Search Patents
  • Patient Medical Data Access System
    Publication number: 20140330582
    Abstract: A medical data point of care device is configured to collect, access, store, and distribute patient medical data. The device is particularly suited for use in a mobile environment and may be particularly useful in an urgent care mobile environment, such as a battlefield or disaster area. In such environments, data transmission services may be intermittent and the bandwidth of such services may be low. The device is configured to adjust the flow of data transmission from a point of care location to a remote location so as to maximize or otherwise increase the likelihood of successful transmission of the data. The device is further configured to collect data from both a care provider and a medical device.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Publication date: November 6, 2014
    Applicant: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kitty Tong, Richard J. Moss, Ashkan Moghaddam, James Rowe, Joseph T. Sanford, Brian K. Streng, Roger Andersen, David M. Howard, David C. Uhrig, Samuel Hancock, Russell B. Pillers
  • SCANNING ANTENNA WITH ELECTRONICALLY RECONFIGURABLE SIGNAL FEED
    Publication number: 20190312350
    Abstract: A scanning antenna system includes a feed line having first and second ends, and a scanning antenna element disposed with respect to the feed line so that, in the transmit mode, a signal input to one of the first and second ends of the feed line is evanescently coupled to the antenna element, whereby the antenna element radiates the signal as a shaped beam through an angular scanning field having a negative angular scanning space and a positive angular scanning space on either side of the stop band near 0°. A switching network, operatively coupled to the feed line, switches the signal input between the first and second ends of the feed line in a controlled sequence, whereby the shaped beam radiated by the antenna element is scanned in the negative scanning space, the stop band, and the positive scanning space. The antenna system performs reciprocally in the receive mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Publication date: October 10, 2019
    Applicant: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Aramais Avakian, Lev S. Sadovnik
  • Patient medical data access system
    Patent number: 10032003
    Abstract: A medical data point of care device is configured to collect, access, store, and distribute patient medical data. The device is particularly suited for use in a mobile environment and may be particularly useful in an urgent care mobile environment, such as a battlefield or disaster area. In such environments, data transmission services may be intermittent and the bandwidth of such services may be low. The device is configured to adjust the flow of data transmission from a point of care location to a remote location so as to maximize or otherwise increase the likelihood of successful transmission of the data. The device is further configured to collect data from both a care provider and a medical device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 28, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Kitty Tong, Richard J. Moss, Ashkan Moghaddam, James Rowe, Joseph T. Sanford, Brian K. Streng, Roger Andersen, David M. Howard, David C. Uhrig, Samuel Hancock, Russell B. Pillers
  • BI-DIRECTIONAL DATA SECURITY FOR SUPERVISOR CONTROL AND DATA ACQUISITION NETWORKS
    Publication number: 20150215279
    Abstract: A cyber-security device provides secure communications bi-directionally between an external network and an internal network including a supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) device. The device includes a processor in data communication with the external and internal networks, the processor being programmed with a rule-set establishing validation criteria configured to validate data received from the external and internal networks. The processor is operable in an operational mode to pass between the external and internal networks only data that are compliant with the validation criteria. The processor is re-programmable with a new rule-set only in a programming mode. The device includes a switch that is manually operable to switch the processor from the operational mode to the programming mode.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Publication date: July 30, 2015
    Applicant: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Fischer, Andrew Feldkamp, Nelson Rodriguez, Joshua Edwards
  • BI-DIRECTIONAL DATA SECURITY FOR CONTROL SYSTEMS
    Publication number: 20170374027
    Abstract: A cyber-security device includes a processor operable to process messages with a data validation rule-set; an external communication interface configured for bi-directional data communication between the processor and external networks or systems; and an internal communication interface configured for bi-directional data communication between the processor and a safety-critical control device, wherein the data received by the processor via either the external or internal communication interface is blocked, sanitized, or passed by the appropriate rule-set, depending on whether the data conform to validation criteria established by the rule-set. The processor analyzes the data, preferably byte-by-byte, with the data in each byte being required to conform to the rule-set validation criteria before being passed from the processor to the appropriate interface.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Publication date: December 28, 2017
    Applicant: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Fischer, Joshua A. Edwards, Kyle Andrew Shepard, Kevin Jeffrey Streander
  • Bi-directional data security for supervisor control and data acquisition networks
    Patent number: 9497161
    Abstract: A cyber-security device provides secure communications bi-directionally between an external network and an internal network including a supervisor control and data acquisition (SCADA) device. The device includes a processor in data communication with the external and internal networks, the processor being programmed with a rule-set establishing validation criteria configured to validate data received from the external and internal networks. The processor is operable in an operational mode to pass between the external and internal networks only data that are compliant with the validation criteria. The processor is re-programmable with a new rule-set only in a programming mode. The device includes a switch that is manually operable to switch the processor from the operational mode to the programming mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2016
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Peter Fischer, Andrew Feldkamp, Nelson Rodriguez, Joshua Edwards
  • Aerodynamic fairing system for airship
    Patent number: 7147184
    Abstract: An aerodynamic fairing system for an airship having a substantially spherical balloon portion includes an inflatable fairing that is attachable to the balloon portion, and a fairing actuation mechanism that selectively inflates and deploys the fairing after lift-off, and deflates and retracts the fairing before landing. The actuation mechanism includes an inflation/deflation mechanism and a deployment/retraction mechanism that cooperate to deploy and inflate the fairing, and to deflate and retract the fairing. The fairing includes a substantially conical, inflatable tail section tapering from a wide forward end to a narrow aft end, and a collapsible annular collar connecting the forward end of the tail section to the balloon portion. The inflation/deflation mechanism includes a fan system in the tail section, and the deployment/retraction mechanism includes a plurality of cables attached between the tail section and a plurality of winches mounted on the balloon portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2005
    Date of Patent: December 12, 2006
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventor: John Whitefield Meade Purvis, IV
  • Compact foldable multicopter unmanned aerial vehicle for cargo delivery
    Patent number: 11845530
    Abstract: An unmanned aerial vehicle includes a fuselage having a first side and a second side, a first arm disposed on a first side of the fuselage, wherein the first arm is coupled to one or more first propellers, wherein the first arm is adapted to move between a first folded position in which the first arm is in a folded state inside the fuselage and a first extended position in which a first section of the first arm and the one or more first propellers are outside the fuselage, and a second arm disposed on the second side of the fuselage, wherein the second arm is coupled to one or more second propellers, wherein the second arm is adapted to move between a second folded position in which the second arm is in a folded state inside the fuselage and a second extended position in which a second section of the second arm and the one or more second propellers are outside the fuselage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 24, 2022
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2023
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Stephen Morris, Jean-Francois Clavreul
  • DEVICES AND METHODS TO ATTACH COMPOSITE CORE TO A SURROUNDING STRUCTURE
    Publication number: 20190389557
    Abstract: A composite core assembly includes a composite core structure having internal material interfaces and an attachment rail coupled to the composite core structure. The attachment rail includes a first planar surface and a second planar surface adjoined with the first planar surface. The first planar surface is arranged parallel to an internal material interface plane of the composite core structure, and the first planar portion is at least partially integrated into the composite core structure in an internal material interface plane. At least a portion of the first planar surface extends beyond a perimeter surface of the composite core structure, and the second planar surface is configured to attach to the surrounding support member. The core material does not have net edge facets or flat edges positioned next to surrounding structure, and/or may not have a structure arranged parallel to the adjacent support structure to attach to the support structure.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 21, 2018
    Publication date: December 26, 2019
    Applicant: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventor: James Donn HETHCOCK, JR.
  • Scanning antenna with electronically reconfigurable signal feed
    Patent number: 10665939
    Abstract: A scanning antenna system includes a feed line having first and second ends, and a scanning antenna element disposed with respect to the feed line so that, in the transmit mode, a signal input to one of the first and second ends of the feed line is evanescently coupled to the antenna element, whereby the antenna element radiates the signal as a shaped beam through an angular scanning field having a negative angular scanning space and a positive angular scanning space on either side of the stop band near 0°. A switching network, operatively coupled to the feed line, switches the signal input between the first and second ends of the feed line in a controlled sequence, whereby the shaped beam radiated by the antenna element is scanned in the negative scanning space, the stop band, and the positive scanning space. The antenna system performs reciprocally in the receive mode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2018
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2020
    Assignee: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Aramais Avakian, Lev S. Sadovnik
  • STEERABLE BEAM ANTENNA WITH CONTROLLABLY VARIABLE POLARIZATION
    Publication number: 20190379120
    Abstract: A steerable beam antenna includes a feed line and first and second arrays of switchable scatterers along opposite sides of the feed line. The first array scatters an electromagnetic wave propagating through the feed line to form a first beam portion with a first polarization, and the second array scatters the propagating wave to form a second beam portion with a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization. Each scatterer in the first and second arrays is switchable between a high state and a low state, the high state scatterers and the low-state scatterers in each of the first and second arrays defining a periodic pattern. The scatterers in the first and second arrays are switchable to shift the pattern of scatterers in one of the arrays relative to the pattern in the other array by a selectable period shift that yields a desired polarization for the beam.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Publication date: December 12, 2019
    Applicant: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Vladimir A. Manasson, Lev S. Sadovnik
  • System and method for 3D radar image rendering
    Patent number: 7456779
    Abstract: A 3D rendered image of a radar-scanned terrain surface is provided from a radar return signal from the surface, wherein the return signal includes data indicative of azimuth, elevation, and range of a radar-illuminated area of the surface. The data are processed for transformation into X, Y, and Z coordinates. The X and Y coordinates corresponding to each illuminated area are triangulated so as to create a mesh of triangles representing the terrain surface, each of the triangles in the mesh being defined by a vertex triplet. 3D imaging information (grey scale shading and/or coloring information) is added to each triangle in the mesh, based on the amplitude of the radar return signal from the coordinates represented by each vertex in the triplet and the value of the Z coordinate at each vertex, so as to form the 3D rendered image.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2008
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Jack Cross, Theodore Bosworth, Craig Chapman, David Howard
  • Electronically-controlled steerable beam antenna with suppressed parasitic scattering
    Patent number: 9698478
    Abstract: An electronically-controlled steerable beam antenna with suppressed parasitic scattering includes a feed line defining an axis x; and first and second arrays of electronically-controlled switchable scatters distributed along the axis x, each of the scatterers in the first and second arrays being switchable between a high state and a low state to scatter an electromagnetic wave propagating through the transmission line so as to form a steerable antenna beam. Each of the scatters of the second array is configured to be 180°-phase-shifted relative to a corresponding scatter of the first array. The switchable scatterers of the first and second arrays are configured into high states and low states relative to each other so as to suppress parasitic scattering of the electromagnetic wave without suppressing the steerable antenna beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 4, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 4, 2017
    Assignee: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Vladimir A. Manasson, Lev S. Sadovnik, Vladimir Litvinov
  • MICROGRAVITY SYSTEM PHASE SEPARATOR
    Publication number: 20220118388
    Abstract: An apparatus and related methods to separate liquid from a liquid/gas mixture, particularly in a low gravity environment. The apparatus includes a chamber having a capillary channel around a perimeter of the chamber, a liquid/gas inlet to the chamber, a liquid outlet from the chamber, the liquid outlet being positioned at the perimeter of the chamber to remove liquid from the capillary channel, and a gas outlet from the chamber. The gas outlet is positioned in the chamber, away from the capillary channel, to remove gas from the chamber. The chamber is structured to be readily fabricated using traditional machining techniques or additive manufacturing techniques. The chamber may be fabricated from various materials, including, for example, polymers, metals, composites, and ceramics. The chamber may function as a heat exchanger so that the apparatus can remove condensable vapors from the gas in the mixture in addition to what is already liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2020
    Publication date: April 21, 2022
    Applicant: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Daniel Aaron WYMAN, Michael PETERSON
  • Bi-directional data security for control systems
    Patent number: 9998426
    Abstract: A cyber-security device includes a processor operable to process messages with a data validation rule-set; an external communication interface configured for bi-directional data communication between the processor and external networks or systems; and an internal communication interface configured for bi-directional data communication between the processor and a safety-critical control device, wherein the data received by the processor via either the external or internal communication interface is blocked, sanitized, or passed by the appropriate rule-set, depending on whether the data conform to validation criteria established by the rule-set. The processor analyzes the data, preferably byte-by-byte, with the data in each byte being required to conform to the rule-set validation criteria before being passed from the processor to the appropriate interface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 12, 2018
    Assignee: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Peter Fischer, Joshua A. Edwards, Kyle Andrew Shepard, Kevin Jeffrey Streander
  • Planar dielectric waveguide with metal grid for antenna applications
    Patent number: 9577342
    Abstract: A waveguide includes a dielectric substrate having first and second opposed surfaces defining a longitudinal wave propagation path therebetween; and a conductive grid on the first surface of the substrate and comprising a plurality of substantially parallel metal strips, each defining an axis. The grid renders the first surface of the substrate opaque to a longitudinal electromagnetic wave propagating along the longitudinal wave propagation path and polarized in a direction substantially parallel to the axes of the strips. The grid allows the first surface of the substrate to be transparent to a transverse electromagnetic wave having a transverse propagation path that intersects the first and second surfaces of the substrate and having a polarization in a direction substantially normal to the plurality of metal strips. A diffraction grating on the second surface allows the waveguide to function as an antenna element that may be employed in a beam-steering antenna system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 21, 2017
    Assignee: SIERRA NEVADA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Vladimir Manasson, Victor Khodos, Lev Sadovnik, Aramais Avakian, Vladimir Litvinov, Dexin Jia, Mikhail Felman, Mark Aretskin
  • Electronically-controlled monolithic array antenna
    Patent number: 7609223
    Abstract: An electronically controlled monolithic array antenna includes a transmission line through which an electromagnetic signal may be propagated, and a metal antenna element defining an evanescent coupling edge located so as to permit evanescent coupling of the signal between the transmission line and the antenna element. The antenna element includes a conductive ground plate; an array of conductive edge elements defining the coupling edge, each of the edge elements being electrically connected to a control signal source, and each of the edge elements being electrically isolated from the ground plate by an insulative isolation gap; and a plurality of switches, each of which is selectively operable in response to the control signal to electrically connect selected edge elements to the ground plate across the insulative isolation gap so as to provide a selectively variable electromagnetic coupling geometry of the coupling edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2009
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Vladimir Manasson, Vladimir I. Litvinov, Lev Sadovnik, Mark Aretskin, Mikhail Felman, Aramais Avakian
  • Beam-forming antenna with amplitude-controlled antenna elements
    Patent number: 7456787
    Abstract: A beam-forming antenna for transmission and/or reception of an electromagnetic signal having a given wavelength in a surrounding medium includes a transmission line electromagnetically coupled to an array of individually controllable antenna elements, each of which is oscillated by the signal with a controllable amplitude. The antenna elements are arranged in a linear array and are spaced from each other by a distance that does not exceed one-third the signal's wavelength in the surrounding medium. The oscillation amplitude of each of the individual antenna elements is controlled by an amplitude controlling device, such as a switch, a gain-controlled amplifier, or a gain-controlled attenuator. The amplitude controlling devices, in turn, are controlled by a computer that receives as its input the desired beamshape, and that is programmed to operate the amplitude controlling devices in accordance with a set of stored amplitude values derived empirically for a set of desired beamshapes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 11, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 25, 2008
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Vladimir A. Manasson, Lev S. Sadovnik
  • Hybrid fixed VTOL aircraft powered by heavy fuel engine
    Patent number: 11834167
    Abstract: A VTOL drone aircraft can include a rechargeable battery, a primary processor, lift propellers, an internal combustion engine with a thrust propeller, a generator, and a power regulation controller. The generator can receive power from the internal combustion engine and deliver electrical power to the rechargeable battery, the lift propellers, or both. The power regulation controller can regulate dynamically power delivery from the internal combustion engine to the thrust propeller and the generator, and from the generator to the rechargeable battery based upon changing conditions during flight. The power regulation controller can prevent operation of the generator when peak power is needed from the internal combustion engine for the thrust propeller. The power regulation controller can also control a clutch coupled to the thrust propeller to regulate the delivery of power to the thrust propeller when the internal combustion engine is active.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 5, 2023
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Mikhail Blinkov, Curtis Leo, Stephen Morris
  • Steerable beam antenna with controllably variable polarization
    Patent number: 11121465
    Abstract: A steerable beam antenna includes a feed line and first and second arrays of switchable scatterers along opposite sides of the feed line. The first array scatters an electromagnetic wave propagating through the feed line to form a first beam portion with a first polarization, and the second array scatters the propagating wave to form a second beam portion with a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization. Each scatterer in the first and second arrays is switchable between a high state and a low state, the high state scatterers and the low-state scatterers in each of the first and second arrays defining a periodic pattern. The scatterers in the first and second arrays are switchable to shift the pattern of scatterers in one of the arrays relative to the pattern in the other array by a selectable period shift that yields a desired polarization for the beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 14, 2021
    Assignee: Sierra Nevada Corporation
    Inventors: Vladimir A. Manasson, Lev S. Sadovnik
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