Electro-Mechanical Bridles for Energy Kites
AssigneeX Development LLC
InventorsElias Wolfgang Patten, Damon Vander Lind, Alex Yat Ning Chan, Jerome Francois Sicard, Nathan Treat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An energy kite may be coupled to a tether and ground station via an electro-mechanical bridle. The energy kite may generate a significant amount of lift during power generation and may need to transfer this load to a tether that is anchored at the ground. Transferring the load at a single point would place a substantial bending moment on the energy kite. To mitigate this bending moment, the load may be divided between multiple locations with a bridle system. The bridle system may have a plurality of electrical conductors to conduct electrical power and signals.
Claims20
An electro-mechanical bridle comprising:
- a structural member comprising wrapped fiber filaments;
- a tether thimble coupled to a first end of the structural member, configured to couple a tether to the bridle;
- a wing thimble coupled to a second end of the structural member, wherein the wing thimble is configured to couple an aerial vehicle to the bridle;
- and
- a plurality of electrical conductors coupled to the structural member and extending from the first end to the second end.
An electro-mechanical bridle system comprising:
- a first bridle comprising:
- a first structural member comprising a wrapped fiber;
- a first tether thimble coupled to a first end of the first structural member;
- a first wing thimble coupled to a second end of the first structural member, wherein the first wing thimble is configured to couple an aerial vehicle to the first bridle;
- a second bridle comprising:
- a second structural member comprising a wrapped fiber;
- a second tether thimble coupled to a first end of the second structural member;
- a second wing thimble coupled to a second end of the second structural member, wherein the second wing thimble is configured to couple an aerial vehicle to the second bridle;
- wherein the first tether thimble and the second tether thimble are configured to couple the first bridle and the second bridle to a tether;
- and
- a plurality of electrical conductors coupled to the first bridle and extending the length of the first structural member.
An energy kite system comprising:
- a ground station coupled to an electrically conductive tether;
- a plurality of bridles, each bridle comprising:
- a structural member comprising a wrapped fiber;
- a tether thimble coupled to a first end of the structural member;
- and
- a wing thimble coupled to a second end of the structural member;
- wherein each tether thimble is coupled to an electrically conductive tether;
- wherein each wing thimble is coupled to an aerial vehicle;
- a plurality of electrical conductors extending the length of at least one of the plurality of bridles and electrically coupled to the aerial vehicle;
- and
- a power transfer loop configured to transfer electrical power or signals between the electrically conductive tether and the electro-mechanical bridle system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.