Patents by Inventor Allister F. Fraser

Allister F. Fraser 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).

  • Stowable and deployable solar energy concentrator with fresnel lenses
    Patent number: 5578139
    Abstract: A stowable and deployable concentrator for solar cells. A substrate mounts a row of solar cells. A row of Fresnel lens elements is mounted to the substrate so as to be deflectable toward the substrate in a stowed configuration and biased away from it in the deployed configuration. The Fresnel lens is linear and flexibly mounted in a shaper which shapes it to a proper curvature in the deployed configuration. A pair of these concentrators can be hinged together to form a conveniently stowed and readily deployed combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 1995
    Date of Patent: November 26, 1996
    Assignee: AEC-Able Engineering Co., Inc.
    Inventors: P. Alan Jones, T. Jeffrey Harvey, Allister F. Fraser, David M. Murphy
  • Stowable and deployable concentrator for solar cells
    Patent number: 5496414
    Abstract: A stowable and deployable concentrator for solar cells, A flexible, springily resilient Fresnel lens is held in a frame whose relaxed condition holds the Fresnel lens as the linear fragment of a cylinder. When in this deployed shape, the Fresnel lens concentrates energy onto a strip of solar cells, The frame is springily mounted by support means, biased toward the deployed condition, and when the Fresnel lens and frame are pressed toward the cells, they tend to flatten toward a stowed condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1996
    Inventors: T. Jeffrey Harvey, P. Alan Jones, Allister F. Fraser
  • Solar cell array panel and method of manufacture
    Patent number: 4542257
    Abstract: An integral lightweight solar cell panel containing a plurality of interconnected solar cells bonded to a fiber-reinforced polyimide film made from an isoimide-containing precursor. The solar cells can be placed on the reinforced polyimide film while the film is in a partially cured condition and the cells become bonded to the film upon completion of the cure. A transparent polymeric film, such as a polyimide, can be used as protective means for the front surfaces of the cells.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1984
    Date of Patent: September 17, 1985
    Assignees: Hughes Aircraft Company, International Telecommunications Satellite Organization
    Inventors: Allister F. Fraser, Walter G. Alsbach