GB2399035A

GB2399035A - Toy airship with magnets for the attachment of an external fitting

Info

Publication number: GB2399035A
Application number: GB0305151A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Salvo Richard Papa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-03-06
Filing date: 2003-03-06
Publication date: 2004-09-08
Anticipated expiration: 2023-03-06
Also published as: GB2399035B; GB0305151D0

Abstract

A lighter than air toy airship comprises an inflatable envelope 1 filled with a lighter than air gas, eg. helium. At least one magnet 3 is attached to the envelope 1 for retaining an external fitting. The external fitting which may be a gondola 4 or fin, also has at least one magnet 5. The magnets 3, 5 in both cases may be ferromagnetic, permanent and/or in the form of buttons. The magnets 3 may be attached to the inside of the envelope 1 and sandwiched between the envelope 1 and an adhesive tape or backing sheet 2. The gondola 4 may have an attachment surface in the form of a peripheral lip L.

Description

UNMANNED LIGHTER-THAN-AIR CRAFT

The present invention relates to unmanned lighter-than-air craft, particularly but not exclusively toy airships.

Toy airships are commercially available from Papa Pro Ltd., London and conventionally incorporate a gondola in the form of a shell which is removably attached to the exterior of the envelope by adhesive.

to However the envelope is necessarily thin (typically 1.5 microns) and is metallised with a film of aluminium to reduce its permeability to the helium within the envelope. The aluminium film is vulnerable to chemical attack by the adhesive and the envelope can easily be torn e.g. when removing the gondola to add or remove ballast or repositioning the gondola to adjust the Is balance of the airship.

It would therefore be desirable to provide an alternative means of attachment which alleviates the above drawbacks.

In one aspect the invention provides an inflatable envelope for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft, the skin of the envelope incorporating at least one member of magnetic material for magnetically retaining an external fitting (such as a gondola for example) on the inflated envelope in use.

Preferably said at least one member of magnetic material is attached to the interior of the envelope. This feature improves the appearance of the craft and enables a magnetically attached external fitting to be detached more easily from the envelope, e.g. during repositioning to adjust the balance.

so Preferably said at least one member of magnetic material is sandwiched between the skin of the envelope and an adhesive backing sheet which overlaps said member to contact the skin of the envelope to fomm a rigid or semi-rigid laminate. Such a laminate provides a degree of support for the envelope which protects it against shear forces when a magnetically attachable fitting is being attached to or removed from the envelope. s

In another aspect the invention provides an external fitting for an unmanned lighter-than-air crag, the fitting having an attachment surface provided with at least one member of magnetic material which in use can magnetically retain the fitting on the crag.

In each case the magnetic material can for example be a pemmanent magnet or it can be of ferromagnetic material eg iron.

In another aspect the invention provides unmanned lighter-than-air craft comprising an inflatable envelope as defined above having an external fitting as defined above magnetically retained thereon by mutual attraction of the respective magnetic members of the envelope and fitting.

Preferred features of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below by way of example only with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 1 is a diagramatic side elevation, partly in section, of a toy airship in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a diagramatic perspective view of a magnetically attachable fin in accordance with the invention; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the gondola of the airship of Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a diagrammatic top plan view of a variant of the gondola of Figure s 3 showing a variant of the magnetic retaining arrangement of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, the toy airship shown is in the form of a blimp having an envelope 1 of metallised 1.5 micron thick Mylar (Registered Trade Mark) and carries two longitudinal linear arrays of three magnets disposed side-by o side in a lower central region of its interior surface. Only one of these arrays is visible in Figure 1. Each array of button magnets is secured to the interior of the envelope 1 by a longitudinal strip of adhesive tape 2. The envelope 1 À is suitably manufactured from two or more sheets which are cut to shape and joined at their edges after securing the arrays of button magnets 3 with their strips of tape 2 to one of the cut sheets.

The blimp carries a gondola 4 of molded plastics material which, as best seen in Figure 3, is in the form of an open topped shell having an outwardly extending peripheral lip portion L formed around its mouth which, as best go seen in Figure 1, conforms to the concave profile of envelope 1. As best seen in Figure 3, three upwardly facing neodymium alloy button magnets 5 are regularly distributed along each lateral side of the lip portion L, and as shown in Figure 1, register with respective magnets 3 located on the inside of the envelope. The button magnets 5 are held within molded recesses 4A in the lip portion L. In this manner, the gondola 4 can be securely located in a defined position and orientation beneath the blimp.

Conventional control circuitry C including a radio receiver battery power supply and an antenna A2 is held within the gondola, and controls two thrust propeller assemblies 6 (Figures 1 and 2) and a lift propeller assembly 7 (Figure 1) under the control of a hand-held remote control device RC which comprises an appropriate radio transmitter and transmitting antenna A1. In order to provide independent control of the three propeller assemblies, the remote control circuitry comprises a three channel radio transmitter. The envelope 1 is helium filled and is suitably 1 to 3 metros e.g. 1.5 metros in length.

A fin assembly as shown in Figure 2 can be attached to the blimp to improve aerodynamics and comprises a fin member F extending transversely from an integral base B which carries four magnets 5, two on each side of the fin.

to These retain the fin assembly against the envelope by their magnetic attraction to a corresponding array of magnets (not shown) secured within the interior of the envelope 1 e.g. by adhesive tape in a similar fashion to the arrangement shown in Figure 1.

Is Figure 4 shows a variant in which the gondola 4 is supported by iron strips 3A which are curved to conform to the interior surface of envelope 1 and are secured by a layer of adhesive from their undersides to the envelope 1 or by adhesive tape as used to secure the magnets 3 in Figure 1. Their thickness measured in the vertical direction i.e. orthogonal to the plane of Figure 4 is do suitably 0.4 mm and the weight of each strip is suitably 12 grams. As shown in Figure 4, these align the gondola 4 in the lateral direction but allow some leeway in the longitudinal positioning of the gondola. This is advantageous because it enables the balance of the blimp to be adjusted.

as In a variant of the arrangement shown in Figure 1, either the magnets 5 or the magnets 3 can be replaced by steel buttons or washers or the like. The invention is also applicable to toy balloons and to other unmanned lighter than aircraft in general. s

CLAIMS: 1. An inflatable envelope for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft, the skin of the envelope incorporating at least one member of magnetic material for s magnetically retaining an external fitting on the inflated envelope in use.

2. An inflatable envelope according to claim 1 wherein said at least one member of magnetic material is attached to the interior of the envelope.

to 3. An inflatable envelope according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said at least one member of magnetic material is sandwiched between the skin of the envelope and an adhesive backing sheet which overlaps said member to contact the skin of the envelope to form a rigid or semi-rigid laminate.

is 4. An inflatable envelope according to claim 3 wherein an array of two or more such members of magnetic material are sandwiched between the skin of the envelope and a common adhesive backing sheet. ; 5. An inflatable envelope according to any preceding claim wherein said at ho least one member is composed of ferromagnetic material.

6. An inflatable envelope according to any of claims 1 to 4 wherein said at least one member is a permanent magnet.

as 7. An inflatable envelope according to claim 6 wherein said at least one member is a button magnet. ; 8. An inflatable envelope according to any preceding claim which is elongate and which has a longitudinally aligned array of two or more such members of so magnetic material for magnetically retaining a gondola or a fin.

9. An external fitting for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft, the fitting having an attachment surface provided with at least one member of magnetic material which in use can magnetically retain the fitting on the craft.

10. An external fitting according to claim 9 wherein said at least one member is composed of ferromagnetic material.

11. An external fitting according to claim 9 wherein said at least one member is a permanent magnet.

12. An external fitting according to claim 11 wherein said at least one member is a button magnet.

13. An external fitting according to any of claims 9 to 12 which is a gondola shell or a fin having an attachment surface in the form of a peripheral lip portion.

14. An external fitting according to claim 13 wherein an array of members of magnetic material extends along each lateral side of said upper lip portion.

15. An external fitting for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft substantially as described hereinabove with reference to any of Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

16. An unmanned lighter-than-air craft comprising an inflatable envelope according to any of claims 1 to 8 having an external fitting according to any of claims 9 to 15 magnetically retained thereon by mutual attraction of the respective magnetic members of the envelope and fitting.

so 17. An unmanned lighter-than-air craft according to claim 16 wherein the longitudinal position of the fitting on the envelope is adjustable.

18. An unmanned lighter-than-air craft substantially as described hereinabove with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, optionally modified in accordance with Figure 2 or Figure 4.

Claims

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS: 1. An

inflatable envelope for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft, the skin of the envelope incorporating at least one member of magnetic material attached to the interior of the envelope for magnetically retaining an external fitting on the inflated envelope in use.
2. An inflatable envelope according to claim 1 wherein said at least one member of magnetic material is sandwiched between the skin of the envelope to and an adhesive backing sheet which overlaps said member to contact the skin of the envelope to form a rigid or semi-rigid laminate.
3. An inflatable envelope according to claim 2 wherein an array of two or more such members of magnetic material are sandwiched between the skin Is of the envelope and a common adhesive backing sheet.
4. An inflatable envelope according to any preceding claim wherein said at least one member is composed of ferromagnetic material.
5. An inflatable envelope according to any of claims 1 to 3 wherein said at least one member is a permanent magnet.
6. An inflatable envelope according to claim 5 wherein said at least one member is a button magnet.
7. An inflatable envelope according to any preceding claim which is elongate and which has a longitudinally aligned array of two or more such members of magnetic material for magnetically retaining a gondola or a fin. a\
8. A gondola or a fin for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft, the gondola or fin having an attachment surface provided with at least one member of magnetic material which in use can magnetically retain the fitting on the craft.
9. A gondola or fin according to claim 8 wherein said at least one member is composed of ferromagnetic material.
10. A gondola or fin according to claim 8 wherein said at least one member is a permanent magnet.
11. A gondola or fin according to claim 10 wherein said at least one member is a button magnet.
12. A gondola according to any of claims 8 to 11 which comprises a shell Is having an attachment surface in the form of a peripheral lip portion.
13. A gondola according to claim 12 wherein an array of members of magnetic material extends along each lateral side of said upper lip portion.

so
14. A gondola or fin for an unmanned lighter-than-air craft substantially as described hereinabove with reference to any of Figures 2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
15. An unmanned ilghter-than-air craft comprising an inflatable envelope according to any of claims 1 to 7 having a gondola or fin according to any of claims 8 to 14 magnetically retained thereon by mutual attraction of the respective magnetic members of the envelope and gondola or fin.
16. An unmanned lighter-than-air craft according to claim 15 having a so magnetically retained gondola whose longitudinal position on the envelope is

adjustable.
17. An unmanned lighter-than-air crap substantially as described hereinabove with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, optionally modified in accordance with Figure 2 or Figure 4.