Rigid collapsible dish structure

摘要

A collapsible dish structure composed of a plurality of rows of rigid radial petal assemblies concentric with the axis of the dish. The petal assemblies consist of a center petal and two side petals, the center petal hinged on an axis tangent to a circle concentric with the axis of the dish and the side petals hinged to the center petal at their mating edge. The center petal is foldable inwardly and the side petals rotate about their hinges such that the collapsed dish structure occupies a much smaller volume than the deployed dish. Means of controlling the shape of the dish to compensate for differential expansion of the deployed dish are also provided.