DUCTED FAN VTOL VEHICLES

• US 20110168834A1
• Filed: 11/03/2010
• Published: 07/14/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Urban Aeronautics Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Urban Aeronautics Ltd.
• Inventors: YOELI, Raphael
• Granted Patent: US 8,622,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/12.3
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/1415 Cargo doors, e.g. incorporating ramps
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/22 Other structures integral with fuselages to facilitate loading , e.g. cargo bays, cranes
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/08 with two or more rotors
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/20 Rotorcraft characterised by having shrouded rotors, e.g. flying platforms
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/0025 the propellers being fixed relative to the fuselage
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/0033 the propellers being tiltable relative to the fuselage
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 3/40 Varying angle of sweep
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 17/80 in association with aircraft, e.g. for braking thereof
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 7/00 Arrangements of military equipment, e.g. armaments, armament accessories, or military shielding, in aircraft; Adaptations of armament mountings for aircraft dropping bombs or the like B64D1/00; armaments or mountings therefor per se F41
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/10 Drag reduction

Abstract

A vehicle including a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, two Ducted Fan lift-producing propellers carried by the fuselage on each side of the transverse axis, a pilot'"'"'s compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with one side of the fuselage, a payload bay formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and opposite the pilot'"'"'s compartment, and two pusher fans located at the rear of the vehicle. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions. Also described is an Unmanned version of the vehicle. Also described are unique features applicable in any single or multiple ducted fans and VTOL vehicles.

Claims

1. A ducted air flow vehicle comprising:

a fuselage and associated air flow control surfaces;

at least one air flow duct mounted along a fuselage which includes a prime air mover to force surrounding air to flow through said duct thereby creating force directed along a duct flow axis which provides vertical lift force and which, when the duct axis is tilted with respect to vertical, also provides a force component in the direction of tilt; and

at least adjustable opening formed in at least one peripheral wall portion of said duct which, when opened, allows for faster vehicle motion by reducing the drag contribution of said wall portion and providing a more direct fluid flow through the duct wall during vehicle motion.

2. A vehicle as in claim 1 wherein said adjustable opening comprises a plurality of pivotally mounted louvers which, in one position substantially close said peripheral wall portion of said at least one duct from air flow therethrough and which, in at least one other position substantially open said peripheral wall portion for air flow therethrough.

3. A vehicle as in claim 1 comprising at least one of said ducts disposed both fore and aft of a cabin area of said fuselage with their respective duct axes substantially parallel to one another and tilted forward in the fuselage to provide a force component in the direction of tilt.

4. A vehicle as in claim 1 having at least one of said ducts disposed fore of a cabin area of said fuselage and at least one of said ducts disposed aft of said cabin area with their respective duct axes substantially parallel to one another, said vehicle further comprising:

a fuselage landing support structure which supports said aircraft in a non-flying position with said duct axes being inclined forwardly.

5. A vehicle as in claim 1 wherein said control surfaces include a plurality of control vanes disposed within and across at least a portion of a main fluid inlet end of said duct.

6. A vehicle as in claim 5 wherein said control surfaces also include a plurality of control vanes disposed across at least a portion of a fluid exit end of said duct.

7. A vehicle as in claim 5 wherein at least some of said plurality of vanes have spanwise axes substantially aligned with a longitudinal axis of said fuselage.

8. A vehicle as in claim 7 wherein at least some of said plurality of vanes are also disposed transversely across at least a portion of a fluid exit end of said duct.

9. A vehicle as in claim 5 wherein said vanes have an airfoil cross sectional shape with a leading edge positioned towards a direction of main fluid inlet flow through said duct.

10. A vehicle as in claim 9 wherein each of at least some of said airfoil shaped vanes has a variably oriented chord line along its spanwise axis that is oriented to approximately match expected duct airflow vector directions at respectively different positions along the vane spanwise axis.

11. A vehicle as in claim 9 wherein the chordlines of said vanes are oriented at angles that progressively change as a function of the location of the vane within the duct.

12. A vehicle as in claim 1 comprising:

at least one of said ducts disposed fore of a cabin payload area of said fuselage and at least one of said ducts disposed aft of said cabin payload area,

an adjustable opening in a forward-facing side of a fore-disposed duct;

the outer upper and lower surfaces of said cabin payload area being aerodynamically shaped to (a) enhance production of aerodynamic lift forces by air flowing there-over and (b) reduce resistance to air flow exiting from a fore-located duct.

13. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 12 wherein the outer upper surface of said cabin payload area is convexly shaped and the outer lower surface of said cabin payload area is concavely shaped.

14. A vehicle as in claim 1 comprising:

at least one of said ducts disposed fore of a cabin payload area of said fuselage and at least one of said ducts disposed aft of said cabin payload area,

a first controllable opening in a forward facing peripheral wall portion of a fore-disposed duct; and

a second controllable opening in a rearward facing peripheral wall portion of an aft-disposed duct so as to further reduce drag and enhance fast forward motion of the vehicle.

15. A ducted fan vane apparatus comprising:

an air flow duct having opposite inlet and exit ends;

an air prime mover mounted within said duct to force ambient air therethrough from said inlet through said duct and its exit; and

a plurality of parallel vanes mounted at spaced locations within and closely adjacent at least one of said inlet and said exit ends of the duct, said vanes being controllable to produce a desired transverse force component to a lift force produced by air flow through said duct, wherein each of a subset of said vanes has a chord line that is differently angled along the vane spanwise axis to better match local ducted air flow vectors.

16. A ducted fan vane apparatus as in claim 15 wherein:

said subset of vanes include first and second groups of vanes at least at one of said inlet and said exit.

17. A ducted fan vane apparatus as in claim 15 in combination with a VTOL vehicle wherein:

all of said plurality of vanes extend substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

18. A VTOL vehicle, comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis; and

at least two lift-producing prime air movers contained inside respective air flow ducts fixedly disposed within said fuselage along said longitudinal axis, wherein said at least two ducts are inclined forward with respect to vertical.

19. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 18 wherein:

said inclination is between 5 and 10 degrees.

20. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 18 wherein:

each of said hollow ducts is provided with a plurality of controllable vanes mounted adjacent both inlet and exit ends thereof.

21. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 20 wherein:

said plurality of vanes associated with each of said ducts extend parallel to said longitudinal axis of said fuselage.

22. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 21 wherein:

each of a subset of said plurality of vanes at the inlet ends of said hollow ducts has a differently angled chord line along a vane spanwise axis to better match local ducted air flow vectors.

23. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 22 wherein:

said subset of vanes include first and second spaced groups of vanes at said inlet.

24. A VTOL vehicle according to claim 21 wherein:

a plurality of transversely oriented control vanes are located adjacent and downstream of said plurality of longitudinally oriented vanes at said exit ends of said ducts, respectively.

25. A VTOL vehicle, comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis and

at least two lift-producing prime air movers carried by said fuselage and contained inside two hollow ducts disposed within said fuselage along said longitudinal axis,

wherein a forward one of said ducts has a least one forward facing circumferentially-extending controllable aperture in its duct wall that, when open, channels external air through said aperture.

26. A VTOL vehicle as in claim 25 wherein:

said aperture is formed with a reducing cross-section in a direction towards said forward duct to accelerate air flowing through said aperture into said duct.

27. A VTOL vehicle as in claim 25 wherein:

at least one door is moveable into and out of said aperture to permit air flow into said duct through said aperture in fast speed operation or to block air flow through said aperture thereby forcing all air flow to pass over a duct inlet lip to enhance lift contribution of the duct in hover or slow speed operation.

28. A VTOL vehicle as in claim 25 wherein:

a lower surface of a center portion of said fuselage is formed with a concave shape to facilitate flow exiting the forward duct and aligning with an overall flow around the vehicle at high speed flight.

29. A VTOL vehicle as in claim 25 wherein:

a rearward one of said ducts has at least one rearwardly facing, circumferentially extending controllable aperture in its duct wall that, when open, channels external air through said aperture.

30. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 29 wherein:

said ducts are disposed both fore and aft of said center portion of said fuselage; and

cabins are disposed on both sides of said center portion of said fuselage thus channeling air flow over said center portion of said fuselage to enhance lift forces generated thereby.

31. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 25 wherein an upper surface of said center portion has a convex surface configuration, thereby creating a lower pressure aerodynamic lift area above said fuselage.

32. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 31 wherein said convex surface configuration is defined by an arc of substantially constant radius.

33. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 31 wherein said convex surface configuration is asymmetrical, with a forward curved portion defined by a first radius and a rearward curved portion defined by a second radius larger than said first radius.

34. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 31 wherein said center portion of said fuselage contains a cabin, and wherein said convex surface configuration is hollow, forming at least a portion of a roof of said cabin.

35. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 33 wherein a lower surface of said center portion is substantially flat and tilted upwardly in a direction toward said forward one of said ducts.

36. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 33 wherein a lower surface of said center portion is concave, such that said center portion of said fuselage has an airfoil cross sectional shape, thereby increasing positive pressure under said fuselage.

37. A VTOL aircraft drive train comprising:

a first engine connected to a first transmission;

a first forward thrust propeller connected to and driven by said first transmission;

a second engine connected to a second transmission;

a second forward thrust propeller connected to and driven by said second transmission; and

a first gearbox operative to drive a lift propeller,

wherein said gearbox is intermediate said first and second transmissions and separately connected thereto by separate shafts.

38. A VTOL aircraft drive train according to claim 37 and further comprising:

a second gearbox operative to drive a second lift propeller, wherein said first gearbox is operative to drive said second gearbox.

39. A VTOL aircraft drive train as in claim 38 wherein:

a shaft connecting said first and second gearboxes is divided into two segments connected by a center gearbox.

40. A VTOL aircraft drive train comprising:

a single engine driving a single transmission connected by a first pair of gearboxes to drive a pair of lift rotors, respectively, and by at least a second pair of gearboxes to drive a pair of pusher fans, respectively.

41. A ducted flow vane configuration comprising:

at least one lift-producing propeller disposed inside a hollow flow duct;

a first plurality of parallel spaced control vanes extending across at least an inlet end of said duct, generally along a first predetermined direction, said vanes being controllable to produce a desired force component to a lift force produced by said propeller generally along a second direction transverse to said first direction; and

a second plurality of parallel spaced control vanes located across at least said inlet generally along a second predetermined direction, said vanes being controllable to produce a desired force component to a lift force produced by said propeller generally along a third direction transverse to said second direction.

42. A ducted fan vane configuration comprising:

at least one lift-producing propeller contained inside a duct;

a first plurality of pivotally-mounted parallel vanes extending within and across either of an inlet and an exit of said duct at an angle of generally +45°

with respect to a first direction, said vanes being selectively controllable to produce a desired force component to a lift force produced by said propeller generally +45°

to said first direction; and

a second plurality of pivotally-mounted parallel vanes extending within and across either of said inlet and said exit at an angle generally −

45°

with respect to said first direction, said vanes being selectively controllable to produce a desired force component to a lift force produced by said propeller generally −

45°

to said direction.

43. A ducted flow vane configuration comprising:

at least one lift-producing propeller disposed inside a duct;

first and second pluralities of parallel vanes extending within and across either of an inlet and an exit of said duct generally along a first direction, said vanes being selectively controllable to produce a desired first transverse force component with respect to a lift force produced by said propeller; and

third and fourth pluralities of parallel vanes extending within and across either of said inlet and said exit generally along a second direction, said vanes being selectively controllable about their axes to produce a desired second transverse force component with respect to a lift force produced by said propeller.

44. A ducted fan vane configuration as in claim 43 wherein said pluralities of vanes collectively form a cross pattern.

45. A ducted fan vane configuration as in claim 43 wherein said pluralities of vanes collectively form a square pattern.

46. A ducted fan vane configuration as in claim 43 wherein said pluralities of vanes collectively form a weave pattern.

47. A VTOL aircraft, comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis;

at least one lift-producing propeller contained inside a duct disposed within said fuselage along said longitudinal axis;

at least one pusher propeller at the rear end of the fuselage; and

a normally collapsed and stowed wing controllably deployable to extend above said vehicle in-flight while remaining connected thereto.

48. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 47 wherein said collapsed wing is configured to be inflated by ram air when deployed.

49. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 47 wherein said lift-producing propeller may be deactivated when said wing is deployed, and wherein said wing provided lift to said vehicle in the presence of forward relative air movement.

50. A VTOL aircraft comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis;

at least one lift-producing propeller disposed inside a duct along said longitudinal axis, wherein air flow into said duct is at least partially obstructed by either of a nacelle and part of said fuselage; and

at least one air flow channel through which air may flow into said partially obstructed duct wherein an exit portion of said channel meets and is substantially aligned with an upper inlet lip of said duct.

51. A VTOL aircraft comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis,

at least one lift-producing propeller disposed inside a duct along said longitudinal axis;

a litter slidingly mounted within said fuselage; and

a swiveling seat also mounted within said fuselage for rotatable access to said litter.

52. A ducted fan for use in a vehicle, said ducted fan comprising:

at least one lift-producing propeller disposed inside a duct having an inlet and an exit at opposite ends thereof,

wherein at least one peripheral sidewall portion of said duct is formed with at least one controllable aperture therein, thereby allowing air to flow into an interior of said duct through both said inlet and said at least one aperture when opened.

53. A ducted fan as in claim 52 further comprising:

a plurality of airfoil-shaped elements disposed within said aperture.

54. A ducted fan as in claim 52 further comprising:

a plurality of spaced-apart partition elements disposed within said aperture.

56. A ducted fan as in claim 54 wherein:

respective ones of said partition elements are selectably rotatable to contact a neighboring one of said partition elements to block air flow around said elements and into said duct, and to disengage from said neighboring element to permit air flow around said elements and into said duct.

57. A ducted fan as in claim 52 wherein:

at least a portion of a lower edge of said duct is curved back at an angle that increases progressively from a first angle along said duct wall, reaching a maximum angle at a center section of said duct wall.

58. A ducted fan as in claim 57 wherein:

the curvature of said lower edge is selectably variable.

59. A ducted fan as in claim 52 and further comprising:

a controllably slidable flow blocking element disposed to block and to permit air flow through said aperture.

55. A ducted fan as in 54 further comprising:

a plurality of externally actuated rotating valves, each valve being disposed between two of said partition elements and selectably rotatable to block and to permit air flow around said elements and into said duct.

60. A VTOL vehicle comprising:

a chassis supporting plural lift generating ducted fans disposed substantially along a longitudinal axis of the vehicle;

at least one engine driving said fans;

a first cabin disposed on one side of said chassis; and

a second cabin disposed on an opposite side of said chassis;

wherein said ducted fans have axes that are substantially parallel to one another and tilted forward with respect to the fuselage to provide a force component in the direction of tilt in forward flight.

61. A VTOL vehicle as in claim 60 further comprising:

at least one opening along at least one side of the chassis disposed to enable outside air to mix with air entering said ducted fans from above.

62. A VTOL aircraft comprising:

a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis;

at least two lift fans housed in hollow ducting and disposed along said longitudinal axis;

at least two pusher fans located in a rearward portion of said fuselage, with at least one pusher fan being located on each side of said longitudinal axis;

at least one engine supported within said fuselage and connected to drive said lift fans and pusher fans;

said fuselage being concavely contoured in areas adjacent at least some of said pusher fans to facilitate outside air flow into said pusher fans.

63. A VTOL aircraft as in claim 62 wherein a stabilizer structure extends transversely between a pair of said pusher fans, said stabilizer structure facilitating fuselage trimming moments during forward flight operation.