Patents by Inventor Clifford T. Molaskey

Clifford T. Molaskey 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: 7286236
    Abstract: A system for detecting radiation events in a ring laser gyro is provided. The system includes one or more photodetectors, that produce photocurrent signals to monitor the ring laser gyro. Further, the system includes one or more comparator circuits actuating at one or more thresholds. The one or more comparator circuits are responsive to the photodetectors to detect when a radiation event occurs based on the photocurrent signal. The system further includes a path length control circuit responsive to the one or more comparator circuits, that restores operating conditions for the ring laser gyro when a radiation event occurs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 15, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2007
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Clifford T. Molaskey, Douglas A. Chamberlin, Paris Wiley
  • Patent number: 7271915
    Abstract: A system, circuit and method are disclosed for operating a Ring Laser Gyroscope (RLG) off-mode-peak to avoid exciting undesirable transverse modes. An alternate PLC operating point can be used to bias the optical path length of the RLG to an appropriate side of an ideal integer number of wavelengths, and thus avoid exciting the undesirable transverse modes. Although this alternate PLC operating point is not perfect with respect to establishing an integer number of wavelengths, this operation provides acceptable performance of the RLG's (in particular, short length path RLG's), and acceptable margin can be established relative to variations in the PLC set points involved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 4, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 18, 2007
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: Clifford T. Molaskey, Leroy O. Thielman, Douglas A. Chamberlin
  • Patent number: 6967853
    Abstract: A duty cycle and period of clock stimulus signals of power conversion device are independently altered to handle in-rush current. In one embodiment, transient power supply turn on current observations coupled with changing of the duty cycle and period of clock stimulus (frequency) are used to select a duty cycle and frequency for the power conversion device. A programmable logic device is programmed with firmware in one embodiment to independently alter the duty cycle of the power conversion device. Optimization of the duty cycle and frequency occurs empirically at a higher level of assembly, allowing adjustments that account for both parasitic and process induced variations and system configuration adjustments. In further embodiments, in-rush current is measured during operation of the power conversion device, and the duty cycle and frequency are adjusted in real time in response to such measured current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2005
    Assignee: Honeywell International, Inc.
    Inventors: Anthony N. DeFazio, Charles F. Hayek, Clifford T. Molaskey