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US 2020/0346730 A1Published application
Lighter than air system embodying tetrahedrons joined to form lift- generating shells
OwnerThomas Walter Pflastererinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A lift generation system embodying tetrahedral lifting cells capable of lift through the inflation of lighter than air gas. During an initial lift, the tetrahedral lifting cells may be assembled into larger geodesic shells. The assembled geodesic shell is capable of generating greater lift through filling the enclosed volume they defined with additional lighter than air gas.
Claims8
A lift generation system, comprising:
- a plurality of tetrahedral cells, each tetrahedral cell joined along at least a corner to an adjacent tetrahedral cell of the plurality of tetrahedral cells in such a way that the plurality of tetrahedral cells forms a shell defining a volume.
A method of launching a lift generation system, comprising:
- providing a plurality of tetrahedral cells;
- joining each tetrahedral cell along at least one corner to an adjacent tetrahedral cell of the plurality of tetrahedral cells in such a way that each tetrahedral cell has one planar face that is movable to be coplanar with another planar face of each adjacent tetrahedral cell so that said planar faces can simultaneously abut a supporting surface;
- filling at least one tetrahedral cell until there is an initial lift above the supporting surface of the plurality of tetrahedral cells;
- and
- joining three edges of each tetrahedral cell to the adjacent tetrahedral cell of the plurality of tetrahedral cells.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.