Lighter-than-air aircraft with air cushion landing gear means
AssigneeAdvanced Technologies Group, Inc.
InventorJeffrey R Munk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A lighter-than-air aircraft (1) having a gas-filled hull (2) and a pair of spaced apart landing gear units (11, 12) on the underside of the hull arranged on opposite sides of a longitudinally extending central vertical plane of the hull. Each landing gear unit (11, 12) comprises bag skirt means (5–7, 5′–7′), means for supplying air to and removing air from the bag skirt means and actuating means operable to move the bag skirt means between an operative configuration for containing one or more air cushions and an inoperative configuration.
Claims20
A lighter-than-air aircraft, comprising:
- a gas-filled hull;
- and
- a pair of spaced apart landing gear elements on the underside of the hull arranged on opposite sides of a longitudinally extending central vertical plane of the hull,
- wherein each landing gear element comprises:
- an air cushion unit, comprising first and second bag skirts extending along opposite sides of the air cushion unit and provided with a releasable connector, an air controller for supplying air to and removing air from at least one of the first and second bag skirts and an actuator operable to move the bag skirts between an operative configuration for containing one or more air cushions and an inoperative configuration.
An aircraft, comprising:
- a longitudinally elongated hull configured to receive and enclose a gas that is lighter than air;
- a pair of laterally spaced about landing gear elements connected with the hull, each landing gear element comprising:
- first and second longitudinally elongated bladders laterally spaced apart from one another;
- an air cavity configured to provide an air cushion, wherein the air cavity is formed between the first and second baldders;
- and
- a cover for selectively covering the air cavity, wherein in a first position the cover overlies the air cavity and in a second position at least a portion of the air cavity is uncovered.
An aircraft, comprising:
- a longitudinally elongated hull configured to receive and enclose a gas that is lighter than air;
- a pair of laterally spaced apart landing gear elements connected with the hull, each landing gear element comprising:
- a first longitudinally elongated inflatable bladder;
- a second longitudinally elongated inflatable bladder;
- a skirt defining a border of a downwardly open air cavity adjacent the first and second bladders when the bladders are inflated;
- and
- a cover for selectively covering the air cavity, wherein in a first position the cover covers the air cavity and in a second position at least a portion of the air cavity is uncovered.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.