Patents by Inventor Grum Tamrat Ngatu

Grum Tamrat Ngatu 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: 8413772
    Abstract: A MagnetoRheological Fluid Elastic (MRFE) lag damper system for adaptive lead-lag damping of helicopter main rotors. Embodiments include snubber dampers especially for hingeless helicopter rotors, and concentric bearing dampers. The snubber lag dampers include a flexible snubber body defining a cavity, a flexible or rigid interior (e.g., center) wall subdividing the cavity, and a flow valve in the interior wall or external to the cavity. The flexible snubber body may comprise elastomeric materials and metal rings stacked together to create a sealed MR fluid cavity. The shear deformation of the snubber body induces MR fluid flow through the valve, controlled by a magnetic field in the valve. An MRFE concentric bearing damper is also disclosed, comprising a pair of concentric tubes with elastomeric material injected and cured in an annular gap between the two tubes, and an MR fluid reservoir with piston-mounted MR valve housed inside the innermost tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 2009
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2013
    Assignees: Techno-Sciences, Inc., The University of Maryland at College Park
    Inventors: Norman Mark Wereley, Wei Hu, Curt Steven Kothera, Peter Che-Hung Chen, Grum Tamrat Ngatu