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:
Oct. 25, 1988
Filed:
May. 05, 1987
Helmut Kiendl, Munich, DE;
Abstract
The panel sections of a solar collector, for example of a spacecraft, are ld or mounted in a folded down condition at least during launching and until they are unfolded. For this purpose a hold down device that must be released for the unfolding, is used. The device includes a piece of flexible rope or cable, one end of which is connected to the spacecraft body, while the other end is connected to the outermost panel section to hold all panel sections in the folded condition against forces tending to unfold the panel sections, until the rope or cable is severed by a severing mechanism. The effective cable length is adjustable and an elastic member is so arranged that it can dampen shocks and compensate for different temperature responsive expansions of the rope or cable and of the collector structure.