| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| 5892140 |
Micromachined inferential opto-thermal gas sensor |
April 6, 1999 |
| A micromachined integrated opto-thermal sensor having a rapidly intensity varying or pulsing light source, an interference filter, shadow masking or reflective blocking of light from thermal sensors, or differential operation, a gas cavity into which the detected gas can flow into via a |
| 5891745 |
Test and tear-away bond pad design |
April 6, 1999 |
| A process of providing a bond pad arrangement for use with a thermocompression wire bonder including a primary bond pad for connection of an integrated circuit during a production assembly process, and a secondary test bond pad contiguous with the primary bond pad for connection of a |
| 5890569 |
Vibration isolation system for an inertial sensor assembly |
April 6, 1999 |
| Disclosed is a vibration isolator system for mounting an inertial sensor assembly (ISA) to a support that is subject to shock and vibration. The vibration isolator system includes a ring shaped elastomeric member, and ring shaped outer and inner members. Both the outer and inner members |
| 5890155 |
System and methods for providing encapsulated and performance-efficient data references in an ob |
March 30, 1999 |
| A system for, and method of, providing encapsulated and performance-efficient data references in an object-oriented controller and a distributed, real time process control system employing the system or the method. In one embodiment, the system includes: (1) a client algorithm block |
| 5887651 |
Reheat system for reducing excessive humidity in a controlled space |
March 30, 1999 |
| A space comfort system controls humidity in a space by applying heat to air recirculated to the space when the humidity is excessive and cooling of the air is not required. In a preferred embodiment, the call for heat occurs from the time the humidity increases to a level above a dif |
| 5886249 |
Micromachined integrated opto-flow gas/liquid sensor |
March 23, 1999 |
| A micromachined integrated opto-fluidic or opto-acoustic sensor having a rapidly intensity-varying or pulsing light source, an interference filter, a gas cavity, which may or may not be an optical and/or acoustic resonator tuned to a particular wavelength of light, or sound frequency, in |
| 5883586 |
Embedded mission avionics data link system |
March 16, 1999 |
| An embedded mission avionics data link system is provided which allows an aircraft to receive, transmit, and process a variety of different types of information. The present system has the capability of generating and receiving video information for viewing by a pilot in the cockpit. The |
| 5881185 |
Method and apparatus for accurately fabricating a depolarizer |
March 9, 1999 |
| Aligned birefringent fiber segments are reliably and efficiently rotated approximately 45.degree. relative to each other until the extinction ratio measurement at the output is approximately 0 dB, then birefringent fibers are fused. To determine the extinction ratio, a Wollaston analyzer |
| 5877093 |
Process for coating an integrated circuit device with a molten spray |
March 2, 1999 |
| Disclosed is a method of forming a primer coating and an opaque coating on an integrated circuit or multichip module. First a primer coating composition is applied to a surface of the integrated circuit device or multichip module to form a primer coating that increases the resistance of |
| 5875676 |
Non colocated rate sensing for control moment gyroscopes |
March 2, 1999 |
| A feedback system for use in controlling control moment gyroscopes that are used in positioning a spacecraft where the relative rate of rotation is determined from the difference between the rotation rate of the gimbals of the CMGs and the rotation rate of the frame about the gimbal axis |
| 5874319 |
Vacuum die bond for known good die assembly |
February 23, 1999 |
| Method for testing bare semiconductor die which includes providing a test substrate with a die receiving surface and bond pads with conductive traces which extend away from the surface and are connected to leads that may be contacted with test probes. A vacuum source is applied to an |
| 5873438 |
Tuned mass damper with tunable damping and anti friction rolling mass |
February 23, 1999 |
| A container with an inside surface and a mass mounted for oscillation in the container with a pair of bellows in the container each having a bias spring therein and a removable end to expose the interior of the bellows to exchange the spring for easy tuning of the damping characteristics |
| 5873285 |
Modular reaction wheel |
February 23, 1999 |
| A reaction wheel assembly (RWA) is constructed by placing the electronics on a base and installing on the base a cover that contains the reaction wheel rotor and motor. As the cover in placed over the base, a connector on the cover mates with a connector on the base. The base contains a |
| 5871822 |
Low emissions method for spray application of conformal coating to electronic assemblies |
February 16, 1999 |
| An apparatus and method for applying a conformal coat to an electronic assembly which significantly reduces the emissions which are a by-product of the process. A spray gun atomizes a conformal coat/solvent mixture at a high pressure within the gun and then emits the mixture at a low vol |
| 5870154 |
Signal enhancement system |
February 9, 1999 |
| A circuit and method for optimizing the display of a video signal on a display. Control of the display's brightness and contrast is based on aspects of a video signal, such as the average amplitude of the signal and the standard deviation. These aspects of the video signal are determined |
| 5869749 |
Micromachined integrated opto-flow gas/liquid sensor |
February 9, 1999 |
| A micromachined integrated opto-fluidic or opto-acoustic sensor having a rapidly intensity-varying or pulsing light source, an interference filter, a gas cavity, which may or may not be an optical and/or acoustic resonator tuned to a particular wavelength of light, or sound frequency, in |
| 5867673 |
Universal operator station module for a distributed process control system |
February 2, 1999 |
| A module of a distributed process control system has a prior art kernel submodule, a peripheral submodule, and an interface circuit to provide for communications between the two submodules. The kernel submodule communicates with the interface circuit over a module BUS which includes a |
| 5867270 |
Mechanism and method for mounting piezoelectric transducers |
February 2, 1999 |
| Disclosed is a mounting mechanism and method for accurately securing and uniformly bonding piezoelectric transducers (PZT's) to a dither spring. The dither spring includes a central hub, an outer toroidal rim, a plurality of flexible reeds and a plurality of lobes. The reeds extend b |
| 5867269 |
RLG mirror conditioning and cathode oxidation process |
February 2, 1999 |
| A method performed during the processing of a ring laser gyro (RLG) will produce a long life in the RLG. The method includes filling the RLG with a gas mixture. A current is discharged within the RLG which will create certain reactions to condition the RLG for a long life. |
| 5867039 |
CMOS output driver with p-channel substrate tracking for cold spare capability |
February 2, 1999 |
| A CMOS output driver circuit with p-channel substrate tracking provides an output driver to full power supply voltage. The circuit is especially useful as a redundant circuit where its power supply connection is connected to ground and the circuit is kept in unbiased storage until it |
| 5865612 |
Hot surface ignitor |
February 2, 1999 |
| An ignition circuit and method for a hot surface ignitor. The ignition process and apparatus enforces a short warm-up period for the hot surface ignitor where approximately half power is supplied at start-up to the ignitor until the ignitor warms to a point where its impedance is inc |
| 5864177 |
Bypass capacitors for chip and wire circuit assembly |
January 26, 1999 |
| Stacked die that are separated by an overlaying chip capacitor with a plate bonded to the bottom of the top die with a conductive adhesive and the capacitor shell bonded to the top of the lower die with a non-conductive adhesive. The lower die is attached to a substrate using a conductiv |
| 5861545 |
Micromachined inferential opto-thermal gas sensor |
January 19, 1999 |
| A micromachined integrated opto-thermal sensor having a rapidly intensity varying or pulsing light source, an interference filter, shadow masking or reflective blocking of light from thermal sensors, or differential operation, a gas cavity into which the detected gas can flow into via a |
| 5859695 |
Method of and system for characterization of fiber optic connections in situ |
January 12, 1999 |
| A test method and system for the testing of fiber optic connectors in a fiber optic system while the system is operational without external test equipment. An input signal is applied to one end of a fiber optic path comprising a plurality of connections, which results in an output signal |
| 5856743 |
Position-determining apparatus |
January 5, 1999 |
| An apparatus is provided for determining the position of a shaft that is rotatably displaceable about a longitudinal axis. The apparatus includes a magnet, first and second magnet-detecting devices that are arranged adjacent the shaft, and a third magnet-detecting device mounted on the |
| 5854678 |
Three-axis fiber optic gyroscope having a single source and multi-coupler configuration |
December 29, 1998 |
| A gyroscope having three fiber optic loops for sensing rates of rotation in three axes orthogonal to one another. The gyroscope has one or two detectors and one source that is shared among the three fiber optic sensing loop subsystems with a special multi-coupler configuration. Also, |
| 5853625 |
Water distribution tray for a pad-type humidifier unit |
December 29, 1998 |
| An in-duct humidifier has an evaporative pad onto the top of which water is dripped. Air passing through the pad evaporates the water to thereby increase the air's humidity. An improved tray for dripping the water onto the top of the pad has a sloped floor in which are a number of holes. |
| 5852308 |
Micromachined inferential opto-thermal gas sensor |
December 22, 1998 |
| A micromachined integrated opto-thermal sensor having a rapidly intensity varying or pulsing light source, an interference filter, shadow masking or reflective blocking of light from thermal sensors, or differential operation, a gas cavity into which the detected gas can flow into via a |
| 5847952 |
Nonlinear-approximator-based automatic tuner |
December 8, 1998 |
| An automatic tuner for control systems that produces, as output values, parameters of an arbitrary controller. The controller is in a control loop so that its output effects changes in actuators and regulates a physical process. The controller has either linear or nonlinear controller |
| 5847865 |
Waveguide optical amplifier |
December 8, 1998 |
| A waveguide optical amplifier include a substrate and a guiding or active layer. The substrate has a substrate surface and a substrate index of refraction. The guiding layer is of Zirconium dioxide (ZrO.sub.2) and/or Alumina (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) and is carried on a cladding layer over the |
| 5844236 |
Multi-wavelength optical drive/sense readout for resonant microstructures |
December 1, 1998 |
| A method of driving and sensing a resonant sensor network wherein a least a one resonant sensor is driven by a first light from a first light source at a first frequency, wherein said first light source is modulated by an a.c. source. A second light source at a second frequency is utiliz |
| 5843235 |
Apparatus for forming a deposited curver coating on a substrate and mirror |
December 1, 1998 |
| A substrate holder and mask system for depositing curved films and mirrors on flat mirror substrates. A spherical mask is held in close proximity to a substrate by a support structure to intercept a fraction of vapor from a distant source. The film deposited on the substrate behind the m |
| 5841932 |
Optical fiber coil and method of winding |
November 24, 1998 |
| A fiber optic sensor coil is wound from a length of optical fiber with the mid-point of the optical fiber at the mid-point of the innermost layer of the coil and subsequent layers of the coil each have alternating turns of the two sections of the fiber emanating from the mid-point. The l |
| 5841915 |
Apparatus for determining the effect of modal noise on a communication system by affecting an op |
November 24, 1998 |
| An apparatus is provided for causing a change in the physical condition of an optical fiber in order to analyze the effects of modal noise on a communication system in which the optical fiber is used. One method for performing the physical change is to flex the fiber in a flexing station |
| 5840094 |
Air filter element; assembly; and, method |
November 24, 1998 |
| A filter assembly having first and second opposite frame members and a filter element removably secured to the first and second frame members is provided. The filter element is preferably a pleated paper filter, positioned in extension between opposite end panels. An arrangement is p |
| 5838490 |
Head mounted display system using mangin mirror combiner |
November 17, 1998 |
| A head mounted display which utilizes a flat image source, an optical system including a reflecting filter and a Mangin mirror having at least one curved surface, operable to make the flat image compatible with the flat image source, and provide an undistorted image to be viewed by the |
| 5838440 |
Path length controller piezo/wireboard bonding pattern |
November 17, 1998 |
| Disclosed is a path length control apparatus (PLC) for an optical device. The optical device, such as a ring laser gyroscope, is of the type that includes a block having an internal optical cavity that defines a closed optical path. A light source directs a light beam into the optical pa |
| 5838294 |
Very low duty cycle pulse width modulator |
November 17, 1998 |
| An apparatus which outputs very low duty cycle pulses of a consistent width. It is common to use a pulse width modulator as part of a liquid crystal display dimming system to vary the brightness. In the typical pulse width modulating scheme for lamp dimming, certain noise irregularit |
| 5837894 |
Wide field of view sensor with diffractive optic corrector |
November 17, 1998 |
| A three-axis attitude orientation system for a spacecraft is described. The single sensor provides roll and pitch information by locating the centroid of the earth and using this as a reference point. The system determines yaw by tracking the position of stars which appear in the field o |
| 5836750 |
Electrostatically actuated mesopump having a plurality of elementary cells |
November 17, 1998 |
| A mesopump having a plurality of elementary cells and a method of pumping fluids using the mesopump. The cells each have a body forming a cavity having upper and lower electrodes with curved surfaces facing the other electrode. Electrical connections selectively energize the electrodes. |
| 5835354 |
Compact modular structure for electrical converters |
November 10, 1998 |
| A modularly designed converter with T-shaped current bus bars arranged in parallel and with the crossbars thereof mounted on a metal plate but electrically insulated therefrom. The longitudinal ribs of the bus bars support semiconductor valves and the free ends of the bus bars support a |
| 5828060 |
Apparatus for determining the position of a rotating shaft |
October 27, 1998 |
| An apparatus is provided for determining the position of a shaft that is rotatably displaceable about a longitudinal axis. The apparatus includes a source of light energy, first and second light detecting devices that are arranged adjacent the shaft, and a third light detecting device mo |
| 5828056 |
Photoelectric detector with improved clear container feature detection |
October 27, 1998 |
| A photodetector is provided with two light sources and a light sensitive component. The use of two light sources significantly reduces the opportunity of a surface feature, or abnormality, from focusing light back toward the light sensitive component in a manner that could possible cause |
| 5826834 |
Self adaptive limiter for automatic control of approach and landing |
October 27, 1998 |
| A self adaptive limiter for use in aircraft control systems during approach and landing is disclosed. Estimated flight path angle is continuously computed during the glidepath tracking phase until a predetermined lock altitude above ground when a nominal flight path angle is latched. Nom |
| 5825827 |
Dynamically compensated linear regulator for pulsed transmitters |
October 20, 1998 |
| A system to alter the voltage supplied to the linear regulator of a pulsed transmitter in accordance with the temperature of the regulator, the minimum voltage required for a transmission and the specific aircraft installation requirements so as to reduce problems of heat dissipation in |
| 5825645 |
Two-level system identifier apparatus with optimization |
October 20, 1998 |
| An apparatus for identifying the structure and estimating the parameters in the structure of a controlled system is described. The apparatus uses a structure identifier, in a preferred embodiment, employing a neural network, to match the relationship of the system inputs and outputs to a |
| 5825358 |
Process and system for forming multiple preemptive modeless dialog boxes |
October 20, 1998 |
| A process and system for (a) minimizing operator interaction for selecting various functions of an application using a main window thread, an intelligent worker thread and a preemptive modeless dialog box; and (b) minimizing display clutter. The intelligent worker thread is capable of |
| 5822740 |
Adaptive fuzzy controller that modifies membership functions |
October 13, 1998 |
| A direct adaptive fuzzy controller having an adaptation mechanism that modifies the locations of output membership functions to improve performance of the fuzzy controller. The controller has a fuzzy rule base that has a different or unique output membership function for each fuzzy r |
| 5822482 |
Fiber optic coupler package with strain relief and packaging method |
October 13, 1998 |
| A method of packaging a fiber optic coupler formed of a plurality of optical fibers having a coupled region at which electromagnetic waves are coupled therebetween and at least one lead portion extending from the coupled region. A protective body is provided having a receiving space |
| 5822170 |
Hydrophobic coating for reducing humidity effect in electrostatic actuators |
October 13, 1998 |
| A touch mode electrostatic actuator and method of making the same, having first and second electrode driven surfaces positioned to move between a spaced apart relationship and a contact relationship when dielectric layer on each of the first and second electrode surfaces is subjected to |
