Patents by Inventor Donald Adam Frederick

Donald Adam Frederick 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).

  • In-line fiber-optic polarizer
    Patent number: 6434283
    Abstract: A fiber-optic acoustical sensor system includes a light source, an elongate optical cable conducting light from the light source to an optical acoustical transducer located at a distance from the light source along this cable, and a polarizer at the acoustical transducer. The sensor system includes a polarizer providing orthogonally-polarized light along the optical cable to the polarizer located adjacent to the transducer. Because of the polarizer adjacent to the transducer, disturbances of the optical cable and resulting polarization perturbations of the light transmitted along this cable do not affect the optical acoustical transducer. The acoustic transducer is responsive to sound energy to provide an optical return signal indicative of this sound energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2002
    Assignee: Litton Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald Adam Frederick, David Barnett Hall
  • IN-LINE FIBER-OPTIC POLARIZER
    Publication number: 20010051013
    Abstract: A fiber-optic acoustical sensor system includes a light source, an elongate optical cable conducting light from the light source to an optical acoustical transducer located at a distance from the light source along this cable, and a polarizer at the acoustical transducer. The sensor system includes a polarizer providing orthogonally-polarized light along the optical cable to the polarizer located adjacent to the transducer. Because of the polarizer adjacent to the transducer, disturbances of the optical cable and resulting polarization perturbations of the light transmitted along this cable do not affect the optical acoustical transducer. The acoustic transducer is responsive to sound energy to provide an optical return signal indicative of this sound energy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 28, 2000
    Publication date: December 13, 2001
    Inventors: Donald Adam Frederick, David Barnett Hall
  • Method of operating a fiber-optic acoustical sensor, apparatus for practicing the method, and in-line fiber-optic polarizer usable in such apparatus
    Patent number: 6072921
    Abstract: A fiber-optic acoustical sensor system includes a light source, an elongate optical cable conducting light from the light source to an optical acoustical transducer located at a distance from the light source along this cable, and a polarizer at the acoustical transducer. The sensor system includes a polarizer providing orthogonally-polarized light along the optical cable to the polarizer located adjacent to the transducer. Because of the polarizer adjacent to the transducer, disturbances of the optical cable and resulting polarization perturbations of the light transmitted along this cable do not affect the optical acoustical transducer. The acoustic transducer is responsive to sound energy to provide an optical return signal indicative of this sound energy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 1997
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2000
    Assignee: Litton Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Donald Adam Frederick, David Barnett Hall