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. 24, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 01, 1999
Anthony Martin, Long Beach, CA (US);
Bevin C McKinney, Gig Harbor, WA (US);
Rotary Rocket Company, Redwood City, CA (US);
Abstract
A thermal protection system is composed of multiple panels, each of which has an ablative layer of cork thermal protection which is adhesively bonded to a flexible film. The rear surface of the film is coated with two types of adhesive. A first, high strength adhesive is applied at the edges of the cork panel and where aerodynamic forces may be higher. A second, lower strength adhesive is applied to the remaining surface of the film. Following the return of the launch vehicle from space, the thermal protection panels are removed by peeling away the high strength attachment edges with a knife, or other blade tool, and then removing the remainder of the panel, which is only lightly attached to the vehicle skin, without the aid of tools.