Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft sustentation – Sustaining airfoils
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-13
2001-07-17
Swiatek, Robert P. (Department: 3641)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft sustentation
Sustaining airfoils
C102S501000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06260797
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gun launched aero-vehicle that is transformable from a ballistic projectile configuration to an aeroplane configuration. In particular, the invention relates to a vehicle that uses a cylinder strong back for both the shell of the projectile and the fuselage of the aeroplane.
2. Description of Related Art
Prior art unmanned aero-vehicles are generally runway or catapult launched. Vehicles are known to be delivered in a projectile or shell that opens like a clam shell; however, such vehicles are either very small inside the clam shell or are fragile and cannot survive the acceleration of a large gun launched projectile.
Once such a vehicle is delivered down range, such a vehicle has limited loiter time due to small fuel tank capacity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a long range rapidly deployable aero vehicle. It is another object to provide a gun launch vehicle that is transformed into an aero vehicle from a projectile shell.
These and other objects are achieved in a transformable gun launched aero vehicle that has a ballistic projectile configuration and an aeroplane configuration and includes a cylinder forming a shell of the vehicle in the ballistic projectile configuration and fuselage of the vehicle in the aeroplane configuration. The vehicle further includes inflatable wings or unfoldable wings and tail section that are deployable from the cylinder, an engine, a propeller and a control system. The inflatable wings include plural rib elements with plural apertures disposed therethrough, plural inflatable tubes transverse to the rib elements, each tube being disposed in and through a corresponding aperture of each rib element, and a wind shell disposed around the plural inflatable tubes and the plural rib elements. The control system determines when the vehicle has reached a first predetermined state defining where to initiate a transition from the ballistic projectile configuration to the aeroplane configuration. Upon initiation of the transition, a parachute is deployed from an aft portion of the cylinder after the vehicle has reached the first predetermined state. The control system then deploys the wings after the parachute is deployed, detaches the parachute after the wings are deployed, deploys the propeller after the parachute is detached, and operates the engine after the parachute is detached and the propeller is deployed. The vehicle also includes a parachute that is reversibly deployable from a nose portion of the vehicle while the vehicle is in the aeroplane configuration, at least one landing rod that is reversibly extendable from the vehicle, and a landing controller. The landing rod includes a landing rod end and a reversibly inflatable foot. The landing controller extends a landing rod after the parachute has been deployed and the vehicle has begun to vertically descend and inflates the foot after the landing rod is extended to a landing length. The landing controller also rapidly extends the rods to a launch length greater than the landing length to impart sufficient vertical velocity to the vehicle to launch the vehicle. Once launched, the landing controller retracts the foot and landing rods, and operates the engine to drive the propeller.
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Banner & Witcoff , Ltd.
Science Applications International Corporation
Swiatek Robert P.
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