STOWABLE AND DEPLOYABLE UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE

• US 20150225072A1
• Filed: 02/13/2014
• Published: 08/13/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (Northrop Grumman Corporation)
• Inventors: Torre, Christopher N.
• Granted Patent: US 9,522,725 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 1/30 Parts of fuselage relatively movable to reduce overall dimensions of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 3/56 Folding or collapsing to reduce overall dimensions of aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 39/02 characterised by special use
• 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 20/40 Modular UAVs
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 20/65 Composite materials
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/12 Variable or detachable wings, e.g. wings with adjustable sweep
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/14 detachable
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/13 using external fans or propellers
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/50 the UAVs being disassembled
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/70 in containers B64U80/60 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 80/86 Land vehicles

Abstract

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be deployed from a small stowed package for flight and stowed back into the package after the flight is complete is disclosed. The UAV is retracted to a volume that is less than half of it'"'"'s fully deployed volume. This allows the UAV to be transported to any desired field position on a truck or other convenient transportation. The UAV may also be launched from a ship deck. In a further aspect, the flexible deployment of the UAV will allow a single UAV to be used in place of multiple types of UAVs.

Claims

1. An aerial vehicle, comprising

a fuselage;

a telescoping wing assembly comprising two wings, each comprising a telescoping axis; and

a wing root mechanism comprising a vertical rotation pivot operatively coupling said wing assembly to said fuselage, wherein said wing assembly rotates between a position in which the telescoping axis is parallel to an axis of the fuselage and a position in which the telescoping axis is perpendicular to the axis of the fuselage.

2. The aerial vehicle of claim 1 wherein the wing root mechanism further comprises:

a horizontal rotation pivot operatively coupling said wing assembly to said vertical rotation pivot wherein said telescoping wing assembly may be tilted.

3. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the telescoping wing assembly further comprises a plurality of concentric tubular mast segments, slideable relative to adjacent mast segments and coaxial with the telescoping axis.

4. The aerial vehicle of claim 3, wherein the fuselage further comprises:

a front portion on one side of the wing root mechanism; and

a tail portion on the opposite side of the wing root mechanism, said tail portion comprising a plurality of telescoping concentric tubular mast segments.

5. The aerial of claim 4, further comprising an empennage assembly rotatably attached to an end of the tail portion opposite the wing root mechanism.

6. The aerial vehicle of claim 1, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 14 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 51″

×

21″

×

12″

.

7. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 8 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 40″

×

21″

×

12″

.

8. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 14.8 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 53.5″

×

38″

×

26″

.

9. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 22 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 80″

×

40″

×

22″

.

10. The UAV of claim 1, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 27 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 100″

×

48″

×

35″

.

11. The UAV of claim 1 further comprising one or more imaging of sensor devices.

12. The aerial vehicle of claim 1 wherein the angle between the telescoping axes of the wings is less than 180°

.

13. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), comprising:

a fuselage;

a telescoping wing assembly having a telescoping axis, said wing assembly comprising two wings each further comprising;

a plurality of concentric tubular mast segments coaxial with said telescoping axis, said mast segments configured to slide relative to adjacent mast segments;

a plurality of ribs; and

a plurality of skin segments each attached to at least one rib, said skin segments configured to slide relative to adjacent skin segments and said ribs configured to slide over at least on mast segment;

a wing root fitting further comprising a vertical rotation pivot operatively coupled to the fuselage and a horizontal rotation pivot operatively coupled to the telescoping wing assembly between the two wings, said vertical rotation pivot allowing the wing assembly to rotate between a position in which the telescoping axis is parallel to an axis of the fuselage and a position in which the telescoping axis is perpendicular to the axis of the fuselage and said horizontal rotation pivot allowing the wing assembly to tilt.

14. The UAV of claim 13, wherein the fuselage further comprises:

a front portion on one side of the wing root mechanism; and

a tail portion on the opposite side of the wing root mechanism, said tail portion comprising a plurality of concentric tubular mast segments.

15. The UAV of claim 14, further comprising an empennage assembly rotatably attached to an end of the tail portion opposite the wing root mechanism.

16. The UAV of claim 14, wherein said mast segments further comprise latch fittings for controlling a sliding motion of the mast segments as the telescoping wing assembly is retracted or deployed.

17. The UAV of claim 16, wherein each latch fitting further comprises:

a latch receptacle mounted to the inside of one end of a mast segment, said latch receptacle comprising cutout pockets on either side of the latch receptacle; and

a latch pawl mounted to the outside of one end of an adjoining mast segment, said latch pawl comprising pins which engage with the cutout pockets of the latch receptacle.

18. The aerial vehicle of claim 14, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 14 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 51″

×

21″

×

12″

.

19. The UAV of claim 14, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 8 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 40″

×

21″

×

12″

.

20. The UAV of claim 14, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 14.8 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 53.5″

×

38″

×

26″

.

21. The UAV of claim 14, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 22 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 80″

×

40″

×

22″

.

22. The UAV of claim 14, wherein the wingspan of the wing assembly when fully extended is approximately 27 feet and further wherein the wing assembly may be retracted so that the UAV may be stowed in a case with dimensions of approximately 100″

×

48″

×

35″

.

23. The UAV of claim 13, further comprising a means of propulsion.

25. The UAV of claim 13 further comprising one or more imaging of sensor devices.

26. The UAV of claim 13 wherein the angle between the telescoping axes of each wing is less than 180°

.

24. The UAV of claim 24, wherein the means of propulsion further comprises solar cells attached to a surface of the UAV.