Deployable Antenna Reflector for Compact Stowage and High Gain
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Summary
Problems
Space-oriented missions face challenges in minimizing the weight, volume, and footprint of deployable antenna reflectors, which require compact stowage during launch and efficient deployment in space, while maintaining optimal performance.
Innovation solutions
A reflective antenna design featuring a flexible reflective sheet supported by spiral ribs that coil around a central hub in a stowed position and expand radially to maintain a pre-defined shape during deployment, utilizing a deploying mechanism to transition between stowed and deployed configurations, potentially incorporating shape memory materials or spring wires for tension and stability.
TRIZ Analysis
Specific contradictions:
General conflict description:
Principle concept:
If the antenna reflector is made large to achieve optimal communication performance, then the antenna aperture and gain are improved, but the stowage volume and mass increase significantly
Why choose this principle:
The patent employs a nested stowage configuration where the deployable panels are folded and stored within the volume defined by the central dish and support structure. The panels are arranged in a compact, space-efficient manner that allows the large aperture antenna to be stowed within a small fraction of its deployed area, directly resolving the contradiction between large antenna size and compact stowage volume
Principle concept:
If the antenna reflector is made large to achieve optimal communication performance, then the antenna aperture and gain are improved, but the stowage volume and mass increase significantly
Why choose this principle:
The patent utilizes deployable panels that transition from a compact stowed state to a large deployed state through mechanical actuation. This dynamic transformation allows the antenna to achieve large aperture for optimal gain while maintaining compact stowage volume during launch, effectively resolving the size-volume contradiction
Application Domain
Data Source
AI summary:
A reflective antenna design featuring a flexible reflective sheet supported by spiral ribs that coil around a central hub in a stowed position and expand radially to maintain a pre-defined shape during deployment, utilizing a deploying mechanism to transition between stowed and deployed configurations, potentially incorporating shape memory materials or spring wires for tension and stability.
Abstract
A reflective antenna (10) comprising a flexible reflective sheet (14) extending between a central hub (22) and a perimeter edge (32), and a reflective sheet support mechanism (40) comprising one or more spiral ribs articulated to the reflective sheet (14) at least at several locations along the perimeter edge (32) of the reflective sheet (14); wherein at a collapsed, stowed position of the reflective antenna (10) the one or more spiral ribs are coiled about a common center and the reflective sheet (14) is folded at a compact configuration, and at an expanded, deployed position the one or more spiral ribs are radially expanded and the reflective sheet (14) is stretched over the expanded one or more spiral ribs, imparting the reflective sheet (14) a parabolic shape.