DHi Awarded U.S. Patent for Life Saving Photoluminescent Technology

Arlington, VA (February 11, 2008)—Defense Holdings, Inc. (DHi) announced today that it has been awarded a U.S. Patent for its unique method for formulating and applying the company’s innovative photoluminescent (PL) safety paint to aircraft propeller blades, helicopter main and tail rotors, and other rotating objects.

  The objective of this state-of-the art coating and application methodology is to help save the lives of men and women of the U.S. armed services who must work at night in the vicinity of rapidly spinning propeller blades and rotors on carrier flight decks and in other dark environments where inadvertent contact can have deadly results.

 

Potentially distracted by noisy, high tempo flight operations, ground and flight personnel are inadvertently struck each year by propeller blades with inevitably tragic consequences. DHi’s solution combines a revolutionary, long-lasting, ultra-bright, non-radioactive PL material with the additional option of adding an equally effective retro-reflective material to dramatically improve propeller blade visibility under all lighting conditions. The application maximizes visibility, material adhesion, durability, wear resistance and ease of installation without compromising propeller aerodynamic performance or aircraft detection.

DHi’s new patent—U.S. Patent 7,326,435 for Low Light Level Illumination For Rotating Objects—was developed under a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) contract as part of the Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The company’s product and application technologies promise to provide greater safety to members of our armed forces. In battlefield conditions, greater visibility of rotor blades to ground personnel will help improve personal safety without making the aircraft vulnerable to hostile visual detection. DHi expects that its technologies will eventually prove useful to workers in commercial aviation and other industries as well.

Defense Holdings, Inc. (DHi) is a world-class team of dedicated engineering professionals committed to developing and deploying innovative technologies to advance the national interest and improve the lives of all Americans.