Domina Jalbert

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Domina Jalbert made what was perhaps the most notable invention in wing design of the last century. He invented the ram-air inflated flexible wing often called Jalbert parafoil. Settling into Boca Raton, Florida [1], after arriving from Quebec, Canada, he established his business Aerology. He filed a patent titled "Multi-cell Wing Type Aerial Device" in 1964 that would become key to paragliding, sky diving, powered paragliding, landboarding, kite surfing and cargo-ship kite tugging. [2]

He was hired to help protect the coastline of the western United States during war with the design and making of barrage balloons; he worked for the United States Rubber Company in Naugatuk, Connecticut, USA.[3]

Contents

[edit] Kite Balloon, Kytoon, Barrage Balloon

April 15, 1944 Kite Balloon
April 15, 1944 Kite Balloon

The 1944 patent by Domina Jalbert presaged the flexible-winged hang gliders that laterally flowed from Francis Rogallo's later NASA leadership; the mechanical stiffened flexible wing was already evident in Jalbert's earlier kite balloon patent filed in April 15, 1944.

[edit] Ram-air airfoil of fully flexible materials

Domina Jalbert was first to teach robost airfoil forming by ram-air principle. Every contemporary ram-air airfoil sport and utility wing began with Domina Jalbert's invention. When the parafoil is used as a gliding parachute that is to open after the using payload or human is in free-fall, the opening of the parafoil can be very fast; the fast opening and the related shock had to be damped; devices by others have been invented to damp the opening of the parafoil; one is the slider. When the parafoil is used in hang gliding as a paraglider, the parafoil is kited open before the human leaves the ground; in such case the slider is not necessarily.

[edit] Timeline

  • 1927 He became the 626th person to receive a pilot's license in the U.S.A.
  • 1930s: He would use large kites for advertising purposes.
  • 1930s: Worked for the United States Rubber Company in Naugatuk, Connecticut, USA. He would invent improvement in barrage balloons (actually kytoons) that would help defend coastlines and be put to work for other kytoon applications.
  • 1944 His patent indicated the form of the stiffened flexible wing in combination with a kytoon.
  • 1957 Domina Jalbert would invent the ram-air airfoil and begin the road of testing and formalizing his realization. [4]
  • 1963 On January 10th he formally confirmed his discovery and invention of the ram-air double-surfaced fully-flexible airfoil that would severely change kiting, parachuting, skydiving, hang gliding, paragliding, sport flying, power kiting, and more. The stark invention has become known as the Jalbert parafoil or parafoil; though specialized uses and and continued improvement of the parafoil, all parafoils and foils today owe their roots to Domina Jalbert's invention.
  • 1964 He deepened his claims over the parafoil with further patenting.

[edit] Patents filed by Domina Jalbert

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Patents referencing Domina Jalbert's patents

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • U.S. Pat. 4015801 Filing date: Oct 30, 1975 Inventors: William H. Womble, John D. Campbell
  • U.S. Pat. 3972495 Filing date: Apr 8, 1968.
  • U.S. Pat. 3944169 Hang glider James R. Bede
  • U.S. Pat. 3945592 Air reefing system Mar 23, 1976
  • U.S. Pat. 3945677 Streamlining apparatus for articulated road vehicle Mar 23, 1976
  • U.S. Pat. 3980259 Aircraft recovery methods Sep 14, 1976
  • U.S. Pat. 4076190 Apparatus for extracting energy from winds at significant height above the surface Feb 28, 1978
  • U.S. Pat. 4129272 Aerofoil structure Dec 12, 1978
  • U.S. Pat. 4178867 Rescue signal device Ji Y. Shyu
  • U.S. Pat. 4375280 Free wing flyer Mar 1, 1983
  • U.S. Pat. RE31205 Aerial sled Apr 12, 1983
  • U.S. Pat. 4389031 Parachute Jun 21, 1983
  • U.S. Pat. 4399969 Gliding parachute Aug 23, 1983
  • U.S. Pat. 4469296 Fishing kite Sep 4, 1984
  • U.S. Pat. 4470567 Gliding airfoil parachute canopy construction Sep 11, 1984
  • Mastless sails Sidney E. Veazey
  • U.S. Pat. 4488694 Parachute Dec 18, 1984
  • U.S. Pat. 4529153 One-piece load line pocket for balloon Jul 16, 1985
  • U.S. Pat. 4634080 Parafoil vertical lift mechanism Jan 6, 1987
  • U.S. Pat. 4705238 Ram air parachute with multiple pressure centers Nov 10, 1987
  • U.S. Pat. 4729530 Control flaps for a multi-cell wing type canopy Mar 8, 1988
  • U.S. Pat. 4768739 Emergency warning and signaling system Sep 6, 1988
  • U.S. Pat. 4928909 Elliptical ram air pressurized airfoil parachute May 29, 1990
  • U.S. Pat. 4930728 Ram air aerial device with lower skin pressure regulator Jun 5, 1990
  • U.S. Pat. 5011100 Kite Apr 30, 1991
  • U.S. Pat. 5069404 Elliptical ram air pressurized airfoil parachute Dec 3, 1991
  • U.S. Pat. 5078344 Ribless ram air parachute Jan 7, 1992
  • U.S. Pat. 5102071 Vehicle, especially air or water vehicle Apr 7, 1992
  • U.S. Pat. 5169092 Paraglider canopy Dec 8, 1992
  • U.S. Pat. 5174529 RAM air multi-cell wing type canopy Dec 29, 1992
  • U.S. Pat. 5368259 Dual leading edge ram air air foil Nov 29, 1994
  • U.S. Pat. 5470032 Airborne monitoring system and method Nov 28, 1995
  • U.S. Pat. 5620153 Light aircraft with inflatable parachute wing propelled by a ducted propeller Apr 15, 1997
  • U.S. Pat. 5678784 Space vehicle and method Oct 21, 1997
  • U.S. Pat. 6056243 Adjustable strap for a kite line May 2, 2000
  • U.S. Pat. 6994295 Quonset type parachute Feb 7, 2006
  • U.S. Pat. 7093803 Apparatus and method for aerodynamic wing Aug 22, 2006

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Popular Science Monthly" (1972 Jan-Jun) (v.200). Popular Science Pub. Co.. 
  2. ^ Parafoils' inventor.
  3. ^ Domina Jalbert: Brother of the Wind
  4. ^ http://www.drachen.org/journals/a10/Domina-Jalbert.pdf Tal Streeter in his notes towards his book about Domina Jalbert.