Development and operation of metal ribbon which acts like self deploying boom are described. Metal ribbon is retained on two rollers for storage and extends into nonretractable tubular structure upon release. Illustration of equipment is provided

Sours, W. P.

Tumulty, W. T.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

Spring 
September 1972	 B72-10574 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
Goddard Space Flight Center 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new technology derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
Commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
Service, Springfield, Virginia 22151. Requests for individual copies or questions relating to the Tech Brief program may 
be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Self-Deploying "Boom"
Storage
The problem: 
A "boom" consisting of a metal ribbon wound on a 
spool tends to unwind during storage and, in typical 
self-deploying mechanisms, cannot be retracted after 
deployment. 
The solution: 
A self-deploying boom mechanism prevents premature 
unwinding, permits controlled or total deployment, and 
allows the boom to be retracted. 
How it's done: 
The device uses two interacting cylindrical rollers. 
One roller serves as a storage spool upon which the boom 
is wound, and the other acts as a boom restraint (see 
figure). The cylinders are joined by a spring which main-
tains a constant pressure against the wound boom, to
keep it tightly wound on the storage spool during 
deployment. 
The boom, as stored on the cylinder, is flat, -b rut it is 
prestressed to curl into a cylinder on deployment. Upon 
winding, the two cylinders flatten the curled boom so 
it may be stored in the flat configuration. Seltoy-
ment is achieved by means of the stored energy of the 
wound boom element. 
This mechanism can be used to deploy two or more 
booms at the same time. For two booms, this is done by 
winding a boom on each roller, and the device works 
in essentially the same way as before. To deploy several 
booms, a number of rollers are arranged in a circle in a 
manner similar to a "sun and planetary" gear system.-
In this configuration, each storage spool interacts with a 
common restraint roller.
(continued overleaf) 
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	 information contained in this document, or warrants that such use Government nor any person acting on behalf of the United States
	 will be free from privately owned rights.
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19720000573 2020-03-17T03:35:49+00:00Z
Note: 
Requests for further information may be directed to 
Technology Utilization Office 
Goddard Space Flight Center 
Code 207.1 
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 
Reference: B72-10574
Patent status: 
This invention has been patented by NASA (U.S. 
Patent No. 3,608,844). Inquiries concerning non-exclu-
sive or exclusive license for its commercial development 
should be addressed to: 
Patent Counsel 
Goddard Space Flight Center 
Code 204 
Greenbelt, Maryland 20771 
Source: William T. Tumulty and Wayne P. Sours 
Goddard Space Flight Center
(GSC-1 0566) 
B72-10574	 Category 07


Self-deploying boom

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