16 results about "High-altitude balloon" patented technology

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

The invention comprises an apparatus, method for using the apparatus and system for balloon altitude control by in-situ characterization and active energy management. The invention presented enables transportation, autonomous operation and use of a balloon beyond the limits of conventional high-altitude ballooning to the edge of the atmosphere, or about 100 km above the surface of the Earth. The apparatus comprises at least: an envelope containing lift-gas; an envelope and lift-gas characterizer; an altitude control system operated using active energy addition and lift-gas transfer or ambient air introduction into the system; and an external payload component. The invention is capable of operating in ascent, descent, or stationary mode; the altitudinal movement of the balloon is caused by measuring in-situ envelope and lift-gas characteristics, identifying the change in the lift-gas energy needed, and facilitating the required energy change for altitude control.

The invention provides an exhaust valve of a high-altitude balloon and the high-altitude balloon. The exhaust valve of the high-altitude balloon comprises a cylinder body, a valve cover, a coil, a magnetic part and an elastic part, the first end of the cylinder body is used for being connected with a balloon body of the high-altitude balloon, the interior of the cylinder body is communicated with the interior of the balloon body, and an exhaust port is formed in the second end of the cylinder body; the valve cover is arranged in the cylinder body and is movably connected with the second end of the cylinder body so as to block or open the exhaust port; the coil and the magnetic part are both arranged in the cylinder body; the magnetic piece is connected with the valve cover; the two ends of the elastic assembly are connected with the first end of the barrel and the magnetic piece correspondingly, and the elastic assembly is in a pre-compressed state; when the coil is not powered on, the exhaust port is closed, and when the coil is powered on, the exhaust port is opened. According to the exhaust valve of the high-altitude balloon, opening and closing of the valve are achieved through the electromagnetic principle, the structure of a driving mode is simplified, the overall weight of the exhaust valve is reduced, energy consumption is reduced, and the task execution time of the high-altitude balloon is prolonged.

This invention discloses an autonomous and recoverable sounding device, belonging to the fields of aerospace technology and meteorological detection technology. The device mainly includes a shell assembly, variator wings, aerodynamic adjustment components, internal structure, connecting parts, a radio frequency module, solenoid valves, and exposed sensor fairings, and can be connected to a high-altitude balloon. The device adopts a variator aircraft layout, adapting to high-altitude strong wind environments and maximizing flight efficiency by changing the layout of the variator wings; a retractable connecting part is provided at the tail to realize the connection and disconnection of the recoverable sounding device from the high-altitude balloon; this invention achieves autonomous recovery of the sounding device, which helps to improve environmental pollution and biological threats, and solves the problems of uncontrollable landing points, high cost, and limited data transmission capabilities; it also has significant advantages such as stable structure, convenient operation, strong detection capabilities, and high reliability of detection data.

The invention relates to the technical field of spaceflight, and particularly discloses a high-altitude balloon carrying and releasing powered unmanned aerial vehicle which comprises a sounding balloon releasing system and a powered unmanned aerial vehicle body. The sounding balloon releasing system comprises an air bag, an air bag rope, a load cabin and a releasing system composed of a releasing frame, a rope and a control system, and is used for carrying the powered unmanned aerial vehicle to a preset height and releasing the unmanned aerial vehicle. The powered unmanned aerial vehicle adopts a conventional aerodynamic layout of a middle single wing and comprises a fuselage, wings, a horizontal tail and a vertical tail. The powered unmanned aerial vehicle is carried by the sounding balloon to lift off, and in the super-high-altitude rarefied air environment, stable flight and data acquisition tasks can be achieved by means of the design of the wings with the large lift-drag ratio and the large aspect ratio and a power device of the powered unmanned aerial vehicle. According to the invention, the problems of high cost and complicated launching of the existing superaltitude unmanned aerial vehicle platform are solved, and a high-altitude detection scheme with low cost, flexible deployment and stable flight is provided.

The application relates to the technical field of high-altitude aircraft launching, and provides a high-altitude balloon launching shelter and a launching method. The high-altitude balloon launching shelter comprises a shelter body, a high-altitude balloon arranged in the shelter body, a cable winding and unwinding assembly arranged in the shelter body, a first cutting piece arranged at a first cable, an inflation assembly arranged in the shelter body, a lifting assembly arranged in the shelter body, a gondola connected with the high-altitude balloon, and a control assembly connected with the cable winding and unwinding assembly, the first cutting piece, the inflation assembly and the lifting assembly. According to the high-altitude balloon launching shelter and the launching method, the automation degree of high-altitude balloon launching is improved, and the high-altitude balloon launching shelter is convenient to transport and quickly deploy.

Balloon launching systems and methods relating thereto are described. A method of launching a balloon includes securing a balloon to an everting platform and disposing the platform within a launch chamber having an inflatable tubular membrane. The everting platform couples to the inflatable tubular membrane such that the balloon is positioned inside a launch cavity while a pressurization cavity is defined adjacent thereto. Lifting gas is dispensed into and sealed within the balloon. The pressurization cavity is pressurized to an everting pressure causing the inflatable tubular membrane to evert and extend above a balloon launching end of the launch chamber. The everting membrane accelerates the inflated balloon toward the launching end and surrounds and shields the balloon from cross-winds and ground obstacles. The balloon is released after membrane extension.

The application provides a high altitude balloon launching method and a composite high altitude balloon. The high altitude balloon launching method comprises the following steps: putting the high altitude balloon into a windproof air bag, and connecting the high altitude balloon, a cable and a gondola in sequence; arranging winch pull ropes on the periphery of the windproof air bag, and arranging cutters on the winch pull ropes respectively; filling air into the windproof air bag and filling helium into the high altitude balloon, and controlling the pressure difference between the windproof air bag and the high altitude balloon within a preset pressure difference range after the filling is completed; releasing the windproof air bag and synchronously releasing the winch pull ropes; cutting the winch pull ropes by using the cutters when the distance between the gondola and the ground is greater than a first safety height; and detaching the windproof air bag to make the windproof air bag separate from the high altitude balloon when the distance between the gondola and the ground is greater than a second safety height. The high altitude balloon launching method and the composite high altitude balloon provided by the application aim to solve the problem that the wind resistance of the high altitude balloon is weak and the high altitude balloon is easy to be damaged in the launching process in the prior art.

To enable the desired altitude control without complicating or increasing the size of the altitude control device structure. [Solution] The reactor 1 for high-altitude balloons comprises a gas flow section 11 having an internal space, a float gas source housing section 2 provided in an airtight and watertight manner on one axial end of the gas flow section 11 and housing a float gas source inside, and a reaction liquid housing section 12 provided in an airtight and watertight manner on the other axial end of the gas flow section 11 and storing a reaction liquid inside that chemically reacts with the float gas source to generate float gas, and further comprises a rotation control device 4 that integrally controls the rotation of the reactor 1 at a predetermined angle.

The invention discloses a balloon suspension high-altitude wind wheel ground power generation device and method, and relates to the technical field of high-altitude wind energy, the balloon suspension high-altitude wind wheel ground power generation device comprises a high-altitude balloon component, a high-altitude wind direction suspension component, a high-altitude wind wheel power component and a ground power generation component, the upper portion of the machine frame is connected with the high-altitude wind direction hanging component, and the high-altitude wind direction hanging component is connected with the high-altitude balloon component. According to the balloon suspension high-altitude wind wheel ground power generation device and method, the high-altitude balloon and the high-altitude suspension height can be adjusted at any time according to needs, and the high-altitude rotating wind wheel can be kept in a windward state at any time through the high-altitude suspension wheel disc to improve the rotating speed and the power generation efficiency; the device can continuously and enduringly operate at high altitude for a long time to drive a generator on the ground to generate power on the ground so as to form a large-scale industry.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to manufacturing a balloon envelope for use in a stratospheric balloon system. For instance, a stream of polyethylene mixture is extruded through an extruder in order to orient molecules of polymer chains of polyethylene and to provide an oriented film. The oriented film is passed through an electron beam and thereby crosslinking the polymer chains to provide a cross-linked film. The cross-linked film is heat sealed to form the balloon envelope.

Aspects of the disclosure relate to manufacturing a balloon envelope for use in a stratospheric balloon system using an improved double-bubble blown-film extrusion process with water quenching and electron beam processing. A stream of polyethylene mixture is extruded through an extruder to orient molecules of polymer chains and provide an oriented film. The oriented film is passed through an electron beam, crosslinking the polymer chains to produce a cross-linked film with enhanced mechanical properties. The cross-linked film is heat sealed to form the balloon envelope comprising multiple gores. The resulting balloon envelope exhibits superior characteristics including crystallinity greater than 50%, strength to weight ratio greater than 1 MPa / (dtg / cm3), thickness less than 1.5 mil, thermal emissivity less than 0.03 at 193K, and optical clarity greater than 95%. The manufacturing process may include water quenching to enhance optical clarity and dual electron beam treatment for uniform crosslinking throughout the film thickness.

The invention discloses an anti-ultraviolet and creep-resistant stratospheric high-altitude balloon material, which comprises a fiber base cloth; the composite film layer is bonded and fixed on the surface of the fiber base cloth, the composite film layer is a multi-layer co-extrusion film, the composite film layer comprises a polyether polyurethane layer, a polyether polyurethane composite layer, a PFA layer and a PFA composite layer which are sequentially arranged from bottom to top in a covering mode, and the polyether polyurethane layer is arranged on the surface of the fiber base cloth in a covering mode. Compared with the prior art, the problem that stable flight of the high-altitude balloon is affected by insufficient anti-ultraviolet and creep resistance at low temperature (-50 to-80 DEG C) or high temperature (50 to 100 DEG C) of the material is solved.

The application relates to the technical field of high-altitude aircraft launching technology, and provides a high-altitude balloon inflating device and a launching shelter. The high-altitude balloon inflating device comprises a self-sealing valve, the self-sealing valve is installed on a high-altitude balloon, a cavity is formed in the self-sealing valve, a connecting channel is arranged at a first end of the self-sealing valve, a gas outlet communicating with the cavity is arranged at a second end of the self-sealing valve, the gas outlet communicates with the high-altitude balloon, an elastic switch element is arranged in the cavity, an inflating hard pipe is movable relative to the connecting channel, so that the elastic switch element is switched between an open state and a closed state, in the open state, the inflating hard pipe abuts against the elastic switch element, the inflating hard pipe communicates with the cavity, in the closed state, the cavity does not communicate with the inflating hard pipe and the outside world, a clamping assembly is clamped with the self-sealing valve in the open state. According to the high-altitude balloon inflating device, the high-altitude balloon is automatically sealed, so that the inflating hard pipe and the high-altitude balloon are automatically separated.

The application discloses a high-altitude balloon auxiliary release device, a release system and a release method. The high-altitude balloon auxiliary release device comprises an auxiliary cloth and at least two fasteners. The at least two fasteners are arranged at the edges of the auxiliary cloth. When the auxiliary cloth is folded, a cloth pocket is formed, and the at least two fasteners are close to each other and combined into a connector. The connector is used for connecting the high-altitude balloon. The cloth pocket is used for accommodating an inflation device for inflating the high-altitude balloon. The application can effectively fix the high-altitude balloon in the inflation release stage by using the auxiliary cloth to pull and constrain the high-altitude balloon, so that the staff member does not need to hold the high-altitude balloon, the release operation process is simplified, and the safety of the release process is improved.

Systems and methods for continuous manufacture and launch of high-altitude balloons are described. An exemplar method includes: (i) continuously producing a tubular film; (ii) receiving the film at a buffering subassembly; (iii) producing an inflatable tubular envelope; (iv) sealing a portion of a first end; (v) dispensing a predetermined volume of gas admixture; (vi) sealing a second end to produce a balloon; (vii) separating the balloon; (viii) conveying the balloon; and (ix) launching the balloon from a co-located facility. In one embodiment, a gathering step creates a deflated internal cavity adjacent to an inflated internal cavity to accommodate volumetric expansion of the gas admixture during ascent to a target altitude.