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US 11,230,049 B2Granted
Seals for aerial vehicles
AssigneeAerostar International, LLC
InventorsKevin Roach, Chaokun Gong, Chase Haegele
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Aspects of the disclosure relate to envelopes for aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle may include an envelope including a plurality of gores. The aerial vehicle may also include a seal arranged between a pair of the plurality of gores, the seal including six layers of envelope material heat-sealed together.
Claims11
A method of forming a seal between two gores of an envelope for an aerial vehicle, the method comprising:
- arranging a second layer of the envelope material on a first layer of envelope material, wherein the first layer of envelope material is a first strip of envelope material and the second layer of envelope material is a second strip of envelope material;
- arranging a third layer of envelope material on the second layer of envelope material, the third layer of envelope material corresponding to a first of the two gores;
- arranging a fourth layer of envelope material on the third layer of envelope material, the fourth layer of envelope material corresponding to a second of the two gores;
- a fifth layer of envelope material on the fourth layer of envelope material such that adjacent to the fifth layer of the envelope material is a sixth layer of the envelope material corresponding to a folded portion of the fifth layer of the envelope material;
- heat-sealing the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth layers of envelope material to one another to create a single seal;
- and
- placing a tendon between the fifth and sixth layers of envelope material such that after the heat-sealing, the tendon is arranged between the fifth and sixth layers of envelope material.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.