Patents by Inventor Paul C. Griffith

Paul C. Griffith 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: 8905354
    Abstract: A step assembly for a vehicle can include a housing and a support member hingedly coupled to the housing with a shaft. A first locking feature can be associated with the housing while a second locking feature can be associated with the support member. A spring can be operably associated with the support member and the housing such that the spring can bias the second locking feature toward the first locking feature. The support member is configured to rotate between a stowed position and a deployed position. Further, the support member is configured as a step support and a hand hold device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.
    Inventors: Paul C. Griffiths, John Scott Harding
  • Publication number: 20140209748
    Abstract: A step assembly for a vehicle can include a housing and a support member hingedly coupled to the housing with a shaft. A first locking feature can be associated with the housing while a second locking feature can be associated with the support member. A spring can be operably associated with the support member and the housing such that the spring can bias the second locking feature toward the first locking feature. The support member is configured to rotate between a stowed position and a deployed position. Further, the support member is configured as a step support and a hand hold device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2013
    Publication date: July 31, 2014
    Applicant: BELL HELICOPTER TEXTRON INC.
    Inventors: Paul C. Griffiths, John Scott Harding
  • Patent number: 8218013
    Abstract: A star sensor includes (a) a scan mirror for scanning at least one star; (b) a detector array, coupled to the scan mirror, for detecting the one star; and (c) a processor, coupled to the detector array. The processor includes a first filter configured to reduce noise spikes in the detected one star, and provide a detection mask of filtered data. Also included is a second filter configured to reduce non-contiguous samples in the detection mask. A centroid calculator is included to determine a location of the one star, after the first and second filtering. The first filter includes a median filter, followed by an averaging filter, both configured to filter the one star in an along-scan direction of the scan mirror. The first filter includes another median filter, which is configured to filter the detected one star in the cross-scan direction of the scan mirror.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 10, 2012
    Assignee: Exelis, Inc
    Inventors: Kenneth K. Ellis, Paul C. Griffith