Patents by Inventor Joseph J. Hollkamp

Joseph J. Hollkamp 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: 5924845
    Abstract: A new apparatus and method for dynamically absorbing resonant vibration in jet engine blades and other rotating turbomachine components over all engine speeds is disclosed. A distributed pendulum (a pendulum having its axis of motion inside its body instead of at an end) is mounted inside a jet engine blade to function as a centrifugal pendulum. A centrifugal pendulum can be tuned so that its natural frequency linearly tracks the rotational speed of the engine or other turbomachine in which it is mounted and can absorb resonant vibrations from turbomachine components whenever the frequency of a source of vibratory excitation from a so-called speed line of the turbomachine coincides with a resonant frequency of the component. The equations of motion of a distributed pendulum are derived to show that a distributed pendulum small enough to fit inside a turbomachine component can be tuned to track a turbomachine speed line by adjusting its mass distribution about its axis of motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 7, 1997
    Date of Patent: July 20, 1999
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force
    Inventors: Ronald L. Bagley, Joseph J. Hollkamp, Robert W. Gordon