Back to results
US 6,650,304 B2Granted
Inflatable reflector antenna for space based radars
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorsJar J. Lee, William Derbes, Jonathan D. Gordon
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A space deployable antenna that includes an inflatable envelope, a cylindrical reflector formed on a wall of the envelope, a catenary support frame for maintaining the cylindrical shape of the cylindrical reflector, and a feed array support structure connected to the catenary support frame.
Claims24
An antenna comprising:
- an inflatable flexible enclosed envelope having a cylindrically curved wall transparent to RF, said curved wall ending at first and second opposing edges;
- an RF reflective coating disposed on said curved wall;
- a reflector catenary support frame for supporting said first and second edges and for maintaining said curved wall in a predetermined shape when said envelope is inflated;
- and
- a feed array support structure including a catenary feed support frame for supporting a feed array at a reflector focal location for illuminating said RF reflective coating with RF energy.
2 more elements
An antenna comprising:
- an inflatable flexible enclosed envelope having a cylindrical wall transparent to RF;
- said cylindrical wall ending at first and second opposing edges;
- an RF reflective coating disposed on said cylindrical wall;
- a catenary reflector support frame for supporting said first and second edges and for maintaining said cylindrical wall in a cylindrical shape when said envelope is inflated;
- and
- a catenary feed array support structure connected to said catenary support frame for supporting a feed array at a reflector focal location for illuminating said RF reflective coating with RF energy.
3 more elements
A space deployable antenna comprising:
- an inflatable flexible enclosed envelope having a cylindrical wall transparent to RF;
- said cylindrical wall ending at first and second opposing edges;
- an RF reflective coating disposed on said cylindrical wall;
- a deployable catenary reflector support frame that when deployed supports said first and second edges and maintains said cylindrical wall in a cylindrical shape when said envelope is inflated;
- and
- a deployable feed array support structure connected to said catenary support frame for supporting a deployable feed array for illuminating said RF reflective coating with RF energy.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.