The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 12, 1980
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1978
John O Hooper, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
W James Stone, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
Vernon D Burklund, Ridgecrest, CA (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An attitude reference system which uses microwave radiometry to sense the orientation of a vehicle. A fundamental fact of microwave radiometry is that more natural energy emanates from the earth than from the sky. The difference in energy, which is directly proportional to temperature, can be used to estimate attitudinal position. Microwave antennas mounted on an escape vehicle, such as an aircraft ejection seat, receive energy from different directions in a base plane and from a direction perpendicular to the base plane. Vehicle orientation relative to the earth is discerned by comparing the sensed radiometric temperature received from each antenna direction, and seat guidance equipment is programmed to steer the seat in a predefined direction based upon the radiometrically sensed orientation.