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EP-4324740-B1 - AERODYNAMICALLY EFFICIENT LIGHTWEIGHT VERTICAL TAKE-OFF AND LANDING AIRCRAFT WITH PIVOTING ROTORS AND STOWABLE ROTOR BLADES

EP4324740B1EP 4324740 B1EP4324740 B1EP 4324740B1EP-4324740-B1

Inventors

  • BEVIRT, JOEBEN
  • STOLL, Alex

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20150318

Claims (4)

  1. An aerial vehicle (400) adapted for vertical take-off and horizontal flight, said aerial vehicle comprising: a main vehicle body; a box wing structure, said box wing structure comprising: a right side box wing structure portion, said right side box wing structure comprising: a right side forward wing section coupled to said main vehicle body at a first joining position; and a right side rear wing section coupled to a tail of said main vehicle body rearward at a second joining position rearward of said first j oining position, wherein said right side forward wing section is coupled to said right side rear wing section outboard of said main vehicle body; a left side box wing structure portion, said left side box wing structure comprising: a left side forward wing section coupled to said main vehicle body at a first joining position; and a left side rear wing section coupled to a tail of said main vehicle body rearward at a second joining position rearward of said first joining position, wherein said forward wing section is coupled to said rear wing section outboard of said main vehicle body; wherein said right side rear wing section is higher than said right side forward wing section when said aerial vehicle is in a forward flight configuration, and wherein said left side rear wing section is higher than said left side forward wing section when said aerial vehicle is in a forward flight configuration; a plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies, said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies comprising a propeller and a motor, wherein said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies are attached to said right side forward wing, and wherein said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies protrude forward of the leading edge of said right side wing along the right side forward wing span, wherein each of said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies are attached to said right forward wing by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy each of said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical take-off configuration; a plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies, said plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies comprising a propeller and a motor, wherein said plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies are attached to said left side forward wing, and wherein said plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies protrude forward of the leading edge of said left side wing along the left side forward wing span, wherein each of said plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies are attached to said left side forward wing by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy each of said plurality of left side forward wing rotor assemblies from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical take-off configuration; a plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies, said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies comprising a propeller and a motor, wherein said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies are attached to said right side rear wing along the right side rear wing span, wherein each of said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies are attached to said right side rear wing by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy each of said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical take-off configuration; and a plurality of left side rear wing rotor assemblies, said plurality of left side rear wing rotor assemblies comprising a propeller and a motor, wherein one or more left side rear wing rotor assemblies are attached to said left side rear wing along the left side rear wing span, wherein each of said plurality of left side rear wing rotor assemblies are attached to said left side rear wing by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy each of said plurality of left side rear wing rotor assemblies from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical take-off configuration.
  2. The aerial vehicle (400) of claim 1 wherein said motor of each of said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies is an electric motor, and wherein said motor each of said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies is an electric motor, and wherein said motor of each of said plurality of left side front wing rotor assemblies is an electric motor, and wherein said motor of each of said left side rear wing rotor assemblies is an electric motor.
  3. The aerial vehicle (400) of claim 2 wherein the motors of said plurality of right side forward wing rotor assemblies are forward of the leading edge of said right side forward wing in the vertical take-off position, and wherein the motors of said plurality of side forward wing rotor assemblies are forward of the leading edge of said left side forward wing in the vertical take-off position.
  4. The aerial vehicle (400) of claim 3 wherein the motors of said plurality of right side rear wing rotor assemblies are forward of the leading edge of said right side rear wing in the vertical take-off position, and wherein the motors of said plurality of left side rear wing rotor assemblies are forward of the leading edge of said left side rear wing in the vertical take-off position.

Description

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention This invention relates to powered flight, and more specifically to a vertical take-off and landing aircraft with pivoting rotors and stowing rotor blades. Description of Related Art There are generally three types of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) configurations: wing type configurations having a fuselage with rotatable wings and engines or fixed wings with vectored thrust engines for vertical and horizontal translational flight; helicopter type configuration having a fuselage with a rotor mounted above which provides lift and thrust; and ducted type configurations having a fuselage with a ducted rotor system which provides translational flight as well as vertical takeoff and landing capabilities. The amount of thrust required to take-off in a vertical take-off scenario greatly exceeds the thrust needed to keep the same vehicle aloft during forward flight, when the wings are providing lift. The amount of thrust required to transition from a vertical take-off mode to horizontal, forward, flight mode may also be quite high. Thus, there may be a mismatch between the power requirements if there are not possibilities to change power delivery paradigms during flight. US 5 046 684 A discloses a tiltrotor aircraft in which conventional cantilever wings are replaced by a joined-wing configuration that eliminates some major speed-limiting constraints of prior tiltrotor configurations, thereby allowing operation into the intermediate speed range of roughly 350 to 450 knots. Joined wings offer relatively rigid, stiffened support for the additional wing-mounted hardware, and also stiffen the system to resist rotor flutter and other sources of aggravated loading, that are characteristic of tiltrotor craft. US 3 081 964 A discloses airplanes having power plants, the thrust directions of which relative to the aircraft fuselage can be changed so as to produce primarily a forward thrust to effect forward movement of the aircraft, or primarily a vertical thrust upward to facilitate rising of the airplane during take-off, or controlled descent during landing of the airplane, in a confined area. Such airplane has fixed wings for supporting the airplane during substantially horizontal flight. In order to provide efficiency in both vertical take-off and forward flight modes, improvements to past systems must be made. What is called for is a vertical take-off and landing aircraft that incorporates efficiencies into all use modes. SUMMARY The invention relates to an aerial vehicle according to claim 1 adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements and a set of tail mounted rotors for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off attitude then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with the rotors rotated to a typical horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle uses different configurations of its wing mounted rotors and propellers to reduce drag in all flight modes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of an aerial vehicle in forward flight according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 2 is a side view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 3 is a top view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 4 is a front view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 5 is a perspective view of an aerial vehicle in takeoff configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 6 is a front view of an aerial vehicle in takeoff configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 7 is a side view of an aerial vehicle in takeoff configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 8 is a perspective view of an aerial vehicle in a transition configuration according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 9 is a sequence of views illustrating transition of the wing according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 10 is a perspective view of an aerial vehicle in forward flight with wing rotor blades stowed according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 11 is a front view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight configuration with wing rotor blades stowed according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 12 is a top view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight configuration with wing rotor blades stowed according to a first example, not falling with the scope of the claims.Figure 13 is a side view of an aerial vehicle in a forward flight