Multipurpose airship and set of airships

Abstract

The invention relates to a multipurpose airship and, more particularly, to a hybrid dirigible. The airship comprises a body (2) having a parallelepiped shape and docking means (8) comprising four rods connected by a frame and designed to be extractable from the body (2), the ends of these rods being provided each with at least one vacuum cup for adhering to a substantially vertical surface of a building. The docking means (8) are provided with grips adapted to engage with the docking means (8) of another airship of the same design. The invention also relates to a set of airships including at least two said airships. The proposed airship does not require a lot of space for its takeoff and provides fast and secure evacuation of people from tower buildings. In addition, the invention provides the possibility of varying the airship payload directly in flight depending of specific needs.

Claims

1. An airship using the lifting force of a buoyant gas, comprising a rigid body, balloons designed to be filled with a buoyant gas, controls for controlling the airship, a cargo compartment for accommodating cargo and passengers, engines, and means for docking with external objects, wherein said airship is a hybrid dirigible with its body having a parallelepiped shape, the cargo compartment being arranged transversely to the body, so that its end faces adjoin the side walls of the body, the docking means being mounted on each of the side walls of the airship around the end face of the cargo compartment and including four rods connected by a frame and designed to be extractable from the body, the ends of these rods being provided each with at least one vacuum cup for adhering to a substantially vertical surface of a building, the docking means being provided with grips adapted to engage with the docking means of another airship of the same design, the engines ensuring the possibility of moving the airship both in horizontal and vertical directions.

2. The airship according to claim 1, wherein at least two grips of the docking means are secured on the lower portion of the frame of the airship docking means, and at least one grip of the docking means is secured on each lateral portion of the frame of the airship docking means.

3. The airship according to claim 1, wherein the ends of each rod are provided with at least two vacuum cups, wherein the orientation of the vacuum cups can be changed depending on the curvature of the docking surface.

4. The airship according to claim 1, wherein the airship comprises at least seven engines.

5. The airship according to claim 4, wherein the engines are electric type engines.

6. The airship according to claim 5, wherein the engines are reversible and spark-proof.

7. The airship according to claim 1, wherein the buoyant gas is helium.

8. The airship according to claim 1, wherein the airship includes at least two pilot's cabins accommodating the airship controls.

9. The airship according to claim 8, wherein the airship includes four pilot's cabins, one pilot's cabin being placed at each side and end (6) wall.

10. The airship according to claim 1, wherein the airship includes at least one portable control console comprising the airship controls.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a dirigible implemented according to the first aspect of the claimed invention; and

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a set of modular dirigibles according to the second aspect of the invention, which set is docked to a substantially vertical surface of the high-rise building.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the airship designed according to the invention.

(5) This airship 1 is a dirigible having a rigid body 2 of a parallelepipedal shape accommodating the airship' controls, such as e.g. pilot's cabin (not shown), a cargo compartment 3, and balloons designed to be filled with buoyant gas, such as helium (not shown). There are also provided containers for storing buoyant gas under pressure that are located on a service deck 4 provided in the lower part of the airship body. In addition, installed on the same deck are compressors serving for pumping buoyant gas into the balloons and sucking it from the balloons in order to regulate the airship payload, as well as other mechanisms and facilities necessary to the operation of the airship.

(6) It is preferable that the airship is provided with spare containers for storing buoyant gas to be mounted on the same service deck 4. The necessity of these spare containers is due to the fact that the pressure of buoyant gas contained in the balloons changes during the use of the dirigible owing e.g. to the gas diffusion through the shells of the balloons, so that it might be necessary to feed the balloons with an additional volume of gas. Furthermore, when maneuvering the airship, it may become necessary to suck some quantity of gas from the balloons.

(7) The airship body has dimensions (widthlengthheight) of about 8158 m, but these values are not limiting. The body has two side walls 5 extending along the longitudinal axis of the parallelepiped and two end walls 6 extending along the transverse axis thereof.

(8) The body 1 accommodates also engines allowing the airship to move in the directions up/down, forth/back, and right/left. The dirigible is equipped with at least seven engines.

(9) Among said engines, at least one engine, which ensures the airship's up-and-down movements, is located in each of four vertical holes arranged at the corners of the airship's body; at least one engine, which ensures right-and-left movements, is located in each of two transverse holes arranged in the front and rear parts of the service deck; and at least one engine, which ensures forth-and-back movements, is mounted inside a longitudinal hole provided in the middle of the service deck.

(10) Each of the holes contains advantageously two engines that operate jointly.

(11) The engines used are preferably of the electric type, all of them being made reversible and spark-proof.

(12) The airship's controls may be arranged in the pilot's cabin. In this case, the dirigible must be equipped with at least two pilot's cabins, one of which will be adjacent to the end wall 6 of the body 2 and the other cabin to its side wall 5. The pilot's cabins have each a windshield to give a good visibility for the pilot. By arranging the pilot's cabins near the end and side walls, it becomes possible to pilot the airship in different directions, depending upon the current conditions or the configuration of the set of airships.

(13) The airship may be equipped with four pilot's cabins arranged near each of the side walls 5 and end walls 6 of the body.

(14) Alternatively, the airship may be provided with portable control consoles that may be moved as necessary toward one of the side or end walls.

(15) The balloons to be filled with buoyant gas are secured at one end on the upper inner surface of the body 2 and at the other end on the upper surface of the service deck 4, these balloons being provided, at the point of securing to the service deck, with valves for admission and discharge of the buoyant gas.

(16) The cargo compartment 3 is arranged transversely to the body 2 and preferably has, as well, a parallelepiped shape, so that its end faces 7 adjoin the side walls of the body 2. A possibility is provided of opening the end faces 7 of the cargo compartment to form through apertures, as well as that of their closing over the plane of the side wall 5 of the body 2.

(17) The shape of the cargo compartment may be also other than parallelepipedal.

(18) In accordance with the invention, the airship 1 is provided with docking means 8 that include both means allowing the airship to be brought in contact with the building surface and means for connecting it with another dirigible of a same design in order to form a scalable set of airships.

(19) The docking means 8 are preferably made in the form of four rods connected by a frame and implemented to be extractable from the body 2, the ends of these rods being provided each with at least one vacuum cup for adhering to a substantially vertical surface of the building. These docking means 8 are provided with grips adapted to engage with the docking means 8 of another airship of a same design. At least two of these grips of the docking means are secured on the lower portion of the frame of the airship docking means 8, and at least one grip of the docking means 8 is secured on each lateral portion of the frame of the airship docking means.

(20) The number of vacuum cups present on each rod may be different. Thus, each rod may support a single cup or several cups. In case where several cups are mounted on the ends of each rod, their relative orientation will be varied depending on the curvature of the docking surface, i.e. of the building wall. Such a variation of the orientation is carried out automatically under command of an automated system controlling the docking process.

(21) When an emergency or a fire arises in a high-rise building, the dirigible 1 is brought to the required height toward the area of the building from which people or cargoes should be evacuated.

(22) It is to emphasize that under minimal load, the airship under consideration possesses a positive buoyancy. By a minimal load is meant that only the rescue crew and equipment needed to carry out the rescue operation are present aboard the airship. This minimal load may equal about 500 kg. With such positive buoyancy, the airship is capable of reaching the required height, substantially of up to two kilometers, and of moving at this height toward the site of rescue operations.

(23) After the airship is positioned in the desired location, the operation proceeds to its docking with the vertical surface of the building. To this end, it is necessary to actuate the first docking means 8 by extracting from the body 2 the rods having vacuum cups on their ends, which cups have to be adhered directly to the surface of the building wall as shown in FIG. 2.

(24) Upon successful completion of docking with the building wall, the rods are re-entered into the airship's body 2, such that the airship, connected by means of the vacuum cups to the building surface, is closely approached thereto.

(25) Thereafter, it is necessary to open the entrance to the cargo compartment on the side wall 5 of the body 2, thus forming a passageway through which people can pass from the distressed building into the dirigible.

(26) When the airship's load is increased owing to the appearance of evacuated persons and/or cargoes, the airship acquires a negative buoyancy. In these conditions, it may be maintained at the required height due to the operation of the engines, which allow it to move up and down. The same engines permit the descent of the loaded airship after it has reached the destination area. This obviates the necessity to ballast the airship for its descent, as well as the requirement for a mooring mast and mooring crew.

(27) In the course of the rescue operation, it may become necessary to have additional means used traditionally when extinguishing fires or to deliver to the rescue area more rescuers, firefighters or medical personnel. Besides, it may become necessary to increase the airship payload during the rescue operation, e.g. to evacuate more people or cargoes from the building.

(28) In these cases, the dirigible object of the invention may be added with another dirigible of a similar design. The connection of an additional airship, that is to say docking between two airships, is carried out using the grips forming part of the docking means 8 that are located on the frame, connecting between them the extractable rods of the docking means 8.

(29) At least two grips of the docking means 8 are secured on the lower portion of the frame of the docking means 8, and at least one grip of the docking means 8 is secured on each lateral portion of the frame of the airship's docking means 8.

(30) When carrying out such docking between two airships, the docking means 8 of both airships are extracted, after which one proceeds to engage the grips of the docking means 8 of the second airship with the frame of the docking means 8 of the first airship. After completion of the engagement, the docking means 8 of each airship are re-entered into the body 2 while leaving a certain minimal distance between two docked dirigibles. Thereafter, the entrances to the cargo-and-passenger compartments 3 on the side walls 5 of the bodies 2 of both airships are opened, thus creating a passageway through which people can pass from one airship into another.

(31) When docked in this way, the two dirigibles constitute a set of airships having a common control system. This set is controlled from the lead airship. It is preferable that the control signals coming from the first airship to the second and the next ones are transmitted by means of a cable communication system, whose setup is carried out after completion of docking between two airships. It is also possible to implement a wireless communication between two airships. However, in emergency conditions, e.g. in case of fire, such a communication would be less effective owing to eventual distortions of control signals under high temperatures.

(32) The next airships may be connected to the set obtained in the similar way. Upon completing the evacuation works, one disconnects the set of airships from the building (to this end, it is necessary to undock from the building the first, or lead, dirigible), after which the entire set 10 may be moved toward the area of destination under the control of the first airship.

(33) The passenger capacity of one airship according to the invention is about twenty to forty people, but it may vary depending on the design features of each particular airship.

(34) The above-described principle of operation of the airship of the invention is also applicable in case where the airship, or a set of airships, is used not for urgently evacuating people but, e.g., for transferring cargoes from high-rise buildings.

(35) While the above-described airship is mainly intended to be used for evacuation purposes, it is also possible to employ it for transporting people and cargoes under normal conditions, as a dirigible of conventional design.