Self-actuating control for rocket motor nozzle

Number of patents in Portfolio can not be more than 2000

United States of America Patent

PATENT NO 5491973
SERIAL NO

08325891

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ATTORNEY / AGENT: (SPONSORED)

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Abstract

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A rocket motor is provided with a self-actuated nozzle throat control mechanism. The motor includes a casing that forms a combustion chamber and houses propellant. An exhaust nozzle extends from the motor casing and is fluidly coupled to the combustion chamber. A pintle assembly is provided to vary the throat area of the nozzle. The pintle assembly includes a pintle and a support member. The pintle is coupled to the support member for movement from a first position to a second position where the pintle extends farther into the throat than when in the first position. A locking member secures the pintle to the support member in the first position when the pressure in the combustion chamber is in a first range and releases the pintle from the support member when the pressure in the combustion chamber changes to a value in another range. With this construction, a multistep pintle, which moves in response to change in combustion chamber pressure, can be constructed without complex control instrumentation. In addition, the highly responsive pintle control system optimizes throat area at each selected combustion phase, thereby improving the performance of multiphase rocket motors.

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Patent Owner(s)

Patent OwnerAddress
DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS (FORMERLY KNOWN AS BANKERS TRUST COMPANY) AS AGENT31 W 52ND STREET NEW YORK NY 10022

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Inventor(s)

Inventor Name Address # of filed Patents Total Citations
Knapp, Raymond Sacramento, CA 1 15
Woodruff, Robert Carmichael, CA 19 106

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