William Scott Jensen
General Contractor at Wellonsburg Pl, Apex, NC

6202521, Mar 20, 2001

Dec 14, 1998

9/210971

Dino J. Rossetti - Raleigh NC
William S. Jensen - Apex NC
John H. Highfill - Cary NC
Mark A. Norris - Apex NC

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

B23B 100, B23B 2100

82 111

A method, apparatus and controller for machining non-circular work pieces. The apparatus, method and controller are preferably used in combination with rotating, equipment, such as a turning center having an x-y table capable of gross movements. The apparatus includes at least one position sensor for deriving an angular position signal of the work piece, a preferably longitudinally-disposed, flexible tool holder attached to a rigid tool block which holds the machine tool, a preferably solid state vibration actuator imparting active vibrational forces to the end of the tool holder, thus vibrating the machine tool at high frequency to impart the desired ovality to the work piece, and a control system for generating the output signal to the vibration actuator. Preferably, the control system includes manually adjusted magnitude and phase thereby providing a non-circular work piece profile with the desired ovality and positioning thereof. The controller includes a wave form generator which provides an input signal which is phase locked to the work piece rotation regardless of small cutting speed changes.

6695294, Feb 24, 2004

Jul 20, 2001

09/910386

Lane R. Miller - Fuquay-Varina NC
Douglas A. Swanson - Apex NC
Russell E. Alteri - Cary NC
Douglas E. Ivers - Cary NC
Stephen F. Hildebrand - Apex NC
William S. Jensen - Apex NC
Scott K. Miller - Raleigh NC
Michael D. Janowski - Clayton NC
Michael F. Walch - Cary NC

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

F16F 500

267 6416, 18832218

A controlled equilibrium device comprising a housing; at least one spring, each at least one spring having a spring stiffness; and a load leveling device movable through the housing between a first maximum displacement position and a second maximum displacement position, the load leveling device comprising a deadband displacement zone defined between a first deadband displacement threshold and a second deadband displacement threshold, the displacement required to reach the first and second deadband displacement thresholds being less than the displacement distances required to reach the first and second maximum displacement positions, the at least one spring stiffness being substantially constant when the displacement of the load leveling device is within the deadband zone, the stiffness of the at least one spring being modified to a second stiffness when the load leveling device is equal to or beyond either the first deadband displacement threshold or the second deadband displacement threshold.

5954169, Sep 21, 1999

Oct 24, 1997

8/957718

William S. Jensen - Apex NC

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

B64D 2700, F16F 710

188378

A flex-plate tuned vibration absorber (35) including a tuned mass (43) flexibly suspended by one or more flex plates (58). In one aspect the tunable vibration absorber (TVA) (35) is adaptive in that the position of the mass is adaptively moveable with respect to its initial position, thereby effectuating a change in the TVA's resonant frequency. In one embodiment, the tuned mass (43) moves along a rigid frame (53). In another, movement of the mass (43) statically stresses a preferably disc-shaped flexible plate (58) thereby changing its stiffness. Preferably, a reducer (78) gears down the speed of the motor (64). In another aspect, a TVA system includes a base sensor (40) providing a base vibration signal, a mass sensor (38) for providing a vibration signal of the tuned mass (43), and an electronic controller (42) for generating a control signal to the TVA (35). The TVA finds application for absorbing vibration in vibrating structures, such as in aircraft.

5924670, Jul 20, 1999

Dec 9, 1997

8/987674

Donald C. Bailey - McCall ID
Chan Park - Granada Hills CA
Andreas H. von Flotow - Hood River OR
William Jensen - Apex NC

Applied Power Inc. - Butler WI

F16M 1300

248550

An apparatus for reducing vibration has a mount for attaching to a vibrating body, such as the frame of an aircraft. A plate is spaced from the mount with a mass there between. A first elastomeric ring is compressed between the mass and the mount, and a second elastomeric ring is compressed between the mass and the plate. The rings act as a spring having a stiffness that defines a resonant frequency at which the mass oscillates. Vibration in the body is reduced by the mass movement absorbing vibrational energy and the energy absorption is maximized when the mass resonates at the vibration frequency. A controller senses body vibration and operates a mechanism that alters the spacing between the mount and the plate thereby adjusting the spring stiffness. The stiffness of the spring is changed until the resonant frequency of the mass is tuned to the vibration frequency of the body.

7267029, Sep 11, 2007

Nov 13, 2002

10/292977

Russell E. Altieri - Cary NC, US
Thomas E. Schulte - Manchester MI, US
Jeffry Sharp - Brighton MI, US
Brian K. Hackett - Saline MI, US
William S. Jensen - Apex NC, US

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

G01M 7/00, G06G 7/48

745741, 700279

A balancing device including a positionable member associated with a rotating member having an axis, wherein the positionable member has a substantially constant mass, and wherein the positionable member is disposed at a first position about the axis of the rotating member. The balancing device also including an actuation device disposed at a distance from the positionable member, wherein the actuation device is operable for selectively generating a force, and wherein the force is operable for moving the positionable member from the first position to a second position about the axis of the rotating member, thereby balancing the rotating member.

6290038, Sep 18, 2001

Feb 22, 2000

9/510551

William S. Jensen - Apex NC
Scott K. Miller - Willow Spring NC

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

B60T 712

188381

Elastomer dampers (20) and (120) for damping movement between two relatively moveable members, such as shimmy motion between components in an aircraft landing gear assembly (10). Each damper includes a housing (24) having an internal cavity (36) with a cylindrical interior surface (34) and an opening (41), and a member assembly (28, 128) moveable relative to the housing (24) having an elongated shaft (30) received through the opening (41) with a piston head assembly (32) mounted thereon. The piston head assembly (32, 132) has a annular support element (46, 146) received over the shaft (30) with a sleeve-like elastomer member (48, 148) received over it. The elastomer member (48, 148) engages the interior surface (34) in an interference fit relationship thereby radially precompressing the elastomer element (48, 148) in the range of between about 5% and 15%. In one embodiment of piston head assembly, low friction washers (50a, 50b) are preferably positioned adjacent to the ends of the elastomer member (48) and the support member (46). Rigid washers (54a, 54b) may be provided to abut and support the low friction washers (50a, 50b).

6247687, Jun 19, 2001

Mar 29, 1999

9/277886

William S. Jensen - Apex NC
Scott K. Miller - Willow Spring NC

Lord Corporation - Cary NC

B60G 1300, F16F 700

267200

An elastomer damper (20) for damping movement between two relatively moveable members, such as shimmy motion between components in an aircraft landing gear assembly (10). The damper (20) includes a housing (24) having an internal cavity (36) with a cylindrical interior surface (34) and an opening (41), and a member assembly (28) moveable relative to the housing (24) having an elongated shaft (30) received through the opening (41) with a piston head assembly (32) mounted thereon. The piston head assembly (32) has a annular support element (46) received over the shaft (30) with a sleeve-like elastomer member (48) received over it. The elastomer member (48) engages the interior surface (34) in an interference fit relationship thereby radially precompressing the elastomer element (48) in the range of between about 5% and 15%. Low friction washers (50a, 50b) are preferably positioned adjacent to the ends of the elastomer ember (48) and the support member (46). Rigid washers (54a, 54b) may be provided to abut and support the low friction washers (50a, 50b).