445 results about "Dirigible airship" patented technology

Various embodiments of the invention relate generally to systems for providing active vertical control of an airship. More particularly, at least one embodiment of the invention relates to a system for actively controlling the aerostatic lift of an airship by manipulating the ratio of air to lifting gas contained within the airship, and thus the overall mass of the airship. This manipulation is accomplished by actively compressing and / or decompressing the lifting gas or internal air, with the resulting pressure differential borne primarily by the hull and / or an internal pressure tank depending upon the configuration.

In one aspect, a hybrid airship including an outer shell, a plurality of helium filled gas envelopes, and an all-electric propulsion system may have the shape of a delta-wing. In some embodiments, the hybrid airship may be launched using buoyancy lift alone and aerodynamic lift may be provided by the all-electric propulsion system. In one aspect, a photovoltaic array and a high energy density power storage system may be combined to power the propulsion system making the propulsion system regenerative. The delta-wing shape can provide a surface area large enough to accommodate very large circular or elliptical transmission devices. By continuously recharging the power storage system, the hybrid airship in accordance with some embodiments can stay aloft at an operational altitude of at least about 85,000 ft for months or even years. The hybrid airship may function as an airborne military communications relay platform.

The current invention provides significant performance improvements or significant energy savings for fans used in these applications: personal, industrial and automotive cooling, ventilation, vacuuming and dust removal, inflating, computer component cooling, propulsors for unmanned and manned air vehicles, propulsors for airboats, air-cushion vehicles, airships and model aircraft. Additionally, the invention provides higher performance such as higher lift and higher lift efficiency to small air vehicles. These advantages are achieved by using plasma actuators to provide active flow control effectors into thin fan blades and wing.

An airship has a generally spherical shape and has an internal envelope for containing a lifting gas such as Helium or Hydrogen. The airship has a propulsion and control system that permits it to be flown to a desired loitering location, and to be maintained in that location for a period of time. In one embodiment the airship may achieve neutral buoyancy when the internal envelope is as little as 7% full of lifting gas, and may have a service ceiling of about 60,000 ft. The airship has an equipment module that can include either communications equipment, or monitoring equipment, or both. The airship can be remotely controlled from a ground station. The airship has a solar cell array and electric motors of the propulsion and control system are driven by power obtained from the array. The airship also has an auxiliary power unit that can be used to drive the electric motors. The airship can have a pusher propeller that assists in driving the airship and also moves the point of flow separation of the spherical airship further aft. In one embodiment the airship can be refuelled at altitude to permit extended loitering.

An electric generating system uses a zeppelin filled with helium or hydrogen, and a spinnaker sail, to provide pulling power that will lift a heavy railcar to an elevated height on a track, such as on a hill or mountainside, or in an elevator-type shaft in a tall building. When the heavy car reaches the top of the track, it is released, and its descent drives an electric generator. The generator can be carried by the car, and can send the power to batteries on the car, or to conductive rails. Alternately, if the car is inert weight, cables can drive stationary generators. The zeppelin will be inflated and deflated repeatedly, using equipment to recapture energy during each gas expansion, to help drive subsequent recompression into high-pressure tanks. The spinnaker sail will use a cable-handling device and spreader bars to deploy the sail and keep it at an elevated height. Various advantages are provided compared to wind turbines and pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities.

An apparatus and method to control the attitude, heading course, altitude and position of a lighter-than-air airship. In one aspect, a hybrid airship including a lighter-than-air gas filled envelope, a thrust vectored front propulsion system, a back rotary wing system and a onboard control system. In one aspect, at least one system to modify the on board mass, a system to control the internal pressure, at least a power battery pack and a radio link communications for unmanned piloting. Said hybrid airship has improved maneuverability, safely flights and is capable to fly as Lighter-than-air airship and Heavy-than-air aircraft.

An airship is disclosed in the form of a spherical hull having a venting duct extending diagonally therethrough from an entrance end at the forward facing surface of the hull to an exit end at the rearward facing surface of the hull. A propeller is disposed in the duct to direct an air flow through the duct for expulsion at the exit end and the exiting flow is vectored by a set of controllable louvers at the exit end. The expulsed airflow reduces drag normally associated with a spherical airship by disturbing the wake at the trailing surface of the airship. A mooring method and apparatus also is disclosed for minimizing wind induced loads on the airship, or indeed on any body such as a gas storage tank, by supporting the airship or other body a predetermined distance above the ground.

The invention discloses an energy supply system for a stratosphere electricity-electricity hybrid solar airship. The system is an electricity-electricity hybrid energy supply system which takes a solar battery array as a main power supply, takes a regenerative hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell and a high-energy power storage battery pack as auxiliary power supplies, takes a direct-current brushless motor and driving controller as drive devices, takes an energy monitor as an energy distribution system, and takes a one-way DC / CD converter and a two-way DC / CD converter as voltage regulating devices. The solar battery array is connected with the one-way high-voltage DC / CD converter with maximum power point tracking through a cable; the one-way high-voltage DC / CD converter is connected with the driving controller of the direct current brushless motor through the cable; the controller controls the direct current brushless motor to drive a high altitude propeller; the one-way high-voltage DC / CD converter is connected with the two-way high-voltage DC / CD converter through the cable; and the one-way high-voltage DC / DC converter is connected with a charging regulator of the high-energy power storage battery pack. The energy supply system realizes reasonable distribution of power based on the energy monitor, and ensures the maneuvering safety and long service life of the stratosphere electricity-electricity hybrid solar airship.

An airship has a generally spherical shape and has an internal envelope for containing a lifting gas such as Helium or Hydrogen. The airship has a propulsion and control system that permits it to be flown to a desired loitering location, and to be maintained in that location for a period of time. In one embodiment the airship may achieve neutral buoyancy when the internal envelope is as little as 7% full of lifting gas, and may have a service ceiling of about 60,000 ft. The airship has an equipment module that can include either communications equipment, or monitoring equipment, or both. The airship can be remotely controlled from a ground station. The airship has a solar cell array and electric motors of the propulsion and control system are driven by power obtained from the array. The airship also has an auxiliary power unit that can be used to drive the electric motors. The airship can have a pusher propeller that assists in driving the airship and also moves the point of flow separation of the spherical airship further aft. In one embodiment the airship can be refuelled at altitude to permit extended loitering.

An airship comprises a shell having a bi-convex shape, wherein the shell encompasses a volume, and a gas storage system located within the volume.

The invention discloses a ground testing system suitable for a power source controller of a stratospheric airship. The ground testing system is applied to the development and test processes of the power source controller of the stratospheric airship. The ground testing system is composed of an industrial personal computer, a CAN bus, a data collecting unit, a solar battery array simulator, a storage battery simulator, a load simulator and an environment control simulation box. The CAN bus is adopted for communicating with the power source controller of the stratospheric airship, and combined with the industrial control computer and the data collecting unit, and testing on the function and the performance of the power source controller is finished under signals issued by the industrial control computer. The designed ground testing system reduces the testing cost and improves the testing efficiency.

The present invention relates generally to airships and more precisely, to a propulsion and steering system for use with an airship. The airship possesses a hull having an outer envelope. The propulsion and steering system includes at least one propulsion and steering assembly. The assembly includes an engine for producing thrust to propel the airship and a support frame for carrying the engine. The engine is fixed to the support frame. A support frame movement mechanism is operable to move the support frame relative to the hull to thereby allow the engine and the thrust produced by the engine to be oriented in a desired direction. The assembly further includes spacer means connected to the support frame movement mechanism for spacing the support frame and the engine from the outer envelope of the hull so as to create sufficient clearance therebetween when the support frame is moved. Also provided is a mounting framework for attaching the spacer means to the hull.

A system is disclosed for lifting a rocket into the upper atmosphere and establishing forward flight at several hundred miles per hour, before the rocket engines are ignited and the rocket is released from the lifting system. The main subassemblies of this lifting system comprise: (1) an array of large helium-filled dirigibles, of a size that can provide hundreds or thousands of tons of lifting force; (2) a tank-holding assembly that will be tethered to the dirigibles, and that will contain pumps and high-pressure tanks, to recapture and store the helium for use in subsequent launches; and, (3) a winged platform, with wings that can be rotated vertically during liftoff, and horizontally to establish forward flight after a desired altitude has been reached, and having conventional aircraft engines on each wing. This system enables safer, less expensive, and more efficient launching of rockets and heavy payloads into space, using easily reusable subassemblies.

An improved airship having a plurality of resilient gas bags & gas containers, a straight fuselage tubular hull, with an inner air passageway & propulsion means located therein, connecting air inlet, & outlet funnels fore, & aft, with air deflector cones axially positioned therein; further, propulsion, reverse, & directional rocket-thrusters, additionally to typical airship components; furthermore, said airship having improved speed, maneuverability, efficiency, & adverse weather capability, reduced forward air resistance, & rearward drag in the air; and propulsive, attitudinal, & directional control in space.

An airship deployment system comprises an airship of unique shape having laminar flow over this shape to enable low power propulsion, capable remote control, comprising an inflatable body; a propeller assembly for station keeping and repositioning said airship and capable of being folded into a compacted position and unfolded into an operational position; and a payload, comprising gas for inflating said inflatable body; and means for transferring data between said airship and a remote location; and a missile for carrying said airship in a compacted state to a predetermined location and altitude, and releasing said airship at said predetermined location and altitude. When said airship is released from said missile said inflatable body is inflated and said propeller assembly is unfolded into said operational position.

An autonomous stratospheric unmanned airship with an operating altitude from 5-22 km and with a mutli-month operational cycle. Spheroid rigid geodesic frame of constant volume formed by a multitude of struts, with an outer envelope enclosing the frame defining the eigenfrequency spectrum of the airship above 20 Hz, with vibrational amplitudes between 0.1 and 1 cm. Independently controllable electrical propulsion units, attached to the frame in the horizontal plane passing through the center of mass, can change the direction and value of the thrust vector. Buoyancy is controlled with a system integrated inside the geodesic frame including buoyant fluid pressurized tanks, valves for the release of the buoyant fluid through the buoyant fluid conduit into the buoyant gas cell which fills the geodesic frame. Valves at the subsystem support platform enable ambient atmosphere to fill the internal volume of the frame not occupied by the buoyant gas cell.

The invention discloses a duct airship helicopter which comprises a helicopter body and a working nacelle, wherein the helicopter body comprises a stander and a plurality of rotor wing arms which are positioned along the radial direction outwards by taking the stander as a center; a rotor wing and a rotor wing motor are arranged at the tail end of each rotor wing arm; the rotor wings are upward; an upper air bag and a lower air bag are arranged above and below the helicopter body respectively; the upper air bag comprises air bag bodies equal to the rotor wings; a circular hole for accommodating the corresponding rotor wing is formed in the center of each air bag body; the middle of the upper air bag is provided with an upper connection seat connected with the stander; the center of the upper part of the lower air bag is provided with a lower connection seat connected with the helicopter body; the lower air bag expands around by taking the lower connection seat as a center; and gas with the specific gravity lower than that of air is filled in the upper air bag and the lower air bag. The duct airship helicopter integrates the advantages of a conventional unmanned helicopter and a conventional airship and has the advantages of high load, high maneuverability, high safety and the like when working in a farmland.

Provided are an aerial stereoscopic video streetscape system based on a navigation airship and an implement method. The system acquires aerial video streetscape by a viewing mode combining automatic flying and manual flying of a navigation airship, and solves a difficulty in streetscape data acquisition and update at high efficiency and low cost. A rotor wing airship captures aerial panoramic videos, and divides layers according to a flying height and by using latitude and longitude as coordinates, thereby forming the aerial video streetscape of a city. The system has wider view and higher height, displays the stereoscopic space of the city in an omnibearing way, effectively prevents a case that current ground streetscape is restricted by lack of roads, obstruction of buildings, ground fluctuation, and blind angles, may cover any area of the city in the air, replaces static streetscape with dynamic video streetscape, and may display the real space really and dynamically in a large data bulk.

A dehumidification system for removing water vapor from the within the envelope of an airship comprises a pressurizer valve, a blower and a dehumidifier attached to the airship. The pressurizer valve releases air from the envelope and directs the air to the blower. The blower forces the air through the dehumidifier where the air is dried to a desired dew point. The dried air is then forced back into the envelope of the airship, thus reducing the weight of the airship and reducing the amount of condensate that may form during an ascent.

A highly maneuverable craft or airship with aerostatic lift which may be manned or operated autonomously and remotely consists, in particular, a sail or similar device for main propulsion; the aerostat or dirigible sustains lift from gasbags containing helium or hydrogen or other similar lighter-than-air gas. Further, said aerostat may be mounted with a wind turbine for electrical power generation and mechanical operation; and, ballast tanks and landing gear to enable amphibious capability.

The aircraft incorporates a single ducted propeller. The fuselage Bridges over the ducted propeller assembly, and is shaped in a way that the incoming air can smoothly flow into the propeller area. The duct has an aerodynamically shaped frontal area, and an aft extension, which forms the tail section. The wings are attached to the side of the duct. The ducted propeller assembly also contains louvers, which run span wise, to redirect the outgoing air in horizontal direction. During vertical take-off or landing, the propeller has a horizontal plane of rotation, after take-off the whole craft entirely tilts forward approximately 26 degrees to transition into horizontal wing born flight. During vertical flight, the aircraft is controlled by control louvers installed inside the ducted propeller assembly in the propeller slipstream.

The invention discloses a power generating and monitoring integrated aerial wind power generation system, belonging to the field of wind power generation equipment. A wind power generation platform is hung at a high-altitude position with elevation of 1000-4500m by an airship, a winch and four steel wire cables are used for maintaining the air position of the wind power generation platform, and the wind power generator is fixed on the wind power generation platform and generates electricity by means of powerful wind in upper air; and the power generating and monitoring integrated aerial wind power generation system is also provided with an aerial lightning protection device, a ground monitoring device, an aerial illumination device, a signal emission device, a radar scanning device and the like. The aerial power generation system supplies power at places which are remote in geographic position and low in electricity consumption, dispenses with the trouble of laying electric wires and accords with a smart grid layering and partitioning and self-sufficiency distributed power supply principle. According to the power generating and monitoring integrated aerial wind power generation system, the ground condition can be subjected to real-time monitoring and large-area illumination; and a signal emitter and radar can be used for enhancing mobilephone signals of the ground area below the airship and carrying out detecting and scanning in multiple purposes. The power generating and monitoring integrated aerial wind power generation system can descend periodically for maintenance and repair and ensures safety and normal operation.

A high speed airship (10) with multiple inflatable chambers (11) arranged in a multiplicity of tubular clusters to enhance structural strength and to create a centrally located passenger or cargo tunnel (18) to increase passenger safety. A conical shaped rigid frame front cabin (14) attached to the front end of the airship, and a conical shape rigid frame aft cabin (15) attached to the aft end of the airship, designed to reduce aerodynamic drag, to achieve high speed, and to be able to land on water. Specially designed multiple sections with multiple inner tubes to increase safety. Helium recovery system to control balance and buoyancy without the loss of helium and to eliminate the use of ballast, which otherwise would reduce lifting capacity. Independently rotateable propulsion units (22) for rapid balance and buoyancy control in emergency and to provide high maneuverability to eliminate the need of ground crew.

The invention discloses a stratospheric airship with a large-scale rigid-flexible integrated structure. The stratospheric airship comprises an outer bag body supported by a tensioning integral main keel and a plurality of sealed inner bag bodies inside the outer bag body. The tensioning integral main keel comprises a plurality of stiffening rings arranged side by side and a plurality of central core shaft trusses which are sequentially connected with the two ends of a hub shaft in the center of each stiffening ring and are through in the length direction of the stratospheric airship. When thetemperature or the illumination changes, the tensioning integral main keel is subjected to negative pressure from the outer bag body, so that the volume change of the outer bag body is small, and thestratospheric airship can still be relatively stably suspended in the stratosphere. According to the stratospheric airship, by arranging the fixed-shaped tensioning integral main keel, the appearanceof the outer bag body is limited, the volume and buoyancy stability of the outer bag body are basically guaranteed, long-term air flying can be achieved, the internal pressure control is simple, the attitude is stable, the energy consumption is low, the levitation and return flight controllability is excellent, and a foundation is laid for the industrial application of the stratospheric airship.

The invention discloses a stratosphere airship and an inflating and deflating adjusting method thereof, and belongs to the field of aircraft environment. The stratosphere airship comprises an inflating adjusting system and a deflating adjusting system, wherein the inflating adjusting system consists of a high-pressure gas storage tank, an inflating valve, a main valve and an overpressure helium sac, and the deflating adjusting system consists of the overpressure helium sac, the main valve, a deflating valve, a helium compressor and the high-pressure gas storage tank. When the temperature of a main helium sac is increased, the deflating adjusting system is worked, the helium compressor compresses helium in the overpressure helium sac in the high-pressure gas storage tank for storage, so that the size of the airship is kept unchanged; and when the temperature of the main helium sac is reduced, the inflating adjusting system is worked, the high-pressure gas storage tank releases helium to the overpressure helium sac through the inflating valve and the main valve, and the pressure is kept balanced. According to the inflating and deflating adjusting method disclosed by the invention, the quality of the airship is kept balanced, so that the problem that when the airship is suspended, the height is unstable due to the quality changes caused by the inflating and the deflating of the air sac is solved.

A propulsion unit for an airship comprises a driveshaft, having a gimbal mount to a mounting frame attachable to a fuselage, the gimbal being mounted in the mounting frame and comprising an inner ring and an outer ring having orthogonal rotational axes, the inner ring including a propeller unit having a conical housing pivotable on trunnions with the gimbal and a propeller affixed to a propeller shaft coaxial with the axis of the conical housing. The outer ring includes a toroidal Orientation of the conical housing and propeller shaft is accomplished by actuators, a first actuator controlling the angle of the outer ring relative to the framework and a second actuator controlling the angle of the conical housing relative to the outer ring.

The invention relates to the field of airships, in particular to a novel deformable airship. The novel deformable airship comprises an air bag (1), a telescopic device, a propelling device, an energy device and a hanging device. The telescopic device comprises a set of connecting plates (2), a set of telescopic rods (3), a set of connecting bases (4), an electric winch (30) and a steel cable (31), wherein the connecting plates (2) are installed on the inner wall of the air bag (1), and the connecting bases (4) are installed on the connecting plates (2) respectively. According to the novel deformable airship, an auxiliary air bag structure and a pressure control system of a conventional airship are omitted, and pressure difference inside and outside the air bag is adjusted mainly depending on own deformation. Compared with the conventional airship, the novel deformable airship has the advantages of being light in weigh, low in energy consumption, convenient to operate, easy to maintain and the like.