Methods and apparatus for a grappling device
AssigneeRaytheon Company
InventorLeonard D. Vance
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A device for grappling orbital debris includes a chain of interconnected links, each having a corresponding contact sensor (for sensing contact with the orbital debris), and each connected to a subsequent link by an actuator (e.g., a worm drive assembly or the like). The actuators are configured to sequentially cause rotation of each link in the chain until the corresponding contact sensor indicates that the link has made contact with the orbital debris. Subsequently, the next link in the chain is rotated, and so on, until the chain of interconnected links substantially surrounds at least a portion of the orbital debris.
Claims9
A device for grappling orbital debris, comprising:
- a plurality of interconnected links, each link having a contact sensor configured to provide a corresponding contact signal;
- and
- a plurality of actuators coupled between adjacent pairs of the plurality of interconnected links, wherein adjacent pairs of the plurality of interconnected links are caused to rotate in opposing directions;
- wherein the plurality of actuators are configured to cooperatively actuate, responsive to the contact signals produced by the plurality of interconnected links, until the plurality of interconnected links at least partially surround at least a portion of the orbital debris.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.