Patents by Inventor Roger L. Kroes

Roger L. Kroes 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: 5173087
    Abstract: Gravitational phenomena, including convection, sedimentation, and interactions of materials with their containers all affect the crystal growth process. If they are not taken into consideration they can have adverse effects on the quantity and quality of crystals produced. As a practical matter, convection and sedimentation can be completely eliminated only under conditions of low gravity attained during orbital flight. There is, then, an advantage to effecting crystallization in space. But in the absence of of convection in a microgravity environment cooling proceeds by thermal diffusion from the walls to the center of the solution chamber. This renders control of nucleation difficult. Accordingly there is a need for a new and improved nucleation process in space. Herein crystals are nucleated by creating a small localized region of high relative supersaturation in a host solution at a lower degree of supersaturation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 19, 1991
    Date of Patent: December 22, 1992
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    Inventors: Roger L. Kroes, Donald A. Reiss, Sandor L. Lehoczky