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:
Jan. 20, 2004
Filed:
Jan. 13, 2003
Marc E. Meffe, Glendale, AZ (US);
Jack H. Jacobs, Glendale, AZ (US);
Honeywell International Inc., Morristown, NJ (US);
Abstract
A reaction wheel system is provided that includes at least two rotors. The first rotor is the primary rotor that provides the large output torques to the vehicle. The second rotor is a vernier control rotor. The primary rotor and vernier control rotor each rotate about a common axis. The vernier control rotor has an inertial mass that is less than the inertial mass of the primary rotor, and rotates independently of the primary rotor. Because the vernier control rotor can be rotated independently from the primary rotor, it can be used to significantly improve the performance of the reaction wheel system. Specifically, the vernier control rotor is used to provide relatively small output torques. These relatively small output torques can be used to reduce the disturbances created by motor ripple, provide precise torque output control and/or reduce the disturbances created by static friction.