Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft – lighter-than-air – Balloons
Patent
1997-05-01
1999-08-03
Jordan, Charles T.
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft, lighter-than-air
Balloons
244 33, 244 97, B64B 140
Patent
active
059314125
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention concerns air balloons, which, as is known, consist of a single or multiple skin casing and may have a light radiation source installed inside (fixed or flashing light) to render the balloon visible in the dark, to illuminate the ground underneath, etc. The deployment of these ballons, which use inert gases (such as argon and/or neon) for the aerostatic thrust, extends to various sectors such as rescue in the event of an accident or disaster, danger warnings, recognitions, etc.
In order to exchange the lamp contained inside a balloon provision has to be made to extract the lamp and the mount supporting it through an aperture, replace the lamp and re-insert the assembly in the casing, fixing this support in an appropriate manner. During such operations, among other things, the balloon has to be drained of the gas contained in it, with the consequent need to reinflate it with new inert gas, if available.
According to the present invention, on the contrary, a system is provided that renders it possible to exchange the lamp inside a balloon without any gas leakage.
The above lengthy, complicated and disadvantageous operations are eliminated with a balloon in accordance with this invention, which is designed to construct an air balloon consisting of a leaktight casing comprising one or more layers containing an inert gas that is lighter than air, and equipped with a part designed to be opened or closed in order to deflate the said balloon, characterized by the characterizing portion of attached claim 1.
Various other improvements are also covered by the subject of the invention, and they are described below, designed to make use of an air balloon easier and safer.
Many examples of prior art exist like Pat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,758 and German Patent No. DEA 427,894, but none of these discloses a balloon provided with means that allow to extract a lamp from its inside for replacement without causing any substantial leakage of inert gas.
The advantages that may be achieved with a balloon constructed in accordance with the invention will be better understood during the course of the description which follows, in which reference is also made to the attached figures, which show the following:
FIG. 1: horizontal section of an air balloon equipped with various technical mechanisms proposed by the inventor;
FIG. 2: section view of a detail of the construction in which a lamp with a mount is positioned coaxially to a duct designed to enable extraction from the balloon.
Conventional high performance lamps generally used to illuminate the balloon are obviously of limited service life and, when one of these fails whilst the air balloon in which it is inserted is in use, the problem then arises that to replace it, access in needed inside the balloon and as said, it has to be virtually drained of nearly all the inert gas contained in it. Apart from the unnecessary waste of inert gas which is a disadvantage in financial terms, it may be that the user, for logistical reasons or due to the location of its use, may not have sufficient gas available to reinflate the balloon and in practical terms, this means forced discontinuation of use of the balloon for a greater of lesser period of time, which may have serious consequences in cases in which the balloon is used for the purposes of public safety, danger warnings, search for persons or other similar uses.
In order to eliminate the above disadvantages, the inventor of the present invention has provided for the use, for illumination of an air balloon 1, of a lamp 8 (see FIG. 2) fitted on a mount 8d of longitudinal extension lodged inside a cable duct 13 (made in two parts 13b, 13c in FIG. 2) integral with the attachment flange 19 of the said balloon 1 and directed towards the inside of the latter. When the lamp 8 is in use, it is positioned essentially in the middle of the balloon 1, outside the aforesaid duct 13 as shown in the figure, and if it has to be removed for any reason, this is done by sliding it, together with its mount 8d assisted also by a drilled coaxial
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Dinh Tien
Jordan Charles T.
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