US 12,434,835 B1
Line climber for kite-based atmospheric profiling and remote sensing
Geoffrey L. Bland, Parksley, VA (US); Joseph Bretthauer, Silver Spring, MD (US); and Richard Craincross, Philadelphia, PA (US)
Assigned to United States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA, Washington, DC (US)
Filed by United States of America as represented by the Administrator of NASA, Washington, DC (US)
Filed on Oct. 24, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/383,192.
Int. Cl. B64C 31/06 (2020.01)
CPC B64C 31/06 (2013.01) 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A kite-based line climber apparatus for operating in changing wind conditions, where different windspeeds impact controlling a rate of ascent and descent, comprising:
a kite;
a fuselage;
a wing assembly connected to the fuselage;
an elevator assembly connected to the fuselage; and
a line attachment assembly comprising:
a pylon extending through and connected to the wing assembly;
one or more coupling members disposed on the pylon; and
wherein a kite line of the kite is configured to be coupled to the one or more coupling members to allow the line climber apparatus to traverse the kite line;
wherein the one or more coupling members comprise pulleys,
wherein the kite line is coupled to the pulleys and enable the line climber to traverse the kite line in two directions with the line attachment assembly with a first coupling member and a second coupling member, said first coupling member and said second coupling member operably connected to said pylon;
with said first coupling member and said second coupling member spaced apart from one another along said pylon, with said first coupling member disposed below a surface of the wing assembly and said second coupling member disposed above a surface of the wing assembly;
wherein each of said first and second coupling members each comprise a pin and stopper assembly with a hooked end and a shaft of the pin extends through corresponding openings in a bracket with a pulley disposed within the bracket, and the shaft of the pin extends through a corresponding opening in the pulley where the pulley is configured to rotate about the shaft of the pin within the bracket.