Erno Raumfahrttechnik Gmbh

Daimler-benz Aerospace Ag

Huba Oery

Ernst Hornung

Andreas Rittweger

Hans Maager

Herbert Wenz

Stefan Hornung

Vibrations of pipes or other components installed in a container such as a tank intended for holding liquids, are damped by surface area damping bodies, e.g. plates with through-holes that are immersed in the liquid in the container. These plates are rigidly connected to the pipes or components to be damped. The vibration damping plates are constructed of metal, for example, and the through-holes reduce the mass and advantageously affect the damping effect. The materials for making the perforated damping plates are selected to be compatible with the content of the containers, such as a fuel in a tank in a spacecraft. The surface area ratio of all cross-sectional areas of the through-holes to the total plate surface area is optimized to achieve a maximum damping effect. These perforated plates are secured to pipes, braces, filters, ducts, or other internal components of fuel tanks of land vehicles, aircraft, and spacecraft.

Tank structure for holding liquid especially in a spacecraft

Cylindrical bodies of structural components, such as a spacecraft and a rocket section or two rocket sections, are coupled to each other by a releasable coupling device. The structural components have radially protruding flanges that face each other and are encircled by the coupling device. The coupling device includes a flexible tensioning element, such as a steel belt or link chain, the ends of which are interconnected by a clamping or locking device. The clamping or locking device is constructed as a two-armed lever, one end of which is connected to each of the ends of the tensioning element. The two-armed lever is rotatably supported and driven by an operating member such as a pipe section or rod. The two-armed lever is thus rotatable through an angle of about 180.degree. so that the ends of the tensioning element are brought into overlapping positions. When the ends are in such overlapping positions the device is locked. Rotation of the two-armed lever into the opposite direction unlocks the device.

Apparatus for coupling cylindrical structural components to each other

Shock sensitive equipment, for example, instruments in a spacecraft, must be protected against impacts, for example, those caused by severing explosions that separate the spacecraft from a used up rocket. For this purpose a platform carrying the component to be protected is secured to support structures of the craft by elastic spring devices, each of which has a low eigenfrequency or resonant frequency and a low damping constant, whereby the mounting is preferably so that friction forces are minimized. For example, the spring devices have a U-configuration connected to an L-configuration. Contact surface area minimizing ring spacers may be inserted between the platform and the spring devices.

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Aachen, Germany

Huba Oery