Anti-Stratification Diffuser for Variable Portability Device
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Solution Overview
Problem
Stratospheric variable portability devices face instability due to the heterogeneous mixture of lighter-than-air gas and injected air within a single tank, leading to angular differences and potential tilting, as the denser air migrates to the bottom, causing trim instability.
Innovation Solution
A mixer with a perforated sheath and injectors is used inside a hermetic pressure enclosure to introduce and mix air with the lighter-than-air gas, promoting homogeneous mixing and reducing mass by using a porous fabric or flexible material for the sheath, which extends along the device's longitudinal axis and includes multiple perforations for enhanced gas exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a single hermetic tank is used to store lighter-than-air gas, then the device mass is significantly reduced, but the mixture of air and lighter-than-air gas becomes heterogeneous causing attitude instability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a porous diffuser made of porous material to mix air and lighter-than-air gas. The porous structure allows air to pass through and mix with the lighter-than-air gas in a controlled manner, creating a homogeneous mixture while maintaining a single-tank configuration that reduces device mass
Solution Approach 2:
The porous diffuser acts as an intermediary component between the air injection system and the lighter-than-air gas storage. It mediates the mixing process by distributing air through its porous structure, ensuring homogeneous mixing without requiring multiple tanks or complex mixing mechanisms
2Device complexity
If air is injected directly into a single tank, then the structure is simplified, but the denser air migrates to the bottom causing attitude instability and tilting
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of direct injection, the patent uses a porous diffuser that distributes air throughout the tank volume. The porous structure prevents air from simply settling at the bottom by creating numerous small pathways for mixing, maintaining attitude stability while keeping the single-tank simple structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical mixing systems with a passive porous diffusion mechanism. The porous material naturally distributes air through its structure without requiring moving parts, maintaining structural simplicity while achieving homogeneous mixing for attitude stability
3Stability of the object's composition
If multiple sealed balloons are used to provide lift, then longitudinal static stability is guaranteed, but the device mass increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple separate balloon structures into a single hermetic tank configuration. By combining the lift-providing function and stability function into one integrated tank system with controlled mixing, it eliminates the mass penalty of multiple separate structures while maintaining necessary stability characteristics
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the gas mixture by controlling the mixing process through the porous diffuser. By adjusting the air injection rate and distribution through the porous material, it achieves the desired density distribution for stability without requiring multiple separate balloons
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
The mixer ensures a stable and controlled mixture of gases, reducing the risk of tilting and enhancing controllability during lift and descent phases by creating convection cells and increasing the contact surface area for improved mixing and heat transfer.
Implementation Method 1
the sheath is obtained from a porous fabric
Implementation Method 2
creating convection cells and increasing the contact surface area for improved mixing
Implementation Method 3
at least one injector, connected to the external environment, of air into the sheath
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2a
Figure 2b
AI summary
The invention relates to a variable portability device (1) characterized in that it comprises: • a hermetically sealed enclosure (4) under pressure receiving a gas of density less than the density of air; • a mixer (6) disposed at least partially inside the hermetically sealed enclosure (4) configured to introduce air into the hermetically sealed enclosure (4).