Inflatable conformable fuel tank

Abstract

The invention discloses a deployable, inflatable conformable fuel tank assembly constructed to be installed at a certain location on an aircraft and to be retained at that certain location throughout the entire flight operation of the aircraft. The fuel tank assembly is constructed to be movable between a first, deployed aerodynamic configuration in which the assembly can hold a supply of liquid fuel, and a second, stowed aerodynamic configuration in which the exterior surface of the assembly conforms to a surface of the aircraft underlying the assembly. The fuel tank assembly is fabricated from flexible and foldable fiber-reinforced membrane material and includes a first, inner, liquid chamber for containing a supply of liquid fuel and a second, outer, gas chamber which at least partially envelopes the liquid chamber and which is constructed to contain a pressurized volume of gas sufficient to maintain the fuel tank assembly in the first, aerodynamic deployed configuration irrespective of the quantity of fuel in said first, inner, liquid chamber. Upon depletion of the fuel in the inner, liquid chamber, the pressurized gas in the outer, gas chamber can be evacuated in order to cause the fuel tank assembly to move into the stowed aerodynamic configuration.