Gas cooled rocket structures

Claim 1

IN A ROCKET ENGINE OR THE LIKE HAVING A MULTI-LAYER CASING STRUCTURE FOR THE ENGINE COMBUSTION CHAMBER AND COMBUSTION GAS DISCHARGE NOZZLE WITH A CONVERGENT-DIVERGENT PROFILE; SAID MULTI-LAYER CASING STRUCTURE INCLUDING A FIRST ANNULAR LAYER HAVING A PROFILE DEFINING THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID COMBUSTION CHAMBER AND SAID EXHAUST NOZZLE, SAID FIRST LAYER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF INDIVIDUAL SEGMENTS CIRCUMFERENTIALLY DISPOSED IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION TO FORM AN ANNULUS, SAID SEGMENTS BEING COMPOSED OF AN ANISOTROPIC MATERIAL WITH SAID SEGMENTS BEING ORIENTED SO THAT SAID FIRST LAYER IS RELATIVELY HIGHLY THERMALLY CONDUCTIVE IN DIRECTIONS BOTH PARALLEL AND RADIAL RELATIVE TO THE ROCKET ENGINE AXIS; AND PASSAGE MEANS BETWEEN ADJACENT SEGMENTS OF SAID FIRST LAYER WITH SAID PASSAGE MEANS BEING DISPOSED ADJACENT THE INNER SURFACE OF THE SAID ROCKET ENGINE AT LEAST IN THE THROAT REGION OF THE DISCHARGE NOZZLE AND MEANS FOR PASSING A COOLANT THROUGH SAID PASSAGE MEANS SO THAT SAID SEGMENTS OF SAID FIRST LAYER ARE COOLED BY SAID COOLANT PASSING THROUGH SAID PASSAGE MEANS.