| Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Inc. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20110174262 | ROTARY ENGINE WITH EXHAUST GAS SUPPLEMENTAL COMPOUNDING - A rotary engine which provides a supplemental phase of compression between a first phase of compression and a second phase of compression. | 07-21-2011 |
| 20110108019 | HELIOSTAT JOINT - A heliostat includes a joint with a range of motion in both elevation and azimuth of more than 90 degrees. | 05-12-2011 |
| 20100269782 | Augmenter For Compound Compression Engine - A rotary engine has a first rotary unit and a second rotary unit. The first rotary unit has a chamber containing a remaining compressed air charge. After combustion in the second rotary unit, the resulting second unit exhaust is in fluid communication with said remaining compressed air charge via a second passageway. An injector is in fluid communication with said remaining compressed air charge in the first rotary unit. The injector injects fuel into the mixture containing the remaining compressed air charge in the first rotary engine and the second unit exhaust from the second rotary engine. This mixture is combusted either with a spark or via auto (diesel) ignition. In this way, the engine produces additional useful work by combusting the remaining compressed air charge and additional fuel. Alternatively, the injector described in the first rotary unit may be located in the second passageway. The injector in the first rotary unit or in the second passageway may be selectively activated throughout the engine's mission. | 10-28-2010 |
| 20100252245 | Nano-particle wave heat pipe - A heat transfer tube includes a container, a cavity within the container, a substantially homogeneous nanoparticle powder located within the cavity, and a gas. The cavity is in a partial vacuum state. The nanoparticle powder includes a material in a solid state capable of substantially freely emitted and reabsorbing a gas as a function of temperature, such as a hydrate, hydride, or other material. | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100156513 | CHARGE PUMP - A high power DC-DC converter uses wide bandgap semiconductor switches and capacitors as a charge pump to convert a DC input to a DC output of a different potential. Each capacitor is connected to the output of one of the stages of the charge pump. A wide bandgap semiconductor switch is connected between the input and output of each stage, and the conductive state of the switch is controlled by a circuit that compares voltage at the input and output of the stage. A multiphase drive alternates drive voltage applied to the capacitors to cause charge to be passed from stage-to-stage through the charge pump. | 06-24-2010 |
| 20100001874 | REMOTE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING ONSET OF STRUCTURAL FAILURE - A method for monitoring a structure subject to a mechanical load comprises measuring physical parameters associated with natural oscillations of the structure, transforming the physical parameters into normal mode spectra, and broadcasting an alarm as a function of a change in the normal mode spectra near a critical point. The normal mode spectra represent the natural oscillations of the structure. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20090320608 | Tapered, frequency-tuned rotor for turbine flow meter - A frequency-tuned turbine flow meter rotor comprises a rotor hub and a plurality of tapered rotor blades. Each of the plurality of rotor blades has a stagger angle that varies as a function of a radius measured from the hub, and a cross-sectional profile that is tapered according to a NACA airfoil design. A method for designing a frequency-tuned flow meter rotor comprises defining a cross-sectional profile, calibrating a rotor blade stagger angle, tapering the cross-sectional profile such that it characterizes an airfoil with a decreasing chord length and a decreasing relative thickness as a function of radius, and analyzing a natural oscillation frequency spectrum of the rotor with respect to a range of operationally-induced excitation frequencies. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090251100 | Stackable battery module - A rechargeable battery assembly includes a battery array and a battery controller. The battery array includes a number of batteries, and each battery includes a battery module and an integral module controller. The batteries may be connected in various configurations to form a battery array that is able to provide a power supply of almost any desired voltage. The module controller regulates charging of the battery module and is able to disconnect defective battery modules from the circuit. During a charging cycle, the module controller disconnects fully-charged modules from the charging circuit. During a discharging cycle, if a battery module becomes inoperative, the module controller disconnects the inoperative module, so that the battery array does not become inoperative because of one or more inoperative battery modules. | 10-08-2009 |
| 20090188109 | Friction stir welded bladder fuel tank - A method of fabricating a rolling bladder propellant tank assembly includes providing a pair of half-domes comprising a nanophase metallic material and a bladder formed of a ductile metallic material. A bladder support ring extends from at least one of the pair of half-domes. The pair of half-domes are positioned together to form a cavity therein with a portion of the bladder trapped between the pair of half-domes adjacent to the bladder support ring, wherein the bladder is positioned within the cavity. A seal is formed between the pair of half-domes and the bladder by friction stir welding. A friction stir welding pin used to form the seal is aligned with the bladder support ring during the friction stir welding operation. | 07-30-2009 |
| 20090067574 | Neutron-gamma ray tomography - A neutron-gamma ray tomography system comprises a source, a detector array, and an image processor. The source illuminates an object with a dual neutron-gamma ray beam. The detector array characterizes neutron and gamma ray attenuation in the object. The image processor generates tomography as a function of the neutron and gamma ray attenuation. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090065713 | Variable-ratio neutron-gamma ray source - A variable-ratio neutron-gamma ray source comprises a neutron generator, a shield, a collimator, and an external gamma target. The neutron generator generates neutrons and the shield reduces external radiation exposure. The collimator collimates the neutrons into a neutron beam that traverses the shield. The external gamma target generates a dual neutron-gamma ray beam from the neutron beam, wherein the dual neutron-gamma ray beam has a variable neutron-gamma ratio as a function of a thickness of the external gamma target. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20090065712 | Dual neutron-gamma ray source - A dual neutron-gamma ray source comprises a compact neutron generator, a shield, a collimator, and an internal gamma target. The shield surrounds the compact neutron generator. The collimator traverses the shield from the compact neutron generator to a collimator port. The internal gamma target is positioned within the collimator to generate gamma rays from the neutrons. | 03-12-2009 |
| 20080311420 | Friction stir welding of oxide dispersion strengthened alloys - A structure and a method of forming the structure in high temperature sections of next generation nuclear and solar power plants where the structure consists of piping, ducting and enclosures fabricated from oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) alloys joined by friction stir welding (FSW) to other ODS alloys or any alloy. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080310933 | Locking Fastening Apparatus - In some embodiments fastening apparatus includes a threaded fastening element adapted to be threaded into a hole provided in a first component, the threaded fastening element including a locking collar that is defined by at least one outer peripheral surface, and a locking washer adapted to fit within a recess formed in the component to limit rotation of the threaded fastening element once the element is threaded into the component hole, the washer including an inner opening defined by at least one inner peripheral surface and a non-circular outer shape defined by an outer peripheral surface, the inner opening being adapted to receive the locking collar such that the at least one outer peripheral surface of the collar can contact the at least one inner peripheral surface of the washer. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20080283677 | Single-stage hypersonic vehicle featuring advanced swirl combustion - A single-stage hypersonic vehicle is comprised of a low-speed and a high-speed propulsion system. The low-speed propulsion system propels the single-stage vehicle to a threshold velocity, after which the high-speed propulsion system then takes over. The low-speed propulsion system includes a combined-cycle engine featuring a swirl generator that is integrated into a turbojet engine to provide a compact turbojet and swirl afterburner-ramjet propulsion system. The high-speed propulsion system includes a hypersonic engine that is operable at the threshold takeover velocity and beyond. In various embodiments, the high-speed propulsion system comprises a scramjet, rocket, or scramjet/rocket engine depending requirements. Benefits of the swirl generator design include its ability to rapidly and efficiently atomize, vaporize, mix and burn the fuel and oxidizer for the low speed propulsion system, significantly reduce length, weight, cooling requirements and complexity for both propulsion systems, while maintaining high propulsion performance and reducing propulsion and launch costs. | 11-20-2008 |
| 20080256952 | Solar power for thermochemical production of hydrogen - A solar-powered hydrogen production system includes a thermochemical system and solar heating system. The thermochemical system produces hydrogen. The solar heating system has a molten salt heat transfer medium for providing thermal energy to the thermochemical system. | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080256925 | Compact, high performance swirl combustion rocket engine - A compact rocket engine with advanced swirl combustion can generate vacuum thrust in the 500 lb | 10-23-2008 |
| 20080256924 | Ultra-compact, high performance aerovortical rocket thruster - An ultra-compact aerovortical swirl-enhanced combustion (ASC) system features an aerovortical swirl generator for use in rocket thrusters utilizing hypergolic or non-hypergolic propellants. The ACS thruster can be sized for diameters ranging from about 0.5 to about 2.0 inches, and producing thrust levels of approximately 5 lb | 10-23-2008 |
