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:
Nov. 16, 2004
Filed:
Nov. 21, 2002
John L. Champion, Highland, MD (US);
Robert Osiander, Ellicott City, MD (US);
Robert B. Givens, Frederick, MD (US);
Dennis K. Wickenden, Woodbine, MD (US);
Daniel G. Jablonski, Bethesda, MD (US);
James H. Higbie, Catonsville, MD (US);
Scott T. Radcliffe, Ellicott City, MD (US);
Margaret A. Darrin, Bowie, MD (US);
Thomas J. Kistenmacher, Columbia, MD (US);
Douglas A. Oursler, Columbia, MD (US);
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (US);
Abstract
A Lorentz force-driven mechanical resonator apparatus that utilizes a high-Q resonant structure as both a mixing device and a high-Q bandpass filter. Specifically, an external time varying, but quasistatic, magnetic field is applied to the resonating device while simultaneously running a time varying electrical current through the device. The resulting Lorentz force (I×B) is proportional to the vector product of the electrical current in the bar (I) and the external magnetic field (B). Integrating such a resonant device with a magnetic field coil produces the functionality of an ideal radio frequency (RF) mixer coupled with a high-Q intermediate frequency (IF) filter. Wide tunability provides the capability to scan, or even step, an array of filters having very narrow bandwidths via a common local oscillator to a desired frequency range.