Raytheon Company

Christopher E Toal

Justin C Jenia

Gary L Fox

Trent N Henderson

A bladder external to a fuel tank of a vehicle that allows an operational range of the vehicle to be increased. Preferably the bladder is external to the rest of the vehicle and the vehicle is an aircraft. The external bladder allows fuel in the fuel tank to expand and contract without requiring additional space within the vehicle, thus allowing more fuel mass to be held by the vehicle and a smaller vehicle profile that is more aerodynamically efficient. More preferably, the bladder is disconnectable from the rest of the vehicle to allow increasing of aerodynamic efficiency and weight reduction during use.

External-bladder fuel system fluidly connectable to a fuel tank to receive excess

A method of configuring a mount or of controlling sway in an object to be mounted includes configuring isolators of the mount to put a center of elasticity of the flexible mount at a desired height relative to a base of the mount. This desired distance may be at a location of expected minimum clearance between the object to be mounted and the structure expected to surround the object to be mounted and is the center of rotation of the flexible mount. The location of the center of elasticity also may be farther from the base than a center of mass or gravity of the object to be mounted. An equation relating the location of the center of elasticity as a function of isolator material properties and of angle between the isolators and the base may be used to analytically predict the location of the center of elasticity and the center of rotation.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Christopher E Toal