The invention relates to a tank having a piston pressurized by hot gas.
The invention applies particularly but not exclusively to the context of pressurizing a liquid propellant tank of the kind used for example in tactical or strategic missiles.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,513 describes a tank of this type. The tank has a piston suitable for moving under the effect of thrust from a gas so as to reduce the volume of a chamber containing a liquid, thereby causing the liquid to be expelled from the chamber via an opening formed in the end of the tank.
The chamber containing the liquid propellant is defined by a telescopic metal bladder that is initially folded in accordion fashion to present a series of folds that unfold progressively under thrust from the gas.
That mechanism presents several drawbacks.
Firstly, the telescopic arrangement of the bladder is complex to implement and can be applied only to tanks that are of conical shape.
Furthermore, on unfolding, the bladder cannot come extremely close to the inside walls of the tank, so a non-negligible quantity of liquid is not expelled from the tank.
Above all, that metal bladder system cannot be used in a tank that is pressurized by using hot gas, since the metal bladder does not act in any way as a thermal barrier. This has two consequences: firstly the wall of the tank is heated, and secondly the gas cools so its pressure drops. In a two-stage propulsion mechanism, it then becomes necessary to repressurized the gas between the two stages.
A main object of the present invention is to mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks by proposing a tank comprising:
In accordance with the invention, the membrane is made of deformable elastomer material.
The elastomer membrane may in particular be polymer-based, e.g. rubber-based.
The elastomer membrane performs three functions simultaneously:
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the elastomer membrane has a thickness of the order of 2 millimeters (mm) or 3 mm. It can thus be used in application in which the liquid is at ambient temperature and the propulsion gas is at a temperature close to 1000° C.
Naturally, the thickness of the membrane may vary, in particular as a function of the size of the tank 10, as a function of the desired pressure level, as a function of the duration of the mission, and as a function of temperature level.
If the tank is used in a two-stage propulsion mechanism, thanks to the thermal barrier means, there is no need to repressurize the gas between the two stages.
Advantageously, the invention can be applied to a tank that is cylindrical in shape.
In a particular embodiment of the invention, the piston moves along a shaft that forms a duct for delivering said liquid. The liquid penetrates into the duct via an opening formed close to the end of the duct that is at the end of the chamber.
In accordance with the invention, the liquid may be delivered either in the travel direction of the piston, or in the opposite direction, or in both directions, the latter embodiment enabling two propulsion systems to be fed that are disposed on either side of the tank.
Consequently, the delivery duct has at least one open end for delivering the liquid, with the end beside the end wall of the chamber being open to enable liquid to be delivered in the travel direction of the piston, and with the opposite end being open in order to deliver liquid in the opposite direction.
When liquid is delivered in the travel direction of the piston, an opening is made through the end wall of the tank to enable the liquid to be ejected.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention appear from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings that show an embodiment having no limiting character. In the figures:
The tank 10 is defined by a wall 12 of generally cylindrical shape.
It has a piston 20 suitable for moving along a shaft 25, the piston thus co-operating with the wall 12 to define a variable-volume chamber 15 that is filled with a liquid propellant component L at ambient temperature, i.e. at about 20° C.
In the embodiment described, the variable-volume chamber is adjacent to a gas generator 60.
In accordance with the invention, the tank 10 includes a deformable elastomer membrane 30 pressed against a face of the piston 20 that is outside the chamber 15.
This elastomer membrane 30 also provides sealing between the piston 20 and the wall 12.
In the embodiment described, the membrane 30 is held at the end of the tank 10 by annular fastener means 40 that hold the membrane against the wall 12.
Sealing between the shaft 25 and the piston 20 is provided by means of an O-ring gasket referenced 54.
In the embodiment described, the membrane 30 is held by being pinched against the outside face of the piston 20 by a washer 56 that is engaged on a hub 55, of the piston 20 that is held clamped by a nut 57.
In this embodiment, the gas generator 60 has a cylindrical recess 58 complementary to the hub 55 such that the piston 20 can be pressed against the generator when the tank 10 is full.
In the embodiment described, the washer 56 is grooved to improve radial retention of the membrane 30.
In the embodiment described, the gas generator 60 has one or more blocks of powder 50, each block of powder 50 being provided with an initiator 51 suitable for igniting it.
In known manner, ignition generates powder gas at very high temperature, about 1000° C., that is ejected by nozzles 52 towards the membrane 30 and the piston 20.
In the embodiment described, the tank can perform two successive stages of propulsion.
Consequently, the piston 20 is in a set-back position and the deformable membrane 30 matches the shape of the powder compartment 50.
In this state, the volume of the chamber 15 containing the liquid has decreased, substantially by one-third in the embodiment described, the piston 20 and the elastomer membrane 30 having moved under the effect of the hot pressurized gas G. Under the effect of thrust from the piston 20, a fraction of the liquid L that was in the chamber 15 is entered through an opening 27 into the piston shaft 25 and is delivered, rearwards in
The elastomer membrane 30 provides thermal protection for the walls 12 so the wall 12 does not become heated.
Most advantageously, the powder gas G remains hot and therefore under pressure.
Advantageously, the liquid remains well confined during this first propulsion stage, with any movement of the liquid, in known manner, being harmful during this ballistic stage.
In this state, the piston 20 comes into abutment against the end of the tank 10. Since the elastomer membrane 30 adheres substantially to the end of the tank 10, the amount of space 26 that is “wasted”, i.e. the space that contains liquid L after the second propulsion stage, is very small.
This tank 100 is almost identical to the tank 10 described with reference to
However in this embodiment, the liquid is delivered in the travel direction of the piston 20.
Consequently, the delivery duct 28 has only one open end 29, and that end is located close to the opening 27 for liquid ingress.
Preferably, the delivery duct 28 is closed off immediately behind the opening 27. It is no more than a cavity.
Furthermore, the tank 100 presents an opening 110 in its end wall facing the open end 27 of the duct 28.
In the embodiment described, the O-ring gasket 54 closes the inlet 27 to the duct 28 when the piston 10 reaches the end of its stroke.
The tank 200 is practically identical to the tanks 10 and 100 described with reference to
However, in this embodiment, the liquid is delivered in both directions, both ends 29 of the delivery duct 28 being open.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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08 51038 | Feb 2008 | FR | national |
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2970452 | Beckman et al. | Feb 1961 | A |
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3592360 | Aleck | Jul 1971 | A |
3847307 | Hosek | Nov 1974 | A |
3847308 | Tambor | Nov 1974 | A |
3847309 | Grossman | Nov 1974 | A |
3847310 | Rabe | Nov 1974 | A |
3895746 | Bauer | Jul 1975 | A |
3940031 | Fishman | Feb 1976 | A |
3940032 | Gershon | Feb 1976 | A |
3944117 | Gould | Mar 1976 | A |
4538749 | Rosman et al. | Sep 1985 | A |
5167631 | Thompson et al. | Dec 1992 | A |
5407092 | Hardgrove et al. | Apr 1995 | A |
Number | Date | Country |
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1104267 | Apr 1961 | DE |
2136188 | Feb 1973 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090206111 A1 | Aug 2009 | US |