Dirigible airship
OwnerFrederick D. Fergusoninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An airship in the form of a self-powered, elongated dirigible which comprises at least three sections connected together by joints. The sections including a front section with propulsion devices and control surfaces, at least one intermediate section designed to carry a payload and a rear section with control surfaces. The joints allow limited articulation between sections under gust conditions and tend to return the sections to aligned condition in calm air. A cover may provide a streamline exterior shape for the airship; alternatively the sections may have rims which mate together when there is no articulation to provide a smooth exterior shape.
Claims20
An airship in the form of a self-powered, elongated dirigible which comprises at least three sections connected together by joint means, said sections including a front section with propulsion means and control means, at least one intermediate section with load carrying means but without propulsion means, said load carrying means being independent of any load carrying means of adjacent sections, and a rear section with control surfaces;
- said joint means allowing limited articulation between adjacent sections in any plane up to at least 10.degree. from the co-axial state under gust conditions and tending to return the sections to aligned condition in calm air said joint means including extensible means which are pretensioned to prevent any articulation of the airship sections until a predetermined bending force is exceeded;
- said joint means providing a streamline exterior shape for the airship at least when the sections are aligned.
An airship in the form of a self-powered, elongated dirigible, which comprises at least four buoyant gas containing sections, each section having a fore-and-aft central axis, the sections being connected by articulated joints including extensible means joining the peripheries of adjacent sections and allowing limited articulation in any plan between adjacent sections;
- the sections including front and rear tapered sections and at least two intermediate cylindrical sections, the ends of adjacent sections having reinforcing rim elements which mate together to provide a generally streamline transition between the two sections when the sections are co-axial;
- said extensible means being pre-tensioned to prevent any articulation of the sections until a predetermined bending force is exceeded.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.