The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Apr. 23, 2019
Filed:
Mar. 29, 2014
Shannon Coffey, Springfield, VA (US);
Joseph A. Carroll, Chula Vista, CA (US);
Paul Oppenheimer, Edgewater, MD (US);
Jordan R. Schlater, Rossburg, OH (US);
Ivan Galysh, Chantilly, VA (US);
Eugene Levin, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Curt Hogan, Napoleon, OH (US);
Adam Thurn, Washington, DC (US);
Shannon Coffey, Springfield, VA (US);
Joseph A. Carroll, Chula Vista, CA (US);
Paul Oppenheimer, Edgewater, MD (US);
Jordan R. Schlater, Rossburg, OH (US);
Ivan Galysh, Chantilly, VA (US);
Eugene Levin, Minnetonka, MN (US);
Curt Hogan, Napoleon, OH (US);
Adam Thurn, Washington, DC (US);
The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A tethered spacecraft has a first endmass and a second endmass with a telescoping stacer spring and a tether arranged between the endmasses. The spring is coiled around a center rod and initially contained within a housing, the spring being biased to push the first endmass away from the second endmass. The spring housing is affixed to the first endmass, a first end of the spring being affixed to the spring housing, and tether are affixed to spring at one end and to the second endmass at the other end. A pretensioned loop holds the endmasses abuttingly together, and a burnwire release mechanism cuts the loop to deploy the spring. Upon deployment, the spring extends to its full length to form a cylindrical boom, and the endmasses continue to move outward along the spring centerline until stopped by the tether.