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US 2019/0100305 A1Published application
Faired Tether Systems with Tail Span Sections
AssigneeX Development LLC
InventorsElias Wolfgang Patten, Matthew Shapiro, Jérôme Sicard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems including tethers with one or more attached airfoil tails are described. Some systems include reversibly deformable struts that attach the tails to a tether to allow for stretch of the tether when the tether is under tension. The form of the tails may vary along the length of the tether to account for different aerodynamic design considerations.
Claims21
A system comprising:
- a ground station;
- an aerial vehicle;
- a tether coupled between the ground station and the aerial vehicle, the tether comprising a tether body and an electrical conductor, wherein the tether takes the form of a first airfoil shape comprising a leading edge of the tether, a trailing edge of the tether, and a tether chord length;
- and
- a plurality of tails, wherein each tail takes the form of a respective airfoil shape comprising, respectively, a chord length, a span length, a leading edge, and a trailing edge,
- wherein each tail is disposed at a respective distance from the tether and coupled to the tether by at least two struts, and
- wherein each tail is oriented such that the leading edge of the respective tail is nearer the tether than the trailing edge of the respective tail.
4 more elements
A system comprising:
- a tether comprising a tether body and an electrical conductor, wherein the tether takes the form of a first airfoil shape comprising a leading edge of the tether, a trailing edge of the tether, and a tether chord length;
- and
- a strut, the strut comprising:
- an interior segment extending through the tether body;
- a bottom locking tab extending at a first angle relative to the interior segment and along a first exterior surface of the tether body;
- a riser portion extending outward from the tether body at a second angle to the tether chord length;
- a top locking tab extending at a third angle from the riser portion and along a second exterior surface of the tether opposite the first exterior surface of the tether;
- and
- an extension portion extending from the riser portion in a trailing direction.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.