QUAD TILT ROTOR AERIAL VEHICLE WITH STOPPABLE ROTORS

• US 20110001020A1
• Filed: 07/02/2010
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Pavol Forgac
• Original Assignee: Pavol Forgac
• Inventors: Forgac, Pavol
• Application Number:
  US12/829,423
• Publication Number:
  US 20110001020A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/7.A
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/0033 the propellers being tiltable relative to the fuselage
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/024 of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/25 Fixed-wing aircraft VTOL aircraft B64U10/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 2101/30 for imaging, photography or videography
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 70/80 Vertical take-off or landing, e.g. using rockets rotorcrafts B64U10/10; VTOL aircraft B64U10/20

Abstract

The disclosed invention consists of several improvements to well known Quad Tilt-Rotor (QTR) aircraft. The first is that during a wing-borne flight, one pair of tilt-rotors, which can be substantially larger than the other pair, is feathered and stopped. This can promote vehicle aerodynamic efficiency and can be utilized to increase vehicle speed. Second is that the wings are not attached to the fuselage at a fixed angle of incidence like on conventional QTR aircraft, but can also be tilted in respect to the fuselage independently of the tilt-rotors. Furthermore, each rotor and each wing can be tilted with respect to fuselage to any tilt-angle without limit, which gives the vehicle unprecedented ability to position the fuselage in any attitude in respect to the vehicle direction of flight.

Claims

1. A convertible aerial vehicle having a fixed wing flight mode and a rotary wing flight mode, the aerial vehicle comprising:

a fuselage;

two pairs of airfoil section wings attached in tandem to said fuselage;

four rotors, each rotor having a shaft and at least one airfoil section blade that can rotate in a plane normal to said shaft;

said rotors tiltably arranged at the tips of said wings;

means for rotary driving each of said rotors;

means of disengaging said rotary driving means to rotors on one pair of said wings when in fixed wing flight mode; and

means of feathering the blade(s) of the rotors with driving means disengaged during the fixed wing flight mode.

2. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, further including means for inhibiting rotation of said feathered rotors.

3. The aerial vehicle of claim 2, whereas blades of said rotors can be affixed in such position as to assist the wings in creation of lift.

4. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each rotor tiltable by at least 90 degrees from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal position.

5. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each rotor tiltable independently of the other rotors.

6. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having wings tiltable together with their respective tip rotors.

7. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having wings tiltable independently of their tip rotors.

8. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each rotor and each wing tiltable independently of the other rotors and wings and without angular limit in respect to the fuselage.

9. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having at least one pair of tiltable wings, said wings being tiltable together with or independently of said wings tip rotors.

10. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, further including means for cyclic pitch control of blades on at least one pair of rotors.

11. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having said rotors driven by at least one common motor(s) via mechanical powertrain, and having means to disengage one pair of rotors from said common motor(s).

12. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having rotors on each pair of wings mechanically cross-connected and driven by independent motor(s), with said motors(s) being stopped with their respective rotor pair.

13. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having mechanically not-cross connected driving motor(s) attached to each rotor, with each said motor(s) being stopped with its respective rotor.

14. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having one pair of rotors and wings substantially larger than the other pair of rotors and wings.

15. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each rotor on one pair of wings rotate in opposite direction.

16. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each of non-feathering rotors substituted by one or more ducted fans, jet engines or other means of propulsion.

17. The aerial vehicle of claim 9, having each of non-feathering rotors substituted by one or more ducted fans, jet engines or other means of propulsion.

18. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, having each of non-feathering rotors together with the wings on which tips said rotors would be arranged substituted by one or more ducted fans, jet engines or other means of propulsion.