Patent ID: 11912546
Assignee: GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC
Field: Handling (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 0:
1. An inflatable structure comprising:
a top end cap;
a bottom end cap;
a bladder attached to the top and bottom end caps and configured to hold pressurized air between the top and bottom end caps;
a plurality of tethers disposed within the bladder, each tether in the plurality of tethers having a first end coupled to the top end cap and a second end coupled to the bottom end cap;
the inflatable structure moveable between a stowed profile, wherein no pressure is present within the bladder and the top end cap and bottom end cap are positioned in contact and the bladder is compressed within the top end cap and the bottom end cap, and a final support profile, wherein the bladder is pressurized and expanded axially and the top end cap and the bottom end cap are forced apart and the plurality of tethers are fully extended and restrict further movement of the top end cap and the bottom end cap away from one another and limit axial expansion of the bladder;
a pulley assembly mounted within the bottom end cap, wherein when the inflatable structure is in the stowed support profile, the plurality of tethers are wound onto the pulley assembly, the pulley assembly adapted to allow selective extension of the plurality of tethers to increase the distance that the top end cap can move away from the bottom end cap and allowing axial expansion of the bladder;
wherein, the inflatable structure is adapted to provide multiple intermediary support profiles between the stowed profile and the final support profile that are capable of supporting compressive loading.