Patents by Inventor Rick Hippe

Rick Hippe 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: 7804970
    Abstract: Systems and methods which improve the directivity of a transducer array by reducing electrical cross-talk between conductors connected to individual transducer array elements through the use of a plurality of interconnect circuits are shown. A plurality of signal transmission path circuits, such as circuit boards, flexible printed circuits, etc., are used to provide electrical power to and receive signals from transducer elements of a transducer array. Embodiments couple transducer elements to conductive traces of the signal transmission path circuits in a manner such that adjacent transducer elements are not connected to conductive traces on the same signal transmission path circuit. In some embodiments, a plurality of signal transmission path circuits are offset such that two identical signal transmission path circuits can be used to provide connectivity to array transducer elements using more widely spaced conductive traces, thus reducing electrical cross-talk effects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 28, 2010
    Assignee: SonoSite, Inc.
    Inventors: Rick Hippe, Wei Li, Allan Coleman
  • Publication number: 20070093715
    Abstract: Systems and methods which improve the directivity of a transducer array by reducing electrical cross-talk between conductors connected to individual transducer array elements through the use of a plurality of interconnect circuits are shown. A plurality of signal transmission path circuits, such as circuit boards, flexible printed circuits, etc., are used to provide electrical power to and receive signals from transducer elements of a transducer array. Embodiments couple transducer elements to conductive traces of the signal transmission path circuits in a manner such that adjacent transducer elements are not connected to conductive traces on the same signal transmission path circuit. In some embodiments, a plurality of signal transmission path circuits are offset such that two identical signal transmission path circuits can be used to provide connectivity to array transducer elements using more widely spaced conductive traces, thus reducing electrical cross-talk effects.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 24, 2005
    Publication date: April 26, 2007
    Applicant: SonoSite, Inc.
    Inventors: Rick Hippe, Wei Li, Allan Coleman