Brake-control system for accelerating freely falling objects to a moving craft's speed
US5014997A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 22, 1990 |
| Grant date | May 14, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 22, 2010 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB64D1/00
- WIPO fieldOther special machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
In a moving craft connected by a towline to an ejected and freely falling object, a brake control system determines when to engage a brake that accelerates the object to the moving craft's speed by retarding the deployment of the towline without exceeding its rated working load. The control system continually monitors the velocity and the total deployed distance of the ejected object. When a point in a velocity-distance state-space plane corresponding to the monitored velocity and the monitored total deployed distance of the ejected object has reached a switching curve (48), the control system actuates a brake (74). The switching curve (48) is the locus of intersection points (38, 40, 42, and 44) of a plurality of pairs of curves, each pair consisting of a free-fall trajectory (23, 24, 26, and 28) and a brake trajectory (30, 32, 34, and 36) and being associated with a different craft velocity. The free-fall trajectory is the trajectory that the object follows after it has been ejected from the craft and is falling away from the craft under the influence of drag. The brake trajectory is the trajectory by which the brake system causes the object to stop at the desired deployment dist…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.