Maximum Strength, Reduce Weight Telescoping Mast with Interlocking Structural Elements

Abstract

A telescoping mast for deploying, retracting and securing a payload of equipment. The mast is formulated using advantaged geometry and comprises interlocking support legs and relatively lightweight skins mounted between the support legs as its base structure. In addition, some embodiments of the disclosed apparatus provide a secure channel through the mast for cables necessary for the operation of equipment mounted in a payload. Still further, some embodiments of the disclosed apparatus provide a wire rope and pulley system to raise and lower the mast and include structural flexibility to enable the telescoping mast to be used at various intermediate heights in between full extension and fully retracted.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from United States provisional application entitled “Telescoping Mast with Embedded Payload”, Ser. No. 61/851,251, filed 5 Mar. 2013, which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed apparatus relates to masts for mounting electronic and electrical equipment, and more particularly to telescoping masts for mounting electrical and electronic equipment.

BACKGROUND

In some cases, it is advantageous to mount electrical and/or electronic equipment at relatively high elevations. Deploying such equipment in a location where it will operate best can be a challenge. Especially with equipment such as cameras, radios, radar antennas and lighting equipment that performs best when deployed at a relatively high elevation over an area from which information is to be gathered, lighting is to be provided, or signals are to be transmitted and received. Often times, such equipment is mounted on a telescoping mast to elevate the equipment, known as a payload, to provide optimal operational effectiveness.

In some cases, the mast is mounted in or on a vehicle or on a trailer to allow the equipment to be mobile. In cases in which the equipment must be elevated during operation, it is frequently desired for the mast to place the payload at different heights, for optimal operational use. In some cases, the mast is deployed when the vehicle is stationary. The mast may be quickly lowered prior to vehicle repositioning and then quickly extended to redeploy the equipment. In other operational situations it is highly desirable that the vehicle is in motion while the telescoping mast is deployed at the desired height. The structural integrity of the mast is key to successfully operating on-the-move, especially when the mast payload has substantial weight or mast extension is multiples of its stowed height.

There are several mechanisms for raising and lowering telescoping masts. One method uses pneumatic systems that use concentric tubes that fit snuggly one inside another and use air pressure to cause the concentric tubes to elevate a payload of equipment. Such systems require an airtight seal within the mast and between the telescoping sections to ensure that the air pressure developed within the mast will cause the heavy contents of the payload at the top of the mast to rise. Another method is to use an electric motor (or motors) to lift and lower the telescoping sections with one or more forms of mechanical lifting mechanisms, such as gears, lead screws, linear actuators, or wire cabling with pulleys.

The rugged environment in which such equipment must be deployed can create additional challenges. In some cases, the equipment may be subjected to physical or environmental danger if left exposed. For example, it may be necessary to deploy equipment in a combat zone or other hostile environment. Electronic equipment payloads require power and usually some form of control signals for the equipment to function. Cabling is used to interconnect the payload to the primary equipment which is typically located at or near the base of the mast. These cables can be exposed to environmentally hostile conditions and become a point of failure unless the cabling is protected within the structure of the telescoping mast.

Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a stable and secure telescoping mast that deploys into a hostile environment from within a secure environment and which can be retracted back into the secure environment quickly and efficiently without the need for personnel to place themselves at risk by attaching and detaching payload equipment during deployment. It would also be desirable for the cables and wires that support the equipment mounted atop the mast to be secured both during operation of the equipment and upon retracting the mast.

Accordingly, there is presently a need for a telescoping mast system that can be quickly and easily deployed and retracted at various operational heights and operate while the vehicle is on-the-move, that secures the equipment when the equipment is not deployed without the need for personnel to place themselves at risk, and that secures the cables and wires associated with the payload equipment when deployed and stowed.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the disclosed apparatus for deploying, retracting, and securing a payload of equipment are presented. Some of these embodiments are directed toward systems having interlocking structural elements, herein referred to as support legs and relatively lightweight skins mounted between the support legs. In addition, some embodiments of the disclosed apparatus provide a secure channel through which the mast cables necessary for the operation of the equipment can be routed. Further, some embodiments of the disclosed apparatus provide a non-locking lift mechanism that enables operating the telescoping sections at any desired height. Still further embodiments provide a wire rope and serpentine pulley system to raise and lower the mast with advantages in deploying the payload at arbitrary telescoping heights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The disclosed apparatus, in accordance with one or more embodiments, is described with reference to the following figures. The drawings are provided for purposes of illustration only and merely depict examples of some embodiments of the disclosed apparatus. These drawings are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the disclosed apparatus. They should not be considered to limit the breadth, scope, or applicability of the claimed invention. It should be noted that for clarity and ease of illustration these drawings are not necessarily made to scale.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of a fully deployed mast in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the mast shown in the fully retracted state.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a top view of a mast.

FIG. 4 is a top view of vertically adjacent interlocked support legs in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a mast comprising two support legs and two skins.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a hexagonal mast.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of the concept in accordance with one embodiment of a wire rope and pulley system.

FIG. 8 is a view looking down into an octagonal mast section that is broken away at the bottom.

FIG. 9 is a view looking up into an octagonal mast section that is broken away at the top.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus in which the mast is being deployed using the wire rope and pulley system of FIG. 7.

The figures are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the claimed invention to the precise form disclosed. It should be understood that the disclosed apparatus can be practiced with modification and alteration, and that the invention should be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an illustration of one embodiment of a fully deployed mast 100. In one example of the disclosed apparatus, the mast 100 comprises an outer mast section 102, a plurality of intermediate sections 106 and an inner mast section 108. The plurality of intermediate sections 106 and the inner section 108 allow the mast 100 to extend to a desired height. Deploying the mast 100 allows the payload 104 to be elevated to a desired height. In one embodiment, the mast 100 has a base (not shown) that allows the mast 100 to be firmly fixed to a vehicle. In an alternative embodiment, the mast may be mounted in a stationary location.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of the mast 100 shown in the fully retracted state. The inner mast section 108 (not visible in FIG. 2) and each of the intermediate mast sections 106 (not visible in FIG. 2) nest within one another and fit within the outer mast section 102 (as will be best seen in FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 is an illustration of a top view of one embodiment of the mast 100. Each mast section 102, 106, 108 comprises four support legs 201 (two of which can be seen in FIG. 2) and four outer skins 203 (two of which can be seen in FIG. 2) forming an octagonal outer perimeter to the mast 100. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the support legs 201 are relatively narrow and have essentially the same dimensions for each of the mast sections 102, 106, 108. Accordingly, the support legs 201 can all be produced using the same process (such as extrusion). In contrast, the outer skins 203 are relatively thin, light, and wide. In addition, those outer skins 203 closer to the bottom of the mast 100 are wider than those closer to the top of the mast 100. In an alternative embodiment, the support legs 201 associated with one mast section can have different dimension than the support legs 201 of other mast sections. For example, the support legs 201 that are used in higher mast sections can be thinner than the support legs 201 used in lower mast sections, or otherwise smaller to reduce the weight of the upper sections of the mast.

Making the outer skins 203 relatively thin increases the interior space within the mast 100. In embodiments in which a payload 104 is stowed within the mast 100 when fully retracted, this additional space can be of value.

The octagonal shape forms four channels for the routing of the power and signal cables required by electronic payloads (i.e., payload cables). That is, each mast section 102, 106, 108 has at least one channel that runs through the mast section to allow cables to run from the outer mast section 108 to the inner mast section 102. The channels are formed between the vertically adjacent skins 203. Routing the cables through the channels protects the cables from damaging forces external to the mast structure and facilitates protection from the environmental (sun, rain, snow, hail, etc.). In addition, running the cables through the channels prevents the cables from becoming entangled with one another and with the external environment.

As further described below, the disclosed mast 100 can be deployed to any height between the fully retracted state and the fully deployed state. This is possible because the sections 102, 106, 108 do not need to be fully extended to be secured. Nor do the sections 102, 106, 108 need to be locked to one a vertically adjacent section (in the vertical axis of the mast) in order to achieve optimal structural integrity. This provides flexibility in the operation of the payload and further allows the payload be positioned at optimal height as determined by the payload electronics operator. Therefore, in addition to allowing the mast 100 to successfully withstand harsh environments, the disclosed structure also allows the mast 100 to remain structurally sound during on-the-move vehicle operations over rough road conditions and off-road terrain. This includes, but is not limited to, having the mast 100 mounted and extended to full height in a vehicle traversing rough terrain at a specified top speed and at specified lower (partial deployment) heights when it is desirable to traverse rough terrain at higher speeds.

FIG. 4 is a top detailed view of adjacent interlocked support legs 201 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus. (FIG. 3 illustrates these support legs in context with the remaining mast structure.) Six vertically adjacent interlocked support legs 201a-201f are shown, and in other embodiments more or fewer adjacent support legs may be present. Each support leg 201 has an interlocking section 401. In one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the interlocking section 401 is an essentially S-shaped structure at one end and a reverse S-shaped structure at the other end. In one such embodiment, the interlocking section 401 has a protrusion 403 from the inner surface 404 of the support leg 201 and an outwardly curling end that forms a hook 407. In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the interlocking section 401 runs the entire length of the support leg 201 on both sides. The length of the leg forms the vertical height of one mast section. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that other shapes, including, but not limited to U-shaped, C-shaped and other variations of the interlocking section are within the scope of the disclosed apparatus.

A flat skin mounting area 409 is provided at each end of the support leg 201 to facilitate mounting the outer skins 203 (not shown in FIG. 4) to the support legs 201. In one embodiment, tapped screw holes 410 are provided on the mounting area 409 to facilitate mounting the skins 203 to the support legs 201, as will be discussed in greater detail below in connection with the discussion of FIGS. 8 and 9. The interlocking section 401 secures each support leg 201, such as support leg 201b, to each vertically adjacent support leg 201a, 201c in a manner that allows each support leg 201, such as support leg 201b to slide axially past each of the vertically adjacent support legs 201a, 201c and thus extend the mast 100 to full height. In a typical deployment, the support legs 201 would slide past one another in order from the inner most support leg 201f to the outer most support leg 201a, with the support leg 201f that is on the inside getting to full extension before the next outer vertically adjacent supporter leg 201e begins moving. A more detailed description of the deployment mechanisms is provided below.

In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the central portion of the support leg 201 that lies between the interlocking section 401 is thinner than that portion of the support leg 201 that makes up the interlocking section 401. This reduces the weight of the support leg 201, while providing sufficient strength to the interlocking section 401 responsible for interlocking each support leg 201 to the adjacent support leg 201. Alternative embodiments may have material removed (e.g., holes) from non-critical areas of the leg structure to reduce weight while maintaining needed structural strength.

The protrusion 403a from the inner surface 404a and the hook 407b interlock. As such, the protrusion 403a from the inner surface 404a engages the hook 407b of a vertically adjacent support leg 201b and thus securely interlocks the first support leg 201a to the vertically adjacent support leg 201b.

The protrusions 403a of the support leg 201a are partially enclosed by a covering 405a. The coverings 405a ensure the protrusions 403a fit securely into the hook 407b of the adjacent support leg 201b. In one embodiment, the covering 405 is fabricated from a polyethylene material that is durable and provides a smooth interface between adjacent support legs 201 to allow the adjacent support legs 201 to slide along a longitudinal axis and thus allow the mast 100 to smoothly deploy. In addition, the coverings 405 are replaceable, enabling the mast 100 to be refurbished to extend the life of the mast 100. In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, when operating in a harsh environment, debris, such as sand or pebbles, can lodge between the elements of the support legs 201. The coverings 405 are resilient and can conform to absorb the debris. Thus, the coverings 405 allow relatively smooth extension and retraction of the mast 100 until service can be performed to remove the debris, if necessary.

The support legs 201, once interlocked and fully engaged with one another can only slide axially in the direction of the mast actuation, minimizing all lateral movements. Each support leg 201 is structurally rigid in all directions, resulting in an overall mast structure that is strong and rigid. The size of the support legs 201 are scalable in all three dimensions, yielding a fully scalable skeleton for the mast 100. This structure allows production of a telescoping mast of various physical shapes, sizes and load bearing capacities. No locking or additional engagement between the sections is required to sustain structural rigidity of the mast.

In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the shape of the support legs 201 lend themselves to being extruded from metal or composite material, such as aluminum, stainless steel, titanium or any other appropriate material, including composite materials. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that the particular material selected will depend upon the particular needs and requirements for the mast 100, as well as cost considerations. Likewise, in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the coverings 405 are extruded from a particular material selected to meet the particular requirements for the mast 100 being constructed, such as Teflon, a polymer, a polyethylene or other such plastic.

The octagon shape of the mast 100 decreases the structural weight when compared with a square or cylindrical shaped mast by decreasing the material needed. Compared with square masts, the octagon shape also provides additional aerodynamic advantages and results in a reduced radar cross section. Furthermore, the octagonal shape provides the necessary lateral structural strength in multiple axes to enable the mast 100 to operate on sloped inclines. The advantages provided by this shape can also be realized in a hexagonal cross-section, having either 2 or 4 support legs and either 2 or 4 cable channels for containing payload cabling respectively as presented in FIG. 6. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the mast sections of the presently disclosed apparatus can be provided in other configurations, including mast sections with one support leg and one outer skin. In this case, both the support leg and the outer skin are generally C-shaped. Alternatively other numbers of support legs and outer skins can be used to form the mast sections.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a mast 500 utilizing a hexagonal shape comprising two support legs 501 and four skins 503.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a hexagonal mast 500. The support legs 501 and skins 503 have hexagonal cross section, as is best seen from viewing FIG. 6. The support legs 501 are essentially the same as the support legs 201 described above. However, the skins 503 are essentially V-shaped to create an essentially hexagonal cross section. A payload 505 is show mounted on the mast 500. In an alternative embodiment, the skins are essentially U-shaped.

FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration of the concept used by one embodiment of a wire rope and pulley system. In accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the mast 100, 500 is deployed (i.e., each section is elevated into the fully extended position) by means of the wire rope and pulley system 700. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the actual mounting and placement of the pulleys 704, 706 is not shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a view looking down into an octagonal mast section that is broken away at the bottom. FIG. 8 provides additional detail regarding the mounting and placement of the upper pulleys 704 and the mounting of the skins 203 to support legs 201.

FIG. 9 is a view looking up into an octagonal mast section that is broken away at the top. FIG. 9 provides additional detail regarding the mounting and placement of the lower pulleys 706 and the mounting of the skins 203 to the support legs 201.

Referring now to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, one continuous wire rope 702 is threaded through a series of upper pulleys 704a-704e and lower pulleys 706a-706e for each set of vertically adjacent support legs 201a-201f. Those skilled in the art will understand that the term “wire rope” is defined to mean any generally flexible, elongated rope, cord, cable, string, or other such single or multi-stranded structure that is capable of transmitting and redirecting a force along a line which may curve through the pulleys to redirect the force exerted at one to the other end of the wire rope. Accordingly, the particular material used to fabricate the wire rope is not relevant to the disclosed apparatus, providing the wire rope is sufficient resilient, strong, and flexible to accomplish the task described herein. Two such sets of six vertically adjacent support legs 201a-201f are shown in FIG. 7. The wire rope is shown in FIG. 7 with a dashed line to distinguish it from the support legs 706. In one embodiment, the pulleys 704, 706 are shown mounted on the support legs, however, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments are possible in which the pulleys are mounted more generally on the mast sections of a telescoping mast.

In one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the wire rope 702 is terminated on one end (i.e., the distal end) at a tie down point 710 at, or near, the bottom of the inner most support leg 201f. The wire rope 702 is then routed up between the outer surface 712f of the support leg 201f and the inner surface 714e of the support leg 201e to a pulley 704e at the top of the support leg 201e. The wire rope 702 is then captured by the pulley 704e and redirected downward. The wire rope 702 continues downward between the outer surface 712f of the support leg 201f and the inner surface 714e of the support leg 201e to a pulley 706e at the bottom of the support leg 201e. The pulley 706e is mounted on a bracket 901 (shown in FIG. 9) to position the pulley 706e within an opening 716e. The pulley 706e redirects the wire rope 702 through the opening 716e in the support leg 201e and back up to a pulley 704d near the top of the support leg 201d. This looping from upper pulley 704 to lower pulley 706 continues in a serpentine fashion through each pulley mounted to one of the support legs within the same set of vertically adjacent support legs.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus in which the mast 100 is being deployed using the wire rope and pulley system of FIG. 7. The proximal end of the wire rope 702 (i.e., the end opposite to the distal end) is routed to a take up mechanism, such as a take up reel of a winch or other such device (not shown). In accordance with one embodiment, the wire rope 702 is routed to the take up reel by a lower pulley 706a. Alternatively, the wire rope 702 is directly routed from the upper pulley 704a to the take up reel. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that any of a wide variety of take up mechanisms may be employed to take up the wire rope 702. In one embodiment in which a winch is used, when the winch is activated to take up the wire rope 702, tension will be exerted along the wire rope 702 as the wire rope 702 between the take up reel and the tie down point 710 shortens. Assuming that the wire rope and pulley system of FIG. 7-FIG. 10 is implemented in the mast 100 of FIG. 1, the support legs and associated mast sections 102, 106, 108 will rise as follows.

The tension caused by shortening of the wire rope 702 will cause the inner mast section 108 (see FIG. 1) of the mast 100 to rise first, which is highly desirable when immediate operation of the payload is desired during partial mast extensions. The inner mast section will rise first since the length of wire rope 702 between the tie down point 710 and the upper pulley 704e will be least resistive to the urge to shorten, since the inner mast section 108 is the least amount of work that can be completed. Accordingly, as the overall length of the wire rope 702 shortens due to the winch pulling in wire rope 702 on the take up reel, the length 1001 between the tie down point 710 and the upper pulley 704e will shorten causing the support leg 201f to rise. The support leg 201f is mounted as an integral part of the inner mast section 108. Therefore, the inner mast section 108 will rise.

Once the inner mast section 108 rises to full height, a lower block 718 (see FIG. 7, not shown in FIG. 10) mounted to the support leg 201f, will come into contact with an upper block 801 (see FIG. 8, not shown in FIG. 7 or FIG. 10) mounted on the next outer vertically adjacent support leg 201e to restrain further travel of the inner mast section 108. In accordance with one embodiment, the lower and upper blocks are brackets to which the upper and lower pulleys 704, 706 are respectively mounted. In one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the travel of the inner mast section 108 will be restrained at a point that ensures that there is approximately 11 inches of overlap 1007 between the support leg 201f and the vertically adjacent support leg 201e. It can be seen from FIG. 7 that there is no lower pulley 706 mounted in the opening 716 of the support leg 201f. However, a block 718 is mounted to the support leg 201f to stop the support leg 201f from rising beyond a predetermined point of travel (e.g., the point at which there is approximately 11 inches of overlap between the adjacent support legs).

Once the inner mast section 108 has reached full height and the block 718 comes into contact with the block 801, the mast section 106 adjacent to the inner mast section 108 will begin to rise. That is, as the winch continues to reel in the wire rope 702, the wire rope will continue to shorten. When the inner mast section 108 can no longer rise, the length of wire rope 702 between the lower pulley 716e and the upper pulley 704d will be the next length that will shorten in response to the overall shortening of the wire rope 702. This will in turn cause the support leg 201e to rise until the bracket 901 (see FIG. 9) near the bottom of the support leg 201e comes into contact with the block 801 on the vertically adjacent support leg 201d. This process will continue until each mast section 108, 106 has risen in turn. As shown in FIG. 10, it is possible to securely stop the mast at any point along the full travel. In particular, the mast 100 is shown in a partial deployment position with the overlap 1009 being far greater than the mast section 201d would travel to full extension.

It should be noted that the interlocking sections 401 (shown in FIG. 4) provides sufficient stability to allow the mast sections 106, 108 to rise without the need for any further stabilization or locking of the support legs 201 or the mast section 106, 108 generally. This enables the mast 100 to be deployed to any height between the fully retracted position and the fully deployed position. Simply stopping the winch that pulls the wire rope will cause the mast to remain firmly in place at whatever height is desired.

It should further be noted that multiple independent wire ropes that can each be used alone or in combination to both hoist the mast 100 and to maintain the mast 100 in a desired position. These wire ropes 702 can be actuated together by a single motor (not shown), or run independently by a plurality of motors. In one embodiment in which independent motors are used, the motors are calibrated to ensure that they remain synchronized, thus pulling the same length of wire rope at the same rate to ensure that none of the wire ropes 702 becomes slack and dividing the tension equally among the wire ropes 702. In one alternative embodiment, only two wire ropes are used, one in each of two of the opposing support legs 201. That is, pulleys and wire ropes are installed in only two of the four support legs 201. It should be clear that any combination of one or more of the four wire rope and pulley systems can be implemented. Additional wire rope systems can be implemented for redundancy. Alternatively, fewer wire rope systems can be implemented to reduce the cost and weight of the overall mast 100.

Once deployed, the mast 100 can be retracted by simply uncoiling the wire rope 702 from the take up reel of the winch. The weight of the mast 100 and payload provides sufficient drive to ensure the steady retraction of the mast 100. Nonetheless, in some embodiments, a retraction wire rope (not shown) is provided to ensure that the mast 100 retracts smoothly and rapidly under all conditions. Such a retraction wire rope can be run directly from the top of the inner mast section 108 to a take up reel (not shown) of a retraction winch (not shown). It should be noted that in the event of a catastrophic failure (e.g., the wire rope 702 breaks), the mast 100 will fall at a constantly braked rate as a result of the gearmotors being backdriven. Additionally, the speed decreases as the mast retracts due to the reduction in the weight of the mast as each section comes to rest in its fully retracted state.

FIG. 8 provides additional details regarding the mounting of the skins 201 to the support legs 201 in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus. Each skin 201 is mounted to two horizontally adjacent support legs 201. Each group of horizontally adjacent support legs 201 and the horizontally adjacent skins mounted thereon form a mast section 102, 106, 108. For the sake of brevity, the mounting of only one skin 201 to one support leg 201 is discussed in detail herein. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand how each other skin 201 and support leg 201 are connected.

As noted above, a flat skin mounting area 409 (see FIG. 4) is provided at each end of the support leg 201 to facilitate mounting the outer skins 203 (not shown in FIG. 4, see FIGS. 2, 3 and 8) to the support legs 201. Tapped screw holes 410 in the mounting area 409 provide a means by which the skins 203 can be secured to the support legs 201. Screws 803 are inserted through a through hole in the skins 203 and captured within the tapped screw holes 410. In addition, to add additional structural support to the mast section 104, 106, 108, an upper L-bracket 805 is mounted by additional screws to the top of each skin 203. Finally, a section top cap 807 is mounted across the top of the support leg 201 and extends inwardly. The section top cap also mounts over the L-brackets 805 of the two horizontally adjacent skins 203. Screw holes 413 tapped into the top of the support legs 201 in three places on each side of the support leg 201 provide a means to secure the section top cap 807 to the support leg 201. Only three such holes 413 are shown. However, it will be understood that such holes 413 are similarly placed in each of the interlocking sections 401. Screws 809 placed through the section top cap are captured by the L-bracket 805, thus providing additional connection between the support leg 201 and the skin 203.

The section top cap 807 and the L-bracket 805 provide structural support to the mast section 102, 106, 108. In addition, the L-bracket 805 closes the top of each mast section 102, 106, 108 over the skin 203 to prevent debris from entering through the gap between the skins 203 of vertically adjacent mast sections 102, 106, 108. Likewise, the section top cap 807 closes the top of each mast section 102, 106, 108 over the support legs 201.

In one embodiment, a lower L-bracket 903 is mounted across the bottom of each skin 203 (see FIG. 9). The lower L-bracket 903 provides additional structural support for the relatively thin skins 203. In accordance with an alternative embodiment, the skins 203 can be eliminated. That is, support members, such as the L-brackets 805, 903 and the section top caps 807 provide sufficient structural support without the need for the skins 203. Implementing the apparatus without the skins 203 reduces the wind resistance and overall weight of the mast. It should be noted that in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed apparatus, the wire rope 702 can be made of conductive material. In one such embodiment, the wire rope 702 can also serve as a conductor for power and signals to be communicated from the base of the mast 100 to the payload 104.

While various embodiments of the disclosed apparatus have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and should not limit the claimed invention. For example, it will be clear to those skilled in the art that there are several ways in which the support legs 201 can interlock to allow the resulting structural rigidity in all directions and provide the overall mast strength.

Likewise, the various diagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration for the disclosed apparatus. This is done to aid in understanding the features and functionality that can be included in the disclosed apparatus. The claimed invention is not restricted to the illustrated example architectures or configurations, rather the desired features can be implemented using a variety of alternative architectures and configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning and configurations can be implemented to implement the desired features of the disclosed apparatus. Also, a multitude of different constituent module names other than those depicted herein can be applied to the various partitions.

Although the disclosed apparatus is described above in terms of various exemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood that the various features, aspects, and functionality described in one or more of the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability to the particular embodiment with which they are described. Thus, the breadth and scope of the claimed invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” should be read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term “example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item in discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or “an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or the like; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,” “standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construed as limiting the item described to a given time period or to an item available as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompass conventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may be available or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, where this document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known to one of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass those apparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in the future.

A group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly slated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the disclosed apparatus may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of the term “module” does not imply that the components or functionality described or claimed as part of the module are all configured in a common package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of a module, whether control logic or other components, can be combined in a single package or separately maintained and can further be distributed in multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described in terms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations. As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after reading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their various alternatives can be implemented without confinement to the illustrated examples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying description should not be construed as mandating a particular architecture or configuration.

Claims

1. A mast for deploying and retracting a payload, the mast comprising:

a) a plurality of interlocking support legs, at least one interlocking support leg being vertically adjacent to another and at least one interlocking support leg being horizontally adjacent to another, each interlocking support leg having an interlocking section to secure the support leg to each vertically adjacent support leg in a manner that allows each support leg to slide axially past each of the vertically adjacent support legs and thus deploy the mast; and

b) at least one skin, each skin secured to a horizontally adjacent support leg.

2. The mast of claim 1, wherein the interlocking section securely supports the mast at any height between fully a retracted state and a fully deployed state.

3. The mast of claim 1, wherein the plurality of interlocking support legs comprises four such support legs and the plurality of skins comprises four skins.

4. The mast of claim 1, wherein the interlocking section is an essentially S-shaped structure.

5. The mast of claim 4, wherein the support leg has an inner surface and an outer surface and wherein the S-shaped structure comprises a protrusion from the inner surface of the support leg and an outwardly curling end to form a hook, the protrusion from the inner surface engaging the hook of a vertically adjacent support leg to securely interlock the first support leg to the vertically adjacent support leg.

6. The mast of claim 5, wherein the interlocking section runs essentially the entire length of the support leg.

7. The mast of claim 5, wherein the protrusion is partially enclosed by a covering.

8. The mast of claim 7, wherein the covering is replaceable.

9. The mast of claim 1, wherein the plurality of interlocking support legs comprises two such support legs and the plurality of skins comprises two skins.

10. The mast of claim 9, wherein the two skins are essentially V-shaped such that the cross-section of the mast is essentially hexagonal.

11. The mast of claim 9, wherein the two skins are essentially U-shaped.

12. The mast of claim 1, further comprising a section top cap mounted across the top of each support leg and extending inwardly.

13. The mast of claim 12, further comprising an L-bracket mounted to the top of each skin.

14. The mast of claim 1, wherein each group of horizontally adjacent support legs and the horizontally adjacent skins mounted thereon form a mast section, at least one such mast section being the inner mast section and at least one mast section being an outer mast section, each mast section comprising at least one channel running through the mast section to allow cables to run from the outer mast section to the inner mast section.

15. The mast of claim 14, wherein the cables are payload cables enclosed within the mast.

16. A mast comprising:

a) telescoping mast sections, the mast sections including an inner mast section, an outer mast section and at least one intermediate mast section, wherein when the mast is retracted, the inner mast section is nested within one of the intermediate mast sections and each of the intermediate mast sections are nested within the outer mast section such that the mast can be deployed by at least partially withdrawing each mast section from an adjacent mast section;

b) at least one upper pulley mounted near an upper portion of each intermediate mast section;

c) at least one upper pulley mounted near an upper portion of the outer mast section;

d) at least one lower pulley mounted near the lower portion of each intermediate mast section in an opening through the intermediate mast section;

e) a wire rope fixed at a tie down point near the bottom of the inner mast section and routed up to the upper pulley mounted on the interior of a vertically adjacent intermediate mast section, the upper pulley redirecting the wire rope downward to the lower pulley mounted on the vertically adjacent intermediate mast section, the lower pulley redirecting the wire rope through the opening in the vertically adjacent intermediate mast section and up to a next vertically adjacent mast section, the wire rope continuing in similar fashion through each of the at least one intermediate mast sections, the wire rope being redirected by the lower pulley on the outer most intermediate mast section to the upper pulley on the outer mast section, the upper pulley mounted on the outer mast section redirecting the wire rope down to the lower pulley mounted on the outer mast section, the lower pulley mounted on the outer mast section redirecting the wire rope to a take up mechanism.

17. The mast of claim 16, further including at least one lower pulley mounted near the lower portion of the outer mast section, the lower pulley mounted on the outer mast section being mounted in an opening through the outer mast section.

18. The mast of claim 16, wherein each mast section comprises at least two support legs and at least two skins mounted between the support legs, the upper and lower pulleys being mounted on the support legs.

19. The mast of claim 16, wherein:

a) the inner mast section further comprises a lower block mounted near the bottom of the inner mast section;

b) each intermediate mast section further comprising an upper block and a lower block; and

c) the outer mast section further comprising an upper block and a lower block;

wherein the lower block mounted near the bottom of the inner mast section comes into contact with the upper block mounted on a vertically adjacent intermediate mast section restraining any relative motion between the inner mast section and the vertically adjacent intermediate mast section beyond the point at which contact is made.

20. The mast of claim 19, wherein the lower block is a bracket on which the lower pulley is mounted.

21. The mast of claim 19, wherein the upper block is a bracket on which the upper pulley is mounted.

22. The mast of claim 19, wherein the point at which contact is made between the upper block and the lower block ensures that a predetermined amount of overlap remains between vertically adjacent mast sections.

23. The mast of claim 16, wherein the mast can be deployed to any height between the fully deployed height and the fully retracted height.

24. The mast of claim 16, wherein the wire rope is conductive and carries electrical signals between the base of the mast and the payload.

25. The mast of claim 16, wherein the wire rope is conductive and carries electrical power to the payload.

26. A telescoping mast for deploying and retracting a payload, the mast comprising:

a) A plurality of interlocking support legs, at least one interlocking support leg being vertically adjacent to another and at least one interlocking support leg being horizontally adjacent to another, each interlocking support leg having an interlocking section to secure the support leg to each vertically adjacent support leg in a manner that allows each support leg to slide axially past each of the vertically adjacent support legs and thus to deploy the mast; and

b) support members connected between the horizontally adjacent support legs to provide structural support for the mast.

27. A telescoping mast comprising:

a) a first mast section having at least one support leg and at least one skin secured to the support leg; and

b) a second mast section having at least one support leg, each support leg of the second mast being interlocked to a corresponding support leg of the first mast section to allow for axial extension of the mast.

28. The telescoping mast of claim 27, wherein the first mast section comprises four support legs and four skins forming an octagonal outer perimeter to the mast.