Vertical Take-Off and Landing Roadable Aircraft
First Claim
1. A vehicle having a road configuration and a flight configuration comprising :
- a fuselage or body of the vehicle;
a plurality of wheels which support the said fuselage on the ground, wherein at least one of the said wheels is rotated by at least one engine to enable the said vehicle to move during said road configuration;
a plurality of propellers, which is rotated generally in a horizontal plane by at least one engine so as to produce aerodynamic lift and enable the said vehicle to fly during said flight configuration;
a means which secure the said propeller to the said vehicle;
a means which enable the said propellers to be retrieved and stowed above one another on the roof of the said vehicle during said road configuration;
and a means to deploy the said propellers from the stowed position to the side of the said vehicle for use during said flight configuration.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) roadable aircraft which has the features and dimensions of a typical road vehicle is disclosed. When operated on the road the wheels are powered by the engine. When the vehicle is configured for flight, a plurality of propellers is deployed from the storage compartment located on the roof and is powered by the same engine. The conversion process transforms the vehicle into a highly manoeuvrable quadcopter or a multi-rotor aircraft. The design concept enables propellers of relative large diameter to be conveniently secure to the vehicle, while allowing reliable deployment, retrieval and storage of the propellers as required. The total combined area of the propellers enables a low disk loading in the range of some helicopters with equivalent flight efficiency. The propellers are shrouded for safe operation. The conversion is automated, fast, and can be carried out while the vehicle is still moving.
-
Citations
15 Claims
-
1. A vehicle having a road configuration and a flight configuration comprising :
-
a fuselage or body of the vehicle; a plurality of wheels which support the said fuselage on the ground, wherein at least one of the said wheels is rotated by at least one engine to enable the said vehicle to move during said road configuration; a plurality of propellers, which is rotated generally in a horizontal plane by at least one engine so as to produce aerodynamic lift and enable the said vehicle to fly during said flight configuration; a means which secure the said propeller to the said vehicle; a means which enable the said propellers to be retrieved and stowed above one another on the roof of the said vehicle during said road configuration; and a means to deploy the said propellers from the stowed position to the side of the said vehicle for use during said flight configuration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15)
-
-
4. A vehicle as recited in clam 3, wherein the pitch of the said blades may be varied so as to modulate the amount of aerodynamic lift
-
11. A means which secure the said propeller to the said vehicle and enable the said propeller to be deployed for flight configuration or retrieved for road configuration,
the means comprising: -
a shaft generally positioned vertically rotatably mounted and secured to the side of the said vehicle; a supporting component rotatably mounted to the said shaft, which secure the said propeller to the said shaft ; a first gear device mounted on the longitudinal axis of the said shaft and firmly secured to the said supporting component; a second gear device which meshes with the first said gears device and is rotatably mounted and secured to the structure of the said vehicle, so that the rotation of the said second gear device enables the said propeller to pivot about the axis of the said shaft. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
-
Specification