Patents by Inventor Thomas A. Bittner

Thomas A. Bittner 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).

  • Vibratory rotation sensor with AC forcing and sensing electronics
    Patent number: 5850041
    Abstract: The invention is a method and apparatus for controlling the vibration modes of a vibratory rotation sensor (VRS) comprising a resonator and a housing which together serve as the ground potential reference. The resonator has a surface with a conductive region and the housing has a plurality of attached electrodes positioned opposing the conductive region on the resonator. The parameters of the resonator standing-wave vibration pattern are determined by feeding an ac sensing signal to the conducting region on the resonator and obtaining one or more vibration signals while the electric potential of the conductive region on the resonator is maintained within 100 millivolts of ground. Each vibration signal is a replica of the ac sensing signal with amplitude modulation which is a periodic function of the distance from a point in the conducting region of the surface of the resonator to an opposing housing electrode. The frequency of the amplitude modulation is the vibration frequency of the resonator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 1997
    Date of Patent: December 15, 1998
    Assignee: Litton Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Lalit Kumar, Michael J. Foster, Thomas A. Bittner