Patents by Inventor Alan Heaney

Alan Heaney 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).

  • Reducing reflection at termination of optical fiber in a small volume
    Patent number: 8842963
    Abstract: A method and structure for terminating an optical fiber are disclosed that provide an optical fiber termination structure with a small volume and very low return loss, even when the termination is in close proximity to reflective surfaces. In one example embodiment, the optical fiber termination reduces reflections into the one or more cores to a return loss of ?70 dB or less regardless of the presence of surfaces proximate the optical fiber termination. At the same time, a length of the optical fiber termination is less than 5 mm and a largest transverse dimension of the optical fiber termination is less than 325 um. The optical fiber termination is useful in fiber sensing applications in general and is particularly effective for terminating a multi-core fiber used in a distributed shape sensing application.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 23, 2014
    Assignee: Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
    Inventors: Paul F. Wysocki, Alan Heaney, Stephen Kreger, Mark Froggatt, Ken Walker
  • Registration of an extended reference for parameter measurement in an optical sensing system
    Publication number: 20120057841
    Abstract: A method and structure for terminating an optical fiber are disclosed that provide an optical fiber termination structure with a small volume and very low return loss, even when the termination is in close proximity to reflective surfaces. In one example embodiment, the optical fiber termination reduces reflections into the one or more cores to a return loss of ?70 dB or less regardless of the presence of surfaces proximate the optical fiber termination. At the same time, a length of the optical fiber termination is less than 5 mm and a largest transverse dimension of the optical fiber termination is less than 325 um. The optical fiber termination is useful in fiber sensing applications in general and is particularly effective for terminating a multi-core fiber used in a distributed shape sensing application.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Publication date: March 8, 2012
    Applicant: Luna Innovation Incorporated
    Inventors: Paul F. Wysocki, Alan Heaney, Stephen Kreger, Mark Froggatt, Kenneth Walker