Thermal control apparatus
AssigneeJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency
InventorsAkira Ohnishi, Hosei Nagano
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed is a thermal control apparatus which comprises a base plate associated with a target object in a heat-exchangeable manner therebetween, at least one heat-exchange paddle attached to the base plate in such a manner as to be selectively deployed and retracted, paddle drive means provided at an end of the base plate and adapted to drive a deployment movement and a retraction movement of the heat-exchange paddle so as to change an angle of the heat-exchange paddle, and a heat transport element provided to connect the base plate and the heat-exchange paddle.
Claims13
A thermal control apparatus, comprising:
- a base plate associated with a target object in a heat-exchangeable manner therebetween;
- at least one heat-exchange paddle attached to said base plate in such a manner as to be selectively deployed and retracted;
- paddle drive means provided at an end of said base plate and adapted to drive a deployment movement and a retraction movement of said heat-exchange paddle so as to change an angle of said heat-exchange paddle;
- and
- a heat transport element provided to connect said base plate and said heat-exchange paddle,
- wherein:
- said base plate has a first surface on an opposite side relative to said target object, and said heat-exchange paddle has a second surface which is a front surface thereof, and a third surface which is a rear surface thereof, wherein said first, second and third surfaces are ones selected from the group consisting of a heat-dissipating surface, a heat-absorbing surface, a heat-insulating surface and a variable heat-emissivity surface;
- and
- said paddle drive means is adapted to variably set a deployed angle of said heat-exchange paddle.
A thermal control apparatus, comprising:
- a rotatable paddle disposed above a target object and adapted to be rotationally moved between an approximately vertical position and an approximately horizontal position by about 90 degrees, according to a first rotation actuator;
- a first deployable/retractable paddle swingably connected to one end of said rotatable paddle and adapted to be swingingly moved between a deployed position and a retracted position by about 180 degrees, according to a second rotation actuator;
- a second deployable/retractable paddle swingably connected to the other end of said rotatable paddle and adapted to be swingingly moved between a deployed position and a retracted position by about 180 degrees, according to a third rotation actuator,
- wherein said second and third rotation actuators are operable, when said rotatable paddle is rotationally moved to said approximately vertical position according to said first actuator, to swingably move said first and second deployable/retractable paddles to said respective retracted positions so as to allow said target object to be opened to an external environment, and, when said rotatable paddle is rotationally moved to said approximately horizontal position according to said first actuator, to swingably move said first and second deployable/retractable paddles to said respective deployed positions so as to allow said target object to be closed to the external environment,
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.