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:
Jul. 06, 1993
Filed:
Jul. 01, 1991
David R Criswell, Houston, TX (US);
Other;
Abstract
A vehicle propulsion system for accelerating a vehicle along a desired travel path in the atmosphere, space, or aerospace includes a trail laying device for laying a trail of fuel along at least part of the desired travel path at high altitude. The vehicle itself has one or more inlets arranged to ingest fuel from the trail into a combustion chamber where the fuel is ignited and burnt to provide thrust before being expelled via an exhaust. The trail of fuel is laid in a similar manner to a condensation trail of a jet aircraft, but with suitable propellant additives for providing the desired fuel mixture to the trailing vehicle. The vehicle includes an auxiliary propulsion system for propelling the vehicle when outside the fuel trail.