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:
Mar. 03, 2015
Filed:
Aug. 01, 2012
Daniel J. Ochoa, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Geoffrey W. Marks, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
David J. Rohweller, Ojai, CA (US);
Daniel J. Ochoa, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
Geoffrey W. Marks, Santa Barbara, CA (US);
David J. Rohweller, Ojai, CA (US);
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Falls Church, VA (US);
Abstract
A helical antenna operable to be stowed on and deployed from a cubesat. The antenna includes two helical elements wound in opposite directions and defining an antenna column, where one of the helical elements is a conductive antenna element. The antenna also includes a plurality of circumferentially disposed vertical stiffeners extending along a length of the column and being coupled to the helical elements at each location where the vertical stiffeners and the helical elements cross. The helical elements and the vertical stiffeners are formed of a flexible material, such as a fiber glass, so that the antenna can be collapsed and stowed into a relatively small space. To position the antenna in the stowed configuration, the vertical stiffeners are folded on each other in a radial direction, and then the folded antenna is rolled in an axial direction from one end of the column to the other end.