Patents by Inventor Brian Thomas Cunningham

Brian Thomas Cunningham 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).

  • Micromachined membrane with locally compliant and stiff regions and method of making same
    Patent number: 6168906
    Abstract: A method of making a micromachined membrane having both stiff and flexible regions includes depositing a photoresist on a substrate; exposing the photoresist to actinic radiation through a mask to define openings having a first width in the photoresist in the stiff region and openings having a second width greater than the first width in the flexible region; developing the exposed photoresist to create the openings; etching the openings through the developed photoresist to create grooves in the substrate; and coating the substrate including the grooves with a film of material having a thickness greater than one half the first width and less than half of the second width to form adjacent contacting rigid corrugations in the stiff region and spaced compliant corrugations in the flexible region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1998
    Date of Patent: January 2, 2001
    Assignee: The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc.
    Inventors: Jonathan J. Bernstein, Brian Thomas Cunningham