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EP-4737311-A2 - FLUIDIC PROPULSIVE SYSTEM

EP4737311A2EP 4737311 A2EP4737311 A2EP 4737311A2EP-4737311-A2

Abstract

An aircraft includes a fuselage and at least one primary wing having an upper surface, at least one recess in the upper surface and at least one conduit in fluid communication with the at least one recess. At least one ejector is disposed within the at least one recess and is configured to receive compressed air via the at least one conduit.

Inventors

  • EVULET, ANDREI

Assignees

  • Jetoptera, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20200121

Claims (7)

  1. An aircraft (100), comprising: a fuselage (101); a primary wing (104) coupled to the fuselage (101) and having an upper surface, a distal end and a leading edge; a source of pressurized fluid (107, 108) coupled to the fuselage (101); at least one conduit (109) in fluid communication with the source; and multiple ejectors (105), each of the multiple ejectors (105) having inlets and being configured to receive pressurized fluid via the at least one conduit; wherein the upper surface is configured to receive and accommodate a respective one of the multiple ejectors (105) and to serve as an aerodynamic surface fore and aft of the ejector (105).
  2. An aircraft, comprising at least one recess in the upper surface, wherein said at least one conduit is in fluid communication with the at least one recess, and at least one of the ejectors is disposed within the at least one recess.
  3. An aircraft, comprising: a fuselage; at least one primary wing having an upper surface, at least one recess in the upper surface and at least one conduit in fluid communication with the at least one recess; and at least one ejector disposed within the at least one recess and configured to receive compressed air via the at least one conduit.
  4. A general lift and thrust augmentation device, combining a lift generating surface approximatively shaped like an airfoil of very aggressive aerodynamic geometry, with ejectors using a source of pressurized fluid such as, for example, air of exhaust gas, said ejectors geometrically and functionally shaped in a mainly conform to said lift generating device such that the combination thereof is generating more lift and thrust than the separate airfoil shaped device and ejectors separately, respectively.
  5. The device of claim 4 where the inlets of the ejector are optimally placed and distributed along the span on the upper surface of the airfoil to allow the boundary layer ingestion formed on said leading edge and streamwise along the airfoil upper surface to eliminate boundary layer separation and therefore delay or eliminate stall to increased angles of attack.
  6. The device of claim 4 where the outlets of the ejectors are optimally placed and distributed along the span on the upper surface of the airfoil to allow the boundary layer to be energized and ejected as wall jets streamwise along the airfoil's upper surface to control the lift generation of the said upper surface of the airfoil.
  7. The device of claim 4 where a pressurized fluid is supplied through the airfoil via its root, to the said ejectors in a fluid network that allows modulation and shut-off of each of the ejectors individually, hence distributing not only thrust but also lift where needed, when needed.

Description

PRIORITY CLAIM This application claims priority to U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 62/794,464 filed January 18, 2019 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety as if fully set forth herein. COPYRIGHT NOTICE This disclosure is protected under United States and/or International Copyright Laws. © 2020 Jetoptera, Inc. All Rights Reserved. A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and/or Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. BACKGROUND The lift generated from an ordinary airfoil results from the airflow condition around the airfoil and the geometry of said airfoil. By changing the speeds and the angle of attack and the surfaces such as flaps (surface changes) the lift of the airfoil can be controlled; the goal is to maximize lift generation with compact and light wings. Wings are in general growing larger for better efficiency and made of composites to keep the weight in check. It is desired to minimize the weight of a wing and maximize the lift generation. It is desired to minimize the footprint and weight of a thrust generating device and maximize its output (thrust). This translates into minimization of fuel or energy consumption. In most conventional aircraft, it is not currently possible to direct the jet efflux at an airfoil or wingfoil to utilize its lost energy. In the case of turbojets, the high temperature of the jet efflux actually precludes its use for lift generation via an airfoil. Typical jet exhaust temperatures are 1000 degrees Centigrade and sometimes higher when post-combustion is utilized for thrust augmentation, as is true for most military aircraft. When turbofans are used, in spite of the usage of high by-pass on modern aircraft, a significant non-axial direction residual element still exists, due to the fan rotation, in spite of vanes that direct the fan and core exhaust fluids mostly axially. The presence of the core hot gases at very high temperatures and the residual rotational movement of the emerging mixture, in addition to the cylindrical nature of the jets in the downwash, make the use of airfoils directly placed behind the turbofan engine impractical. In addition, the mixing length of hot and cold streams from the jet engines such as turbofans is occurring in miles, not inches. On the other hand, the current use of larger turboprops generates large downwash cylindrical airflows the size of the propeller diameters, with a higher degree of rotational component velocities behind the propeller and moving large amounts of air at lower speeds. The rotational component makes it difficult to utilize the downstream kinetic energy for other purposes other than propulsion, and hence, part of the kinetic energy is lost and not efficiently utilized. Some of the air moved by the large propellers is also directed to the core of the engine. In summary, the jet efflux from current propulsion systems has residual energy and potential not currently exploited. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of an aircraft according to an embodiment;FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the aircraft illustrated in FIG. 1;FIG. 3 illustrates in exploded view of a wing and ejector assembly of the aircraft illustrated in FIG. 1;FIG. 4 illustrates a top partial cross-sectional perspective view of the wing and ejector assembly of the aircraft illustrated in FIG. 1 including a turbine and compressor assembly;FIG. 5 illustrates a top plan view of an aircraft according to an alternative embodiment; andFIG. 6 illustrates a top perspective view of an aircraft according to another alternative embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION This application is intended to describe one or more embodiments of the present invention. It is to be understood that the use of absolute terms, such as "must," "will," and the like, as well as specific quantities, is to be construed as being applicable to one or more of such embodiments, but not necessarily to all such embodiments. As such, embodiments of the invention may omit, or include a modification of, one or more features or functionalities described in the context of such absolute terms. In addition, the headings in this application are for reference purposes only and shall not in any way affect the meaning or interpretation of the present invention. An embodiment combines features that augment both thrust and lift by embedding thrusters/ejectors in a lift generating device such as a wing or other aerodynamic surface. Such ejectors may be embedded on, for example, the top surface of the wing. The thrust augmentation device that may be called an ejector, described in, for example US Patent Application Number 15/256,178, which is hereby incorporated by refer