Small tethered aerostat relocatable system
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsJoseph W. Phipps, III, Warren H. Jensen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A tethered aerostat mooring apparatus for launching, maintaining aloft, and docking an aerostat that is readily foldable for ease of transport, and mounted such that the entire structure rotates on one axis to permit weather vaning of a deployed aerostat, and includes a flying sheave that rotates on an axis perpendicular to the first axis such that movement of the aerostat in azimuth maintains alignment with the fairlead of the sheave, thus providing ease of operation regardless of the dynamic movement of the aerostat.
Claims1
Apparatus for controlling an aerostat, said aerostat having a nose line, a tether line and close haul lines, said apparatus comprising
- a first platform having an upper substantially plane surface,
- a second platform mounted rotatably above the upper surface of the first platform to rotate about a main axis that extends substantially perpendicular to said surface,
- a launching tower fastened at its base to the rotatable platform, said tower having an upper end for securing the aerostat at its nose,
- a boom having an inner and outer end portion fixedly mounted on the second platform with its inner end adjacent the base of the tower,
- a sheave assembly mounted rotatably adjacent the outer end portion of the boom to rotate about an axis substantially normal to the main axis of the second platform and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the boom, said assembly having a pulley mounted to rotate about an axis normal to the axis of the sheave assembly and the second platform and the longitudinal axis of the boom, said assembly having a counterweight attached to the assembly and spaced from the axis of the assembly to maintain the axis of the pulley substantially horizontal,
- a main winch mounted on the second platform adjacent the tower base and the inner end of the boom to pay in and pay out the aerostat tether about the pulley,
- a pair of outrigger members adjacent opposite sides of the outer end of the boom, said members being foldable inwardly adjacent the boom and outwardly at opposite sides of the boom for launching and docking the aerostat, said outrigger members each having a close haul winch at their outer ends for close hauling via the close haul lines the aerostat moored to the tower via its nose line, and
- a control station mounted on the second platform having means for operating the winches.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.