Patents by Inventor Thomas E. Harkins

Thomas E. Harkins 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: 6493651
    Abstract: A system which derives the attitude of a body as it rotates and travels through the earth's magnetic field. At least one magnetometer is placed in the body and provides an output signal during flight of the body. The zero crossings of the output signal are used to formulate a time discriminant. This time discriminant is compared with a roll angle discriminant for which a value of attitude has been previously determined. From the comparison, the attitude during flight may be determined. A time discriminant can also be formulated using two magnetometers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 18, 2000
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Thomas E. Harkins, David J. Hepner, Bradford Davis
  • Publication number: 20020111762
    Abstract: A system which derives the attitude of a body as it rotates and travels through the earth's magnetic field. At least one magnetometer is placed in the body and provides an output signal during flight of the body. The zero crossings of the output signal are used to formulate a time discriminant. This time discriminant is compared with a roll angle discriminant for which a value of attitude has been previously determined. From the comparison, the attitude during flight may be determined. A time discriminant can also be formulated using two magnetometers.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 18, 2000
    Publication date: August 15, 2002
    Inventors: Thomas E. Harkins, David J. Hepner, Bradford Davis
  • Patent number: 6398155
    Abstract: A method to determine the direction in which a spinning projectile is traveling. A solar sensor array on the projectile is used to calculate the orientation of the axis of rotation of the projectile with respect to a known solar field and a magnetometer sensor array is used to calculate the orientation of the axis of rotation of the projectile with respect to a known magnetic field, both fields being represented by respective vectors having magnitude and direction. With the known and calculated orientations, the pointing direction may be obtained by vector combination.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: David J. Hepner, Thomas E. Harkins
  • Patent number: 6349652
    Abstract: A system which is packaged within a projectile fuze body and obtains data relative to the projectile during a launch. Sensors are provided which obtain in-bore data as well as in-flight data. The in-bore data is recorded at a fast rate during in-bore travel of the projectile and is read out, continuously, at a slower rate during in-flight travel. Both in-bore data and in-flight data are encoded and transmitted to a ground station for analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: February 26, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: David J. Hepner, Michael S. L. Hollis, Peter C. Muller, Thomas E. Harkins, Gary Borgen, William P. D'Amico, Bradford S. Davis, Lawrence W. Burke
  • Patent number: 6347763
    Abstract: An active damping method and a self-contained active damping system that can be retrofitted to existing rockets are provided which for reducing the dispersion of rockets by using lateral thrusters to oppose any initial yawing motion. The self-contained system of the present invention can be installed in a cylindrical section of a rocket body by insertion between other flight body parts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 2, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Thomas E. Harkins, T. Gordon Brown
  • Patent number: 6345785
    Abstract: In a projectile launched by a gun, the projectile including a fuze with a longitudinal axis of symmetry and a braking device, an apparatus disposed in the fuze for determining a time of deployment of the braking device, the apparatus including a first accelerometer having a sense axis and mounted with its sense axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the fuze; a second accelerometer having a sense axis and mounted a known axial distance from the first accelerometer and with its sense axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the fuze; a magnetometer having a sense axis and mounted with its sense axis orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the fuze; a field-programmable memory unit loaded with aiming data of the gun, magnetic field direction at the gun, a nominal path length table, and a braking device maneuver authority table; and a microprocessor connected to the first and second accelerometers, the magnetometer, the field-programmable memory unit and the braking
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2002
    Assignee: The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
    Inventors: Thomas E. Harkins, Bradford S. Davis