocity of a vehicle traveling between first and second measured points. The apparatus includes a cylindrical housing having an open top for receiving a transparent disk. Indicia representing speed calibrations is circumferentially spaced adjacent an outer perimeter of the disk. A stopwatch is carried in the housing below said disk and has a rotatable hand which rotates at a predetermined rate under the indicia. A lamp is carried below the stopwatch for illuminating the indicia carried on the transparent disk. The stopwatch is started when the vehicle passes a first reference point and stopped when the vehicle passes the second reference point. Thus, when the hand is stopped, such points to the calibrated indicia on said disk indicating the velocity of a vehicle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 1974
    Date of Patent: January 20, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of General Counsel-Code GP
    Inventors: John L. Burch, James C. Billions
  • Patent number: 3931532
    Abstract: A thermoelectric power system particularly adaptable for use in outer space in which a nuclear reactor heats a working fluid, which in turn supplies heat to a plurality of thermoelectric generators spaced about a ring-shaped support. A first heat pipe is employed to couple heat between the hot fluid and hot junction of the thermoelectric element of each generator, and a second heat pipe couples heat away from the cold junction of each thermoelectric element. Each of the second heat pipes are elongated flexible units adapted to be folded upon launch of the system of a space vehicle and thereafter extended in space to provide a substantial area of radiation of heat to be discharged.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1974
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1976
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventor: Ambrose W. Byrd