US 12,270,632 B1
Deployable flap for high-G maneuvers
Glenn Richard Thoren, Chelmsford, MA (US); William Whitcomb McFarland, Waltham, MA (US); Rebecca Ann DeFronzo, Salem, MA (US); Stephen Louis Bellio, Newton, MA (US); Jesse M. Carr, Cambridge, MA (US); Jeffery Brandon DeLisio, Arlington, MA (US); Gregory M. Fritz, Acton, MA (US); and Sean George, Boston, MA (US)
Assigned to The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, MD (US)
Filed by THE CHARLES STARK DRAPER LABORATORY, INC., Cambridge, MA (US)
Filed on Jun. 5, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/329,274.
Application 18/329,274 is a division of application No. 16/399,453, filed on Apr. 30, 2019, granted, now 11,754,378.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/664,825, filed on Apr. 30, 2018.
Int. Cl. F42B 10/14 (2006.01)
CPC F42B 10/14 (2013.01) 21 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A tail for a projectile, the tail comprising:
a body having a longitudinal axis and a frustoconical surface;
a steering assembly secured to the body, including:
a fixed flap having an inclined surface defined at a constant angle with respect to the frustoconical surface, the inclined surface extending from flush with the body at one end along the longitudinal axis of the body, and raised radially with respect to the body at another end, the fixed flap defining a recess therein;
a deployable flap movable from a first position seated in the recess of the fixed flap in which the deployable flap does not extend radially beyond the inclined surface of the fixed flap to a second position in which the deployable flap extends radially beyond the inclined surface of the fixed flap and at an angle relative to the longitudinal axis, the deployable flap connected to the fixed flap via a hinge, a first end of the deployable flap being forward of the hinge relative to the longitudinal axis in the first position and, in the second position, the first end being rearward of the hinge and not extending beyond a rear end of the projectile; and
a flap release mechanism,
wherein an aft clearance portion is located rearward of the deployable flap along the longitudinal axis, the aft clearance portion spanning at least the width of a second end of the deployable flap, opposite to the first end.