Douglas Peter Chinn, Age 61PO Box 2669, Columbia, MD 21045

6685442, Feb 3, 2004

Feb 20, 2002

10/081286

Douglas A. Chinn - Livermore CA
David J. Irvin - Ridgecrest CA

Sandia National Laboratories - Livermore CA

F04B 3500

417321, 4174131, 417322, 25112906

A valve actuator based on a conductive polymer gel is disclosed. A nonconductive housing is provided having two separate chambers separated by a porous frit. The conductive polymer is held in one chamber and an electrolyte solution, used as a source of charged ions, is held in the second chamber. The ends of the housing a sealed with a flexible elastomer. The polymer gel is further provide with electrodes with which to apply an electrical potential across the gel in order to initiate an oxidation reaction which in turn drives anions across the porous frit and into the polymer gel, swelling the volume of the gel and simultaneously contracting the volume of the electrolyte solution. Because the two end chambers are sealed the flexible elastomer expands or contracts with the chamber volume change. By manipulating the potential across the gel the motion of the elastomer can be controlled to act as a âgateâ to open or close a fluid channel and thereby control flow through that channel.

7186987, Mar 6, 2007

May 22, 2001

09/863128

F. Patrick Doty - Livermore CA, US
Douglas A. Chinn - Livermore CA, US

Sandia National Laboratories - Livermore CA

G01T 3/00
G01T 3/08

25039001, 25037005

A π-conjugated organic material for detecting ionizing radiation, and particularly for detecting low energy fission neutrons. The π-conjugated materials comprise a class of organic materials whose members are intrinsic semiconducting materials. Included in this class are π-conjugated polymers, polyaromatic hydrocarbon molecules, and quinolates. Because of their high resistivities (≧10ohmcm), these π-conjugated organic materials exhibit very low leakage currents. A device for detecting and measuring ionizing radiation can be made by applying an electric field to a layer of the π-conjugated polymer material to measure electron/hole pair formation. A layer of the π-conjugated polymer material can be made by conventional polymer fabrication methods and can be cast into sheets capable of covering large areas. These sheets of polymer radiation detector material can be deposited between flexible electrodes and rolled up to form a radiation detector occupying a small volume but having a large surface area. The semiconducting polymer material can be easily fabricated in layers about 10 μm to 100 μm thick.

6245849, Jun 12, 2001

Jun 2, 1999

9/325003

Alfredo Martin Morales - Pleasanton CA
Douglas Chinn - Livermore CA

Sandia Corporation - Livermore CA

C08K 300

524442

A method is provided for fabricating ceramic microstructures, i. e. , microcomponents of micron or submicron dimensions. A polymer composition is prepared containing a polymer, typically a thermally or chemically curable polymer, and nanometer size (1 to 1000 nm in diameter) ceramic particles. A mold, such as a lithographically patterned mold, preferably a LIGA mold, is filled with the polymer composition and the polymer is then cured or otherwise hardened. The elevated segments of the mold are then removed. The surface-attached ceramic microstructures so provided may then be removed from the substrate and, if desired, pyrolyzed and sintered.