TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OPPORTUNITY: Handheld Metal Tube Straightener (MSC-TOPS-107)

NASA’s Technology Transfer Program solicits inquiries from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. NASA provides no funding in conjunction with these potential licenses.

THE TECHNOLOGY: Researchers at NASA Johnson Space Center have developed the Handheld Metal Tube Straightener designed to remove bends within 3.5 inches of a tube end. The tool straightens thin, malleable 4mm metal tubes like those used for fuel, pneumatic or hydraulic pressurized lines.

Commercially available tube straighteners use rollers to straighten long metal tubing, but the spacing of the rollers typically prevent or complicate bend-removal near the end of the tube and can also leave linear scratches on the straightened area. The handheld tube straightener can remove small and large bends near and at the tip of a tube so that it can be swaged into any commercial swage fitting.

The Handheld Metal Tube Straightener was successfully used during a spacewalk on NASA's "EVA 61 Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS)" repair mission.

To express interest in this opportunity, please submit a license application through NASA’s Automated Technology Licensing Application System (ATLAS) by visiting https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MSC-TOPS-107 If you have any questions, please e-mail NASA’s Technology Transfer Program at Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov with the title of this Technology Transfer Opportunity as listed in this SAM.gov notice and your preferred contact information.

For more information about licensing other NASA-developed technologies, please visit the NASA Technology Transfer Portal at https://technology.nasa.gov/ These responses are provided to members of NASA’s Technology Transfer Program for the purpose of promoting public awareness of NASA-developed technology products, and conducting preliminary market research to determine public interest in and potential for future licensing opportunities. No follow-on procurement is expected to result from responses to this Notice.