US Patent Issued to Lockheed Martin on Dec. 2 for "Darkfield lighting source for aircraft FOD detection" (Connecticut, Florida, Virginia Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,486,052, issued on Dec. 2, was assigned to Lockheed Martin Corp. (Bethesda, Md.).

"Darkfield lighting source for aircraft FOD detection" was invented by Virgil R. Watson (Trumbull, Conn.), Christian David Gerhardt (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.), David B. Tabak (Hamden, Conn.), Andrew J. Burke (Bridgeport, Conn.), Anthony Dicocco (Stratford, Conn.), William Grayson Richmond (Glen Allen, Va.) and Thomas Lee Merrill (Clinton, Conn.).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A lighting device for foreign object debris (FOD) detection is included. The lighting device includes a light source configured to emit light onto a surface, and a diffuser coupled to th...