Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Printed spacecraft separation system
-
Application No.: US15624904Application Date: 2017-06-16
-
Publication No.: US10703512B2Publication Date: 2020-07-07
- Inventor: Walter Holemans
- Applicant: Walter Holemans
- Applicant Address: US MD Silver Spring
- Assignee: Planetary Systems Corporation
- Current Assignee: Planetary Systems Corporation
- Current Assignee Address: US MD Silver Spring
- Agent Robert M. McDermott
- Main IPC: B64G1/64
- IPC: B64G1/64 ; B33Y10/00 ; B33Y50/02 ; B33Y80/00

Abstract:
A spacecraft coupling system includes a locking component that can be deformed and placed into a stable state that locks one component into a mating component, and can easily be released from the deformed state, decoupling the two components. The locking component may include a central ring, a plurality of leaf elements arranged at the perimeter of the locking component, and a plurality of fins that extend outward from the ring to the plurality of leaf elements. A rotation of the ring element while the component is held stationary causes the fins to urge the leaf elements toward the receiving surface areas and to subsequently tension the leaf elements against surfaces on the mating component. To reduce cost and complexity, the locking component comprises a metal, such as titanium, that can be formed using an additive manufacturing process, commonly termed a 3-D printing process.
Public/Granted literature
- US20170283097A1 PRINTED SPACECRAFT SEPARATION SYSTEM Public/Granted day:2017-10-05
Information query