Alliedsignal Inc.

John H Moody

Dave Narasimhan

Robert C Morris

Joseph P Ficalora

Patrick Coronato

An energy storage flywheel having a benign failure mode, the rotor of which is constructed of a brittle, high specific strength, isotropic solid.

Isotropic energy storage flywheel rotor

A ring laser angular rate sensor getter mounting clip is configured so that the susceptibility of the mounting clip to radio frequency (RF) energy used to activate the getter is minimized. The clip is configured so that opposing RF current flow is induced which prevents heating of the clip beyond force relieving temperatures for the clip material, whereby the clip maintains its retaining force within a getter well via three contact surfaces to more stably retain the getter in its proper position within the well.

Ring laser angular rate sensor getter mounting clip

A mechanically self-stabilized cavity length controller for use within a ring laser gyroscope, including piezoelectric elements which are employed to move mirrors and effect a change of the laser path length. More particularly, a cavity length controller consisting of component parts fabricated from dissimilar materials, and configured so as to largely cancel any thermally-induced dimensional variations by virtue of the differential thermal expansion rates of the various component parts. The cavity length controller also includes two piezoelectric plates affixed to opposite sides of a deformable diaphragm which is coupled to a mirrored surface within the cavity. To correct for any nominal, thermally-induced cavity variations which might still be evident in a cavity employing the controller, an electrical potential is applied to the piezoelectric plates, causing the radial expansion of one plate and the simultaneous radial contraction of the other, thereby deforming the diaphragm. This deformation results in a corresponding shift in the displacement of the coupled mirrored surface. Such a shift would effectively vary the length of a laser path which included the mirrored surface.

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Little Falls, NJ, United States of America

John H Moody