Germany
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Spain
Estonia
Finland
France
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
The Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Czechia
Romania
United Kingdom
Slovenia
Sweden
Switzerland
Deployable panel structure
| 548 - Abstract: |
| The European Space Agency has developed a deployable panel structure. This technology can be used in civil engineering and infrastructures e.g. deployable antennas and panels. License agreement collaborations are sought. |
Description of the offer
The offered invention relates to a deployable panel structure. This technology’s main application is for deployment at altitude, e.g. in space or from a lighter-than-air vehicle but it can be used for other terrestrial applications. It may be for use for example as a radar or communications antenna or reflector, a solar panel array, as a means of detecting radiation from space or from the earth, or as a source of illumination or display.
Panel structures for such purposes are relatively large when deployed, but need to be as small as conveniently possible for stowage in or on the vehicle which is to transport them. The present invention is directed in one aspect to providing a solution to this problem.
The deployable structure comprises a plurality of panels that are hinged together which can be folded in a compact stowed configuration or unfolded in an elongate deployed configuration. At least some of the hinged axes are spaced apart along opposite edges of the panels such that they are transverse to the elongate axis of the deployed structure. Some hinged axes may be parallel to the axis of the elongated deployed structure. A principle hinge arrangement, #36 in the figure, may be located substantially at a central point along the elongated structure. The deployed elongated structure may form an elliptical type shape with narrow width end regions and larger width mid-section.
Innovations and advantages of the offer:
The offered technology improves actual folding / deploying structure methods so that it offers a good deployed/folded ratio for bif flat structures.
Domain of Application:
This technology could be used in civil engineering and infrastructure construction. Other applications of the invention at relatively low altitude eg. when carried by an airship or possibly a balloon, are as a radar antenna for mapping or other terrestrial investigations, or as a source of illumination for example by carrying an array of light emitting diodes for use in disaster relief, or as a billboard for conveying information, such as announcements and advertising.
