Patents Examined by Lissi Ausley
  • Airborne liquid-spreading system
    Patent number: 5279481
    Abstract: An airborne container for a liquid or other flowable material has bottom doors which are opened to release the material on the ground below the aircraft. To maintain a specified coverage level, a control system which includes a digital controller repeatedly calculates a differential pressure across the doors and varies the position of the doors to maintain a constant material flow rate as the differential pressure varies. The control system closes the doors when a specified volume of material has been spread.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 18, 1994
    Assignee: Air Tractor Inc.
    Inventors: Victor D. Trotter, Robert L. Woods