Patents by Inventor Robert R. Rice

Robert R. Rice 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).

  • Publication number: 20240097166
    Abstract: An integrated low-carbon energy system includes a controller configured to control an amount of H2 gas added to pipe-based delivery system that carries mixture of a fossil fuel in gaseous form with the H2 gas as a minority component by volume, an H2-compatible fuel cell that converts the mixed gas into electricity, a data interface that receives an H2 allocation request signal on behalf of a facility that receives electricity produced by the H2-compatible fuel cell, wherein in response to the H2 allocation request signal, the controller is configured to control a change an addition rate of H2 from a first level to a second level that corresponds with a level requested in the request signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 30, 2023
    Publication date: March 21, 2024
    Applicant: EQT Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. WINGO, William E. JORDAN, Toby Z. RICE, Ryan KANTO
  • Patent number: 9957766
    Abstract: There are provided using deuterium oxide as a media for transmitting high power lasers to perform laser operations, such as cutting, boring and drilling, a target material. High power laser beams are transmitted through a deuterium oxide beam path to a target material, including material in a pressure containment vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2018
    Assignee: Foro Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark S. Zediker, Robert R. Rice, William F. Krupke, Brian O. Faircloth
  • Patent number: 9865992
    Abstract: One embodiment is a wide stripe semiconductor waveguide, which is cleaved at a Talbot length thereof, the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide having facets with mirror coatings. A system provides for selective pumping the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide to create and support a Talbot mode. In embodiments according to the present method and apparatus the gain is patterned so that a single unique pattern actually has the highest gain and hence it is the distribution that oscillates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth T. Kunkee
  • Publication number: 20170187167
    Abstract: One embodiment is a wide stripe semiconductor waveguide, which is cleaved at a Talbot length thereof, the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide having facets with mirror coatings. A system provides for selective pumping the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide to create and support a Talbot mode. In embodiments according to the present method and apparatus the gain is patterned so that a single unique pattern actually has the highest gain and hence it is the distribution that oscillates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2017
    Publication date: June 29, 2017
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth T. Kunkee
  • Patent number: 9640948
    Abstract: One embodiment is a wide stripe semiconductor waveguide, which is cleaved at a Talbot length thereof, the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide having facets with mirror coatings. A system provides for selective pumping the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide to create and support a Talbot mode. In embodiments according to the present method and apparatus the gain is patterned so that a single unique pattern actually has the highest gain and hence it is the distribution that oscillates.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 11, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 2, 2017
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth T. Kunkee
  • Publication number: 20160254649
    Abstract: One embodiment is a wide stripe semiconductor waveguide, which is cleaved at a Talbot length thereof, the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide having facets with mirror coatings. A system provides for selective pumping the wide stripe semiconductor waveguide to create and support a Talbot mode. In embodiments according to the present method and apparatus the gain is patterned so that a single unique pattern actually has the highest gain and hence it is the distribution that oscillates.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 11, 2016
    Publication date: September 1, 2016
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth T. Kunkee
  • Publication number: 20150361750
    Abstract: There are provided using deuterium oxide as a media for transmitting high power lasers to perform laser operations, such as cutting, boring and drilling, a target material. High power laser beams are transmitted through a deuterium oxide beam path to a target material, including material in a pressure containment vessel.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 2, 2015
    Publication date: December 17, 2015
    Inventors: Mark S. Zediker, Robert R. Rice, William F. Krupke, Brian O. Faircloth
  • Patent number: 9085050
    Abstract: There are provided using deuterium oxide as a media for transmitting high power lasers to perform laser operations, such as cutting, boring and drilling, a target material. High power laser beams are transmitted through a deuterium oxide beam path to a target material, including material in a pressure containment vessel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2015
    Assignee: Foro Energy, Inc.
    Inventors: Mark S. Zediker, Robert R. Rice, William F. Krupke, Brian O. Faircloth
  • Patent number: 9069117
    Abstract: Disclosed is an optical fiber formed from a preform that includes a clad material and a core material. The clad material includes an oxide glass and the core material includes as a primary component a semiconductor material that melts at a temperature below where the cladding glass draws into fiber. In addition, the core material includes a scavenger for oxide precipitates that can precipitate into the core from the adjacent clad material during the fiber formation process. During formation, the scavenger reduces oxide precipitate to form the core primary component, or a phase compatible with it, and volatile products. The volatile products evolve out of the system. The primary material of the core can melt during the fiber formation process and crystallize upon cooling leaving the formed optical fiber with a crystalline core and little or no impurities due to precipitation of oxide into the core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 13, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 30, 2015
    Assignee: CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: John M. Ballato, Robert R. Rice
  • Patent number: 8934748
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes a method for forming an optical fiber. The method comprises providing a preform having a core material and a glass cladding material surrounding the core material. The method also comprises drawing the preform at a temperature that is greater than a melting temperature of the core material to form a drawn fiber. The method further comprises cooling the drawn fiber to form the optical fiber having a crystalline fiber core and a cladding that surrounds the crystalline fiber core and extends axially along a length of the crystalline fiber core.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 13, 2015
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, John Ballato, Hacop Injeyan, Hiroshi Komine, Michael G. Wickham
  • Patent number: 8254017
    Abstract: A method is provided for forming an optical fiber amplifier. The method comprises providing a composite preform having a gain material core that includes one or more acoustic velocity varying dopants to provide a longitudinally varying acoustic velocity profile along the gain material core to suppress Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) effects by raising the SBS threshold and drawing the composite preform to form the optical fiber amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2009
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2012
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Michael G. Wickham, Hiroshi Komine, Peter Livingston, Peter Thielen, Charles Phillip Asman
  • Patent number: 8169692
    Abstract: A waveguide parametric device including a multi-mode waveguide having orientation layers formed in a propagation direction of a signal beam and a pump beam propagating down the waveguide. The orientation layers are oppositely oriented to provide non-linear coupling between the pump beam and the signal beam and have a periodicity that provides quasi-phase matching for a fundamental propagation mode, where the waveguide has a size to accommodate multi-mode wave propagation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 1, 2012
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth Twyford Kunkee, Peter Y. M. Livingston
  • Patent number: 7991021
    Abstract: A multimode optical fiber has a core that includes radially dependent dopant materials to provide a desired refractive index profile and a desired Raman gain coefficient profile. A laser diode pump laser array provides high brightness light that is launched into the fiber and is subject to maximum Raman gain along the optical axis, thereby favoring the lowest order mode of the fiber, discriminating against higher order modes and providing a high brightness, diffraction limited output. The fiber can be incorporated into oscillators, amplifiers and other optical devices.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Sami Ali Shakir
  • Publication number: 20110103756
    Abstract: One embodiment of the invention includes a method for forming an optical fiber. The method comprises providing a preform having a core material and a glass cladding material surrounding the core material. The method also comprises drawing the preform at a temperature that is greater than a melting temperature of the core material to form a drawn fiber. The method further comprises cooling the drawn fiber to form the optical fiber having a crystalline fiber core and a cladding that surrounds the crystalline fiber core and extends axially along a length of the crystalline fiber core.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 27, 2009
    Publication date: May 5, 2011
    Applicants: NORTHROP GRUMMAN SYSTEMS CORPORATION, CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, John Ballato
  • Publication number: 20100328760
    Abstract: A waveguide parametric device including a multi-mode waveguide having orientation layers formed in a propagation direction of a signal beam and a pump beam propagating down the waveguide. The orientation layers are oppositely oriented to provide non-linear coupling between the pump beam and the signal beam and have a periodicity that provides quasi-phase matching for a fundamental propagation mode, where the waveguide has a size to accommodate multi-mode wave propagation.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2008
    Publication date: December 30, 2010
    Applicant: Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corp.
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Elizabeth Twyford Kunkee, Peter Y.M. Livingston
  • Publication number: 20100238538
    Abstract: A method is provided for forming an optical fiber amplifier. The method comprises providing a composite preform having a gain material core that includes one or more acoustic velocity varying dopants to provide a longitudinally varying acoustic velocity profile along the gain material core to suppress Stimulated Brillouin Scattering (SBS) effects by raising the SBS threshold and drawing the composite preform to form the optical fiber amplifier.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 19, 2009
    Publication date: September 23, 2010
    Inventors: Robert R. Rice, Michael G. Wickham, Hiroshi Komine, Peter Livinaston, Peter Thielen, Charles Phillip Asman
  • Patent number: 7756169
    Abstract: A high-power laser system includes a laser master oscillator, a plurality of fiber laser amplifiers producing intermediate output beamlets, a combiner for combining the intermediate beamlets into a combined output beam, and a piston error controller for minimizing errors related to beam combination that may degrade the quality of the combined output beam. A piston error controller processes a sample of the combined output beam using a Diffractive Optical Element to isolate a signal representing the total piston error of the combined beam. The controller uses amplitude modulation based on Hadamard code words to tag each non-reference intermediate beamlet with a unique code sequence orthogonal to those used for the other beamlets. For each intermediate beamlet, the associated piston error contribution is recovered using a Hadamard decoder. A very small phase dither is also introduced to allow the sign or direction of the piston error to be recovered.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 23, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 13, 2010
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation
    Inventors: Peter M. Livingston, Robert R. Rice
  • Patent number: 7580431
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for high power amplification in a multimode fiber amplifier. The apparatus includes a diffraction limited low power laser, a multimode fiber amplifier, and a lens. The multimode fiber amplifier is coupled to the low power laser to amplify the low power laser output. The multimode fiber amplifier has a length that is set to a phase-matching length at which the transverse modes of the multimode fiber amplifier are in phase. The lens is coupled to the multimode fiber amplifier and outputs a kilowatt (KW)-level, diffraction-limited output beam from the multimode fiber amplifier.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2009
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
    Inventors: Michael M. Fitelson, Burke E. Nelson, Robert R. Rice, Sami A. Shakir
  • Publication number: 20090185176
    Abstract: A high-power laser system includes a laser master oscillator, a plurality of fiber laser amplifiers producing intermediate output beamlets, a combiner for combining the intermediate beamlets into a combined output beam, and a piston error controller for minimizing errors related to beam combination that may degrade the quality of the combined output beam. A piston error controller processes a sample of the combined output beam using a Diffractive Optical Element to isolate a signal representing the total piston error of the combined beam. The controller uses amplitude modulation based on Hadamard code words to tag each non-reference intermediate beamlet with a unique code sequence orthogonal to those used for the other beamlets. For each intermediate beamlet, the associated piston error contribution is recovered using a Hadamard decoder. A very small phase dither is also introduced to allow the sign or direction of the piston error to be recovered.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 23, 2008
    Publication date: July 23, 2009
    Inventors: Peter M. Livingston, Robert R. Rice
  • Patent number: 7468832
    Abstract: A system and method for combining plural low power light beams into a coherent high power light beam by means of a diffractive optical element operating as both a beam combiner and beam sampler. An oscillation source transmits a master signal that is split into plural beams propagating at a common wavelength. Each beam is phase locked by a corresponding phase modulator according to a phase correction signal. The beams are directed through a fiber array to the diffractive optical element to allow efficient coherent combination of the beams at a desired diffraction order. The diffractive optical element includes a periodic sampling grating for diffracting a low power sample beam representative of the combined beam. A phase detection stage detects phases of constituent beams in the sample beam from which the phase correction signals are derived and fed back to the phase modulators.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: December 23, 2008
    Assignee: Northrop Grumman Corporation
    Inventors: Joshua E. Rothenberg, Robert R. Rice, Michael G. Wickham, Hiroshi Komine