Patents by Inventor Wallace E. Reimche

Wallace E. Reimche 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: 4767084
    Abstract: Apparatus for autonomously performing stationkeeping maneuvers for three-axis stabilized spacecraft (1) such as geosynchronous satellites. For each of one or more spacecraft axes (y, z) the invention autonomously performs desaturation of a momentum/reaction wheel (31-32, 41, respectively) associated with that axis, while simultaneously accomplishing the preselected compensation of the spacecraft's east-west position. Thrusters (35-38, 45-48) having a polarity corresponding to the desired desaturation polarity are fired in a particular sequence: when a preselected east-west firing bias is present, the thrusters fired are solely from that face of the spacecraft (1) needed to counteract the east-west deviation. After the bias has been worked down, thrusters are fired from alternating spacecraft faces.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 1986
    Date of Patent: August 30, 1988
    Assignee: Ford Aerospace & Communications Corporation
    Inventors: Fred N. Chan, Wallace E. Reimche