Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Tether termination systems and methods
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Application No.: US14513119Application Date: 2014-10-13
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Publication No.: US09771925B2Publication Date: 2017-09-26
- Inventor: Bryan Christopher GilroySmith , Elias Wolfgang Patten , Brian Hachtmann
- Applicant: X Development LLC
- Applicant Address: US CA Mountain View
- Assignee: X Development LLC
- Current Assignee: X Development LLC
- Current Assignee Address: US CA Mountain View
- Agency: McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
- Main IPC: F03D80/00
- IPC: F03D80/00 ; F03D13/20 ; F03D9/25

Abstract:
An Airborne Wind Turbine (“AWT”) may be used to facilitate conversion of kinetic energy to electrical energy. An AWT may include an aerial vehicle that flies in a path to convert kinetic wind energy to electrical energy. The aerial vehicle may be tethered to a ground station with a tether that terminates at a tether termination mount. In one aspect, the tether has a core and at least one electrical conductor. The tether core may be terminated at a first location in a tether termination mount along an axis of the termination mount, and the at least one electrical conductor may be terminated at a second location in the tether termination mount along the same axis that the core is terminated. This termination configuration may focus tensile stress on the tether to the tether core, and minimize such stress on the at least one electrical conductor during aerial vehicle flight.
Public/Granted literature
- US20160102654A1 Tether Termination Systems and Methods Public/Granted day:2016-04-14
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