VTOL personal aircraft
First Claim
1. A personal aircraft (PAC) capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and having a center of gravity, said aircraft comprising, in combination:
- (a) a fuselage forming a passenger compartment and having a four sides, including a front side, a rear side and two lateral sides, said fuselage defining a central longitudinal axis of said aircraft;
(b) fixed wing having a leading edge and a trailing edge, said wing being attached to the fuselage and extending outward with respect to said two lateral sides at a longitudinal position along said central axis of said aircraft such that the center of gravity of said aircraft is between said leading edge and said trailing edge;
(b) a plurality of thrusters, each comprising a ducted fan unit, attached to at least one of said fuselage and said wing, with at least one thruster disposed on each of two opposite sides of said fuselage, said thrusters being capable of providing vertical lift to said aircraft.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A personal aircraft (PAC) capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) comprises a fixed wing and a fuselage with a passenger compartment having a front, a rear and two sides, and a plurality of independently powered thrusters, preferably integrated into the wing, on each side of the fuselage. The aircraft has a lift to drag ratio equal to or greater than 2. The thrusters, which are ducted fan units capable of providing a vertically upward force to the aircraft, are provided with such redundancy that the aircraft can hover with at one thruster inoperative on each side of the fuselage. At least one thruster on each side of the fuselage preferably comprises a “levitator” which creates lift from the airfoil-like air inlet as well as from the acceleration of air from inlet to outlet.
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Citations
82 Claims
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1. A personal aircraft (PAC) capable of vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) and having a center of gravity, said aircraft comprising, in combination:
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(a) a fuselage forming a passenger compartment and having a four sides, including a front side, a rear side and two lateral sides, said fuselage defining a central longitudinal axis of said aircraft;
(b) fixed wing having a leading edge and a trailing edge, said wing being attached to the fuselage and extending outward with respect to said two lateral sides at a longitudinal position along said central axis of said aircraft such that the center of gravity of said aircraft is between said leading edge and said trailing edge;
(b) a plurality of thrusters, each comprising a ducted fan unit, attached to at least one of said fuselage and said wing, with at least one thruster disposed on each of two opposite sides of said fuselage, said thrusters being capable of providing vertical lift to said aircraft. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 65, 66, 67)
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41. Ducted fan apparatus arranged on a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, said apparatus comprising, in combination:
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(a) a cylindrical first tube having an inlet, an outlet and a linear, first central axis which is disposed at an angle to the vertical when said aircraft is oriented in its normal upright position such that the inlet is located forward of the outlet, in relation to the direction of travel of said aircraft;
(b) a first impeller disposed in said first tube and arranged to rotate about said first central axis to generate airflow from the inlet to the outlet;
(c) a first prime mover coupled to drive said first impeller; and
(d) a second tube having an inlet and an outlet, the outlet of said second tube having the same internal cross-sectional area as that of said first tube, the outlet of said second tube extending coaxially with, and smoothly into, the inlet of said first tube, the inlet of said second tube facing forward in relation to said direction of travel and having a substantially horizontal, second central axis. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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68. A vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprising, in combination:
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(a) a horizontal fixed wing having two ends and an upper wing surface and a lower wing surface;
(b) a fuselage disposed on said wing substantially midway between said two ends; and
(c) an even number of thrusters, each arranged in and integrated into said wing, with the same number of thrusters on each side of said fuselage, to direct air from said upper surface to said lower surface of said wing, each thruster including;
(1) an inlet at or above said upper surface;
(2) an outlet at or below said lower surface;
(3) a circular air duct disposed between said inlet and said outlet;
(4) an impeller disposed in said air duct for directing and accelerating air from said inlet to said outlet; and
(5) a prime mover connected to drive said impeller;
wherein the lift to drag ratio of the aircraft is greater than 2;
1. - View Dependent Claims (69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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77. In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a longitudinal fuselage axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said fuselage axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, said ducted fan units being arranged with their impeller axes extending substantially vertically and arranged along at least two lines extending parallel to said wing axis, whereby the pitch of the aircraft may be controlled by controlling the relative thrust of said ducted fan units along said two lines.
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78. In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a longitudinal fuselage axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said fuselage axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, said circular duct having an outlet opening with a central axis, and means for varying the direction of said central axis to vary the direction of thrust of said ducted fan unit, hereby the pitch of the aircraft may be controlled by varying the direction of thrust of said ducted fan units.
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79. In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a central longitudinal axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said central axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, at least some of said ducted fan units having means for controlling the angle of impeller axes thereof with respect to the vertical, whereby components of thrust may be imparted to said aircraft in the vertical direction and in a direction transverse to the vertical.
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80. In an aircraft comprising (a) a fuselage with a central, longitudinal, fuselage axis extending through a center of gravity of the aircraft, and (b) an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to the direction of said fuselage axis and extending in the direction of said fuselage axis, from a leading edge to a trailing edge, both in front of and behind said center of gravity, said wing having an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, said circular duct having an inlet opening surfaces which extend smoothly into said upper surface of said wing.
- 81. In an aircraft comprising a fuselage with a central longitudinal axis and an elongate fixed wing having a longitudinal wing axis extending transversely to said central axis, an upper surface, a lower surface and a cross-sectional profile, transverse to said wing axis, forming a wing airfoil, the improvement comprising a plurality of ducted fan units arranged in said wing, each ducted fan unit having a impeller, rotatable about an impeller axis, and a circular duct arranged concentrically with said impeller axis and surrounding said impeller, at least some of said ducted fan units having an impeller axis disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical, whereby components of thrust may be imparted to said aircraft in the vertical direction and in a direction transverse to the vertical.
Specification