Michigan Aerospace Corporation

Smiths Aerospace, Inc.

Ge Aviation Systems Limited

Gregory Joseph Wassick

Jane Pavlich

Greg Alan Ritter

Peter Tchoryk

Anthony Beckman Hays

Raymond Michael Stitt

Frank Saggio, Iii

Joseph G Mickley

Paul Byron Hays

Charles J Richey

Michael Thomas Dehring

For each capture mechanism of a plurality of three capture mechanisms, a necked coupling element received by a corresponding socket slides therealong and engages a corresponding latch lever biased in an open position and rotates the latch lever to a closed position as the necked coupling element is slid within the socket towards a bottom thereof. A latch locked biased against the latch lever engages a notch in the latch lever when the latch lever is closed so as to latch the latch lever in the closed position and thereby capture the necked coupling element within the socket. The latch lever is unlatched by releasing the latch lock from engagement with the latch. Different latch levers incorporate different shaped surfaces that engage different corresponding necked coupling elements captured thereby so as to provide for respectively constraining in one, two and three degrees-of-freedom, respectively.

Docking system

A capture mechanism provides for receiving a necked coupling element within a socket, providing for the necked coupling element to slide therewith, biasing a latch lever in an open position so as to provide for receiving the necked coupling element within the socket adjacent to the latch lever, rotating the latch lever with the necked coupling element from the open position to a closed position as the necked coupling element is slid within the socket towards a bottom of the socket, biasing a latch lock against the latch lever, engaging the latch lock with the latch lever when the latch lever is in the closed position so as to provide for latching the latch lever in the closed position and capturing the necked coupling element within the socket, and providing for unlatching the latch lever by releasing the latch lock from engagement with the latch lever.

First and second portions of a docking system are releasably connected with one another using at least one latch mechanism that can be reusably released either from the first portion of the docking system or from the second portion of the docking system.

An airborne tracking system including a radiation emitter, a radiation receiver and a signal processor. The radiation emitter is adapted to direct radiation to a positioning area a defined distance from the radiation emitter, the radiation carrying a modulated location signal containing information corresponding to positions within the positioning area. The radiation receiver is adapted to receive at least a portion of the emitted radiation carrying the modulated signal and output a signal to the signal processor indicative of the modulation of the location signal of the received radiation. Signal processor is adapted to process the outputted signal and identify a position within the positioning area indicative of the location in the positioning area of the received radiation.

Optical tracking system for airborne objects

A convex forward surface of a forward-biased probe head of a first portion of a docking system engages a central concave conical surface of a second portion of the docking system. A first linear actuator moves a flexible docking cable assembly relative to a support structure through bores therein and through the probe head. An aftward retraction of the docking cable assembly causes a linearly-actuated cam element thereof to rotate a rotary cam follower pivoted from the support structure, which engages an aft edge portion of the probe head, forcing the probe head forward. A plurality of distal coupling elements operatively coupled to the support structure around a central axis thereof engage with and become releasably captured by a corresponding socket and associated capture mechanism of a mating second portion of the docking system, and rigidized when the probe head is forced against the central concave conical surface.

An end effector operatively coupled to an extendable tensile element extended from a first vehicle engages a primary receptacle of a second vehicle. The first and second vehicles are drawn together by retracting the extendable tensile element into the first vehicle until contact therebetween, after which roll axes of the first and second vehicles become substantially aligned responsive to a further retraction of the extendable tensile element into the first vehicle and a resulting tension in the extendable tensile element. At least one alignment post of at least one of the first and second vehicles engages with at least one surface of at least one corresponding secondary receptacle so as to at least substantially align the first and second vehicles in roll responsive to the tension in the extendable tensile element.

An automatically aligned docking system, comprises a multi-point kinematic rigidization system that provides precise, repeatable rotational alignment at the spacecraft-docking interface without over-constraining the interface.

First and second releasably connectable portions of a docking system are moved together. A relatively central concave element of the second portion of the docking system contacts a corresponding relatively central mating convex element of the first portion of the docking system. A plurality of relatively distal coupling elements rigidly connected to one of the first and second portions of the docking system are inserted into a corresponding plurality of relatively distal sockets of the other of the first and second portions of the docking system. The plurality of relatively distal coupling elements are captured with a corresponding plurality of relatively distal latch mechanisms associated with the plurality of relatively distal sockets responsive to inserting the plurality of relatively distal coupling elements into the corresponding plurality of relatively distal sockets.

An aerial refueling system including a refueling drogue assembly including a refueling drogue and a refueling hose in captive relation with the refueling drogue and a drogue positioning system. The drogue positioning system including a radiation emitter, a radiation receiver and a signal processor. Then the radiation emitter is adapted to direct radiation to a positioning area a defined distance from the radiation emitter, the radiation carrying a modulated location signal containing information corresponding to positions within the positioning area. The radiation receiver is adapted to receive at least a portion of the emitted radiation carrying the modulated signal and output a signal to the signal processor indicative of the modulation of the location signal of the received radiation. And the signal processor is adapted to process the outputted signal and identify a position within the positioning area indicative of the location in the positioning area of the received radiation.

Optical tracking system for refueling

A first beam of light from a laser is split by a beam splitter into a reference beam and at least one second beam of light, the latter of which is directed into an atmosphere. Light from the at least one second beam of light scattered by molecules or aerosols in the atmosphere is collected by at least one telescope as at least one light signal. The at least one light signal and the reference beam are simultaneously processed by a common interferometer, and resulting fringe patterns are imaged onto a detector and processed by a data processor to determine at least one associated air data product.

Growing community of inventors

Petersburg, MI, United States of America

Gregory Joseph Wassick