CN-122009480-A - Aircraft with tilting fan assembly

Abstract

Embodiments provide an aircraft having one or more tilt fan assemblies configured to tilt between a forward flight position and a vertical lift position. The aircraft may also include a plurality of lift fan assemblies for vertical movement. The tilting fan assembly may be coupled to a fuselage or wing of an aircraft via one or more tilting mechanisms. A control system coupled to the aircraft may control one or more tilting mechanisms to move the tilting fan assembly between a forward flight position and a vertical lift position. The tilt fan assembly may be coupled to one or more support structures that are coupled to a fuselage or wing of the aircraft.

Inventors

• J.J. Tich
• U. Zanozki

Assignees

• 威斯克航空有限责任公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260512

Application Date

20210129

Priority Date

20200131

Claims (20)

1. 1. An autonomous aircraft configured for vertical takeoff and landing, the autonomous aircraft comprising: A body; a pair of wings coupled to opposite sides of the fuselage; a plurality of lift fan assemblies coupled to the pair of wings, wherein the plurality of lift fan assemblies are configured to generate vertical lift; a plurality of tilt fan assemblies configured to move between a vertical lift position and a forward flight position; A plurality of support structures coupled to the pair of wings, wherein each of the plurality of lift fan assemblies is non-tiltably mounted to a first end of each support structure and each of the plurality of tiltably fan assemblies is mounted to a second end of each support structure via a tiltably mechanism, wherein the plurality of lift fan assemblies are disposed at trailing edges of the pair of wings and the plurality of tiltably fan assemblies are disposed at leading edges of the pair of wings, and A control system configurable to receive a flight plan from a remote entity and autonomously control the plurality of tilting fan assemblies between the vertical lift position and the forward flight position to autonomously execute the flight plan to reach a predetermined destination.
2. 2. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, further comprising: one or more battery cells comprising a plurality of battery cells configured to power the plurality of tilt fan assemblies and the plurality of lift fan assemblies.
3. 3. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the pair of more than one wing configurations are coupled to the fuselage.
4. 4. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the plurality of lift fan assemblies are mounted in a fixed position relative to the pair of wings to move the autonomous aircraft in a vertical direction.
5. 5. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of lift fan assemblies are configurable to cease operation during forward flight of the autonomous aircraft.
6. 6. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of lift fan assemblies comprises a motor-driven rotor.
7. 7. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of identical structures, each identical structure comprising a support structure having a lift fan assembly at one end and a tilt fan assembly at an opposite end, wherein the plurality of identical structures are interchangeably mounted to the pair of wings.
8. 8. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein at least three tilting fan assemblies are coupled to each wing of the pair of wings, and wherein a combined number of lift fan assemblies and tilting fan assemblies is at least 12.
9. 9. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the control system is configurable to: the position of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies is continuously monitored.
10. 10. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the control system is configurable to: the position of the tilt fan assembly is automatically controlled based on flight data received by sensors coupled to the autonomous aircraft.
11. 11. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the control system is configurable to: A first and a second of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies are controlled independently of each other.
12. 12. The autonomous aircraft of claim 1, wherein the control system is configurable to simultaneously control: At least a subset of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies.
13. 13. A method for controlling one or more tiltrotor fan assemblies of an autonomous aircraft, the autonomous aircraft comprising a plurality of support structures coupled to a pair of wings of the autonomous aircraft, wherein each of a plurality of lift fan assemblies is non-tiltably mounted to a first end of each support structure and each of a plurality of tiltrotor fan assemblies is mounted to a second end of each support structure via a tilter mechanism, the tilter fan assemblies configured to move between a vertical lift position and a forward flight position, wherein the plurality of lift fan assemblies are disposed at trailing edges of the pair of wings and the plurality of tilter fan assemblies are disposed at leading edges of the pair of wings, the method comprising: receiving, by a control system coupled to the autonomous aircraft, flight instructions from a remote entity, wherein the flight instructions include at least one of take-off, hover, or drop instructions; Determining, by the control system, a position of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies coupled to the autonomous aircraft; Automatically initiating, by the control system, one of a take-off sequence, a hover sequence, or a landing sequence by autonomously controlling, by the control system, one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies between the vertical lift position and the forward flight position in response to the flight instructions, and The positions of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies are continuously monitored by the control system.
14. 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: A first and a second of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies are controlled independently of each other by the control system.
15. 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising: At least a subset of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies is simultaneously controlled by the control system.
16. 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the flight instructions are take-off instructions, and wherein the control system initiates the take-off sequence by performing steps comprising: Determining whether each of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies is in the vertical lift position, and Controlling the one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies to the vertical lift position.
17. 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the flight instruction is a hover instruction, and wherein the control system initiates the hover sequence by performing steps comprising: Controlling the one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies to maintain the vertical lift position.
18. 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the flight command is a command to switch to forward flight, and wherein the control system initiates a forward flight sequence by performing steps comprising: Controlling the one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies to the forward flight position.
19. 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: the plurality of lift fan assemblies are controlled to cease operation during forward flight of the autonomous aircraft, thereby stopping all fan assemblies downstream of the pair of wings.
20. 20. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving, by the control system, flight data from one or more sensors coupled to the autonomous aircraft, and The positions of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies are controlled based on the flight data received from the one or more sensors coupled to the autonomous aircraft.

Description

Aircraft with tilting fan assembly The present application is a divisional application of patent application with application number 202180025808.3, titled "aircraft with tilting fan assembly", with application number 2021, 01, 29. RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is claimed in accordance with 35 USC 119 (e) to enjoy the benefits of U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 62/968,852, filed on 1/31/2020, and entitled "aircraft with tilting fans (AIRCRAFT WITH TILTING FANS)", the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Technical Field The described embodiments relate generally to aircraft having vertical take-off and landing capabilities. In particular, embodiments provide an aircraft having one or more tilting fan assemblies that provide vertical and horizontal thrust for hover, transition, and cruise flights in a controlled manner. Background An aircraft with vertical take-off and landing capabilities requires a lift fan to hover, take-off and land vertically. However, such aircraft also require forward thrust to cruise in the air. The thrust generated in the vertical direction provides lift to the vehicle (vehicle) and the thrust generated horizontally provides forward movement. Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft should generate both vertical and horizontal thrust and be able to control these forces in a balanced manner. Disclosure of Invention Various embodiments provide an aircraft configured for vertical takeoff and landing. The aircraft includes a fuselage, a pair of wings coupled to opposite sides of the fuselage, a plurality of lift fan assemblies coupled to the pair of wings, a plurality of tilt fan assemblies, and a control system. The plurality of lift fan assemblies are configured to generate vertical lift. The plurality of tilt fan assemblies are configured to move between a vertical lift position and a forward flight position. The control system may be configured to control the plurality of tilting fan assemblies between the vertical lift position and the forward flight position. Some embodiments provide an aircraft configured for vertical takeoff and landing. The aircraft includes a fuselage, a pair of wings coupled to opposite sides of the fuselage, a plurality of tilt fan assemblies coupled to the pair of wings configured to move between a vertical lift position and a forward flight position, and a control system configurable to control the plurality of tilt fan assemblies between the vertical lift position and the forward flight position. The plurality of tilting fan assemblies are configured to generate vertical lift when in the vertical lift position. The aircraft also includes one or more battery cells including a plurality of battery cells configured to power the plurality of tilting fan assemblies. Embodiments provide a method performed by a control system coupled to an aircraft configured for vertical takeoff and landing for controlling one or more tilt fan assemblies of the aircraft. The control system receives a flight command, determines a position of a plurality of tilting fan assemblies coupled to the aircraft, controls one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies between a vertical lift position and a forward flight position based on the flight command, and continuously monitors the position of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies in accordance with the flight command. If the flight command is a take-off command or a landing command, the control system controls one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies in the forward flight position to a vertical lift position. If the flight command is a forward flight command, the control system controls one or more of the plurality of tilting fan assemblies in the vertical lift position to a forward flight position. These and other embodiments are described in further detail below. Drawings Fig. 1A depicts a simplified schematic diagram of an exemplary VTOL aerial vehicle in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 1B illustrates a top view, plan view, side view and front view (clockwise from the upper left corner) of a VTOL aerial vehicle with a pair of tilting fan assemblies in a forward flight position in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 1C illustrates top, plan, side and front views (clockwise from the upper left corner) of a VTOL aerial vehicle with a pair of tilting fan assemblies in vertical lift positions in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 2A illustrates a top view, a plan view, a side view and a front view (clockwise from the upper left corner) of a VTOL aerial vehicle in which the forward-tilting fan assembly is in a forward-flight position in accordance with various embodiments. Figure 2B illustrates top, plan, side and front views (clockwise from the upper left corner) of a VTOL aerial vehicle in accordance with various embodiments wherein the forward tilting fan assembly is in a vertical lift position.