Thrust unit for VTOL aircraft
First Claim
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1. A VTOL aircraft comprising:
- an airframe;
a thrust unit located within the airframe for propelling the VTOL aircraft in a vertical flight mode and a transition flight mode between vertical flight and horizontal flight, the thrust unit having;
a) a duct including;
an inlet disposed substantially vertically upwardly on an upper surface of the airframe for allowing air into the duct, the inlet having means for inhibiting separation of the air from an outer lip of the inlet for improving the efficiency of operation of the duct,a chamber located below the inlet, anda plurality of sub-ducts, each sub-duct being curved outwardly and downwardly from the chamber to a respective outlet, each outlet being disposed substantially vertically downwardly on a lower surface of the airframe for exhausting air out of the duct in a substantially downward direction for providing positive lift, the sub-ducts having a width dimension which is critical to the flow of air therethrough, the critical width dimension being less than a length of a path which air takes through the sub-duct so that air exhausting from each of the outlets is substantially non-convergent, the outlets being spaced apart and located below and outside a vertical profile of the inlet so as to render the VTOL aircraft easier to control, an average width of a vertical profile of the outlets measured at the extremities thereof being greater than a vertical distance between the inlet and the outlets so as to reduce a frontal area of the airframe for reducing the drag of the VTOL aircraft in the horizontal plane,an air pump for inducing a draft of air through the duct, the air pump being located in the chamber, the air pump operating on a substantially vertical axis; and
control means for controlling the lift force and the attitude of the VTOL aircraft.
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Abstract
A thrust unit for an aircraft having a lift unit for propelling the aircraft in upward flight. The lift unit includes a duct for directing air substantially downwardly, the duct being shaped so that air exhausting from its downstream end is in a stream having substantially the same cross-sectional dimension of the duct at the downstream end, and an air pump disposed for inducing a draught of air through the duct. In use, the draught of air exhausting from the duct can produce an upward thrust and is substantially non-convergent.
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Citations
44 Claims
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1. A VTOL aircraft comprising:
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an airframe; a thrust unit located within the airframe for propelling the VTOL aircraft in a vertical flight mode and a transition flight mode between vertical flight and horizontal flight, the thrust unit having; a) a duct including; an inlet disposed substantially vertically upwardly on an upper surface of the airframe for allowing air into the duct, the inlet having means for inhibiting separation of the air from an outer lip of the inlet for improving the efficiency of operation of the duct, a chamber located below the inlet, and a plurality of sub-ducts, each sub-duct being curved outwardly and downwardly from the chamber to a respective outlet, each outlet being disposed substantially vertically downwardly on a lower surface of the airframe for exhausting air out of the duct in a substantially downward direction for providing positive lift, the sub-ducts having a width dimension which is critical to the flow of air therethrough, the critical width dimension being less than a length of a path which air takes through the sub-duct so that air exhausting from each of the outlets is substantially non-convergent, the outlets being spaced apart and located below and outside a vertical profile of the inlet so as to render the VTOL aircraft easier to control, an average width of a vertical profile of the outlets measured at the extremities thereof being greater than a vertical distance between the inlet and the outlets so as to reduce a frontal area of the airframe for reducing the drag of the VTOL aircraft in the horizontal plane, an air pump for inducing a draft of air through the duct, the air pump being located in the chamber, the air pump operating on a substantially vertical axis; and control means for controlling the lift force and the attitude of the VTOL aircraft.
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2. A VTOL aircraft comprising:
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an airframe; a thrust unit located within the airframe for propelling the VTOL aircraft in a vertical flight mode and a transition flight mode between vertical flight and horizontal flight, the thrust unit having; a) a duct including an inlet disposed substantially vertically upwardly on an upper surface of the airframe for allowing air into the duct, the inlet having means for inhibiting separation of the air from an outer lip of the inlet for improving the efficiency of operation of the duct, a chamber located below the inlet, a plurality of sub-ducts each sub-duct being curved outwardly and downwardly from the chamber to a respective outlet, some of the outlets being disposed substantially vertically downwardly on a lower surface of the airframe for exhausting air out of the duct in a substantially downward direction for providing positive lift, and the remainder of the outlets being disposed substantially vertically upwardly on the upper surface of the airframe for exhausting air out of the duct in a substantially upward direction for providing negative lift, the sub-ducts each having a width dimension which is critical to the flow of air therethrough, the critical width dimension being less than a length of a path which air takes through the sub-duct so that air exhausting from each of the outlets in substantially non-convergent, the outlets being spaced apart and located below and outside a vertical profile of the inlet so as to render the VTOL aircraft easier to control, an average width of a vertical profile of the outlets measured at the extremities thereof being greater than a vertical distance between the inlet and the outlets so as to reduce a frontal area of the airframe for reducing the drag of the VTOL aircraft in the horizontal plane, the sub-ducts including i. a plurality of lift sub-ducts each having one of the outlets disposed downwardly on the lower surface of the airframe for providing positive lift, and ii. a plurality of control sub-ducts each having a lift dump sub-duct with one of the outlets located on the upper surface of the airframe for providing negative lift, and a lift enhancement sub-ducts with one of the outlets located on the lower surface of the airframe for enhancing lift, and air flow direction control means located upstream of the outlets of the control sub-ducts for controlling the proportion of the air in the lift dump sub-ducts and the lift enhancement sub-ducts, for controlling the lift and the attitude of the VTOL aircraft; and b) an air pump for inducing a draft of air through the duct, the air pump being located in the chamber and operating on a substantially vertical axis; and
,control means for controlling the lift force and the attitude of the VTOL aircraft; wherein, the mass of air flowing through the duct is substantially the same irrespective of the proportion of air exhausting through the outlets located on the upper surface of the airframe as compared to the proportion of air exhausting through the outlets located on the lower surface of the airframe. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A thrust unit for a VTOL aircraft, the thrust unit having a lift unit for propelling the aircraft in upward flight, the lift unit operating at low pressure and high volume, the lift unit comprising:
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a duct having a inlet and a chamber located below the inlet, the chamber being terminated at its lower end by a core and terminating at its outer periphery by an annular cylinder, the duct also having a plurality of spaced apart lift sub-ducts attached to the chamber at its outer periphery, each lift sub-duct being disposed outwardly and downwardly from the chamber for exhausting downwardly, the lift sub-ducts including forward lift sub-ducts disposed forwardly of the lift unit and rearward lift sub-ducts disposed rearwardly of the lift unit, the forward lift sub-ducts and the rearward lift sub-ducts having equal resistance to air passing through them when the aircraft is in a vertical flight mode, and in which the forward lift sub-ducts have a greater resistance to air passing therethrough than the rearward lift sub-ducts when the aircraft is in a transition flight mode, so that the forward lift sub-ducts and the rearward lift sub-ducts can provide substantially equal lift in both the vertical flight mode and the transition flight mode; and an air pump disposed for inducing a draft of air through each of the lift sub-ducts; wherein the draft of air exhausting from each of the lift sub-ducts is substantially non-convergent and produces upward thrust. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A thrust unit for a VTOL aircraft, the thrust unit having a lift unit for propelling the VTOL aircraft in upward flight, the lift unit comprising:
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a duct for directing air substantially downwardly, the duct having a chamber attached at an outer periphery thereof to a plurality of lift sub-ducts, and the duct also having a plurality of control sub-ducts, the lift sub-ducts exhausting substantially downwardly and the control sub-ducts being capable of exhausting substantially upwardly; an air pump disposed for including a draft of air through the lift sub-ducts and the control sub-ducts; and a valve means for controlling the draft of air through the control sub-ducts; wherein, the draft of air exhausting from the lift sub-ducts produces upward thrust and is substantially non-convergent and wherein the mass of air flowing through the lift unit is substantially independent of the operation of the valve means. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification