Patents by Inventor A. Challoner

A. Challoner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20070298542
    Abstract: A Multiple Internal Seal Ring (MISR) Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) vacuum packaging method that hermetically seals MEMS devices using MISR. The method bonds a capping plate having metal seal rings to a base plate having metal seal rings by wafer bonding the capping plate wafer to the base plate wafer. Bulk electrodes may be used to provide conductive paths between the seal rings on the base plate and the capping plate. All seals are made using only metal-to-metal seal rings deposited on the polished surfaces of the base plate and capping plate wafers. However, multiple electrical feed-through metal traces are provided by fabricating via holes through the capping plate for electrical connection from the outside of the package through the via-holes to the inside of the package. Each metal seal ring serves the dual purposes of hermetic sealing and providing the electrical feed-through metal trace.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 5, 2007
    Publication date: December 27, 2007
    Applicants: California Institute of Technology, The Boeing Company
    Inventors: Ken Hayworth, Karl Yee, Kirill Shcheglov, Youngsam Bae, Dean Wiberg, A. Challoner, Chris Peay
  • Publication number: 20070084042
    Abstract: An inertial sensor includes a mesoscaled disc resonator comprised of micro-machined substantially thermally non-conductive wafer with low coefficient of thermal expansion for sensing substantially in-plane vibration, a rigid support coupled to the resonator at a central mounting point of the resonator, at least one excitation electrode within an interior of the resonator to excite internal in-plane vibration of the resonator, and at least one sensing electrode within the interior of the resonator for sensing the internal in-plane vibration of the resonator. The inertial sensor is fabricated by etching a baseplate, bonding the substantially thermally non-conductive wafer to the etched baseplate, through-etching the wafer using deep reactive ion etching to form the resonator, depositing a thin conductive film on the through-etched wafer.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 13, 2006
    Publication date: April 19, 2007
    Applicants: California Institute of Technology, The Boeing Company
    Inventors: A. Challoner, Kirill Shcheglov
  • Publication number: 20060162146
    Abstract: The present invention discloses an inertial sensor comprising a planar mechanical resonator with embedded sensing and actuation for substantially in-plane vibration and having a central rigid support for the resonator. At least one excitation or torquer electrode is disposed within an interior of the resonator to excite in-plane vibration of the resonator and at least one sensing or pickoff electrode is disposed within the interior of the resonator for sensing the motion of the excited resonator. In one embodiment, the planar resonator includes a plurality of slots in an annular pattern; in another embodiment, the planar mechanical resonator comprises four masses; each embodiment having a simple degenerate pair of in-plane vibration modes.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2006
    Publication date: July 27, 2006
    Applicants: The Boeing Company, California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Kirill Shcheglov, A. Challoner
  • Publication number: 20060070440
    Abstract: The present invention discloses a resonator gyroscope comprising a vibrationally isolated resonator including a proof mass, a counterbalancing plate having an extensive planar region, and one or more flexures interconnecting the proof mass and counterbalancing plate. A baseplate is affixed to the resonator by the one or more flexures and sense and drive electrodes are affixed to the baseplate proximate to the extensive planar region of the counterbalancing plate for exciting the resonator and sensing movement of the gyroscope. The isolated resonator transfers substantially no net momentum to the baseplate when the resonator is excited.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 4, 2005
    Publication date: April 6, 2006
    Applicants: The Boeing Company, California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: A. Challoner, Kirill Shcheglov
  • Publication number: 20060037417
    Abstract: Parametrically disciplined operation of a symmetric nearly degenerate mode vibratory gyroscope is disclosed. A parametrically-disciplined inertial wave gyroscope having a natural oscillation frequency in the neighborhood of a sub-harmonic of an external stable clock reference is produced by driving an electrostatic bias electrode at approximately twice this sub-harmonic frequency to achieve disciplined frequency and phase operation of the resonator. A nearly symmetric parametrically-disciplined inertial wave gyroscope that can oscillate in any transverse direction and has more than one bias electrostatic electrode that can be independently driven at twice its oscillation frequency at an amplitude and phase that disciplines its damping to zero in any vibration direction. In addition, operation of a parametrically-disciplined inertial wave gyroscope is taught in which the precession rate of the driven vibration pattern is digitally disciplined to a prescribed non-zero reference value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 29, 2005
    Publication date: February 23, 2006
    Applicants: The Boeing Company, California Institute of Technology
    Inventors: Kirill Shcheglov, Ken Hayworth, A. Challoner, Chris Peay
  • Publication number: 20050017329
    Abstract: A Multiple Internal Seal Ring (MISR) Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) vacuum package that hermetically seals MEMS devices using MISR. The method bonds a capping plate having metal seal rings to a base plate having metal seal rings by wafer bonding the capping plate wafer to the base plate wafer. Bulk electrodes may be used to provide conductive paths between the seal rings on the base plate and the capping plate. All seals are made using only metal-to-metal seal rings deposited on the polished surfaces of the base plate and capping plate wafers. However, multiple electrical feed-through metal traces are provided by fabricating via holes through the capping plate for electrical connection from the outside of the package through the via-holes to the inside of the package. Each metal seal ring serves the dual purposes of hermetic sealing and providing the electrical feed-through metal trace.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 10, 2004
    Publication date: January 27, 2005
    Inventors: Ken Hayworth, Karl Yee, Kirill Shcheglov, Youngsam Bae, Dean Wiberg, A. Challoner, Chris Peay
  • Publication number: 20030236619
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention generally encompass a device for determining a user position including an RF position locating device (e.g., a GPS receiver) for intermittently determining a reference position and an inertial sensing system for determining a position change from the reference position. A current position is determined from the reference position and the position change and the inertial sensing system operates at a lower power level than the RF position locating device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 20, 2003
    Publication date: December 25, 2003
    Applicant: THE BOEING COMPANY
    Inventors: A. Challoner Dorian, Dean V. Wiberg