Expandable panel and truss system/antenna/solar panel

A system for forming an antenna comprising a plurality of elements stowable in a storage container for transportation into space by a space vehicle and deployable in space from said storage container, the improvement wherein,

• some of said stowable elements comprise one half cylinder ring panel pairs hinged at their top and bottom to each other to form when deployed a torus and hinged on both side edges to form a connection to said first panel pairs,
• said panel pairs first folded along the side edges with each other and with adjacent panel pairs and then rotated about their top and bottom edge hinges into relatively flat panels under stress and stowed within a canister in said storage container,
• the last of said folded panel pairs being the first to emerge from said storage container upon deployment,
• the hinge clevises along said side edges nesting with adjacent hinge clevises of adjacent panel pairs to form a single hinge axes when in stowed condition,
• means for retaining said folded panel pairs in said storage container,
• folded boom panel pairs identical to said ring folded panel pairs stowed in a second canister of said storage container, and
• some of said stowable elements comprising means in the form of expandable trusses for connecting said ring panel pairs and said boom panel pairs to said storage container upon deployment of said panels from said storage container.

An expandable panel/truss system comprising a plurality of panels alternately folded in an accordian-like stack in a storage container for transportation into space for deployment to form space structures, the improvement comprising,

• truss means formed by deployed unfolded panels emanating from a storage container to form a selected geometric configuration,
• said storage container forming part of said geometric configuration,
• one of said panels forming the top cover of said storage container and forming together with said storage container the means for deploying said truss means and defining the geometrical configuration, and
• means folded in said storage container and unfolded and deployed with said truss means to fill the space outlined by said geometric configuration.

An expandable panel truss system wherein a plurality of panels are alternately folded in an accordian-like stack as panel sets in a storage container for transportation into space for deployment to form space structures, the improvement comprising,

• truss means formed by deployed unfolded panels emanating from said storage container to form a selected geometric configuration,
• said panel sets being deployed in sets of three and which, when deployed, are triangular in cross section,
• one of said sets of three panels being formed of pairs of sub-panels foldable when stored in nested relationship with the other two of the three panels,
• deployable hinge means on said folded panels including means to unfold said panels to form said triangular configuration, and
• means for locking said sub-panels in deployed unfolded condition.