Airship Flat Bottom Envelope and Anchoring Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Airships face difficulties in landing due to unpredictable vertical lurching caused by irregular forces from wind, making safe and autonomous landing challenging, especially in windy conditions, and often require manual assistance or complex ground equipment.
Innovation Solution
The design of an airship with a flat bottom shape and a maneuverable anchoring device, featuring a expandable punch, allows for controlled descent and anchoring, utilizing the wind to create a downward resultant force that stabilizes the aircraft and enables unassisted landing in unprepared locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If an airship approaches the ground in non-zero wind conditions, then the airship can land, but irregular vertical lurching forces occur that make safe landing difficult or impossible at wind speeds above 20-40 km/h
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the harmful irregular vertical lurching forces caused by wind into a beneficial downward resultant force. By designing the airship envelope with a specific shape (flattened bottom, rounded top) and positioning the center of gravity appropriately, the wind forces that would normally cause instability are transformed into a controlled downward force that aids the landing process and enables the airship to land safely in windy conditions without ground assistance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the airship envelope, specifically creating a shape with a flattened bottom and rounded top, and adjusts the center of gravity position. These parameter changes modify how the airship interacts with wind forces, transforming the aerodynamic characteristics to produce a downward resultant force rather than irregular lurching, enabling safe landing at higher wind speeds.
2Reliability
If manual assistance or complex ground equipment is used to assist landing, then landing safety improves, but device complexity and operational requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the airship to perform its own landing operation autonomously without requiring ground assistance or complex infrastructure. The designed envelope shape and center of gravity configuration allow the airship to self-stabilize during approach and convert wind forces into a beneficial downward force, making the landing process self-sufficient and eliminating the need for mooring masts, winches, or teams of personnel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the landing assistance function from the ground environment and transfers it to the airship itself. By incorporating the stabilizing and force-conversion mechanisms directly into the airship's envelope and weight distribution design, the system removes the dependency on external ground equipment and personnel, simplifying the overall landing operation.
3Shape
If traditional balloon shapes (sphere or teardrop) are used, then the envelope is simple and compact, but unpredictable vertical lurching occurs during ground approach in windy conditions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry to the envelope shape by creating a design with a flattened bottom and a rounded top, which is asymmetric with respect to horizontal planes. This asymmetric configuration, combined with appropriate center of gravity positioning, fundamentally changes the aerodynamic response to wind forces during ground approach, converting unpredictable vertical lurching into a stable downward resultant force that improves landing reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution facilitates safe and controlled landing and mooring of airships in various conditions, reducing the need for ground assistance and infrastructure, enhancing the aircraft's autonomy and flexibility for landing in different environments.
Implementation Method 1
When it gets close to the ground, the airflow over the envelope of a balloon causes, by the Venturi effect, a negative pressure between the ground and the envelope, thus exerting a downward aerodynamic force on the envelope.
Data Source
AI summary
An air vehicle such as an airship is provided, having a rounded top portion, and the bottom portion of which has a substantially planar shape, including a region having a smaller inclination, which is referred to as a bottom surface, and the surface area of which is larger than that of an intermediate region having a greater inclination, referred to as an intermediate surface. The general shape produces, due to relative wind, a resulting overall downward force near the ground. The vehicle also includes a device for anchoring same to the ground, the anchoring device being stationary or controllable from the vehicle, located at the front portion of the vehicle, and projecting downward, in particular a ram including a portion which can be expanded by applying a bar against a translatably movable shoulder. Also included is a landing method implementing such a vehicle.