Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation

Orbital Sciences Corporation

David E Burchfield

Ben D Gardner

David H Tracy

Anatole M Lokshin

Bruce E Mount

Richard A Heppner

H William Niu

John M Hagey

William H Niu

Within an ion pump, accelerated ions leave the center portion of an anode tube due to the anode tube symmetry and the generally symmetrical electric fields present. The apparent symmetry within the anode tube may be altered by making the anode tube longitudinally segmented and applying independent voltages to each segment. The voltages on two adjacent segments may be time varying at different rates to achieve a rasterizing process.

System and method for enhanced ion pump lifespan

Within an ion pump, accelerated ions leave the center portion of an anode tube due to the anode tube symmetry and the generally symmetrical electric fields present. The apparent symmetry within the anode tube may be altered by making the anode tube longitudinally segmented and applying independent voltages to each segment. The voltages on two adjacent segments may be time varying at different rates to achieve a rasterizing process. In various embodiments, one or more wire internal to the anode structure and having a time-varying electric potential may alter the trajectory of the ions leaving the anode tube, as may the shape of the anode near the ends of the anode tube.

A system for detecting particles in a gas stream comprises a Faraday collector separating charged particles into positive and negative streams to be detected. The Faraday collector includes a plurality of interdigitated wires, with a first plurality of wires charged with a positive potential and a second plurality of wires charged with a negative potential to separate particles in the gas stream into the positive and negative streams.

Micro machined two dimensional faraday collector grid

In a first embodiment, a spectroscopy device comprises a preheater, an ionizer, and a differential ion mobility spectroscopy (DMS) analyzer. The preheater is disposed to heat inlet air to 150&#xb0; C. or more. The ionizer is disposed to receive and ionize heated inlet air from the preheater. The differential ion mobility spectroscopy (DMS) analyzer has a reception element configured to detect ionized chemical agents in the inlet air. In a second embodiment, a spectroscopy device comprises a DMS detector and a controller. The DMS detector comprises an ionizer disposed to receive and ionize inlet air at 150&#xb0; C. or more, and an analyzer disposed to selectively receive ions from the ionizer under varying radio frequency voltage and compensation field voltage. The controller is configured to flag at least one chemical agent as present in the inlet air upon reception of negatively charged ions by the analyzer under corresponding values of the radio frequency voltage and the compensation field voltage.

High temperature differential ion mobility spectroscopy

A DMS-IMS chemical sensing system employs two ion-separation technologies in tandem to extract signals of specific chemicals from the glut of signals present. The sensing system generally includes an atmospheric pressure ion generation system, a Differential Mobility (DMS) system, a time-of-flight IMS (TOF-IMS) system, and an ion detector system. The DMS extracts a narrow range of trace chemicals from an environmental sample for subsequent analysis, and a TOF-IMS then analyzes the resulting narrow range of isolated chemicals, allowing compound-specific detection thresholds at sub-ppb concentrations.

Tandem differential mobility ion mobility spectrometer for chemical vapor detection

A method and apparatus for the identification and quantification of a vapor, or a number of vapors, in air mixtures is discussed. The method includes calibration of a vapor responsive sensor, or a plurality of vapor responsive sensors, to known concentrations of the vapors of interest or to known concentrations of potential interfering vapors. The calibrations result in sensor response vectors which are derived from the transient signals observed as the vapors are sorbed and desorbed on the sensors. Detection of vapors in complex mixtures is effected by subjecting the apparatus to the mixture and measuring the sensor response, or plurality of sensor responses, and then applying multidimensional statistical analysis or filtering methods to this data, using the precalibrated response vectors as the basis set for deconvolution. The sensors disclosed are Surface Acoustic Wave sensors (SAWs), and include variations of temperature programmed SAWs, SAWs with various combinations of chemically selective coatings, and arrays of temperature programmed and coated SAWs.

Saw vapor sensor apparatus and multicomponent signal processing

A gas bubble detector having a modulated IR source focused through a bandpass filter onto a venturi, formed in a sample tube, to illuminate the venturi with modulated filtered IR to detect the presence of gas bubbles as small as 0.01 cm or about 0.004' in diameter in liquid flowing through the venturi. Means are provided to determine the size of any detected bubble and to provide an alarm in the absence of liquid in the sample tube.

Growing community of inventors

Rancho Cucamonga, CA, United States of America

David E Burchfield