Flying car or drone

• US 10,081,424 B2
• Filed: 12/30/2014
• Issued: 09/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bogdan Radu
• Original Assignee: Bogdan Radu
• Inventors: Radu, Bogdan
• Primary Examiner(s): Setliff, Matthieu F
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDONYAN, GEORGE A
• Application Number:
  US14/585,988
• Publication Number:
  US 20160272314A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,365 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60F 5/02 convertible into aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/20 the prime-movers consisting of electric motors and internal combustion engines, e.g. HEVs
• CPC Class Codes: B60Y 2200/92 Hybrid vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/0033 the propellers being tiltable relative to the fuselage
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 37/00 Convertible aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 25/00 Emergency apparatus or devices, not otherwise provided for parachutes B64D17/00, B64D19/00; jettisoning of fuel tanks or fuel per se B64D37/00; specially adapted for protection against criminal attack, e.g. anti-hijacking systems B64D45/0015 ; safety belts or body harnesses in general A62B35/00; safety belts or body harnesses for land vehicles B60R22/00; jettisonable parts of fuselage facilitating emergency escape B64C
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 903/903 having energy storing means, e.g. battery, capacitor

Abstract

A vehicle which can travel on land, in water, or through air has a body like that of an automobile with powered wheels for providing propulsion on land. The vehicle also has rotors for providing propulsion in air and wings for providing lift. Storage compartments conceal the rotors during land operation, and in this mode the wings are folded down against the body, over the compartments. The wings and the rotors can be deployed to convert the vehicle to flight mode.

Claims

1. A vehicle having roadable and flying modes, said vehicle comprising

a body,

powered wheels for providing propulsion on land, a plurality of rotors for providing propulsion in air,

a plurality of wings for providing lift in air,

said body having storage compartment for said rotors,

said rotors being movable between a stowed position inside compartments, and a deployed position outside compartments,

said plurality of wings being movable between the stowed position against said body and covering said storage compartments, and the deployed position away from said body, and

a plurality of storage compartment covers, one for each of said storage compartments, to conceal the rotors in the roadable mode.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein there are two said storage compartments, one on either side of the vehicle, and four rotors, two on either side of the vehicle, said compartments each housing two rotors when in the stowed position.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a power unit for driving said wheels, and a power unit for driving said rotors.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein each of the rotors is supported on the body by an actuator mechanism having arms which allow the rotors to move between said stowed and deployed positions, and to rotate between horizontal and vertical orientations when in the deployed position.