Quotables
"The horse is here to stay, the automobile is only a novelty - fad."
President of Michigan Savings Bank ; 1903
PatentStorm News
Make the Most of Our Site
See this month's Top Inventors and Most Cited Patents.
Stay on top of the latest innovations by subscribing to an RSS feed.
Registered users: Manage your profile.
| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8113463 | Blimp An airship includes an airbag, a control cabin disposed on a lower portion of the airbag, a propel device mounted to a rear portion of the control cabin and a power control system disposed in the control cabin. The propel device includes a propeller for providing mo... | 02/14/2012 |
| 7866601 | Lenticular airship An airship may include a hull substantially shaped as an oblate spheroid, one or more frame members defining a support structure, wherein the support structure forms at least a partial support for the hull, at least one horizontal stabilizing member operably coupled... | 01/11/2011 |
| 7690596 | Apparatus for lighter-than-air aircraft An apparatus for launching and recovering a lighter-than-air aircraft is provided. The aircraft includes an envelope that is substantially filled before launch with a lift gas and a second gas. The lift gas and second gas are substantially separated in the envelope ... | 04/06/2010 |
| 7380750 | Method for lighter-than-air aircraft An apparatus and associated method for launching and recovering a lighter-than-air aircraft are provided. The aircraft includes an envelope that is substantially filled before launch with a lift gas and a second gas. The lift gas and second gas are substantially sep... | 06/03/2008 |
| 7350749 | Mass transfer system for stabilizing an airship and other vehicles subject to pitch and roll moments The invention relates to a mechanism to control the pitch and/or roll and/or center of gravity of a vehicle. The first embodiment is a track-based mass transfer system in which pathways are positioned along or radially terminate at a central horizontal plane of the ... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7303166 | Highly maneuverable powered airship A highly maneuverable powered airship is disclosed. The powered airship may include an exterior shell having a front portion, a rear portion and a main axis; the exterior shell may be configured with an aspect ratio greater than or equal to 9:1. The powered airship ... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7287723 | Tethered or free flight blimp with collapsible tail fins A lighter than air blimp which has either an aerodynamically shaped or a round envelope of flexible sheet material, and a plurality of stabilizing fins mounted in a circumferentially spaced apart arrangement about the tail end portion of the envelope. The tail fins ... | 10/30/2007 |
| 7278607 | Solar-powered aircraft A solar-powered aircraft uses solar energy to electrolyze on-board water to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen fills various on-board tanks, causing the aircraft to become lighter than air. The hydrogen is also used to operate a fuel cell which provides power for electr... | 10/09/2007 |
| 7264202 | Tri-cycloidal airship An unmanned, lighter-than-air airship includes three omnidirectional thrust generating units. One unit is mounted at the fore-end of the airship to generate thrust in a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the airship. This unit controls pitch and... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7147184 | Aerodynamic fairing system for airship An aerodynamic fairing system for an airship having a substantially spherical balloon portion includes an inflatable fairing that is attachable to the balloon portion, and a fairing actuation mechanism that selectively inflates and deploys the fairing after lift-off... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7093789 | Delta-winged hybrid airship In one aspect, a hybrid airship including an outer shell, a plurality of helium filled gas envelopes, and an all-electric propulsion system may have the shape of a delta-wing. In some embodiments, the hybrid airship may be launched using buoyancy lift alone and aero... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7055778 | Apparatus and method for lighter-than-air aircraft An apparatus and associated method for launching and recovering a lighter-than-air aircraft are provided. The aircraft includes an envelope that is substantially filled before launch with a lift gas and a second gas. The lift gas and second gas are substantially sep... | 06/06/2006 |
| 7055777 | Airship and method of operation An airship has a generally spherical shape and has an internal envelope for containing a lifting gas such as Helium or Hydrogen. The airship has a propulsion and control system that permits it to be flown to a desired loitering location, and to be maintained in that... | 06/06/2006 |
| 6995688 | Method and apparatus for thwarting attempts to hijack aircraft and for responding to other aircraft emergencies Apparatus and method are provided for detecting and responding to aircraft emergencies and, in particular, thwarting attempts to hijack an aircraft including the storage in aircraft computer memory of a pattern of aircraft flight characteristics assumed to be unique... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6908702 | Fuel cell for airship power generation and heating A neutrally buoyant airship, such as a blimp, contains a lifting body which allows the airship to remain neutrally buoyant in air and a fuel cell located in the airship. A method of generating power in the neutrally buoyant airship, comprising providing a fuel and a... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6908061 | Airship system An airship system according to the invention has an airship (110), a base station (120), and at least three measurement points. The airship (110) emits ultrasonic waves upon receiving an instruction from the base station (120). Measuremen... | 06/21/2005 |
| 6857601 | Airship system An airship system according to the invention has an airship (110), a base station (120), and at least three measurement points. The airship (110) emits ultrasonic waves upon receiving an instruction from the base station (120). Measuremen... | 02/22/2005 |
| 6843448 | Lighter-than-air twin hull hybrid airship An airship is provided including a frame and first and second hulls pivotally connected to said frame. An airship second is provided including a frame, a gondola disposed within said frame, first and second hulls pivotally connected to said frame, and a propulsion s... | 01/18/2005 |
| 6811115 | Method and system for setting hull parameter of airship and method of adjusting ascension rate of the same A method comprises: launching observation means configured to observe upper air environment immediately before launching an airship to acquire ambient air data on the actual conditions of the upper ambient air including altitude, pressure, wind direction, wind speed... | 11/02/2004 |
| 6805319 | Variable-lift dirigeable balloon The invention seeks to provide a dirigible balloon with an internal enclosure (V2) having a flexible wall (4) contained in an outer rigid enclosure (15) which is of aerodynamic shape. The internal enclosure (V2) contains helium and is pro... | 10/19/2004 |
| 6766982 | Airship and berthing port An airship comprises a fuselage and a supporting structure positioned within the fuselage. An air passageway extends through the fuselage in an axial direction, with this air passageway having air inlet openings at the forward end of the airship with a first passage... | 07/27/2004 |
| 6698686 | Airship A plurality of bulkheads (23a to 23d) are installed in a hull (21) so as to divide the interior space of the hull (21) into a plurality of compartments (ƊS1 to ƊS5) successively arranged along the axis (22) of the hull (21). The compartments (ƊS1 to Ɗ... | 03/02/2004 |
| 6666405 | Adjustable weight ballasts for weighing down differently sized lighter-than-air balloons An adjustable weight ballast for lighter-than-air balloon with a predetermined lift is disclosed, comprising at least two individual weights. There is a first means on each individual weight for selectively attaching two or more weights to each other to f... | 12/23/2003 |
| 6609945 | Radio-controlled toy blimp with infrared beam weapons for staging a gun battle The remote-controlled air, land or water borne toy vehicle comprises: a body; a printed circuit board mounted in or to the body; a receiver connected to the printed circuit board for receiving commands; hardware on the printed circuit board including cont... | 08/26/2003 |
| 6328622 | Submersible water toy A submersible water toy comprises a buoyant streamlined body and a pair of wings attached thereto. While the body encourages the vehicle to rise in water, the wings, being formed from thin flat members resist vertical movement while providing little resis... | 12/11/2001 |
| 6311925 | Airship and method for transporting cargo A lighter than air airship is disclosed that has an internal weight supporting structure. The weight supporting structure allows the airship to enjoy the advantages of both static and dynamic lift. The airship disclosed herein is lifted by both lighter th... | 11/06/2001 |
| 6182924 | Ballast for lighter than air aircraft A lighter than air aircraft has a non-jettisonable ballast comprised of a liquefied lighter than air gas contained within an insulated container. The liquefied gas is vaporized and released into the lift compartment of the aircraft which is at least parti... | 02/06/2001 |
| 6167263 | Aerial communications network including a plurality of aerial platforms A global communications network comprises a plurality of aerial platforms or vehicles deployed at an altitude in or near the stratosphere and permitted to drift in a controlled manner such that each platform adjusts its position relative to other aerial p... | 12/26/2000 |
| 6119979 | Cyclical thermal management system A cyclical thermal management system is provided for responding to diurnal heating and nocturnal cooling cycles to maintain a high altitude platform in a geostatic position for long periods of time. The novel cyclical thermal management system utilizes so... | 09/19/2000 |
| 6019312 | Airship tail fin construction for improved control Airship tail fins (20) deflect under excessive load on axii (108,110) to protect the airship hull (22) and also reduce angles of attack to disturbing airflow. A propulsion engine (24) may be mounted to the tail fin structure. A longitudinally elongated ro... | 02/01/2000 |
| 5931413 | Aircraft An aircraft of the present invention has an envelope used in such an air balloon and/or airship. The aircraft can be in flated continuously to the envelope with supplying an air into the envelope without extending the envelope on the ground, and the envel... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5906335 | Flight direction control system for blimps A method and apparatus for controlling the flight direction of a blimp. The blimp includes an elongate fuselage for containing a lighter-than-air gas, a movable rudder located toward a tail end of the fuselage, and at least one propeller mounted on a side... | 05/25/1999 |
| 5757157 | Sensor mount apparatus A sensor mount apparatus includes a loop for carrying a sensor payload. An upper portion of the loop includes at least one upper attachment point for receiving at least one upper tether line. A lower portion of the loop includes at least one lower attachm... | 05/26/1998 |
| 5713536 | Aerostat single ballonet system An aerostat, including an aerostat hull and a single ballonet, attached to said aerostat hull, along an attachment line, the attachment line dividing a helium compartment formed by said aerostat hull into a forward helium compartment and an aft helium com... | 02/03/1998 |
| 5653405 | Balloon venting valves A venting valve in a hot air balloon comprises a valve member for opening and closing on outlet hole in the balloon envelope, the valve member being in the form of a flat panel having an edge portion secured along a line to a portion of the envelope adjac... | 08/05/1997 |
| 5645248 | Lighter than air sphere or spheroid having an aperture and pathway A lighter than air apparatus is provided with a gas impermeable sheeting material having a pathway either extending through the apparatus itself or adjacent to the apparatus. One or more control surfaces are provided proximately to an aperture in the path... | 07/08/1997 |
| 5584449 | Generation and control of inflatable balloons A thermal aircraft, such as a hot air load-carrying balloon which includes a balloon envelope having a deflation aperture therein and a venting valve or operculum designed to removably cover and seal the aperture and to be opened and/or closed rapidly so ... | 12/17/1996 |
| 5567142 | Burner system for a radio-controlled hot air balloon A burner system for a radio-controlled hot air balloon. The frame that is connected to an envelope contains two fuel tanks. One fuel tank is disposed right side up and delivers fuel in vapor form to a pilot burner mechanism. The other fuel tank is inverte... | 10/22/1996 |
| 5538203 | Ballonet system for a lighter-than-air vehicle The invention is a ballonet system for a lighter-than-air-vehicle, the vehicle having a lift producing gas bag and a longitudinal, vertical and lateral axis. In detail, the ballonet system includes a plurality of ballonets located within the gas bag posit... | 07/23/1996 |
| 5518205 | High altitude, long duration surveillance system A novel, high-altitude, solar powered aircraft, capable of staying aloft at high altitudes for many months or even years to conduct around the clock surveillance and/or reconnaisance, includes a forward wing with solar energy capturing cells, a rear wing,... | 05/21/1996 |
