Patent Application
20140370776
1. Field
The disclosed embodiments relate to the field of model rockets.
2. Related Art
In the field of model rocketry, multi-stage rockets have been known for many years. Generally each stage of a multi-stage rocket carries a combustible propellant that generates exhaust gases that exit the bottom end of the rocket so as to propel it on its flight. Such gases in one stage also act to ignite the propellant in the next stage. Conventional multi-stage model rockets are configured such that when a given stage has expended its combustible propellant it separates from the rest of the rocket and falls to the ground separately. As such, the various stages may get lost during their return fall to earth. In addition, failure of the second stage to ignite is not uncommon in such conventional multi-stage model rockets.
The disclosed embodiments provide a reconfigurable model rocket that can be flown in a single-stage or dual-stage configuration. Further, a staging adapter cooperates with a corresponding staging cone so as to efficiently provide combustion gases from the booster stage to the upper stage to optimally ignite the upper stage of the rocket.
In a first embodiment, a reconfigurable model rocket is disclosed. The model rocket has a main body tube, a nose cone, a first tail section, a second tail section, and a staging adapter. The main body tube has top and bottom ends. The nose cone may be removably coupleable to the top end of the main body tube. The first tail section has top and bottom ends; the top end of the first tail section may be removably coupleable to the bottom end of the main body tube. The first tail section accommodates a first rocket engine having a combustible propellant to propel the model rocket by allowing gases from the combustible propellant to escape from the bottom end of the first tail section.
The second tail section has top and bottom ends; the top end of the second tail section may be removably coupleable to the bottom end of the first tail section. The second tail section accommodates a second rocket engine having a combustible propellant to propel the model rocket by allowing gases from the combustible propellant to escape from the bottom end of the second tail section.
The staging adapter may be removably coupleable to the bottom end of the first tail section and removably coupleable to the top end of the second tail section so as to couple the first and second tail sections together to provide a multi-stage configuration.
The model rocket is reconfigurable so as to be flown either as a single stage rocket or as a two-stage rocket. When flown in a single-stage configuration, the rocket comprises the main body, the nose cone, and the first tail section. When flown in a two-stage configuration, the rocket comprises the main body, the nose cone, the first tail section, a staging adapter, and the second tail section.
In a further embodiment, the second tail section further comprises a staging cone at the top end of the second tail section. The staging cone is configured to transfer combustion gases from the top of the second tail section into the bottom of the first tail section, via the staging adapter, so as to ignite the first rocket engine when the combustible propellant of the second rocket engine has been depleted.
Further features and advantages of the invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described herein. Such embodiments are presented herein for illustrative purposes only. Additional embodiments will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) based on the teachings contained herein.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate the present invention and together with the written description further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the relevant art to make and use the invention.
A detailed description of various embodiments is set forth below and corresponds to the drawings, in which like reference characters identify corresponding elements throughout. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.
It is to be appreciated that any additional disclosure found in the Figures is meant to be exemplary and not limiting to any of the features shown in the Figures and described in the specification below.
The disclosed embodiments provide a model rocket that is reconfigurable as a single or dual stage rocket. In the dual-stage configuration a booster rocket engine having a combustible propellant propels the rocket for a first time duration and then an upper rocket engine propels the rocket for a second time duration. When the booster rocket engine has expended its propellant it provides combustion gases to the upper rocket engine and ignites the upper rocket engine.
For simplicity of discussion, through the following specification, the words “first” and “second” are used to describe various components based on when a given component is first mentioned. Thus the term “first tail section” and “first rocket engine,” etc., thus does not denote anything regarding the temporal sequence in which the various stages are fired. Thus, for example, in one embodiment the “first tail section” corresponds to the upper section while the “second tail section” corresponds to the booster section although the booster section is fired before the upper section.
This specification discloses one or more embodiments that incorporate the features of this invention. The disclosed embodiment(s) merely exemplify the invention. The scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment(s). The invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.
The embodiment(s) described, and referenced in the specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” etc., indicate that the embodiment(s) described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but each embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is understood that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
The various components of the model rocket may be of various sizes. For example, the body tube may be of different sizes, such as a BT-50, a BT-55 or BT-60 body tube.
The first tail section 106 accommodates a first rocket engine 212 having a combustible propellant to propel the model rocket. The first rocket engine 212 fits inside an internal chamber (described further below) of the first tail section 106 and is secured by an engine retainer 214 to the bottom end 210 of the first tail section 106. The first rocket engine 212 propels the rocket by generating combustion gases that are expelled through the bottom end 210 of the first tail section and escape through an outlet 216 in the engine retainer 214.
The first tail section 106 also includes a plurality of fins 218, 220, and 222, protruding from an external surface 224 of the first tail section 106 to provide aerodynamic stability to the model rocket in flight.
The engine retainer 214 is used when the model rocket is flown as a single-stage rocket. The first engine retainer 214 is removably coupleable to the bottom end 210 of the first tail section 106 to securely hold the first rocket engine 212 in the internal chamber of the first tail section 106. For example, the engine retainer 214 may take the form of a screw cap that can be screwed onto corresponding screw threads (not shown) at the bottom end 210 of the first tail section 106. The engine retainer 214 includes an outlet 216 to allow combustion propellant gases generated by the first rocket engine 212 to escape from the bottom end 210 of the first tail section 106 so as to propel the rocket.
The first tail section 106 accommodates a first rocket engine 212 having a combustible propellant to propel the model rocket. The first rocket engine 212 fits inside an internal chamber (described further below) of the first tail section 106 and is secured by the staging adapter 404 (described further below) to the bottom end 210 of the first tail section 106. The first rocket engine 212 propels the rocket by generating combustion gases that are expelled through the bottom end 210 of the first tail section. The first rocket engine 212 propels the rocket after the combustible propellant in a second rocket engine (described below) located in the second tail section 402 has been depleted.
The first tail section 106 also includes a plurality of fins 218, 220, and 222, protruding from an external surface 224 of the first tail section 106 to provide aerodynamic stability to the model rocket in flight.
The second tail section 402 accommodates a second rocket engine 502 having a combustible propellant to propel the model rocket. The second rocket engine 502 fits inside an internal chamber (described further below) of the second tail section 402 and is secured by an engine retainer 504 to the bottom end 506 of the second tail section 402. The second rocket engine 502 propels the rocket by generating combustion gases that are expelled through the bottom end 506 of the second tail section 402.
The second tail section 402 also includes a plurality of fins 508, 510, and 512, protruding from an external surface 514 of the second tail section 402 to provide aerodynamic stability to the model rocket in flight.
When operated as a two stage rocket, the second rocket engine 502 is ignited first and propels the rocket for a first time duration. When the combustible propellant of the second rocket engine 502 is depleted, combustion gases are provided from the top 516 of the second tail section 402 into the bottom 210 of the first tail section so as to ignite the first rocket engine 212.
The first 212 and second 502 rocket engines are conventional rocket engines in the sense that each one is a hollow tube filed with a solid combustible propellant prior to ignition of the engine. As the engine burns, the combustible propellant is consumed and propellant gases are ejected from the bottom of the engine so as to propel the rocket. As the engine burns, the propellant is consumed by a flame front that moves upward until the propellant is exhausted. As the flame front reaches the top of the engine gases also propagate upwardly from the top of the engine. In this way, the first rocket engine 212 is ignited by the gases propagating upwardly from the nearly consumed second rocket engine 502. In addition to causing the ignition of 212, pressure from hot gasses coming from the top of second engine 502 help to push or discharge the booster (second tail section 402), which then tumbles to the ground.
The second tail section 402 further includes a staging cone 520 at the top end of the second tail section. The staging cone 520 fits into an upper stage thread-on adapter 522. The upper stage thread-on adapter 522 screws onto the lower end 210 of the first tail section 106. The upper stage thread-on adapter 522 is coupled to the staging adapter 404 in such a way as to allow to first tail section 106 and second tail section 402 to separate when the first engine 212 is ignited.
The staging cone 520 is configured to efficiently transfer combustion gases from the top 516 of the second tail section, through the staging adapter 404, and into the bottom 210 of the first tail section 106 so as to ignite the first rocket engine 212 when the combustible propellant of the second rocket engine 502 has been depleted. Upon ignition of the first engine 212, the staging adapter 404 separates from the upper stage thread-on adapter 522 so as to allow the second tail section 402 to separate from the first tail section 106.
The upper stage thread-on adapter 522 performs the following functions. In the first instance, the upper stage thread-on adapter 522 securely holds the first rocket engine 212 in the internal chamber of the first tail section 106. It also receives combustion gases from the top 516 of the second tail section 402 from the staging cone 520 and conveys them to the first rocket engine 212 so as to ignite the first rocket engine 212 when the combustible propellant of the second rocket engine 502 has been depleted.
The engine retainer 504 may take the form of a screw cap that can be screwed onto corresponding screw threads (not shown) at the bottom end 506 of the second tail section 402. Similarly, the staging adapter 404 may be coupled to the first 106 and second 402 tail sections by a screw-on mechanism.
Similarly, the second tail section 402 is coupled to the first tail section 106 by the staging adapter 404. The second tail section 402 comprises a hollow tube defined by a cylindrical structure having walls 606 and 608. The volume internal to the cylindrical walls 606 and 608 of the second tail section 402 forms an internal chamber to accommodate the second rocket engine 502.
The engine retainer 504 includes an outlet 518 to allow combustion propellant gases generated by the second rocket engine 502 to escape from the bottom end 506 of the second tail section 402 so as to propel the rocket.
In further embodiments, the first or section tail sections may include three or more fins. Further, the fins may be glued into the slots of the first and second halves of the cylindrical object. In other embodiments, the fins may be secured into the cylindrical objects by mechanical pressure provided by contact with the engine retainer.
Elements associated with the staging adapter 404 are also shown. These include the staging cone 520 and the upper stage thread-on adapter 522. The relation of these elements to the first tail section 106 and second tail section 402 was discussed above with reference to
In further embodiments, other components of the reconfigurable model rocket may be manufactured from molded plastic. Such components may include the nose cone, the staging adapter, etc. In other embodiments, components such as the body tube may be manufactured from cardboard. Some components, such as the staging adapter may include both molded plastic components and cardboard components.
In further embodiments, the fins may have a plurality of shapes and sizes. The cylindrical tube object 802 may have one of a plurality of sizes. The tabs of the plurality of fins and the slots of the cylindrical tube object each respectively may have fixed sizes so that any one of the plurality of fins can be interchangeably fastened to cylindrical tube object irrespective of the size of the cylindrical tube object. In further embodiments, the fins of the first and second tail section may be configured to be interchangeable with one another.
In further embodiments, the model rocket may be are provided as a kit including a colored body tube, and wherein the kit requires only minor assembly. As such, the model rocket may be provided to a consumer in an “almost ready to fly” configuration. In a further embodiment, a model rocket as described above, when flown in a dual-stage configuration may be flown to altitudes of at least two times the altitude that it reaches when flown as a single-stage rocket.
For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference has been made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, and specific language has been used to describe these embodiments. However, no limitation of the scope of the invention is intended by this specific language, and the invention should be construed to encompass all embodiments that would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in the art. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments of the invention. In the description of the embodiments, certain detailed explanations of related art are omitted when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the invention.
The invention may be described in terms of functional block components and various processing steps. It should be noted that many alternative or additional functional relationships, physical connections or logical connections may be present in a practical device. The words “mechanism,” “element,” “unit,” “structure,” “means,” and “construction” are used broadly and are not limited to mechanical or physical embodiments, but may include software routines in conjunction with processors, etc.
The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate embodiments and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. Numerous modifications and adaptations will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in this art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the following claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the invention.
No item or component is essential to the practice of the invention unless the element is specifically described as essential or critical. It will also be recognized that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,” “including,” “has,” and “having,” as used herein, are specifically intended to be read as open-ended terms of art. The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, it should be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms, which are only used to distinguish one element from another. Furthermore, recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein.
