Harris Corporation

Spread Spectrum, Inc.

Ipr Licensing, Inc.

Tantivy Communications, Inc.

Interdigital Corporation

William Robert Palmer

Christopher A Snyder

Griffin Keith Gothard

Bing Chiang

Kenneth Marvin Gainey

James Arthur Proctor, Jr

Thomas E Gorsuch

Michael James Lynch

Kenneth E Brace

Timothy F McLellan

James A Proctor, Jr

Peter A Wasilousky

Mark Ernest Blue

Lee Martin Burberry

Angelo Bersani

Bibb Bevis Allen

Daniel Louis Schlig

Donna M Kocak

Anh Le

David Charles Jorgenson

Daniel L Schlig

Tethered unmanned aerial vehicle (TUAV) includes at least one wing fixed to a fuselage. The wing is comprised of an airfoil shaped body capable of producing lift in response to a flow of air across a major wing surface, and can include at least one flight control surface, such as an aileron. One or more buoyancy cell is disposed within the fuselage for containing a lighter than air gas to provide positive buoyancy for the TUAV when the TUAV is disposed in air. A tether attachment structure facilitates attachment of the TUAV to a tether which is secured to an attachment point for securing the TUAV to the ground when aloft. A wind-powered generator is integrated with the TUAV and configured to generate electric power in response to the flow of air across the least one wing when the TUAV is aloft.

Tethered unmanned aerial vehicle

An optical connector assembly may include a first housing having a first opening therein, a second housing having a second opening therein, a first optical window carried by the first housing within the first opening, a second optical window carried by the second housing within the second opening, at least one Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) carried within the first housing behind the first optical window, and at least one photodetector carried within the second housing behind the second optical window. A first magnetic member may be carried by the first housing, and a second magnetic member may be carried by the second housing and configured to cooperate with the first magnetic member to bias the first and second housings together so that the at least one VCSEL and the at least one photodetector are in optical alignment.

Magnetically coupled optical connector assembly and related methods

A fluid working apparatus () including a housing structure () with an inlet () and an outlet (). A working assembly positioned in the housing () has an inlet side and an outlet side with the at least one rotor () having a plurality of blades () positioned between the inlet and outlet sides. At least one return assembly () is configured to return fluid flow from the outlet to the inlet side of the working assembly whereby a working fluid passes through the housing inlet (), from the inlet side of the working assembly to the outlet side thereof while workingly engaging a first subset of the rotor blades (), through the at least one return assembly (), from the inlet side of the working assembly to the outlet side thereof while workingly engaging a second subset of the rotor blades (), and out of the housing outlet (). A method of working a fluid is also provided.

System and method of wrapping flow in a fluid working apparatus

A method for producing work from heat including mixing a first working fluid Fvapor with a second working fluid Fvapor to form a third working fluid F; atomizing and/or vaporizing a liquid into the third working fluid Fto define a saturated working fluid; and expanding the saturated working fluid to perform useful work. A high pressure F(2) portion of the first working fluid Fmay be expanded prior to the mixing step while the Fvapor is compressed prior to the mixing step. The steps of compressing the Fvapor and expanding the high pressure F(2) portion of the first working fluid Fmay be carried out by an integral compressor and expander assembly (). The integral compressor and expander assembly () may be positioned within a combined mixer assembly () with an internal mixing chamber () and outlets () of both the compressor () and expander () are directed toward the mixing chamber

Mixing assembly and method for combining at least two working fluids

A fluid working apparatus () includes a housing structure () with an inlet (), an outlet (), an outer housing member () defining a tubular portion with an inner surface and an inner housing member () within the outer housing member () and having an outer surface spaced from the inner surface such that a working flow chamber () is defined between the radially inner most portions of the outer and inner surfaces and a return chamber () is defined between the radially outer most portions of the outer and inner surfaces. A working assembly is positioned in the housing with a rotor () thereof rotatably supported in the housing structure () and extending into the working flow chamber (). At least one return assembly () is positioned within the tubular portion and configured to return fluid flow from an outlet side to an inlet side of the working assembly (). A method of defining a re-circulating working fluid apparatus is also provided.

System and method of utilizing a housing to control wrapping flow in a fluid working apparatus

A fluid working apparatus () having an inlet side and an outlet side with the at least one rotor () having a plurality of blades () positioned in the housing. A circumferential inlet area is defined on the inlet side of the rotor () and a circumferential outlet area is defined on the outlet side of the rotor (). At least one return assembly () is configured to return fluid flow from the outlet side of the rotor () to a circumferentially offset portion of the circumferential inlet area on the inlet side of the rotor () whereby a working fluid workingly engages a second subset of the rotor blades () before exiting the housing outlet (). A method of working a fluid is also provided.

System and method of controlling wrapping flow in a fluid working apparatus

Work is produced from heat in a continuous cycle. A flow of first working fluid is provided to a high pressure boiler to produce a flow of first working fluid vapor. A second working fluid in vaporous form is compressed, after which a third working fluid is formed by mixing the first working fluid vapor and the second working fluid. Thermal energy is transferred directly between the first and second working fluids in the mixing chamber exclusive of any intervening structure. A refrigeration loop containing a fourth working fluid extracts thermal energy from a low grade thermal energy source and moves the thermal energy to the first working fluid and/or the second working fluid.

Hybrid thermal cycle with independent refrigeration loop

A method () and apparatus () for producing work from heat includes a boiler () which is configured for heating a pressurized flow of a first working fluid (F) to form of a first vapor. A compressor () compresses a second working fluid (F) in the form of a second vapor. A mixing chamber () receives the first and second vapor and transfers thermal energy directly from the first vapor to the second vapor. The thermal energy that is transferred from the first vapor to the second vapor will generally include at least a portion of a latent heat of vaporization of the first working fluid. An expander () is arranged to expand a mixture of the first and second vapor received from the mixing chamber, thereby performing useful work after or during the transferring operation. The process is closed and enables recirculation and therefore recycling of thermal energy that is normally unused in conventional cycle approaches.

Hybrid imbedded combined cycle

An antenna reflector () comprising a centrally located hub (), inner ribs () rotatably secured at a proximal end to the hub, outer ribs () extendible from the inner ribs, and a guideline truss structure () configured to support a flexible antenna reflector surface (). The inner ribs are rotatable from a stowed position in which they are generally aligned with a central axis of the hub, to a rotated position in which they extend in a radial direction relative to the central axis. The guideline truss structure is secured to each outer rib using standoff cords attached at intermediate locations along a length of the outer rib between opposing ends () thereof. The outer ribs are configured to be linearly displaced respectively along an elongated length of the inner ribs from a proximal position adjacent to the hub, to an extended position distal from the hub.

Extendable rib reflector

A lighter-than-air aircraft includes a gas envelope for containing a buoyant gas, and a solar panel is carried by a predetermined portion of the gas envelope. A solar sensor is used for determining a direction of the sun. A propulsion system carried by the gas envelope orients the gas envelope so that the solar panel is oriented in the direction of the sun based upon the solar sensor. A navigation controller cooperates with the propulsion system to move the lighter-than-air aircraft along a desired flight path while the solar panel is oriented in the direction of the sun.

Lighter-than-air aircraft and related methods for powering the same

A wireless handset including an antenna array. The antenna array includes an active antenna element and two passive antenna elements. The active and passive antenna elements are arranged to form a triangle with a vertex. The vertex includes a vertex angle and the active antenna element is disposed at the vertex. The vertex angle is between 90 degrees and 180 degrees.

Aperiodic array antenna

A lighter-than-air aircraft includes a gas envelope for containing a buoyant gas, and a propulsion system is carried by the gas envelope. A solar panel is carried by the gas envelope for powering the propulsion system when generating sufficient power. A closed loop combustion generating system is also carried by the gas envelope for powering the propulsion system when the solar panel is not generating sufficient power. The fuel for the closed loop combustion generator is regenerated by the solar panel from its exhaust when the solar panel is generating sufficient power.

Lighter-than-air aircraft including a closed loop combustion generating system and related methods for powering the same

An antenna array that uses at least two passive antennas and one active antenna disposed above a ground plane, but electrically isolated from the ground plane, and a respective resonant strip positioned beneath each passive antenna. The passive antenna elements are positioned about the active element, and each of the at least two passive antenna elements is individually set to a reflective or a transmissive mode to change the characteristics of an input/output beam pattern of the antenna apparatus.

An antenna array includes a dielectric substrate comprising an integral center hub including a pivotal center section therein, and a pivotal wings extending radially from the integral center hub. An active antenna element is on the pivotal center section of the integral center hub, and passive antenna elements are on the pivotal wings. The active antenna element and the passive antenna elements are pivotal between a stored position and an operational position. The active antenna element and the passive antenna elements are substantially planar when in the stored position, and are substantially perpendicular to the integral center hub when in the operational position.

Folding directional antenna

An antenna includes a dielectric substrate, an ative antenna element carried by the dielectric substrate, and passive antenna elements carried by the dielectric substrate. The passive antenna elements are laterally adjacent the active antenna element. A respective impedance element is selectively connectable to each passive antenna element for antenna beam steering. Image elements are carried by the dielectric substrate, and a respective image element is connected to each impedance element and ground.

Growing community of inventors

Melbourne, FL, United States of America

William Robert Palmer