Quotables
"Man will not fly for 50 years."
Wilbur Wright ; 1901
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8308112 | Plasma actuators for drag reduction on wings, nacelles and/or fuselage of vertical take-off and landing aircraft An aircraft includes a surface over which an airflow passes. A plasma actuator is configured to generate a plasma above the surface, the plasma coupling a directed momentum into the air surrounding the surface to reduce separation of the airflow from the surface. A ... | 11/13/2012 |
| 8267355 | Method of controlling aircraft, missiles, munitions and ground vehicles with plasma actuators A method of controlling an aircraft, missile, munition or ground vehicle with plasma actuators, and more particularly of controlling fluid flow across their surfaces or other surfaces which would benefit from such a method, includes the design of an aerodynamic plas... | 09/18/2012 |
| 8251318 | Disbanded cascaded array for generating and moving plasma clusters for active airflow control An array of electrodes for selectively generating plasma is described herein. The array includes a first electrode disposed along a first dielectric, and at least a second electrode. A second electrode is sandwiched between the first dielectric and the second dielec... | 08/28/2012 |
| 8220754 | Plasma enhanced riblet An object moving through a fluid uses plasma to keep turbulent mixing vortices associated with turbulent air away from the majority of the surface of the object. The plasma may be used to enhance physical riblets, or the plasma may create a virtual riblet. ... | 07/17/2012 |
| 8220753 | Systems and methods for controlling flows with pulsed discharges Systems and methods for controlling air vehicle boundary layer airflow are disclosed. Representative methods can include applying electrical energy bursts and/or other energy bursts in nanosecond pulses in the boundary layer along a surface of an air vehicle. In a p... | 07/17/2012 |
| 8091836 | Rotary wing system with ion field flow control A rotary-wing system which generates a directed ion field to propel a fluid along a rotary-wing to control at least one boundary layer characteristic. ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8016246 | Plasma actuator system and method for use with a weapons bay on a high speed mobile platform A system and method for controlling a freestream air flow over a surface of an airborne mobile platform, for example an aircraft. In one implementation the system includes a plurality of plasma actuators used on an undersurface of a fuselage of an aircraft upstream ... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8016247 | Plasma flow control actuator system and method A plasma actuator system and method especially well adapted for use on airborne mobile platforms, such as aircraft, for directional and/or attitude control. The system includes at least one plasma actuator having first and second electrodes mounted on a surface of a... | 09/13/2011 |
| 8006939 | Over-wing traveling-wave axial flow plasma accelerator A method to manipulate a fluid flow over a surface is provided. This method may be used to reduce drag, improve the lift to drag (L/D) ratio, attach fluid flow, or reduce flow noise at the surface. This involves flowing a fluid over the surface wherein the fluid con... | 08/30/2011 |
| 7988101 | Airfoil trailing edge plasma flow control apparatus and method A flow control system and method especially well adapted for use on a Coanda surface. In one embodiment a plurality of plasma actuators are disposed over a Coanda surface of a wing of an aircraft. The actuators are selectively energized to either delay the onset of ... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7954768 | Method of controlling aircraft, missiles, munitions and ground vehicles with plasma actuators A method of controlling an aircraft, missile, munition or ground vehicle with plasma actuators, and more particularly of controlling fluid flow across their surfaces or other surfaces which would benefit from such a method, includes the design of an aerodynamic plas... | 06/07/2011 |
| 7744039 | Systems and methods for controlling flows with electrical pulses Systems and methods for controlling flow with electrical pulses are disclosed. An aircraft system in accordance with one embodiment includes an aerodynamic body having a flow surface exposed to an adjacent air stream, and a flow control assembly that includes a firs... | 06/29/2010 |
| 7641153 | Directed energy off-body heating for supersonic vehicle shockwave and sonic boom control Methods and apparatus for suppressing noise. The present invention provides a method that includes directing a laser at a first volume of gas and directing microwave radiation to a second volume. The method includes selecting the location of the second volume so tha... | 01/05/2010 |
| 7413149 | Wing enhancement through ion entrainment of media A system for augmenting the apparent velocity and effectiveness of an airfoil, such as a wing, on a vehicle includes at least one ionizer or emitter positioned relative to the airfoil to ionize a fluid media in which the airfoil travels and at least one attractor/re... | 08/19/2008 |
| 7380756 | Single dielectric barrier aerodynamic plasma actuation A single dielectric barrier aerodynamic plasma actuator apparatus based on the dielectric barrier discharge phenomenon is disclosed and suggested for application to aerodynamic uses for drag reduction, stall elimination and airfoil efficiency improvement. In the pla... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7347294 | Power system for electrically powered land vehicle The power system for an electrically powered land vehicle extracts electrons from ambient air to generate adequate electrical power to operate the land vehicle electrical energy production and propulsion system. The extracted electrons generate enough electrical pow... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7334394 | Localized arc filament plasma actuators for noise mitigation and mixing enhancement A device for controlling fluid flow. The device includes an arc generator coupled to electrodes. The electrodes are placed adjacent a fluid flowpath such that upon being energized by the arc generator, an arc filament plasma adjacent the electrodes is formed. In tur... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7255062 | Pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system A pseudo surface microwave produced plasma shielding system is a simple device that creates a prescribed plasma environment with a prescribed plasma density gradient, and protects an object surrounded by this environment as a shield. Pseudo surface microwaves intera... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7234667 | Modular aerospace plane This invention relates to the design of a Modular Aerospace Plane (MAP) comprising a forward fuselage section, a main wing section, a tail section and wing attachments. Various sections can be integrated to offer a variety of aircraft characteristics, performance an... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7156032 | Method and apparatus for controlling friction between a fluid and a body A method and apparatus is disclosed wherein nanostructures or microstructures are disposed on a surface of a body (such as a submersible vehicle) that is adapted to move through a fluid, such as water. The nanostructures or microstructures are disposed on the surfac... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7121511 | Shock wave modification method and system A shock wave in a gas is modified by emitting energy to form an extended path in the gas; heating gas along the path to form a volume of heated gas expanding outwardly from the path; and directing a path. The volume of heated gas passes through the shock wave and mo... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7070144 | Aircraft and missile afterbody flow control device and method of controlling flow The present invention relates to an afterbody flow control system and more particularly to aircraft or missile flow control system for enhanced maneuverability and stabilization. The present invention further relates to a method of operating the flow control system.... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7066431 | Turbulent flow drag reduction The present invention relates to apparatus for influencing fluid flow over a surface, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to turbulent boundary layer flow drag reduction for an aircraft. The present invention provides such apparatus including a plasma genera... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7017863 | Turbulent flow drag reduction The present invention relates to apparatus for influencing fluid flow over a surface, and more particularly, but not exclusively, to turbulent boundary layer flow drag reduction for an aircraft. The present invention provides such apparatus including a plasma genera... | 03/28/2006 |
| 6963810 | Method and system for locating critical flow feature indicators in three dimensional flow regimes A method for locating two dimensional critical flow features on a surface of a three dimensional body immersed in a fluid stream is presented. The method includes applying a hot film sensor array on the surface of the body. The hot film sensor array includes a plura... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6805325 | Surface plasma discharge for controlling leading edge contamination and crossflow instabilities for laminar flow The present invention provides a system and method for controlling leading edge contamination and crossflow instabilities for laminar flow on aircraft airfoils that is lightweight, low power, economical and reliable. Plasma surface discharges supply volumetric heati... | 10/19/2004 |
| 6247671 | Ion doping apparatus and method for aerodynamic flow control Method and apparatus for impingement on the sonic wave produced by a supersonic gas flow and the gas flow in a boundary layer of a gas that interfaces with a solid substrate comprising providing a source of a mixture of ions and electrons, introducing sai... | 06/19/2001 |
| 6220549 | Method and apparatus for fabricating panels used for the active control of surface drag Improved methods and techniques for fabricating a panel of control cells, or a "control panel", useful in various electromagnetic turbulence control (EMTC) applications includes a layered structure which includes three main components or layers: a metal s... | 04/24/2001 |
| 6079345 | System and method for controlling the flow of a conductive fluid over a surface Magnetic and electric fields are used in a controlled manner to create Lorentz forces that affect the flow of a conductive fluid near the boundary layer of a control tile, or a matrix of control tiles, immersed in a conductive fluid. The control tiles are... | 06/27/2000 |
| 5964433 | Staggered actuation of electromagnetic tiles for boundary layer control The boundary layer of a fluid travelling in a mean-flow direction relative to a surface of a wall of a body is controlled by generating in the fluid a magnetic field B having flux lines along the surface of the wall and an electric current density J trave... | 10/12/1999 |
| 5941481 | Device for interactive turbulence control in boundary layers An electro-magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) transducer that detects and manipuls the velocity of a near-wall fluid below a turbulent boundary layer includes a magnetic field generator to provide a magnetic field near a surface exposed to the fluid. A pair of s... | 08/24/1999 |
| 5934611 | Low drag inlet design using injected duct flow An air intake system disposable in an air vehicle turbo engine housing disposed in an exterior airflow for selectively reducing external engine boundary layer separation drag and external engine friction drag on the engine housing comprising an air inlet ... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5934622 | Micro-electrode and magnet array for microturbulence control A boundary layer control device for a surface which reduces turbulence by oviding forces which counteract microturbulent events occurring at the surface. The microturbulent events occur periodically with a known topography and include liftup and ejection,... | 08/10/1999 |
| 5890681 | Method for controlling microturbulence A method for controlling microturbulence in a medium flowing near a surface s disclosed. The method includes the steps of measuring the forces acting near or on the surface and using those measurements to determine the state probabilities for the microturb... | 04/06/1999 |
| 5797563 | System for increasing the aerodynamic and hydrodynamic efficiency of a vehicle in motion The system includes radiation generation and transmission components which radiate tuned microwave electromagnetic energy outwardly from a vehicle through an antenna into a fluid medium through which the vehicle is moving. The microwave radiation is at th... | 08/25/1998 |
| 5791275 | Surface layer comprising micro-fabricated tiles for electromagnetic control of fluid turbulence in sea water A surface layer for use in connection with an object adapted for motion tugh a fluid includes an array of tiles each having a pair of electrodes and a pair of magnetic poles positioned to generate respective electric and magnetic fields generally transve... | 08/11/1998 |
| 5669583 | Method and apparatus for covering bodies with a uniform glow discharge plasma and applications thereof Method and apparatus for covering a free-standing body with a uniform glow discharge plasma, particularly at atmospheric pressure. The method may be used to provide a body coated with such a plasma, and also to treat a workpiece.... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5437421 | Multiple electromagnetic tiles for boundary layer control The boundary layer of a fluid travelling in a mean-flow direction relative to a surface of a wall of a body is controlled by generating in the fluid a magnetic field B having flux lines along the surface of the wall and an electric current density J trave... | 08/01/1995 |
| 5320309 | Electromagnetic device and method for boundary layer control The boundary layer of a fluid travelling in a mean-flow direction relative to a surface of a wall of a body is controlled by generating in a near-wall region of the flow a magnetic field B having flux lines parallel to the surface of the wall and an elect... | 06/14/1994 |
| 5263661 | Sonic boom attenuator The Sonic Boom Attenuator is a device designed for use with supersonic aircraft wherein a laser beam is shone down the leading edge of a short, rigid, straight, thin wing, heating thus rarefying the air before it passes over and under the wing. In this ma... | 11/23/1993 |
