Patents Assigned to Hy-Pat Corporation
  • Patent number: 6912839
    Abstract: An ignition system for a rocket motor includes a soft plastic tube that extends up into the combustion chamber and is coupled to an oxidizer source. Ignition source wires extend through the tube and terminate at a first end at a location which is set back from the end of the tube, and have a second end coupled to an electric power supply. In operation, an oxidizer is introduced into the tube simultaneously with activation of the power supply. The set back portion of the plastic tube becomes fuel for the oxidizer and is consumed, introducing a fire plume into the combustion chamber. The tube introduces additional fuel distinct from the fuel grain or propellant which is in contact with the both the ignition source wires and oxidizer. In addition, the tube will not damage the nozzle as it is being blown of the rocket during the main propulsion phase.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 5, 2005
    Assignee: Hy-Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Derek Dee Deville
  • Patent number: 6820412
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustionchamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidalprecombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 23, 2004
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Patent number: 6807804
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustion chamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidal precombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2004
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20040068979
    Abstract: An ignition system for a rocket motor includes a soft plastic tube that extends up into the combustion chamber and is coupled to an oxidizer source. Ignition source wires extend through the tube and terminate at a first end at a location which is set back from the end of the tube, and have a second end coupled to an electric power supply. In operation, an oxidizer is introduced into the tube simultaneously with activation of the power supply. The set back portion of the plastic tube becomes fuel for the oxidizer and is consumed, introducing a fire plume into the combustion chamber. The tube introduces additional fuel distinct from the fuel grain or propellant which is in contact with the both the ignition source wires and oxidizer. In addition, the tube will not damage the nozzle as it is being blown of the rocket during the main propulsion phase.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 11, 2002
    Publication date: April 15, 2004
    Applicant: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Derek Dee Deville
  • Publication number: 20040055277
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustion chamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidal precombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Publication date: March 25, 2004
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20040055274
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustion chamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidal precombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 25, 2003
    Publication date: March 25, 2004
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Patent number: 6684625
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor includes a storage tank which stores an oxidizer under relatively low pressure, a turbopump preferably directly coupled to an outlet of the storage tank which pressurizes the oxidizer to a relatively high pressure, a combustion chamber including a solid fuel, and an injector between the turbopump and combustion chamber through which the oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the turbopump is operated by an expander cycle of a heat exchanger. According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger is oxidizer tapped from the storage tank. A barrier is maintained between an oxidizer feed line from the turbopump and the injector until sufficient pressure is created by the turbopump to pump the oxidizer at the requisite pressure into the injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2004
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Thomas O. Bales
  • Patent number: 6679049
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustion chamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidal precombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: January 20, 2004
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Patent number: 6640536
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor includes a storage tank which stores an oxidizer under relatively low pressure, a turbopump preferably directly coupled to an outlet of the storage tank which pressurizes the oxidizer to a relatively high pressure, a combustion chamber including a solid fuel, and an injector between the turbopump and combustion chamber through which the oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the turbopump is operated by an expander cycle of a heat exchanger. According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger is oxidizer tapped from the storage tank. A barrier is maintained between an oxidizer feed line from the turbopump and the injector until sufficient pressure is created by the turbopump to pump the oxidizer at the requisite pressure into the injector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 4, 2003
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Eric E. Schmidt, Thomas O. Bales
  • Publication number: 20030136110
    Abstract: A flame holder is provided at a head end of a combustion chamber of a hybrid rocket motor. The flame holder includes a high-temperature casing defining a cavity, and a solid propellant within cavity around or near the injector. The propellant may be provided in an annulus within the casing, such that the flame plume from the burning propellant is substantially parallel to the flow of the oxidizer, or may be generally cylindrical within a cylindrical casing such that the flame plume of the burning propellant is substantially perpendicular to the oxidizer flow. The solid propellant is preferably ignited substantially simultaneously with the ignition of the hybrid motor. The burning of the solid propellant prevents the flame from combustion of the fluid oxidizer and solid fuel in the hybrid motor from drifting and thereby stabilizes the flame front.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Anthony Joseph Cesaroni
  • Publication number: 20030136107
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor is provided with a precombustion chamber supplied with propellant from separate fuel and oxidizer sources. The propellant can be in the form of gas or liquid and injected substantially tangentially into the head end of the hybrid motor adjacent the oxidizer injector to form a propellant swirl. As the hybrid motor oxidizer is injected into the swirl, it is heated and gasified, and assumes a swirling motion which increases the oxidizer path length and thereby increases the dwell time of the oxidizer. The increased dwell time increases combustion efficiency and permits multiple restarts of the hybrid motor. The propellant may also be a combination of solid and fluid reactants. In one embodiment, the oxidizer injector is extended into the combustion chamber to form a toroidal precombustion chamber which has an annular nozzle adjacent a face of the oxidizer injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith
  • Publication number: 20030136111
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor includes a storage tank which stores an oxidizer under relatively low pressure, a turbopump preferably directly coupled to an outlet of the storage tank which pressurizes the oxidizer to a relatively high pressure, a combustion chamber including a solid fuel, and an injector between the turbopump and combustion chamber through which the oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the turbopump is operated by an expander cycle of a heat exchanger. According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger is oxidizer tapped from the storage tank. A barrier is maintained between an oxidizer feed line from the turbopump and the injector until sufficient pressure is created by the turbopump to pump the oxidizer at the requisite pressure into the injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Eric E. Schmidt, Thomas O. Bales
  • Publication number: 20030136109
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket motor includes a storage tank which stores an oxidizer under relatively low pressure, a turbopump preferably directly coupled to an outlet of the storage tank which pressurizes the oxidizer to a relatively high pressure, a combustion chamber including a solid fuel, and an injector between the turbopump and combustion chamber through which the oxidizer is injected into the combustion chamber. According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the turbopump is operated by an expander cycle of a heat exchanger. According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger is oxidizer tapped from the storage tank. A barrier is maintained between an oxidizer feed line from the turbopump and the injector until sufficient pressure is created by the turbopump to pump the oxidizer at the requisite pressure into the injector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 22, 2002
    Publication date: July 24, 2003
    Applicant: HY PAT CORPORATION
    Inventors: Korey R. Kline, Kevin W. Smith, Thomas O. Bales
  • Patent number: 6367244
    Abstract: A propulsion system with at least one storage chamber containing at least one solid propellant and at least one fluid propellant is disclosed. The fluid propellant is retained under pressurized conditions, such that depressurization of the storage chamber substantially homogeneously disperses the at least one solid propellant in the at least one fluid propellant. A mixed-phase propellant can thereby be fed to a combustion chamber. The pressurized conditions under which the at least one fluid propellant is retained can include supercritical or critical conditions, saturation conditions, and conditions sufficient to provide a compressed gas.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 1997
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2002
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Theodore C. Slack, Jr., Korey R. Kline, Thomas O. Bales, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6092366
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket system and motor includes an oxidant tank communicating with a combustion chamber containing a solid fuel grain. The passage from the oxidant tank to the combustion chamber is obstructed by a fill tube which fills the oxidant tank with oxidant and pressurizes it. Once the tank is full, the fill tube is displaced from the tank-chamber passage to deliver oxidant to the grain and initiate the combustion process. The motor may be an integral part of the rocket, or it may be a modular, expendable or exchangeable cartridge-type device inserted into a reusable body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 25, 2000
    Assignee: Hy-Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Korey R. Kline, Theodore C. Slack, Jr., Andrew E. Mossberg
  • Patent number: 6085516
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket system and motor includes an oxidant tank communicating with a combustion chamber containing a solid fuel grain. The passage from the oxidant tank to the combustion chamber is obstructed by a fill tube which fills the oxidant tank with oxidant and pressurizes it. Once the tank is full, the fill tube is displaced from the tank-chamber passage to deliver oxidant to the grain and initiate the combustion process. The motor may be an integral part of the rocket, or it may be a modular, expendable or exchangeable cartridge-type device inserted into a reusable body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 11, 2000
    Assignee: Hy-Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Korey R. Kline, Theodore C. Slack, Jr., Andrew E. Mossberg
  • Patent number: 6082097
    Abstract: A solid/fluid hybrid propulsion system for a projectile launchable from a launch platform includes a container having a fluid reactant therein, an outer casing, and a cartridge. The cartridge is constructed and arranged to be moved between an operative position in which at least a substantial portion of the cartridge is received within the outer casing and an inoperative position in which the cartridge is dissociated from the outer casing. The cartridge includes at least a combustion chamber containing a solid reactant therein, a thrust nozzle proximal to one end of the combustion chamber, an oxidizer distribution plate proximal to the opposite end of the combustion chamber and having an injection nozzle therethrough, and a protective liner extending along at least the length of the combustion chamber and being interposed between the exterior surface of the solid reactant and the interior surface of the outer casing when the cartridge is in the operative position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1999
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2000
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Korey R. Kline, Theodore C. Slack, Jr.
  • Patent number: 6058697
    Abstract: A hybrid rocket system and motor includes an oxidant tank communicating with a combustion chamber containing a solid fuel grain. The passage from the oxidant tank to the combustion chamber is obstructed by a fill tube which fills the oxidant tank with oxidant and pressurizes it. Once the tank is full, the fill tube is displaced from the tank-chamber passage to deliver oxidant to the grain and initiate the combustion process. The motor may be an integral part of the rocket, or it may be a modular, expendable or exchangeable cartridge-type device inserted into a reusable body.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1999
    Date of Patent: May 9, 2000
    Assignee: Hy Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Korey R. Kline, Theodore C. Slack, Jr., Andrew E. Mossberg
  • Patent number: 6016652
    Abstract: A solid/fluid hybrid propulsion system for a projectile launchable from a launch platform includes a container having a fluid reactant therein, an outer casing, and a cartridge. The cartridge is constructed and arranged to be moved between an operative position in which at least a substantial portion of the cartridge is received within the outer casing and an inoperative position in which the cartridge is dissociated from the outer casing. The cartridge includes at least a combustion chamber containing a solid reactant therein, a thrust nozzle proximal to one end of the combustion chamber, an oxidizer distribution plate proximal to the opposite end of the combustion chamber and having an injection nozzle therethrough, and a protective liner extending along at least the length of the combustion chamber and being interposed between the exterior surface of the solid reactant and the interior surface of the outer casing when the cartridge is in the operative position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 15, 1997
    Date of Patent: January 25, 2000
    Assignee: Hy-Pat Corporation
    Inventors: Kevin W. Smith, Korey R. Kline, Theodore C. Slack, Jr.