The Singer Company

Kearfott Guidance & Navigation Corporation

Walter J Krupick

Bo H Ljung

George F Schroeder

James G Koper

Jay Hoffman

John L Evans

Peter Luciano Previte

Richard F Cimera

Robert J Dickie

Jerry Frank LaSala

A piezoelectric actuator for use in controlling the path length, for example, in a ring laser gyro is made of two piezoelectric discs attached to a metallic structure for exerting a push-pull force thereon to move the metallic structure in an oil can fashion. The piezoelectric actuator is attached to a dual diaphragm mirror assembly in such a way as to impart a strictly linear motion to the mirror assembly without any deliterious rotational effects. The actuator can easily be optimized for varying diaphragm stiffness by adjusting the thickness of the metallic structure to which the piezoelectric discs are attached. The mirror assembly and actuator are designed to minimize the influence of temperature changes on the position of the path length mirror.

Laser light length control assembly for ring laser gyro

A resilient strain relief elastomer is placed between the stator of a synchro and its housing so that radial distortions of the housing are absorbed by the high shear compliance of the elastomer. Consequently, the stator remains undistorted, and the synchro is able to define accurately the angular position it senses.

Distortion free synchro

A ring laser gyro path length controller has a cup-like fixture which mounts a piezoelectric actuator and is bonded directly to the gyro block. A mirror assembly is concentrically located within the fixture and is independently mounted to the gyro block thereby enabling independent assembly and disassembly of the fixture and the assembly. Diaphragm sections of the assembly are coaxially positioned and connected to a diaphragm section of the fixture so that bidirectional displacement of the assembly may occur and the moment generated by the actuator results in an axial deflection force on the assembly. A strip of material having a high coefficient of expansion is mounted to the piezoelectric actuator to augment the deflection force as temperature increases thereby reducing the power demands of the actuator.

Path length controller for ring laser gyroscope

A universal joint hinge assembly for a tuned rotor gyroscope is insensitive to restraint changes due to spin axes accelerations. The hinge assembly is readily trimmable at the gyroscope wheel assembly to permit adjusting of the axial compliance of the gyroscope wheel thereby reducing the rectified torques due to linear acceleration.

Gyroscope hinge assembly with adjustable axial compliance

The torquer section of a gyro includes a plurality of torquer coils symmetrically positioned within a flywheel. A pair of parallel spaced radially oriented salient torquer magnets are located within the flywheel and are equidistant to each respective coil. The magnet pairs increase the flux density within the operating gap between coil and magnets while minimizing fringing flux. The torquer section is secured to the gryoscope housing by mounting materials which reduce unwanted thermal gradients during rapid warmup and high torquing rates thus virtually ensuring consistent torquer coil position over the operating temperature range.

Flexure suspended gyro utilizing dual salient pole magnets

A low cost, simple to manufacture, two axis gyro having an outer flexure assembly and an inner flexure assembly. Each flexure assembly contains two flexure hinges which represent a reduction in the number of hinges and milled cuts from those required in prior art devices. The inner flexure assembly is designed to nest within the outer flexure assembly and both are mounted centrally on a rotatable shaft for rotation about the gyro spin axis. The two flexures of the outer assemblies are separated 180.degree. from each other and adjacent to two slots also separated by 180.degree. in the rim of the outer gimbal. Likewise, the two flexures of the inner flexure assembly are separated 180.degree. from each other and 90.degree. from each of the outer flexures. The outer flexure assembly axis is offset axially by a controlled amount from the inner flexure assembly axis to achieve nominal balance on both flexure axes.

Low cost flexure assembly

In order to eliminate the day-to-day gyro drift phenomena which result from interaction of the magnetic pole position of the synchronous motor typically used to drive the gyro and the gyro wheel, an induction motor controlled by a phase locked loop referenced to an appropriate control frequency is utilized to drive the gyro.

Gyro motor control

A gyro seeker which is capable of use in a cannon launched missile. The gyro seeker is enclosed in a housing mounted in the nose section of the missile. The platform of the gyro seeker supports an optical assembly, a detector, a gyro assembly, and a cryostat for cooling the detector. Means are provided on the outer gimbal of the platform for withstanding the extreme acceleration induced by cannon launching. The platform is torqueable along two axes by a plurality of pole pieces located around its base. A platform caging device is provided to cage the platform during transport and serves a dual function as a means to furnish spin-up gas to the gyro element and cooling gas to the cryostat.

Cannon launched platform

A viscous damper for damping linear vibrations along an axis to isolate a precision instrument such as a vibrating beam accelerometer having a divided sealed cavity containing a damping fluid with a diaphragm disposed on each side of the division and a narrow gap coupling the spaces next to the two diaphragms, the diaphragms coupled respectively between an internal and an external mount with the instrument to be protected mounted to the internal mount and the external mount mounted to the body to which the instrument is attached.

Growing community of inventors

Succasunna, NJ, United States of America

Walter J Krupick