Did You Know...
...that in the early 1940s GE engineer James Wright was charged with a task of utmost importance to the war effort: develop a cheap substitute for rubber that could be used to produce tires, gas masks and a whole host of military gear. Wright tackled the task diligently -- and wound up inventing Silly Putty.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7986585 | Reception of uplink data from sonobuoys A method for improving the bit error rate in digital transmissions of sonobuoy sensor data from a sonobuoy to a receiver platform includes computing a send checksum on a frame of sonobuoy sensor data, copying the frame of data and checksum into a plurality of subfra... | 07/26/2011 |
| 7430152 | System and method of operation thereof for increasing acoustic bandwidth of transmitting devices Disclosed is a system, and a method of operation thereof, which improves the RF link employed between a transmitting sonobuoy and an associated receiving aircraft. The sonobuoy receives acoustic information from hydrophones and transmits this information to the airc... | 09/30/2008 |
| 7372777 | Sonic instrumentation apparatus and method for cement bond logging A longitudinally segmented acoustic transducer for a cement bond logging (CBL) tool having a plurality of adjoining PZT ring-like segments driven synchronously in parallel by one or more pulses and caused to vibrate in an anti-resonant mode, substantially below the ... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7323790 | Wave energy converters (WECs) with linear electric generators (LEGs) An ocean wave energy converter (WEC) utilizes the relative motion between permanent magnet and induction coil assemblies to generate electricity. The permanent magnet assemblies and induction coil assemblies are separately housed in watertight enclosures, enabling a... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7260024 | Housing for a seismic sensing element and a seismic sensor A housing for a seismic sensing element (3) for use on the earth's surface comprises connecting means (5) for connecting the housing (3) to a support cable (2) so as to allow relative movement between the sensor housing (3) and the... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7184363 | Buoyant container with wave generated power production An apparatus designed to float on or in a liquid has at least two buoyant members. The apparatus utilizes relative motion between the buoyant members to generate power, and the buoyant members are coupled to the apparatus in such a manner that surface movement of a ... | 02/27/2007 |
| 7177232 | Wireless radio frequency hydrophone system A wireless hydrophone system includes a hydrophone joined to a preamplifier. A serial A/D converter receives the amplified hydrophone signal and provides a serial digital output representative of the signal. The A/D converter is joined to a processor which provides ... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7149150 | Underwater surveillance system A plurality of sensing modules are deployed by positioning thereof in spaced relation to each other on a seafloor surface at a shallow depth to establish a targeted seawater zone within which certain conditions are detected, such as those produced by the presence of... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7149611 | Virtual sensor mast A virtual sensor mast for a ground vehicle and a method for operating a ground vehicle using a virtual sensor mast are disclosed. The virtual sensor mast includes an unmanned airborne vehicle capable of lifting itself from the ground vehicle upon deployment therefro... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7148801 | Article locator system A system and method for locating objects such as people, pets, and personal articles is described. A transceiver is attached to the person, animal, or item to be tracked and a handheld locator device is employed to transmit a locator signal containing an address cod... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7095377 | Light-weight signal transmission lines and radio frequency antenna system A light weight antenna system and corresponding lightweight transmission lines are disclosed that are characterized as having an extremely light weight relative to prior such systems and lines. An inflatable body having an inner surface connected to an outer surface... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7061592 | System and method for measuring velocity using frequency modulation of laser output The invention relates to a system for measuring velocity. In one embodiment, the system includes a laser assembly having a laser diode and a power detection diode. The laser diode emits a plurality of laser signals which are frequency-modulated, wherein a selected o... | 06/13/2006 |
| 7026797 | Extremely high-speed switchmode DC-DC converters Switchmode DC—DC power converters using one or more non-Silicon-based switching transistors and a Silicon-based (e.g. CMOS) controller are disclosed. The non-Silicon-based switching transistors may comprise, but are not necessarily limited to, III-V compound semic... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7016260 | Seismic data acquisition system using acquisition stations set on the sea bottom The invention is a system designed for acquisition of seismic data by means of acquisition stations set on water bottom of a water body. The system comprises acquisition stations (DSAU) combining a streamlined boom suited to penetrate the bottom and thus couple seis... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7012984 | PLL noise smoothing using dual-modulus interleaving The present invention, generally speaking, achieves noise spreading within a PLL using a dual-modulus prescaler by interleaving the division moduli. Within a given cycle, “ones” and “tens” are not all counted consecutively. Instead, ones and tens are interle... | 03/14/2006 |
| 6972697 | Controller for automatically manipulating a horn signal for navigational purposes A system and method for a horn controller is provided that automatically operates a vessel's horn as a foghorn. The horn controller automatically causes the vessel's horn to sound according to the proper foghorn sounding schedule. The horn controller is designed to ... | 12/06/2005 |
| 6961657 | Submarine launched expendable radio navigation buoy system A submarine launched expendable radio navigation system (SSXRN) buoy method and apparatus. According to one embodiment, a method for determining a submarine geographic position using a SSXRN buoy system is disclosed. The method comprising launching a radio navigatio... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6916219 | Remote sampling system An automated system for periodically sampling water bodies, such as lakes, and delivering the test results to a remote computer using a communication system. In particular, the system has a variable buoyancy profiler with a dynamic buoyancy compensator responding ap... | 07/12/2005 |
| 6859419 | Laser-based acousto-optic uplink communications technique An apparatus for enabling acousto-optic communication comprising an in-water platform comprising means for emitting an acoustic signal to an acousto-optic interaction zone, an in-air platform comprising the ability for transmitting a first optical interrogation beam... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6813218 | Buoyant device for bi-directional acousto-optic signal transfer across the air-water interface A buoy system bi-directionally communicates in-air and underwater. A buoy having a shell to float on water has an upper portion in air and a lower portion in water. An array of acoustic transducers which is disposed in the lower portion receives acoustic signals and... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6711095 | Expenable/recoverable voice and data communications system buoy An untethered communications buoy system has an untethered buoy freely floating on the surface of water to not compromise the location of the submersible. The submersible has a cavity containing a first data interface member connected to a computer/data-storage that... | 03/23/2004 |
| 6693847 | Buoy for fish finding method and system A fishing system buoy has a watertight bulbous shell housing an electronic load and with a center of mass located within a lower half of the shell. The load includes sonar operatively coupled via a microprocessor with a radio transmitter that has an uprig... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6687186 | Sonobuoy deployment method A method of deploying sonobouys includes providing an airborne aircraft having a computer and a plurality of sonobouys; making a contact with a submarine; determining a position of the submarine, a position error of the submarine and a speed of the submar... | 02/03/2004 |
| 6597631 | Compact expandable platform using material memory for sensor deployment An expandable platform for deploying sensors in a medium includes a housing and a structural member disposed inside the housing. A releasable restraint is connected to the structural member. Multiple arms are connected to the structural member. Each arm i... | 07/22/2003 |
| 6400645 | Sonobuoy apparatus Sonobuoy apparatus which fits into an A sized canister for use in the water environment. The apparatus includes an array of telescopic arms connected by hinges to a housing which contains receiver transducer electronics. An acoustic projector bears agains... | 06/04/2002 |
| 6380889 | Reconnaissance sonde A reconnaissance sonde to be dropped and erected in an area for wirelessly transmitting data to a data processing apparatus. The sonde includes a housing having top and bottom portions; a parachute disposed at the top housing portion; a plurality of suppo... | 04/30/2002 |
| 6307810 | Underwater launched acoustic warning assembly An acoustic warning assembly capable of being launched from an underwater vehicle while being underwater. The acoustic warning assembly includes an acoustosensitive member for collecting above-surface acoustic signals. The acoustic warning assembly also i... | 10/23/2001 |
| 6220168 | Underwater intelligence gathering weapon system An underwater intelligence gathering weapon system accurately places a weapon underwater and then communicates therewith from other platform(s). The weapon is equipped to maneuver through the air to a destination at the water's surface. A first transceive... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6089345 | Elastic wave exploration tool for wells A well tool in accordance with the invention comprises an attenuation device which attenuates tube waves associated with an elastic wave emission and/or reception set (1, 12). The attenuation device comprises a bubble generator (2) which releases into the... | 07/18/2000 |
| 6058071 | Magneto-inductive submarine communications system and buoy A magneto-inductive submarine communication system and buoy provide two-way signal communications between a submerged craft, such as a submarine and remote command station that may be airborne, on the surface, or on land. A buoy released from the submari... | 05/02/2000 |
| 5973994 | Surface launched sonobuoy A sonobuoy device for tracking and targeting submarines. The sonobuoy dev comprises a sonobuoy having aft and forward sections interconnected with each other, fin means mounted on the aft section for flight stabilization of the device during travel above... | 10/26/1999 |
| 5963506 | Low flow noise sonobuoy suspension system A low flow noise sonobuoy suspension system having a surface float, a sussion cable having a compliant portion, a bridle, a hydrophone, a mechanical cable, a terminal weight, and a drogue. The hydrophone is located within the bridle and is attached to th... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5742645 | Method of digital demodulation of a composite signal A method for digitally demodulating a complex modulation signal and allowing different parameters to be transmitted thereby. The input signal is baseband filtered and a complex demodulation is performed on the first subcarrier at a frequency Fp to obtain ... | 04/21/1998 |
| 5691957 | Ocean acoustic tomography An acoustic tomography telemetry system and method allowing spatially averaged ocean temperatures to be measured in real-time. The system includes autonomous acoustic sources mounted on subsurface moorings and receivers that are either suspended from drif... | 11/25/1997 |
| 5224074 | Sonobuoy for forming virtual vertical sensing arrays A sonobuoy for forming a plurality of virtual vertical arrays, the sonobuoy aving means for receiving and expelling water to cause said sonobuoy automatically to descend and rise in a water environment, whereby to form sequentially a plurality of virtual v... | 06/29/1993 |
| 5175708 | Battery powdered acoustic transponder for use in underwater environment An acoustic transponder device includes waterproof housing that accepts a battery pack with a water displacing connection placing the housing and battery pack in communication. The housing carries an electronics package. Both the housing and battery pack ... | 12/29/1992 |
| 5065370 | Programmable pulse shaper for sonobouy apparatus This invention discloses electronic circuit that can be either embedded in n oceanographic sonobuoy housing or used as stand-alone equipment and which establishes and generates sonar signals of a repetition rate, pulse length, and amplitude pulse shape whi... | 11/12/1991 |
| 5060206 | Marine acoustic aerobuoy and method of operation A marine acoustic detector for use in identifying a characteristic airborne sound pressure field generated by a propeller-driven aircraft including a surface-buoyed resonator chamber tuned to the narrow frequency band of the airborne sound pressure field ... | 10/22/1991 |
| 5056065 | System for deploying horizontal line array A sonobuoy system and method for deploying an array of transducers in a substantially horizontal line at a desired depth below the surface of a body of water. The trailing end of the array is deployed first, allowed to descend, and suspended at the desire... | 10/08/1991 |
| 5040157 | Expendable virtual vertical sensing array A method and apparatus of determining the range and depth of a far field underwater target is provided. A multi-sensor device is released into the water from a surface ship or other deploying platform and allowed to exhibit vertical free-fall in the water... | 08/13/1991 |
