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:
Jun. 30, 2015
Filed:
Jan. 17, 2013
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Robert W Morgan, Tucson, AZ (US);
Eric J Borg, Tucson, AZ (US);
Michael A Leal, Tucson, AZ (US);
Adam D Nicholl, Tucson, AZ (US);
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
An air vehicle, such as a missile or a steerable submunition released from a missile or another air vehicle, has a bilateral thrust system for steering. The thrust system includes a pair of diametrically-opposed divert thrusters that provide thrust having radial components in opposite radial directions. In order to control the direction of thrust, the air vehicle controls rotation of the divert thrusters and/or timing of the firing of the thrusters. The air vehicle (or some part of the air vehicle that includes the divert thrusters) may be discretely rolled to position the divert thrusters to produce desired steering thrust. Alternatively, the air vehicle or part of the air vehicle may be continuously rolled, with the steering controlled by timing the thrust to the divert thrusters, such as by allocating thrust between the diametrically-opposed thrusters. Pressurized gas may be allocated between the two thrusters by use of pintle valve.