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US 7,261,255 B2Granted
Transformable airship
OwnerHiu Yeung Liinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a solar-powered transformable airship, on which solar cell panels are installed all over to maximize the amount of solar energy collected. Moreover, the airship according to the present invention has a main body of variable volume, suitable for any altitude, ranging from the ground to 30 kilometers high, providing very good economic potential.
Claims15
A transformable airship, comprising:
- an airship frame, including longitudinal frames and radial frames, wherein said radial frames are axially symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis and are extendable and retractable along a radial direction;
- an airship shell mounted on said airship frame, comprising multiple sections of skins, each of said skins is connected with an adjacent skin, forming an envelop on said airship frame;
- reinforcement poles substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, said reinforcement poles are disposed under the skins and are conforming to the inner surface of the skins, so that the reinforcement poles are conforming to the shape of said airship shell;
- buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, which is installed inside the airship shell;
- and
- a control system including an operational control system and a transformation control system,
- wherein, under the control of the transformation control system, when buoyancy is to be increased, buoyant gas is discharged by the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is greater than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an outwards force to expand the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is pulled and extended outwardly in the radial direction, axially symmetrically about said longitudinal central axis, and the airship frame's radial cross-section is enlarged;
- wherein when buoyancy is to be decreased, the buoyant gas is compressed into the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is less than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an inwards force to contract the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is contracted inwardly in the radial direction, and the radial cross-section of the airship frame is reduced;
- wherein said longitudinal frames comprise joists and trussed beams;
- wherein the radial frames comprise extendable rods and fixed rods;
- wherein the reinforcement poles conforming to the surface of the airship are composed of multiple groups of foldable spacing frames substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
- wherein said skin is flexibly hinged to the joists and the trussed beams along the longitudinal direction, wherein a central strengthened component is positioned in the center of the multiple groups of foldable spacing frames;
- and
- when maximized, the cross-section of the airship shell is in the shape of a circle, while each group of the foldable spacing frames is also spread into a circle.
11 more elements
A transformable airship, comprising:
- an airship frame, including longitudinal frames and radial frames, wherein said radial frames are axially symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis and are extendable and retractable along a radial direction;
- an airship shell mounted on said airship frame, comprising multiple sections of skins, each of said skins is connected with an adjacent skin, forming an envelop on said airship frame;
- reinforcement poles substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, said reinforcement poles are disposed under the skins and are conforming to the inner surface of the skins, so that the reinforcement poles are conforming to the shape of said airship shell;
- buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, which is installed inside the airship shell;
- and
- a control system including an operational control system and a transformation control system,
- wherein, under the control of the transformation control system, when buoyancy is to be increased, buoyant gas is discharged by the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is greater than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an outwards force to expand the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is pulled and extended outwardly in the radial direction, axially symmetrically about said longitudinal central axis, and the airship frame's radial cross-section is enlarged;
- wherein when buoyancy is to be decreased, the buoyant gas is compressed into the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is less than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an inwards force to contract the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is contracted inwardly in the radial direction, and the radial cross-section of the airship frame is reduced;
- wherein said longitudinal frames comprise joists and trussed beams;
- wherein the radial frames comprise crossed extendable rods and slidable rods axially symmetrically about the longitudinal central axis;
- wherein the reinforcement poles conforming to the surface of the airship shell are composed of multiple groups of foldable spacing frames substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
- wherein said skin is flexibly hinged with the joists and the trussed beams along the longitudinal direction;
- and
- wherein when maximized, the cross-section of the airship is in the shape of a circle, while each group of the foldable spacing frames is also spread into a circle.
11 more elements
A transformable airship, comprising:
- an airship frame, including longitudinal frames and radial frames, wherein said radial frames are axially symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis and are extendable and retractable along a radial direction;
- an airship shell mounted on said airship frame, comprising multiple sections of skins, each of said skins is connected with an adjacent skin, forming an envelop on said airship frame;
- reinforcement poles substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, said reinforcement poles are disposed under the skins and are conforming to the inner surface of the skins, so that the reinforcement poles are conforming to the shape of said airship shell;
- buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, which is installed inside the airship shell;
- and
- a control system including an operational control system and a transformation control system,
- wherein, under the control of the transformation control system, when buoyancy is to be increased, buoyant gas is discharged by the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is greater than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an outwards force to expand the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is pulled and extended outwardly in the radial direction, axially symmetrically about said longitudinal central axis, and the airship frame's radial cross-section is enlarged;
- wherein when buoyancy is to be decreased, the buoyant gas is compressed into the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is less than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an inwards force to contract the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is contracted inwardly in the radial direction, and the radial cross-section of the airship frame is reduced;
- wherein said longitudinal frames comprise joists;
- wherein the radial frames comprise crossed extendable rods;
- wherein the reinforcement poles conforming to the surface of the airship are composed of multiple groups of foldable spacing frames substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
- wherein the skin is flexibly hinged to the joists along the longitudinal direction;
- wherein when maximized, the cross-section of the airship shell is in the shape of a circle, while each group of the foldable spacing frames is also spread into a circle.
10 more elements
A transformable airship, comprising:
- an airship frame, including longitudinal frames and radial frames, wherein said radial frames are axially symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis and are extendable and retractable along a radial direction;
- an airship shell mounted on said airship frame, comprising multiple sections of skins, each of said skins is connected with an adjacent skin, forming an envelop on said airship frame;
- reinforcement poles substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, said reinforcement poles are disposed under the skins and are conforming to the inner surface of the skins, so that the reinforcement poles are conforming to the shape of said airship shell;
- buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, which is installed inside the airship shell;
- and
- a control system including an operational control system and a transformation control system,
- wherein, under the control of the transformation control system, when buoyancy is to be increased, buoyant gas is discharged by the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is greater than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an outwards force to expand the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is pulled and extended outwardly in the radial direction, axially symmetrically about said longitudinal central axis, and the airship frame's radial cross-section is enlarged;
- wherein when buoyancy is to be decreased, the buoyant gas is compressed into the buoyant gas storing and discharging apparatus, and since the air pressure inside the airship is less than that outside the airship, the pressure difference on the skins generates an inwards force to contract the airship shell, at the same time said radial frame is contracted inwardly in the radial direction, and the radial cross-section of the airship frame is reduced;
- wherein said longitudinal frames comprise joists;
- wherein the radial frames comprise crossed extendable rods;
- wherein the reinforcement poles conforming to the surface of the airship are composed of multiple groups of foldable spacing frames substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;
- wherein the skin is flexibly hinged to the joists along the longitudinal direction;
- and
- wherein when maximized, the cross-section of the airship shell is in the shape of a square, while each group of the foldable spacing frames is also spread into a square.
11 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.