Oct.

13, 1964
Filed March 27, 1961

M. s. CHATELAIN
CONCAVE POLYHEDRAL REFLECTOR

3,153,235
2 Sheets-Sheet l

INVENTOR.

MAURICE G. CHATELAIN
BY

Oct- 13, 1964

Filed March 2'7, 1961

M. e. CHATELAIN
CONCAVE POLYHEDRAL REFLECTOR

3,153,235
2 Sheets-Sheet 2

1.23m MAL lgll '

@312

44

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44

Fig. 5

"'6

INVEN TOR.

MAURICE G. CHATELAIN
BY

1610-40 8 161036

United States Patent 0 1C6

1
CONCAVE PULYHEDRAL REFLECTQR'

3,153,235
Patented Oct. 13,1964
2

FIGURE 2 shows a twelve-faced dodecahedron modi

3,153,235

?ed according to my invention;

Maurice G. Chateiain, San Diego, Calif., assignor to rlhe Ryan Aeronauticai (30., San Diego, Calif. Filed Mar. 27, 1961, Bar. No. 98,658 15 Claims. (Cl. 34"313)
This invention relates to a communication system, and more particularly to a re?ector of radiations of the type

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross section of view of

my modi?ed dodecahedron; FIGURE 4 shows another dodecahedron modi?ed in

' accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 5 shows an icosahexahedron modi?ed in ac

cordance with my invention; and FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view of my modi?ed

icosahexahedron. .

used in communication systems.

Background
The success of the Echo satellite has opened up new

Broadly speaking, my invention contemplates a poly;

hedron whose faces and facial con?gurations are such that the polyhedron re?ects a larger proportion of the impinging radiation than prior-art devices. . In this speci

possibilities of world-wide communications. As is well known, the Echo satellite is a balloon about 100 feet in diameter, the balloon traveling in an orbit around the earth. Radiation that contains information such as tele

?cation, including the claims, the more generic term

face and the more speci?c term composite face may refer to the same concept and the exact meaning should be construed with reference to the context. It will be recalled from the previous discussion that a spherical surface re?ects only a single ray of radiation at a given angle, and that the re?ection takes place from a

phone conversations, television pictures, radar messages,

codes, and the like are radiations impinge upon surface of the balloon. a mirror, and does not
as a passive element.

point of in?nitely small area. On FIGURE 1, I show afragmentary cross section It has been computed that only about one-third of the of a polyhedron generally indicated at 8, that is, a ball balloons surface received radiation, the rest of the cal 25 whose surface may be considered as asingle composite loons surface being in the shadow. Of the radiation face with ?at facets 10. Polyhedron 8 comprises a'skin 12 receiving surface, theoretically only one spot is at the of plastic or some other suitable material, and is in?ated
precise angle to re?ect radiation back to a given spot on
the earth. ~ '

directed at the balloon. These and are re?ected by the re?ective Since the balloon merely acts as require any power, it is known

20

by a gas. A re?ective coating 14 is positioned on skin 12.

As shown, incoming radiations, indicated by directional

arrows, impinge on polyhedron 8, and are re?ected from

From the foregoing discussion it will be realized that

most of the radiations are forward scattered into space, and that only a minute percentage of the radiation di rected at the balloon is backscattered and re?ected back to earth. This means that the re?ected signal that is re
technical reasons, is undesirable. It is therefore of great value to be able to re?ect a

the various?aces thereof. It turns out that if polyhedron

8 has 720 faces, two of them re?ect radiation in the same

direction. When this result iscompared with the re?ec tion characteristics of a spherical surface, the following

ceived must be greatly ampli?ed; a procedure which, for 35 advantages are noted. Whereas a sphere 30 meters in diameter has only a single re?ecting spot, a 30-meter

diameter 720 faced polyhedron has two re?ective faces. jEach face of the polyhedron has an area of 4 square meters. It may be seen that this polyhedron has a de communications here on earth. Frequently, the same 40 cided advantage over a sphere from a re?ection point of view, the advantage being expressed as having a directiv information must be transmitted to a number of different ity of 37 decibels at 3 kilomegacycles. locations. It would be desirable to be able to position A polyhedron having twelve faces is known as a dodec a re?ective element atop a mountain, and to beam ahedron. In a 30-meter dodecahedron, each face has information-bearing radiation thereat. Due to the multi an area of 236 square meters, and its directivity in directional re?ections, a plurality of receivers may then 45 creases 54 decibels at 3 kilomegacycles. However, the be aimed at the re?ector, and each receiver would be dodecahedron has some orientations wherein none of its enabled to pick up the information. twelve faces will 'be in position/to re?ect the radiation to Here again, a strong re?ection is highly desirable. a desired location. Transmission of information by means of light waves is now also feasible because of recent developments. This 50 My invention modi?es a dodecahedron, or other poly_

larger percentage of the radiations back to earth. A somewhat similar situation arises in connection with

technology has successfully produced coherent light,

hedron, so that it will beuseful at any orientation. FIG- '

that is, light which is so well collimated that it forms an

URE 2 shows a dodecahedron modi?ed in accordance

with my invention. As previously indicated, a standard dodecahedron has twelve ?at faces. In FIGURE 2, the (which are another form of radiation) can be used to 55 composite faces are now'generally concave, or inwardly pointing pyramids. Reference characters 20, 22, 24,26, transmit efficiently information from one location to an and 23 indicate the edges that would ordinarily de?ne a other. Thus light beams may also be re?ected from satel ?at facet. In accordance with my invention however lites or from re?ectors placed on mountain tops. these edges now de?ne the hypothetical base of a concave It is therefore the principal object of my invention to
exceedingly ?ne, non-divergent pencil of light. ' The availability of coherent light indicates that light beams
provide an improved radiation re?ector.

pyramid, which is now a composite face of my modi?ed

It is another object of my invention to provide a radia tion re?ector that re?ects a greater proportion of imping-V

ing radiation than prior art devices.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an

dodecahedron. Thus each composite face now comprises the facets that form the pyramid, reference character 30 representing the apex of the inwardly-pointing pyramid.
' In the view shown in FIGURE 2, the observer sees a, central concave pyramid, and some of the facets of ?ve more surrounding generally concave or hollow pyramids; for a total of six pyramidal composite faces. There are

improved re?ector that is capable of re?ecting radio waves

or light beams. . ' w p

The attainment of these objects and others will be real

ized from the following speci?cation taken in conjunction

with the drawings, of which: . '

sixv additional pyramids on the back of dodecahedron 18, making a total of twelve inwardly-pointing pyramids or composite faces.
FIGURE 3 shows a fragmentary cross sectional view of :

FIGURE 1 shows the re?ections produced by a poly

hedron having seventy-two faces;

my modi?ed dodecahedron 18. As shown, it comprises a

3,153,235
skin 32, which is in?ated as previously described. Skin
32 is coated with a metalized, or otherwise radiation re

lite, but may be used as mountain-top or tower-mounted

relay stations.
It is understood that minor variation from the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without

?ective coating 34. As shown is FIGURE 3, dodeca hedron 18 comprises inwardly directed pyramids, refer ence character 39 again indicating the apexes. Thus the

departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and

that the speci?cation and drawing are to be considered as

modi?ed dodecahedron has sixty inclined planar facets, each of which is capable of re?ecting radiation.
Impinging radiation is re?ected between the various facets, and most of the radiation is re-directed back to ward the earth. A Further Embodiment
FIGURE 4 shows another modi?cation of a dodeca hedron. This comprises a standard twelve-faced dodeca

merely illustrative rather than limiting.

I claim: 1. A re?ector antenna having a hollow, expansible

polyhedral body consisting of a plurality of inwardly ex

tending recesses.

2. A radiation re?ector comprising: an expansible poly

hedron, wherein the ?at base portions of the composite
faces are de?ned by edges 20-28. In the embodiment of
hedron, the outer surface thereof consisting of a plurality of generally concave composite faces, each de?ned by a

plurality of planar re?ecting facets.

3. A radiation re?ector comprising: an in?atable poly hedron, the outer surface thereof having a'plurality of generally concave composite faces partly de?ned by a plurality of planar facets, certain of said facets being

FIGURE 4, each ?at base portion is surrounded by pla

nar facets in the form of oblique walls 38. These may be

positioned at an angle of 135 degrees to the ?at base por tion. 20 positioned to form a pyramid whose apex is directed in Again each composite face now comprises a generally wardly of said polyhedral surface. concave bowl having a ?at bottom and planar facets. Im 4. A radiation re?ector comprising: pinging radiation is re?ected between the base portion a dodecahedron comprising a skin of plastic material; and the various facets; a good portion of the radiation each face of said dodecahedron de?ning a concave being thus re-directed back toward the source of radia 25 pyramid, each said pyramid consisting of planar tion. facets; Another Embodiment and a radiation-re?ective coating on the external sur faces of said facets, whereby radiation impinging on FIGURE 5 shows another embodiment of my inven said dodecahedron is re?ected generally back toward
tion. This con?guration 40 is known as an icosahexa

hedron. It has eighteen square facets 42 and eight triangular facets 44, each facet being surrounded by facets in the form of oblique walls as discussed in connection
with FIGURE 4.

the source of said radiations.

5. A radiation re?ector comprising: an in?atable dodecahedron having twelve pentagonal faces, said dodecahedron comprising a skin of plastic

Here again, each composite face is bowl-shaped; and

impinging radiation bounces between the facets and bot tom to be re?ected back to earth. In FIGURE 5 the bowl-shaped composite faces include a ?at bottom portion which may be either a square shaped
facet such as 42 or a triangular-shaped facet such as 44.

material;
each face of said dodecahedron de?ning a concave

pyramid, each said pyramid having ?ve planar facets;

and a radiation-re?ective coating on the external sur~

faces of said planar facets, whereby radiation im pinging on said dodecahedron is re?ected generally
back toward the source of said radiations. 6. A radiation re?ector comprising a polyhedral sur

Four oblique walls 46 surround each square facet 42,

and three oblique walls surround each triangular facet 44.

The oblique wall may be at an angle of 135 degrees as

face having a plurality of ?at pentagonal faces, each said

previously discussed.

pentagonal face being surrounded by ?at oblique walls.

7. A radiation re?ector comprising:

The cross sectional view of FIGURE 6 shows how a dodecahedron having twelve pentagonal bottom por icosahexahedron d0 is formed. It comprises a skin 48 45 tions surrounded by ?at oblique walls; that is in?ated by any suitable means. When it is in?ated, and a radiation re?ecting coating on the external sur skin 4-8 forms ?at square facets, ?at triangular facets, face of said oblique walls. and oblique walls as previously described. The outer 8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said oblique surface of skin 48 is covered with a re?ective coating 50 walls are at an angle of 135 degrees to said ?at bottom 5%), such as a thin metallized ?lm. This ?lm re?ects radia portions. tion, and light, if light is to be used. 9. A radiation re?ector comprising:

Thus each composite face comprises either four or ?ve re?ective surfaces, and the radiation impinges upon and

is re?ected therefrom in the well known manner. Thus 55

an in?atable dodecahedron having twelve pentagonal faces, each said face comprising a ?at pentagonal

a greater proportion of the impinging radiation is back

bottom portion and ?ve surrounding planar oblique

walls at an angle of 135 degrees to said ?at bottom

scattered toward the source of radiations. The embodiments of FIGURES 4 and 5 have an ad

portion, said dodecahedron comprisinga plastic skin;

and a radiation re?ecting coating positioned on the external surfaces of said Walls and said ?at bottom

ditional feature. Radiation impinging upon the ?at base portions is re?ected in a substantially parallel narrow 60 beam, and will therefore travel a long distance to impinge
upon a relatively small area.

portion.
10. A radiation re?ector comprising: an icosahexahedron having eighteen square ?at bottom

Simultaneously, some of the impinging radiation falls upon the oblique walls, but this radiation, due to the

multiple re?ections from the oblique walls, is re?ected 65 in a plurality of directions. These diverging re?ections
form a wide-angled re?ected beam, whose radiations are able to be picked up by a plurality of spaced-apart re ceivers.

portions and eight triangular flat bottom portions, each said bottom portion being surrounded by
oblique walls; '

and a radiation re?ecting coating on the external sur

Summary

face of said oblique walls. 11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said oblique walls are at an angle of 135 degreesto said ?at bottom
70

portions.
12. A radiation re?ector comprising: an in?atable icosahexahedron having twenty-six faces, eighteen of said faces comprising ?at square bottom
1 portions, and eight of said faces comprising ?at tri

It has been shown that my modi?ed polyhedrons are inherently better re?ectors than a sphere. Their con

?gurations are such that, regardless of their orientation,

substantially the same uniform re?ections are always
obtained. My re?ectors are not limited to use as a satel

75

angular bottom portions;

5
said faces further comprising four oblique Walls at an angle of 135 degrees with respect to said bottom portion surrounding each said square bottom portion
and three oblique Walls at an angle of 135 degrees
With respect to said bottom portion surrounding each 5

$5
ing aplurality of generally concave re?ecting surfaces. 15~ A fadi?ti?ll re?ector Comprising! an ilf?atabie polyhedral, each face of the Polyhedron
re?ecting facets.
bang de?ned by a generally concave recess and each recess being de?ned by a plurality of planar _
References Cited by the Examiner

said triangular bottom portion, said icosahexahedron

and a radlatlon re?ectlng coating posltioned on the external surfaces of said walls and bottom portions.
13. A radiation re?ector as claimed in claim 2 further 10 including a radiation re?ective coating on the outer surface of said facets. '

mPr1S1Pg_ a plastlc .Skm;

. .

T UPITED STATES PATENTS

8/50 1/57

2,520,008 2,773,010

King ________________ __ 34318 Leonard _____________ __ 343-18

, l

14. A radiation re?ector comprising: KATHLEEN H. CLAFFY, Przmary Exammer. an in?atable polyhedron, the outer surface thereof hav- 15 CHESTER, L. JUSTUS, LEWIS H. MYERS, Examiners.