Raytheon Company

Forever Mount, LLC

Other

Jim Hicks

Wayne Lee Sunne

Daniel W Brunton

Quent Duden

Ed Liguori

James P Mills

Jerry Dean Robichaux

David James Knapp

Glafkos K Stratis

David G Garrett

Nicholas D Trail

David G Anthony

Daniel C Harrison

Emmet R Anderson

Frank E Smith, Iii

Rick Pierini

Eric C Fest

Alphonso A Samuel

Ronald L Roncone

Michael P Schaub

Justin C Jenia

Douglas Mills

Gregory P Hanauska

Paul M Lyons

Mark A Owens

Richard C Juergens

David G Derrick

Bret J Ashby

Barry A Rovner

The specification relates to a jewelry setting. The jewelry setting includes a gemstone having a culet; a mounting rod having a culet-shaped indent; and at least one braze joint, the at least one braze joint being formed between the culet and the culet-shaped indent.

Brazed joint for attachment of gemstone culet to a mount

The specification relates to a gemstone setting. The gemstone setting includes a gemstone, a mounting surface and a braze joint. The braze joint is formed from a reactive metallic alloy with the reactive metallic alloy adhering the gemstone to the mounting surface. The braze joint is substantially concealed from a direct line of sight from a top portion of the gemstone by preventing excessive alloy from getting outside a desired braze area.

Brazed joint for attachment of gemstones to each other and/or a metallic mount

A radome structure of an antenna system is provided having a plurality of switchable antenna elements disposed around a perimeter of the radome structure that can simultaneously track multiple targets and be implemented in a variety of different applications. Each of the switchable antenna elements can be individually switched between different radiation patterns to support different applications. The antenna system may include an infrared (IR) sensor pedestal, an IR sensor disposed on the IR pedestal and a plurality of switchable radio frequency (RF) antenna elements disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal. In an embodiment, each of the plurality of switchable RF antenna elements can be switched from a first radiation pattern to a second radiation pattern to change an array radiation pattern of the antenna.

Systems and techniques for radome-antenna configuration

The present disclosure is directed to a seeker system having an infrared (IR) sensor pedestal, an IR sensor disposed on the IR pedestal and a plurality of radio frequency (RF) antenna elements symmetrically disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal. The seeker system further includes a plurality of RF waveguiding structures. In an embodiment, each of the RF waveguiding structures have first and second ends and are symmetrically disposed in a circumferential direction around the IR sensor pedestal such that in response to an RF signal incident on a first end of the waveguiding structure, the RF signal is provided to one of the plurality of RF antenna elements such that in response to an RF signal incident on the seeker system from any direction, each of the plurality of RF antenna elements receive the RF signal with a desired phase characteristic.

Systems and techniques for improving signal levels in a shadowing region of a seeker system

A dual-mode active and passive gimbaled optical system including a mechanism for coupling an optical signal from an off-gimbal active-mode source into the on-gimbal passive-mode optical path. One example of the system includes a passive off-gimbal detector assembly configured to image emissive electromagnetic radiation from a viewed scene, and a receiver-path optical assembly, including on-gimbal objective optics, that directs the electromagnetic radiation to the off-gimbal detector assembly. The system further includes an off-gimbal active source that generates an optical signal, a gimbal bearing assembly that supports rotation of the gimbal and includes a centrally-located output ferrule mated to an optical fiber that transports the optical signal from the active source to the output ferrule, and an on-gimbal optical coupling element that receives the optical signal from the output ferrule and couples the optical signal into the receiver optical path to direct the optical signal toward the on-gimbal objective optics.

Optical waveguide coude path for gimbaled systems having an optical coupling element

A Dewar apparatus includes a focal plane array (FPA) component coupled to an FPA carrier, and a cold bridge coupled to the FPA carrier. A cold shield is aligned with the optical axis and coupled to the cold bridge (e.g., via a direct-metal bond), and at least one cryostat enclosure is similarly coupled to the cold bridge such that it has an axis that is noncollinear with the optical axis.

Methods and apparatus for Dewar and cold shield assemblies

An optical transceiver is provided with a light pipe that intercepts, offsets and redirects a portion of the collimated transmit beam to create a virtual object in the receiver field-of-view to perform the BIT. The light pipe comprises an input face and first reflective surface in the transmitter FOV to intercept a portion of the beam along a first axis and re-direct the beam, a second reflective surface and output face in the receiver FOV that re-directs the portion of the beam along a second axis towards the receiver to create the virtual object in the receiver FOV and an optical channel that guides the redirected portion of the beam from the first reflective surface to the second reflective surface to offset the second axis from the first axis. The same detector used during normal operation of the transceiver is used to perform the BIT, which may include a simple 'on/off' test or a radiometry test. The light pipe may be designed with an acceptance FOV that preserves collimation, which facilitates a measurement of alignment error between the transmit beam and receiver.

Optical transceiver built-in test (BIT)

An off-axis reflective transmit telescope for a DIRCM system is mounted on the gimbal along a transmit-axis offset laterally from the optical axis of the receive telescope but nominally aligned with the line-of-sight of the receive telescope to transmit a laser beam. The telescope comprises an optical port optically coupled to a laser to receive and direct the laser beam away from the dome and a reflective optical assembly that reflects the laser beam through the dome. The reflective optical assembly comprises an off-axis mirror segment and a second optical element that together precompensate the laser beam for dome aberrations induced by the lateral offset of the transmit telescope's transmit axis from the optical axis. The off-axis mirror segment comprises a segment of a parent mirror having an aspheric curvature (e.g. parabolic, elliptical or higher-order asphere) about an axis of symmetry. The segment is offset so that it is not centered on the axis of symmetry of the parent mirror. The use of the off-axis mirror segment allows the optical port and any folding mirror to be positioned so that they do not obscure the reflected laser beam. The second optical element may be a segment of a dome corrector parent lens, a prism or a refractive lens formed on the front surface of the off-axis minor segment.

Off-axis reflective transmit telescope for a directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) system

A control mechanism pins an optical fiber assembly on and off gimbal and between gimbals to route the assembly from an off-gimbal optical source across the gimbal axis/axes to an on-gimbal optical element so that the fiber assembly moves with the rotation of the gimbals. To accommodate a relatively large range of motion, the control mechanism is suitably configured to route the fiber assembly in a 'U-shaped' loop with one end pinned off-gimbal in a stationary guide track and the other end pinned on-gimbal point in a rotating guide track so that the loose fiber assembly is constrained in the concentric tracks on and off gimbal. As the gimbal rotates, the loop seats onto one guiding track and peels off of the other guiding track while always maintaining its U shape. To accommodate a relatively small range of motion in other gimbal configurations, the control mechanism is suitably configured to pin one end of the fiber assembly off-gimbal and pass the fiber assembly directly over the gimbal where it is pinned on the other side of the gimbal. In a multi-gimbal pointer, the fiber assembly preferably exhibits different mechanical stresses as it crosses the different gimbals.

Optical fiber assembly wrapped across roll-nod gimbal axes in a DIRCM system

Optical fiber assembly wrapped across gimbal axes

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Jim Hicks