Aircraft fuel tanks including self-sealing fabric
AssigneeResponse Technologies, LLC
InventorsDavid Allen Pettey, Richard Fox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an embodiment, an aircraft includes a fuselage; a propulsion system powered by a fuel; and a fuel cell configured to store the fuel, the fuel cell including an inner layer configured to contact the fuel; an outer layer; and a self-sealing fabric structure formed from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), the self-sealing fabric structure being between the inner layer and the outer layer, the self-sealing fabric structure being configured to self-seal a hole formed in the inner layer and the outer layer by a projectile.
Claims20
An aircraft fuel cell comprising:
- an inner layer configured to contact a fuel;
- an outer layer;
- and
- a self-sealing fabric structure between the inner layer and the outer layer and separated from an immediately adjacent layer by a gap, wherein the self-sealing fabric structure comprises at least 10 layers of a self-sealing fabric that is unreactive to fuel and is configured to self-seal a hole, in the inner layer formed by a projectile, without being triggered or activated by a liquid to expand to fill the hole, wherein self-sealing the hole formed in the inner layer comprises one or more layers of the self-sealing fabric structure being pulled through the hole in the inner layer by the projectile and plugging the hole.
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a propulsion system powered by a fuel;
- and
- a fuel cell configured to store the fuel, the fuel cell comprising:
- an inner layer configured to contact the fuel;
- an outer layer;
- and
- a self-sealing fabric structure comprising at least 10 layers of a self-sealing fabric formed from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) that is unreactive to fuel, wherein the self-sealing fabric structure is interposed between the inner layer and the outer layer and separated from an immediately adjacent layer by a gap, wherein the self-sealing fabric structure is configured to self-seal a hole formed in the inner layer by a projectile without being triggered or activated by a liquid to expand to fill the hole, wherein self-sealing the hole formed in the inner layer comprises one or more layers of the self-sealing fabric structure being pulled through the hole in the inner layer by the projectile and plugging the hole.
A structure, comprising:
- an inner layer configured to contact, and contain, a liquid;
- an outer layer;
- and
- a self-sealing fabric structure between the inner layer and the outer layer and separated from an immediately adjacent layer by a gap, and wherein the self-sealing fabric structure is adhered to an intermediate layer by an adhesive between the self-sealing fabric structure and the inner layer, wherein the self-sealing fabric structure comprises at least 10 layers of a self-sealing fabric that is unreactive to fuel, wherein the at least 10 layers of the self-sealing fabric are configured to self-seal a hole, formed in the inner layer by a projectile, without being triggered or activated by a liquid to expand to fill the hole, wherein the adhesive is configured to allow layers of the self-sealing fabric structure to move when the self-sealing fabric structure is struck by the projectile, wherein the self-sealing fabric structure comprises excess fabric that has an area between about 100% and 400% of the area of the inner layer, wherein self-sealing the hole formed in the inner layer comprises at least a portion of the excess fabric of the self-sealing fabric structure being pulled through the hole in the inner layer by the projectile and plugging the hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.