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:
Oct. 26, 1993
Filed:
Aug. 22, 1991
Edward W Hones, Los Alamos, NM (US);
William G Hones, Seattle, WA (US);
Stirling A Colgate, Los Alamos, NM (US);
Other;
Abstract
A device comprising several highly elastic objects is presented whose purpose is to demonstrate an unobvious consequence of fundamental laws of physics--the acceleration of an object to high speed by multiple collisions among a series of heavier objects moving at slower speed. The objects, each of different mass, are arrayed in close proximity in order of decreasing mass with their centers lying along a straight line. This arrangement of the assembly of objects is maintained by a constraining element which permits the assembly axis to be oriented in any desired direction and permits the assembly to be moved or manipulated as a unit in any desired way without destroying the arrangement of objects. In the preferred embodiment the elastic objects are polybutadiene balls (12), the constraining element is an interior guide-pin (10) fastened in the largest ball and extending radially therefrom, on which the remaining balls can slide freely because of diametrical holes formed in them. In use this multiple-collision accelerator assembly is suspended in vertical orientation, with the largest ball downward, by holding the tip-end of the guide-pin which extends beyond the littlest ball. The assembly is then dropped onto a solid surface (14), the striking of which produces a sharp impulse that is transmitted from the largest ball, through the assembly, causing the littlest ball to be projected to a height many times that from which the assembly was dropped.