Patent ID: 8132492

Claim:
A deployment device for stacks of foils, comprising: at least one canister including: an elongate, tubular housing defining opposed forward and aft ends, and having an interior chamber which extends at least partially therethrough along an axis and defines a generally circular cross-sectional configuration; four elongate, rotatable drive members, each of the drive members including an elongate externally threaded rod, the drive members extending along the interior chamber in equidistantly spaced intervals of approximately 90°, in generally parallel relation to the axis, at least two drive members disposed in diametrically opposed relation to each other, one diametrically opposed pair of the drive members configured to rotate in a clockwise direction, and the other diametrically opposed pair of the drive members configured to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, wherein each of the drive members includes a drive gear which is operatively coupled thereto and concurrently rotatable therewith, each of the drive gears being positioned proximate the forward end of the housing, the drive gears being mechanically coupled to each other by a plurality of transmission gears in a manner wherein the rotation of any one of the drive gears by a corresponding one of the drive members facilitates the concurrent rotation of all of the drive ears and thus all of the drive members at substantially equal rotational speeds; four rotary metering devices cooperatively engaged to respective ones of the drive members and positioned proximate the aft end of the housing, the rotation of the drive members facilitating the concurrent rotation of the rotary metering devices, the rotary metering devices being cooperatively engageable to a stack of the foils disposed within the interior chamber; and a piston disposed within the interior chamber and cooperatively engaged to only a diametrically opposed pair of the drive members such that the rotation of the drive members facilitates the concurrent movement of the piston along the axis, and wherein a diametrically opposed pair of drive members do not contact the piston.