Patents by Inventor Christopher J. LaVigna

Christopher J. LaVigna 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: 6644111
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring exit velocity of a round from a muzzle of a gun barrel includes a first optical fiber having a first fiber optic Bragg grating (FBG) circumferentially attached to the gun barrel at the muzzle and a second FBG circumferentially attached to the gun barrel further from the muzzle than the first FBG; a coupler that receives one end of the first optical fiber; a light source connected by a second optical fiber to the coupler for supplying light to the first optical fiber; a third optical fiber comprising an FBG notch filter, the third optical fiber being connected to the coupler to receive light reflected from the first optical fiber; a notch filter mount attached to the gun barrel, the FBG notch filter being disposed in the notch filter mount; a photodetector connected to an end of the third optical fiber; and data processing electronics electrically connected to the photodetector.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 6, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 11, 2003
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Sheldon J. Cytron, Christopher J. LaVigna, Harry G. Kwatny, Justin M. Bowlus, Shiping Chen
  • Publication number: 20030156272
    Abstract: An apparatus for measuring exit velocity of a round from a muzzle of a gun barrel includes a first optical fiber having a first fiber optic Bragg grating (FBG) circumferentially attached to the gun barrel at the muzzle and a second FBG circumferentially attached to the gun barrel further from the muzzle than the first FBG; a coupler that receives one end of the first optical fiber; a light source connected by a second optical fiber to the coupler for supplying light to the first optical fiber; a third optical fiber comprising an FBG notch filter, the third optical fiber being connected to the coupler to receive light reflected from the first optical fiber; a notch filter mount attached to the gun barrel, the FBG notch filter being disposed in the notch filter mount; a photodetector connected to an end of the third optical fiber; and data processing electronics electrically connected to the photodetector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 6, 2003
    Publication date: August 21, 2003
    Inventors: Sheldon J. Cytron, Christopher J. LaVigna, Justin M. Bowlus, Harry G. Kwatny, Shiping Chen
  • Patent number: 5825948
    Abstract: A fiber optic sensor employs tapered fiber optics in a tapered gun barrel. The fiber optic sensor employs a single-mode optical fiber, a light source supplying light to the single-mode fiber and at least one tapered dual-mode optical fiber secured to the barrel in a longitudinal direction. The single-mode fiber is spliced to with an end of a proximal one of the dual-mode fibers for carrying the light signal. A partial reflector is inserted between the dual-mode fibers to partially reflect and partially transmit light. A reflector is coupled to a distal end the dual-mode fiber, at the open end of the muzzle of the gun, to reflect the transmitted light. A coupler couples the single-mode fiber to the proximal dual-mode fiber. A coherent multiplexer is connected to the coupler for receiving and multiplexing the reflected light. A processor is responsive to the multiplexer for processing the multiplexed sensing information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 1997
    Date of Patent: October 20, 1998
    Inventors: James S. Sirkis, Yaowen Li, Christopher J. LaVigna