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:
Aug. 10, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 21, 2001
Applicant:
Inventors:
David A. Hinkley, La Mirada, CA (US);
Edward J. Simburger, Agoura, CA (US);
Assignee:
The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E05D 1/00 ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
E05D 1/00 ;
Abstract
A conductive hinge is made of a superelastic shape memory alloy such as nitinol (NiTi) having a large elastic strain limit for enabling the hinge to bend around a small radius during stowage and flexible return to a trained rigid hinge position. The hinge is conductive enabling use of the hinge as a conductor for routing power through multiple solar cell panels interconnected by the hinges forming a hinged solar cell array that is deployed when the hinges are released from the bent stowed configuration to the rigid deployed configuration when the hinges further function as latches to lock the panels in place.