Patents by Inventor Michael R. Bracken

Michael R. Bracken 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).

  • Systems and methods for automated collection of analytes
    Patent number: 9109980
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes an automated system for collecting analyte. The system comprises a screen supply cartridge for holding a stack of clean tabs including sorbent coated screens (SCS) residing in SCS channels. The stack of tabs are arranged such that SCS tabs directly above and/or below a given SCS tab include SCS channels offset from the SCS channel of the given tab to isolate the SCS channels from one another and the environment. The system includes an air source that provides an analyte to be adsorbed by an SCS channel of a respective tab at a sampling region and a linear actuator that moves a given clean tab into the sampling region for exposing the SCS channel of the given clean tab to the analyte and providing a given exposed tab.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 1, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 18, 2015
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Ewing, Danielle N. Dickinson, Robert Milloy, Michael R. Bracken
  • SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AUTOMATED COLLECTION OF ANALYTES
    Publication number: 20130213148
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes an automated system for collecting analyte. The system comprises a screen supply cartridge for holding a stack of clean tabs including sorbent coated screens (SCS) residing in SCS channels. The stack of tabs are arranged such that SCS tabs directly above and/or below a given SCS tab include SCS channels offset from the SCS channel of the given tab to isolate the SCS channels from one another and the environment. The system includes an air source that provides an analyte to be adsorbed by an SCS channel of a respective tab at a sampling region and a linear actuator that moves a given clean tab into the sampling region for exposing the SCS channel of the given clean tab to the analyte and providing a given exposed tab.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 1, 2011
    Publication date: August 22, 2013
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Ewing, Danielle N. Dickinson, Robert Milloy, Michael R. Bracken