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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.:

US 11242844 B1

PDFFull Text
Date of Patent:
Feb. 08, 2022

Filed:

Jun. 13, 2019

Fiber-fed advanced pulsed plasma thruster (fppt)

Applicant:

CU Aerospace, Llc, Champaign, IL (US);

Inventors:

Curtis Woodruff, Savoy, IL (US);

Darren King, Champaign, IL (US);

Rodney Burton, Champaign, IL (US);

David L. Carroll, Champaign, IL (US);

Assignee:

CU Aerospace, LLC, Champagne, IL (US);

Attorneys:

Adam K. Sacharoff

Much Shelist, P.C.

Primary Examiner:

Arun Goyal

Assistant Examiner:

William L Breazeal

Int. Cl.
CPC ...
F03H 1/00 (2006.01); B64G 1/40 (2006.01); H05H 1/14 (2006.01); H05H 1/54 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
F03H 1/0087 (2013.01); F03H 1/0012 (2013.01); B64G 1/405 (2013.01); F03H 1/0031 (2013.01); F03H 1/0043 (2013.01); H05H 1/14 (2013.01); H05H 1/54 (2013.01);
Abstract

A Fiber-fed Pulsed Plasma Thruster (FPPT) utilizes a motor to feed PTFE fiber to its discharge region, enabling high PPT propellant throughput and variable exposed fuel area. A highly parallel ceramic capacitor bank lowers system specific mass. Impulse bits (I-bits) from 0.057-0.241 mN-s have been measured on a thrust stand with a specific impulse (Isp) of 900-2400 s, representing an enhancement from state-of-the-art PPT technology. A 1 U (10 cm×10 cm×10 cm, or 1 liter) volume FPPT thruster package will provide 2900-7700 N-s total impulse, enabling 0.6-1.6 km/s delta-V for a 5 kg CubeSat. A 1 U design variation with 590 g propellant enables as much as10,000 N-s and a delta-V of 2 km/s for a 5 kg CubeSat. Increasing the form factor to 2U increases propellant mass to 1.4 kg and delta-V to 10.7 km/s for an 8 kg CubeSat.

Find Patent Forward Citations

Woodruff, Curtis. (2022). Fiber-fed advanced pulsed plasma thruster (fppt) (U.S. Patent No. 11242844). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. https://idiyas.com/patent/badge/11242844

Data source: USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) public patent records. Weekly synchronization. How IDiyas builds this profile

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