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:
Dec. 17, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 10, 2000
Frederick James Herman, Fort Worth, TX (US);
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, MD (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides methods and systems for net shaped manufacturing using carbon nanotubes. Generally, an automatic control unit is used to place reaction units in the proper location to produce a component part of carbon nanotubes in a predetermined configuration. The reaction units include a carbon vaporization unit, a carbon feed/injection unit and a gas pressure/temperature control isolation unit. The carbon feed/injection unit advantageously operates to inject carbon based materials (e.g., graphite powder, solid graphite or carbon based gas) into an reaction area at a predetermined rate in which the carbon vaporization unit provides energy capable of dissociating carbon atoms from the injected carbon based material to produce a predetermined concentration of carbon vapor within the reaction area. The gas pressure/temperature control isolation unit operates to control the pressure and temperature of the reaction area to promote the growth of carbon nanotubes.