May 13 - The United States' Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted a patent to Aeros' cargo airship, the Aeroscraft.
US patent number 9,016,622 was awarded to Aeros for the aircraft's 'Flight System for a Constant Volume Variable Buoyancy Air Vehicle' with onboard 'Control of Static Heaviness' (COSH) management.
Aeros says that the receipt of this patent marks a game-changing advancement in the field of aviation.
The COSH technology overcomes the limitations of airships regarding the need for external ballast, and permits the aircraft type to engage in a broad set of missions including long-range, heavy lift cargo transport, Aeros added.
"Large capacity airships have long been a dream for cargo logistics flexibility, but impracticable, because if you offloaded 100 tonnes your helium-filled aircraft will float away if not first loaded with 100 tonnes of ballast at your pre-determined destination. Inefficient and limiting, this is why airships never transitioned into cargo airships," explained Igor Pasternak, inventor of COSH and ceo of Aeros.
The patent protects Aeros' technology for buoyancy management and flight principle allowing the Aeroscraft's vertical take off and landing (VTOL) capabilities at maximum payload without ballast requirements.
Aeros claims that the technology has been successfully demonstrated by an Aeroscraft prototype (see video below) and will allow the aircraft to operate as a lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle when flying, yet become heavier-than-air when needed to accommodate weight changes during payload removal, and support ground operations.
