Patents by Inventor Carl W. Pointer

Carl W. Pointer 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).

  • Patent number: 4290316
    Abstract: A two degree-of-freedom, free-rotor, gas-bearing gyroscope having greatly reduced sensitivity to acceleration-induced and other disturbances. An electromagnetic forcer acts on the rotor to keep the axial component of bearing deflection negligible. Closed-loop control circuitry for energizing the axial forcer responds to a linear displacement signal. The circuitry also provides an output signal proportional to the component of acceleration along the spin axis. This signal may be used to replace an accelerometer output signal in navigation equipment. In addition to be being functional during normal operation, the control functions during start-up and shut-down to center the rotor over the support ball. The functions of forcer and torquer are combined in a single structure. A dual motor arrangement and a dual forcer-torquer arrangement provide cancellation of bias variations due to housing, shaft, and bearing deflections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 1979
    Date of Patent: September 22, 1981
    Assignee: Rockwell International Corporation
    Inventors: Raymond Noar, Stanley L. Zedekar, Michael D. Albertson, Carl W. Pointer, Chester E. Gall, Alfred B. Fuller