US 12,071,262 B2
Refueling tool and system incorporating the refueling
Andrew Paul Turner, Burlington (CA); Tej Sachdev, Milton (CA); Andrew Scott Ogilvie, Toronto (CA); Natalie Panek, Calgary (CA); Steve Fisher, Schomberg (CA); Michael Honeybrown, Glen Williams (CA); Drew Alexander Grandy, Alliston (CA); and Victor Nifo, Whitby (CA)
Assigned to MACDONALD, DETTWILER AND ASSOCIATES INC., Brampton (CA)
Appl. No. 17/785,571
Filed by MACDONALD, DETTWILER AND ASSOCIATES INC., Brampton (CA)
PCT Filed Dec. 21, 2020, PCT No. PCT/CA2020/051779
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 15, 2022,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/119851, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 24, 2021.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/951,502, filed on Dec. 20, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0028104 A1, Jan. 26, 2023
Int. Cl. B64G 1/40 (2006.01); B64D 39/04 (2006.01); B64G 1/10 (2006.01); B64G 1/64 (2006.01); B64G 4/00 (2006.01)
CPC B64G 1/646 (2013.01) [B64D 39/04 (2013.01); B64G 1/1078 (2013.01); B64G 1/402 (2013.01); B64G 1/4024 (2023.08); B64G 2004/005 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method of transferring propellant from a servicer spacecraft to a client spacecraft, the servicer spacecraft including a robotic arm and a refueling tool being attachable to said robotic arm, said refueling tool having a refueling tool vision system which includes at least one camera, a rotatable wrench portion, an open architecture structure such that when the refueling tool is engaged with a fill/drain valve, a field of view of the camera encompasses the fill/drain valve being engaged and the rotatable wrench of said refueling tool and a coupling nut of a safety valve installed on the fill/drain valve, including strategically placed sensors on selected movable components of the refueling tool in order to sense a position of said selected movable components during a refueling operation, said client spacecraft including a tank and a fill drain valve coupled to said tank, said fill drain valve including a valve actuation nut for opening and closing said fill drain valve, said propellant being selected from the group consisting of fuel and oxidizer, the method comprising instructing the robotic arm to position the refueling tool to perform the steps of:
a. removing an access valve cap on said fill drain valve;
b. providing a sensed confirmation that said removal action has successfully occurred;
c. establishing a fluid connection between a safety valve and a source of propellant on the servicer spacecraft through a fluid line connected at one end thereof to said source of propellant;
d. providing a sensed confirmation that said connection has been established;
e. attaching said safety valve to said fill drain valve to provide a safe fluid coupling permitting one-way fluid flow into said fill drain valve;
f. providing a sensed confirmation that said safety valve has been installed;
g. opening said fill drain valve by actuating said valve actuation nut;
h. providing sensed confirmation that said actuation nut has been actuated; and
i. transferring the propellant into said tank through said safety valve; and
wherein providing sensed confirmation is accomplished using a combination of feedback provided by real-time visual images from said refueling tool vision system and concurrently real-time feedback from sensors placed on components of the refueling tool to sense a position of movable components on both the servicer spacecraft and client spacecraft engaged by the refueling tool at every step of a refueling operation.