Gas gun launcher
AssigneeQuicklaunch, Inc.
InventorHarry E. Cartland
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A gas gun launcher has a pump tube and a launch tube with a first end of the launch tube slidably inserted into a second end of the pump tube. The pump tube may hold a heat exchanger to heat a light gas used to launch a vehicle. A sliding seal can be employed to manage recoil and to retain the gas within the launch tube and the pump tube. A fast-closing muffler at the second end of the launch tube can conserve the light gas utilized for launching a vehicle, enabling the light gas to be recycled. A launch tube alignment system is preferably automatic, ensuring the survival of the launch vehicle.
Claims20
A gas gun launcher for launching a vehicle toward space which comprises
- a. a launch tube having a first end and a second end and extending along a longitude between a first end and a second end of the gas gun launcher;
- b. a pump tube having a first end and a second end, said pump tube being positioned at the first end of the launch tube and being positioned on said longitude;
- c. a heat exchanger within a chamber of the pump tube, wherein the chamber of the pump tube has a size sufficient to contain a total volume of a heated light gas used to launch the vehicle from the gas gun launcher, said chamber being in fluid communication with an interior of the launch tube, and wherein the heat exchanger comprises a duct extending along said longitude that (1) carries a heat-exchange fluid within the duct and (2) is configured to withstand (a) a high temperature of the heat-exchange fluid, (b) a high temperature of a light gas, and (c) a high pressure difference between a pressure of the light gas and a pressure of the heat-exchange fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.