Inventors:
Frank R. Chiappetta - Berwyn PA
Christopher L. Frame - King of Prussia PA
Kenneth L. Johnson - Eagleville PA
Assignee:
General Electric Company - East Windsor NJ
International Classification:
H01Q 1919, E04H 1200
Abstract:
A stowable and self-deployable array antenna includes flat, rectangular antenna panels hinged side-by-side so that when deployed they are coplanar, and they fold like an accordion for stowing. The deployed array antenna is stiffened by lateral stiffening panels hingedly attached to every other hinge between antenna panels, and to the unhinged ends of the antenna panels. Foldable longitudinal stiffening panels hinged between adjacent lateral stiffening panels. Each hinged connection includes a pair of thin spring elements, corresponding to a portion of a cylinder. The two spring elements of each hinge are spaced apart with their concave sides facing, and with the axes of the defining cylinder parallel. The hinge pivots, when the spring elements buckle, about a line orthogonal to a line extending between the cylinder axes. The hinges are used as the structural elements of self-deployable masts.