Outer membrane for aerial vehicles
AssigneeAerostar International, LLC
InventorsKevin Roach, Venkata Akula, Paul Frey
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Aspects of the disclosure relate to an aerial vehicle. The aerial vehicle may include an envelope having a plurality of tendons and formed from a first plurality of gores. The aerial vehicle may also include one or more ballonets arranged within the envelope. An outer membrane may be arranged around at least part of the envelope and formed from a second plurality of gores. The outer membrane may include at least one panel attached at one side to the outer membrane between a pair of the second plurality of gores and attached at an opposite side to the envelope. The outer membrane may be arranged to improve aerodynamics of the envelope when the aerial vehicle is in flight.
Claims20
An aerial vehicle comprising:
- an envelope having a plurality of tendons and formed from a first plurality of gores;
- one or more ballonets arranged within the envelope;
- an outer membrane arranged around at least part of the envelope and formed from a second plurality of gores;
- and
- at least one panel attached at one side to the outer membrane between a pair of the second plurality of gores and attached at an opposite side to the envelope, and wherein the outer membrane is arranged to improve aerodynamics of the envelope when the aerial vehicle is in flight.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.