Abstract: A countersink go/no-go gauge is configured to aid a determination of whether a countersink aperture for a rivet is formed to a desired depth. The countersink go/no-go gauge includes a head having a depth defined between a top surface and a bottom surface and a shaft extending from the top surface of the head. The depth of the head is substantially equal to a desired depth of a countersink aperture. In some embodiments the go/no-go gauge includes tolerance features to provide a range for an acceptable countersink depth.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 5, 2021
Date of Patent:
November 23, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A low-repetition-rate (10-Hz), picosecond (ps) optical parametric generator (OPG) system produces higher energy output levels in a more robust and reliable system than previously available. A picosecond OPG stage is seeded at an idler wavelength with a high-power diode laser and its output at ˜566 nm is amplified in a pulsed dye amplifier (PDA) stage having two dye cells, resulting in signal enhancement by more than three orders of magnitude. The nearly transform-limited beam at ˜566 nm has a pulse width of ˜170 ps with an overall output of ˜2.3 mJ/pulse. A spatial filter between the OPG and PDA stages and a pinhole between the two dye cells improve high output beam quality and enhances coarse and fine wavelength tuning capability.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
July 23, 2012
Date of Patent:
November 16, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A method, computer program product, and customized image processing system provide aided target recognition (AiTR) using manifold transfer substance learning (MTSL). The method includes receiving image data. The method includes performing manifold learning technique comprising diffusion mapping on the received image data to transform the received image data. The method includes applying a transfer subspace learning technique comprising Transfer Fishers Linear Discriminative Analysis (TrFLDA) to the transformed data to recognize an object within the image data.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
June 30, 2019
Date of Patent:
November 16, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: The present invention relates to devices for detecting radiation by the excitation of colloidal nanocrystals within a porous article and methods of using same. The aforementioned device is inexpensive and can be fabricated quickly in order to detect radiation. Due to the use of colloidal nanocrystals which have been known to have a decay constant of under 100 ps when energetic electrons produced by an incident x-ray excite the nanocrystals, this device can be used in fast radiation detection of x-rays.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 25, 2020
Date of Patent:
November 9, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: In accordance with various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, a phototransistor comprises an NPN or PNP phototransistor having a base including a Si-region, a Ge-region, and a Ge—Si interface region wherein photons are absorbed in the Ge region and conduction-band electrons are attracted to the interface region such that the electrons' mobility is enhanced thereby.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
May 19, 2020
Date of Patent:
November 2, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Frank K. Hopkins, Shamus P. McNamara, John G. Jones
Abstract: An actuator element of a MEMS device on a substrate is provided to create large, out-of-plane deflection. The actuator element includes a metallic layer having a first portion contacting the substrate and a second portion having an end proximal to the first portion. A distal end is cantilevered over the substrate. A first insulating layer contacts the metallic layer on a bottom contacting surface of the second cantilevered portion from the proximal to the distal end. A second insulating layer contacts the metallic layer on a portion of a top contacting surface at the distal end. The second portion of the metallic layer is prestressed. A coefficient of thermal expansion of the first and second insulating layers is different than a coefficient of thermal expansion of the metallic layer. And, a Young's modulus of the first and second insulating layer is different than a Young's modulus of the metallic layer.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 1, 2019
Date of Patent:
November 2, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
LaVern A Starman, John P K Walton, David Torres Reyes
Abstract: An intelligent compression device for controllable compression. The compression device includes a compressible body and a microprocessor. The compressible body encircles a limb of a user and includes an elastomer layer and an activation layer. The elastomer layer includes voxelated liquid crystal elastomers that contract in response to a stimulus. The activation element, which is positioned proximate to the elastomer layer, supplies the stimulus. The microprocessor actuates at least a portion of the activation element layer.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
November 18, 2019
Date of Patent:
October 26, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A method of making passive microscopic Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) sensor includes forming a three-dimensional microscopic optical structure on a cleaved tip of an optical fiber that reflects a light signal back through the optical fiber. The reflected light is altered by refractive index changes in the three-dimensional structure that is subject to at least one of: (i) thermal radiation; and (ii) volatile organic compounds.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 29, 2020
Date of Patent:
October 26, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A thermal management system includes a slurry generator, an injector pump coupled to the slurry generator, a heat exchanger reactor coupled to the injector pump, wherein the heat exchanger reactor is adapted to subject a thermally expendable heat absorption material to a temperature above 60° C. and a pressure below 3 kPa, and wherein the expendable heat absorption material endothermically decomposes into a gaseous by-product. A vapor cycle system is coupled to the heat exchanger reactor and is operatively connected to a thermal load. A thermal energy storage system may be coupled to the vapor cycle system and the thermal load. The thermal energy storage system may isolate the heat exchanger reactor from thermal load transients of the thermal load.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
January 14, 2020
Date of Patent:
October 19, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Douglas J. Johnson, Nicholas P. Niedbalski, Jamie S. Ervin, Soumya S. Patnaik
Abstract: A system, apparatus, and method include an optical steering system including a holder with a plurality of apertures; a photonic crystal mounted in each of the plurality of apertures; a light source to direct a path of light through the photonic crystal; a motion controller to control movement of the holder to sequentially insert each photonic crystal of the plurality of apertures into the path of light; and a sensor to detect optical energy arriving from each direction of the path of light passing through each photonic crystal.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 29, 2019
Date of Patent:
October 12, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A shape-programmable liquid crystal elastomer. The elastomer comprising cross-linked and polymerized nematic, isotropic monomers with carbon nanotubes that are organized into a plurality of voxels. Each voxel has a director orientation such that each voxel of the plurality has a first state according to the director orientation and a second state according to cross-linkages of the polymerized nematic monomers. The elastomer transitions between the first and second states with exposure to an electric field.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 2, 2019
Date of Patent:
October 12, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A method of preparing a permanent magnet nanocomposite. The method includes melting a precursor alloy having a hard magnetic phase and a magnetically soft phase. The hard magnetic phase has less than a stoichiometric amount of rare earth metal or noble metal. The melted precursor is cast into flakes and milled into a powder. The powder may then be pressure crystalized.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
October 24, 2017
Date of Patent:
October 12, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A device includes a cylindrical lattice structure inside of a cylindrical tube. The cylindrical lattice structure includes compartmentalized one or more longitudinal flowable paths formed by an additive manufacturing process. A material is introduced in a flowable state into one or more upper apertures of the one or more longitudinal flowable paths to fill the cylindrical lattice structure in a compartmentalized arrangement that provides stiffness to the device.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 23, 2020
Date of Patent:
October 5, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Philip J. Flater, IV, Charles M. Jenkins
Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a resonant circuit including an active material substrate excitable by photon energy. A busline having a single input and a single output is located on the active material substrate. A RF resonator geometry is located on the active material substrate in electrical communication with the busline. Application of photon energy to the active material substrate changes the resonance of the RF resonator geometry at room temperatures. Alternately, a resonant circuit is provided that include a passive material substrate. An active material thin film is located on the passive material substrate. A busline having a single input and a single output and a RF resonator geometry located on the active material thin film. The RF resonator geometry is in electrical communication with the busline. Application of photon energy to the active material thin film changes the resonance of the RF resonator geometry at room temperatures.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 13, 2018
Date of Patent:
September 7, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Jeffery Allen, Monica Allen, Daniel Wasserman, Brett Wenner
Abstract: A slow-release free calcium composition is disclosed which includes at least one polar solvent, from about 1 ?M to about 0.25 M substituted or unsubstituted cyclodextrin molecules, and from about 1 ppm to about 1000 ppm calcium cations. The cyclodextrin molecules each have a toroidal shape with an inner cavity and the calcium cations are encapsulated within the inner cavities of the cyclodextrins molecules. A method for making the composition and a method for administering a slow-release form of calcium to a patient is also disclosed.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
August 25, 2020
Date of Patent:
August 31, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Sajid Liu, Jingbo Liu, Jeffrey C. Wigle
Abstract: A method of detecting hypoxia. Detecting hypoxia includes detecting, in exhaled breath, at least one indicator for hypoxia. The at least one indicator is selected from the group consisting of pentanal, 2-pentanone, 2-hexanone, 2-heptanone, 2-cyclopenten-1-one, and 4-butyrolactone.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
February 10, 2017
Date of Patent:
August 31, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Sean W. Harshman, Brian A. Geier, Claude C. Grigsby, Jeffrey B. Phillips, Darrin K. Ott
Abstract: A method includes receiving relative position data from a laser range finder, where the relative position data includes a distance and a relative angle between a first node and a second node measured by the laser range finder from a first position of the first node. The method may also include computing a second position of the second node based on the relative position data, providing the second position of the second node to a computing device of one or more of the first node and the second node, and computationally reconstructing a route traversed by the first node and the second node from a number of computed positions for the first node and the second node based on data received from the laser range finder.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
December 12, 2019
Date of Patent:
August 31, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
John P. McIntire, Frederick Webber, Duy Nguyen, Eric Vinande
Abstract: The present invention relates to ultrafast laser inscribed structures for signal concentration in focal plan arrays, focal plan arrays, imaging and/or sensing apparatuses comprising said focal plan arrays, as well as methods of making and/or using ultrafast laser inscribed structures for signal concentration in focal plan arrays, focal plan arrays, imaging and/or sensing apparatuses comprising said focal plan arrays. Such ultrafast laser inscribed structures are particularly adapted to condense broad band radiation, thus allowing increased sensing efficiencies to be obtained from imaging and/or sensing apparatuses. Such ultrafast laser inscribed structures can be efficiently produced by the processes provided herein.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
April 4, 2019
Date of Patent:
August 31, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: A method for reducing the variability, as measured by relative standard deviation (RSD), of an analytical testing technique is provided. This improvement in RSD improves the confidence in the values obtained during field testing. The method includes incorporating a focusing agent into the sampling media, which permits providing sampling media such as thermal desorption tubes preloaded with the focusing agent.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
March 7, 2017
Date of Patent:
August 24, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Abstract: The present invention relates to core shell liquid metal encapsulates comprising multi-functional ligands, networks comprising such encapsulates and processes of making and using such encapsulates and networks. When subjected to strain, such network's conductivity is enhanced, thus allowing the network to serve as a healing agent that restores at least a portion of the conductivity in an adjacent conductor.
Type:
Grant
Filed:
September 24, 2019
Date of Patent:
August 24, 2021
Assignee:
United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
Inventors:
Carl J. Thrasher, Christopher E. Tabor, Zachary J. Farrell, Nicholas J. Morris