Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022 - 40

Mechanical &
Fluid Systems
Miniature Separable Fill and Drain Valve
Besides miniature spacecraft propulsion systems, the valve could also have applications in
the industrial processing industry where low flow devices are commonly used.
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
M
iniature propulsion systems have
been an area of significant investment
over recent years with increased
adoption of CubeSat and SmallSat. However,
miniature propulsion systems require
components that are much smaller than
commonly available in industry. Innovators
at the NASA Marshall Space Flight
Center have developed the Miniature Separable
Fill and Drain Valve, a manually operated,
two-part valve design for CubeSat
propulsion applications.
This new valve design allows loading
and draining of fluid while minimizing
the flown component size and weight. It
consists of two halves (ground and
flight). The flight half is attached to the
vehicle (i.e., CubeSat) and the ground
half can be inserted into the vehicle in
the same port as the flight half, connecting
the two halves together. In normal
state, the flight half seals the flow path.
When the ground half is connected, the
flow path is opened, allowing connected
ground support equipment to supply
fluid through the valve.
The valve is manually operated. There
are redundant seals to eliminate leakage
around the valve, including NASA's previously
patented Low-Cost, Long Lasting
The Miniature Separable Fill and Drain Valve was designed to minimize valve mass and volume
while maintaining compatibility with fluids used in CubeSat propulsion systems. (Image: NASA)
Valve Seal design on the flight half. This
eliminates the need for a swaged assembly
process and the additional hardware
and equipment that are typically
required in conventional, elastomeric
valve seat installations.
The design also includes a cap for the
flight half to ensure there is no leakage
in flight configuration. Besides miniature
spacecraft propulsion systems, the
valve could also have applications in the
industrial processing industry where low
Multi-Link Spherical Joint
Single joint allows six attachments with independent movement.
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
I
nnovators at NASA Johnson Space Center
have designed a spherical joint
which allows up to six linearly actuated
links or attachments to rotate about a
co-located center. Originally designed to
provide joint flexibility necessary for a
variable geometry truss system, the new
spherical joint also allows power and
data lines to pass through it without the
lines being subjected to structural forces.
The Multi-Link Spherical Joint provides
a substantial improvement over
typical joints in which only two linearly
actuated links move independently from
one another. It was determined that the
rotation point of a trussed link needed
to be collocated at a shared point in CAD Design (left) and 3D-printed prototype (right) of the Multi-Link Spherical Joint. (Image: NASA)
40
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Tech Briefs, August 2022
flow devices are commonly used. The design
is also scalable to larger applications
where the removal of the actuation device
is needed.
NASA is actively seeking licensees to
commercialize this technology. Please
contact NASA's Licensing Concierge at
Agency-Patent-Licensing@mail.nasa.gov
or call at 202-358-7432 to initiate licensing
discussions. For more information visit,
https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/
MFS-TOPS-122.

https://technology.nasa.gov/patent/MFS-TOPS-122 http://www.techbriefs.com

Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2022

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