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US 6,581,871 B2Granted
Extendable and controllable flight vehicle wing/control surface assembly
AssigneeSmiths Aerospace, Inc.
InventorsThomas Pijaca, William J. Schellens
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeSmiths Aerospace, Inc.
InventorsThomas Pijaca, William J. Schellens
Estimating the term…
The apparatus of the invention allows flight vehicle and/or guided munition wings and control surfaces to be secured in a retracted and locked position prior to the launch by a control surface retainer. An electro-mechanical differential control system preferably releases the control surface retainer, extends the control surfaces, and servo controls the control surfaces subsequent to launch. The invention also provides a method for guiding a flight vehicle and/or guided munition by releasing the flight vehicle's and/or guided munition's control surface from a control surface retainer, extending the flight vehicle's and/or guided munition's wing/control surface assembly using a wing/control surface actuation system, and controlling the flight vehicle's and/or guided munition's control surfaces using a wing/control surface actuation system.
An apparatus for controlling a wing/control surface assembly of a guided munition, the assembly comprising a wing and a control surface, the apparatus comprising:
A method for guiding a guided munition, the guided munition having a wing/control surface assembly including a wing and a control surface, said method comprising the steps of:
An apparatus for controlling a wing/control surface assembly of a flight vehicle, the assembly comprising a wing and a control surface, the apparatus comprising:
A method for guiding a flight vehicle, the flight vehicle having
An apparatus for controlling a plurality of wing/control surface assemblies of a guided munition, the assembly comprising a wing and a control surface, the apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.