Easily-convertible fixed-wing roadable aircraft
First Claim
1. In a roadable flying vehicle designed to operate effectively both in the air and in the roadway, said vehicle having a center of gravity, a longitudinal axis, a fuselage with a cabin for housing an operator, a width, a top, a front end, and a rear end, the combination comprising:
- front ground supporting means disposed at the front end of the vehicle, comprising of at least one steerable front wheel,rear ground supporting means mounted behind the center of gravity, comprising a pair of rear wheels,a vertical stabilizer means and a horizontal stabilizer means located at the rear end of the fuselage,an air propulsion means for propelling said vehicle while flying in the air,a wing comprising of a center panel and two outer panels foldably attached to said center panel by a wing folding mechanism allowing said outer panels to overlap on top of said center panel in a folded position, and allowing said outer panels to extend laterally from said center panel in an extended position, and,said wing is rotatably mounted on top of said fuselage on a wing pivot mechanism whereby said wing is horizontally rotatable between a flight position with the wing span approximately orthogonal to the fuselage'"'"'s longitudinal axis and a roadable position with the wing span approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, thereby allowing the vehicle to have a maximum width within legal limit for use in the roadway.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A fixed-wing four-seat light aircraft that can be easily converted to a roadway vehicle within minutes by a single person in the field, comprising a one-piece wing center panel with foldable wing tips on each sides. The whole wing unit is then rotatably mounted on top of the fuselage. The aircraft features a conventional front-engine-and-propeller lay-out, with a short fuselage for convenient roadability and garageability, with horizontal stabilizer of significant span with foldable tips for adequate flight stability. The vehicle has a low ride-height with a low center of gravity, four wheels with independent suspension, nose-height leveling for take-off and landing, and anti-sway mechanism for adequate ground handling. Ground propulsion is by automotive-style transmission driving the front wheels.
40 Citations
18 Claims
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1. In a roadable flying vehicle designed to operate effectively both in the air and in the roadway, said vehicle having a center of gravity, a longitudinal axis, a fuselage with a cabin for housing an operator, a width, a top, a front end, and a rear end, the combination comprising:
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front ground supporting means disposed at the front end of the vehicle, comprising of at least one steerable front wheel, rear ground supporting means mounted behind the center of gravity, comprising a pair of rear wheels, a vertical stabilizer means and a horizontal stabilizer means located at the rear end of the fuselage, an air propulsion means for propelling said vehicle while flying in the air, a wing comprising of a center panel and two outer panels foldably attached to said center panel by a wing folding mechanism allowing said outer panels to overlap on top of said center panel in a folded position, and allowing said outer panels to extend laterally from said center panel in an extended position, and, said wing is rotatably mounted on top of said fuselage on a wing pivot mechanism whereby said wing is horizontally rotatable between a flight position with the wing span approximately orthogonal to the fuselage'"'"'s longitudinal axis and a roadable position with the wing span approximately parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, thereby allowing the vehicle to have a maximum width within legal limit for use in the roadway. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. In an aircraft having a wing and a fuselage with a longitudinal axis, said wing being rotatable on a wing pivot mechanism between a flight position with the wing span generally orthogonal to the fuselage longitudinal axis and a stowed position with the wing span generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the fuselage, said wing pivot mechanism comprising:
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a wing rotational axis, a smooth rod protruding through the rotational axis of said wing from underneath the wing for entirely supporting said wing during wing rotation, said rod has a top end and a bottom end, said smooth rod rotatably protrudes its top end through a channel formed inside said wing, said smooth rod is rotatably supported on the bottom end by being mounted on top of a wing lifting means for providing clearance for wing rotation, said wing lifting means further comprises; a round plate underneath the wing, said round plate is fixedly mounted on top of a threaded rod, said threaded rod having a lower end, is threadedly journaled through a correspondingly threaded bearing inserted into a fuselage structure on top of the fuselage, the lower end of said threaded rod is fixedly attached to a hand crank, whereby cranking a few turns on said crank will cause a slight vertical movement of the wing with respect to the fuselage, whereas the wing rotation means is accomplished manually by force of the operator'"'"'s arm pushing against an edge of the wing, resilient sealing means sandwiched between the wing and the top of the fuselage in order to seal any potential air gap between the fuselage and the wing and to restrict transmission of vibration between the fuselage and the wing, releasable wing locking means for tightly securing the wing to the fuselage in both the flight position and the stowed position, said locking means are disposed in radially spaced-apart positions at regular intervals from the wing rotation axis on top of the fuselage, comprising a bolt with a threaded end traversing through a fuselage frame structure and screwed to a correspondingly threaded recess inside the wing.
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Specification