Other

United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of the Air Force

Martin Marietta Corporation

Molecular Separation Technologies, LLC

Wayne E Simon

Bernard W Gamson

Edward R Kerin

Willy Z Sadeh

Jackie O Bunting

A system and method is provided that uses signals from a plurality of seismic sensors to define an acoustic lens for subsurface imaging. More specifically signals provided by an array of sensors/geophones may be utilized to form an acoustic lens that can be focused on a subterranean point by properly adjusting the signals recorded at each sensor prior to summation of those signals. To form such an acoustic lens, each of the seismic sensors is moved onto a hypothetical acoustic lens surface (e.g., spherical surface) having a focal point located on the subterranean point of interest in order to calculate a time delay for each signal. Once the signals for each sensor is time-delayed, information in the time-delayed signals, which is received from the point of interest, may be temporally aligned. Accordingly, the time delayed signals may be combined to generate reflection information for the point of interest.

Passive reflective imaging for visualizing subsurface structures in earth and water

A separator that provides a convergent conical flow path for a mixture introduced into the separator at fairly high velocity. Within the convergent flow path, the angular velocity of the spiraling mixture increases such that heavier species are segregated from lighter species. The convergent flow path transitions into a substantially uniform flow path where the spiraling mixture maintains a fairly uniform velocity and further separation occurs. The uniform flow path then transitions to a divergent conical exhaust flow path where some or all of the heavier species are exhausted from the separator. Within the substantially uniform flow path, a retrograde flow of the lighter species is created with an interaction with a diffuser surface arranged in the exhaust flow path. As such, the lighter species are channeled to a separate exit port to provide some degree of separation of the mixture.

Method and apparatus for mixture separation

This disclosure concerns the application of the pulse echo principle to the non-intrusive method of low liquid level sensing to determine the level of a liquid in a container. Generally, the sensor is attached to an outer wall of a liquid container by means of an epoxy adhesive. An ultrasonic pulse is transmitted through from the sensor into the container and is reflected back through the epoxy adhesive and the container wall. The acoustic reflection coefficient for the container wall varies depending on whether the wall is backed by a liquid, the level of which is being determined. Specific integral equations which are provided to manipulate the data and to render the sensor less sensitive to noise, wall thickness and reflections from thin liquid levels.

Ultrasonic method for non-intrusive low liquid level sensing

An apparatus and method for centrifugally separating the component species of a mixture, at least one of which species is a fluid, when the mixture includes at least one or more species of specific weight different from that of the fluid. The mixture is fed tangentially into the inlet end of a converging nozzle, at high speed, to establish an axial helical flow path of the mixture. As the mixture moves along the converging nozzle, generally the lighter species collect in the center and the heavier ones collect at the outside wall. A throat of constant diameter or slightly converging angle may follow the nozzle. As the mixture moves through the throat, the radial separation is maintained similarly as in the nozzle. A diverging diffuser is located downstream of the throat and a throttle valve element is located at least partially within the diverging diffuser. The throttle valve element controls the size of the diffuser gap between the throttle valve element and the diffuser. This controls outlet area and thus flow of the mixture. The lighter species are generally extracted through one or more axially-centered openings in the throttle valve element, while heavier species exit through the diffuser gap. Heavy species can also be collected through one or more openings in the throat wall.

Centrifugal separator

A novel lateral support system for a canister launched missile is provided which comprises, a plurality of long, narrow flexible pads of elastomer or like material disposed on the surface of said missile along a substantial lengthwise portion thereof and configured to substantially fill the annular gap between the missile and canister, each of said pads being hingedly attached near the canister exit opening whereby the pads are peeled from the surface of the missile during launch thereof.

Lateral support system for canister-launched missile

A first fluid injected at high velocity into a chamber forms a tornado-like vortex advancing toward a smoothly curved narrow throat communicating with an outlet. A second fluid inlet located within the eye of the vortex has a second fluid which is pumped therethrough and mixed with the first fluid by action of the vortex.

Apparatus and method for mixing and pumping fluids

Deceleration apparatus for safety nets

A powered pattern cutter particularly adaptable for use in cutting paper is made up of an anvil which is slotted on its outer periphery to receive a blade member, the latter being angled toward the center of the anvil, and the anvil being oscillated in a direction to force the paper between the edges of the slot in the blade so as to shear off a selected width of the paper as the paper is fed across the blade.

Pattern cutting apparatus

An improved ejector utilizing a vortex flow for pumping a fluid. The ejector includes a funnel shaped fluid chamber circumscribing a longitudinal axis and converging from a wide end to a narrow end. A venturi-like throat circumscribing the longitudinal axis is in fluid communication with the narrow end of the funnel shaped chamber. A pair of diametrically opposed fluid inlets are disposed in the wide end of the chamber for directing a driver fluid tangentially into the wide end of the funnel shaped chamber. The chamber and throat are configured to form the driver fluid into a swirling flow which advances toward the throat in the form of a vortex flow having a low pressure region. A secondary fluid inlet is in fluid communication with the low pressure region of the vortex flow. A deflector member is disposed in the funnel shaped chamber radially inward of the venturi throat. The deflector includes a surface which diverges away from the longitudinal axis. The vortex flow draws the fluid through the secondary fluid inlet and the deflector guides the fluid radially outwardly toward the throat as the fluid is drawn into the chamber, whereby the fluid is mixed with the driver fluid to form a swirling flow of mixed fluid which advances through the venturi-like throat and into a diffuser as a swirling flow. The diffuser guides the swirling flow of mixed fluids from the throat along a path of increasing radius to compress the mixed fluids to ambient pressure at the diffuser outlet and blocking flow of fluid at ambient pressure through the diffuser to the throat.

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Evergreen, CO, United States of America

Wayne E Simon