Asymmetrical low-profile bulkhead
AssigneeMaple Bridge, LLC
InventorDonald B. Ford
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An asymmetrical bulkhead for a pressure vessel, tank or other storage facility is disclosed. The bulkhead is configured so that there is a high region extending past a cylindrical portion of the vessel on one side of the bulkhead, with a contour of the bulkhead transitioning from the high region to a low region within the last cylindrical region. Such a bulkhead configuration allows two cylindrical pressure vessels to be nested together in end-to-end relation so as to occupy a total smaller volume than similarly sized vessels having convex ends, or to construct pressure vessels that contain a larger volume for storage than similarly sized vessels having convex ends.
Claims20
A storage facility comprising:
- at least one container having one or more side walls, and at least one asymmetrical bulkhead attached to one end of said container adjacent said one or more side walls, said asymmetrical bulkhead comprising,
- a first region of said asymmetrical bulkhead extending outward beyond a volume of said container encompassed by said one or more side walls,
- a second region of said asymmetrical bulkhead extending into said volume of said container encompassed by said side walls,
- a transition region between said first region of said asymmetrical bulkhead and said second region of said asymmetrical bulkhead, said transition region integrally connecting said first region of said asymmetrical bulkhead and said second region of said asymmetrical bulkhead.
A pressure vessel for holding a pressurized liquid or semi-liquid material comprising:
- a generally cylindrical body having an axis and opposed ends,
- a bulkhead connected to each end of said opposed ends, one bulkhead for each said end, each said bulkhead further comprising:
- a convex region extending outward to an exterior of said cylindrical body,
- a concave region extending into an interior of said cylindrical body,
- a transition region angled to connect said convex region and said concave region to form a contiguous said bulkhead at each said end of said cylindrical body.
A fuel tank assembly for holding liquid fuels powering a spacecraft, said fuel tank assembly comprising;
- a generally cylindrical propellant tank and a generally cylindrical oxidizer tank mounted in end-to-end relation at an interface between said propellant tank and said oxidizer tank,
- a first bulkhead in said interface region on said propellant tank fully enclosing an end of said propellant tank and a second bulkhead in said interface region on said oxidizer tank fully enclosing an end of said oxidizer tank, each of said first bulkhead and said second bulkhead configured having a convex region extending exterior of a respective said tank and a concave region extending into a respective said tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.