US 7,595,760 B2
Airship mounted array
Jar J. Lee, Irvine, Calif. (US); Clifton Quan, Arcadia, Calif. (US); and Stanley W. Livingston, Fullerton, Calif. (US)
Assigned to Raytheon Company, Waltham, Mass. (US)
Filed on Aug. 04, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/499,593.
Prior Publication US 2008/0030413 A1, Feb. 07, 2008
Int. Cl. H01Q 1/28 (2006.01); H01Q 19/06 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 343—708  [343/754] 23 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A space-fed conformal array for a high altitude airship including an inflatable skin, comprising:
a primary array lens assembly configured for conformal mounting to a non-planar airship surface, said surface including said inflatable skin, said lens assembly comprising a first set of radiator elements and a second set of radiator elements, the first set and the second set being spaced apart by a spacing distance, the first set facing outwardly from the airship surface to form a radiating aperture, the second set facing inwardly toward an inner space of the airship; and
a feed array spaced from the second set of radiators and arranged to illuminate the second set of radiators, the feed array comprising a plurality of rows of radiating elements to produce a feed pattern in an elevation plane, each row including a plurality of radiating elements, and having a longitudinal extent along a longitudinal extent of the primary array lens assembly.