Helicopter with main and auxiliary rotors

• US 8,052,500 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2008
• Issued: 11/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Silverlit Limited
• Original Assignee: Silverlit Limited
• Inventors: Wai, Chi Pok Billy, Van de Rostyne, Alexander Jozef Magdalena
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim; Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): HYLINSKI, ALYSSA MARIE
• Application Number:
  US12/323,209
• Publication Number:
  US 20100130093A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,078 Days
• Field of Search: 446 36- 38, 244/17.11, 244/17.23
• US Class Current: 446/36
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 27/12 Helicopters A63H27/04 takes precedence; Flying tops
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/605 including swash plate, spider or cam mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/625 including rotating masses or servo rotors

Abstract

A remote control toy helicopter has a main rotor and an auxiliary rotor both driven by a rotor shaft. The auxiliary rotor has elongated elements at an acute angle relative to blades of the main rotor. A control system is provided that includes an actuator for engaging with a control assembly depending from the auxiliary rotor. The inter-engagement of the actuator and the control assembly effects change in the angle of incidence of the elongated elements of the auxiliary rotor. The interaction occurs when the assembly engages with the actuator by a depending arm associated with the assembly.

Claims

1. A remote control toy helicopter comprising:

a body;

a motor and a battery for the motor, the motor being controllable by a controller remote from the helicopter body;

a main rotor with propeller blades which is driven by a rotor shaft on which the blades are mounted, and a joint of the main rotor being a spindle which is fixed to the rotor shaft of the main rotor;

an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor for rotation in the sense of rotation of the main rotor;

a second rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft;

the auxiliary rotor being provided with two vanes extending essentially in a line with their longitudinal axis, the auxiliary rotor being mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft which is provided essentially transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor and being directed essentially transversally to the longitudinal axis of the vanes;

the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor being connected to each other by a mechanical link, such that the swinging motion of the auxiliary rotor controls the angle of incidence of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor; and

an actuator for engaging with a control assembly depending from the auxiliary rotor, wherein the actuator includes at least a portion of a cam outer engaging surface, the cam being mounted about the rotor shaft, and an actuator arm being engagable with the cam, the actuator arm being movable between different positions thereby to move the cam into different relative positions about the rotor shaft, such that the control assembly of the auxiliary rotor engages the cam in different positions of engagement, an inter-engagement of the cam and a first element of the control assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least one vane of the auxiliary rotor, the first element engaging through an interface with the cam, at least one of the first element or cam has a curved face interface, and the first element and cam being for sliding engagement, the action of the cam being for movement between non-tilted and tilted positions relative to the rotor shaft and the first element, wherein the cam retains contact with the first element, and the first element contacts different portions of the cam for different positions of relative tilt of the cam.

2. A helicopter of claim 1 including multiple actuators, the multiple actuators being spaced circumferentially around the rotor shaft thereby to interact with the control assembly at different circumferential positions relative to the rotor shaft, the interaction occurring when selected actuators are aligned with a selected location of the control assembly.

3. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the actuator arm is movable between a position of repose and a position of inter-engagement with the control assembly and wherein the degree of movement of and the force exercised by the actuator arm effects the degree of interaction with the control assembly and the degree of change of angle of inclination of the at least one blade.

4. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the control assembly includes a flange located about and rotatable with the rotor shaft, and wherein the actuator is located to be non rotatable relative to the body.

5. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary rotor is located relatively below the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor is effectively mechanical coupled with the actuator located on the body whereby the actuator is for effecting changes to the incidence angle of the vanes, and the auxiliary rotor is hinge connected with the main rotor.

6. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary rotor includes vanes mounted relatively to the rotor shaft such that the angle of incidence of the vanes are variable along a tip to tip axis of the vanes.

7. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary rotor includes flanges, the flanges being for interaction with an element of the control assembly thereby to change the vanes incidence angle.

8. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the main rotor defines a plane for rotation, and the rotor includes components, the components being relatively movable to each other, the relative motion being possible in the plane of rotation.

9. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the rotor blade includes portions mounted to permit swiveling about an axis, the axis being located transverse the plane for rotation.

10. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the main rotor blades and auxiliary rotor vanes each respectively have a longitudinal axis extending essentially from tip to tip of the respective rotors, and wherein the respective longitudinal axes are located at an acute angle less than about 45 degrees in the sense of rotation relative to each other, and wherein the auxiliary rotor is rotatable tip to tip in a direction transverse to the sense of rotation and wherein the auxiliary rotor is mounted below the main rotor.

21. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the cam has the curved face and the first element has a relatively straight follower flange for engaging the curved face.

22. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the cam has a donut shape and the curved face is an outer periphery of the donut, and the first element has a relatively straight follower flange for engaging the curved face.

23. A helicopter of claim 22 wherein the donut shape included a flat top and a flat bottom between the curved face on the outer periphery of the donut.

24. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the cam has the curved face formed as the periphery of a ring, and the control assembly includes a pair of oppositely spaced elements, the spacing between the pair of elements being substantially equal to the diameter of the ring and being for engaging the curved face.

25. A helicopter of claim 24 wherein the cam has a donut shape and the curved face is an outer periphery of the donut, and the first element has a relatively straight follower flange for engaging the curved face.

26. A helicopter of claim 25 wherein the donut shape included a flat top and a flat bottom between the curved face on the outer periphery of the donut.

27. A helicopter of claim 1 including a servo attached to the body, and wherein the actuator is moved through the servo.

28. A helicopter of claim 22 including a servo attached to the body, and wherein the actuator is moved through the servo.

29. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the curved face interface is in the general parallel direction relative to the rotor shaft when the actuator cam is in a relatively no-tilt position relative to the shaft.

30. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the curved face interface extends circumferentially about the rotor shaft at a relatively equal radial distance in relation to the rotor shaft when the actuator is in a relatively no-tilt position relative to the shaft.

31. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the sliding engagement is one wherein the element and actuator interface are not fixedly connected with each other at the interface.

32. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the element and cam are separable from each other at the interface.

33. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the cam has a shape with the curved face formed as an outer periphery of the cam, the first element having a relatively straight follower flange for engaging the curved face.

34. A helicopter of claim 33 wherein the outer periphery curved face considered from the side is a partial circle, and wherein the distance between the engaging element flange and the and the tangent point of the curve and the element flange at the interface is substantially the same for different positions of inclination of the actuator relative to the rotor shaft.

35. A helicopter of claim 33 wherein the shape includes a flat top and a flat bottom between the curved face on the outer periphery.

11. A remote control toy helicopter comprising:

a body;

a motor and a battery for the motor, the motor being controllable by a controller remote from the helicopter body;

a main rotor with propeller blades which is driven by a rotor shaft on which the blades are mounted, and a joint of the main rotor being a spindle which is fixed to the rotor shaft of the main rotor;

an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor for rotation in the sense of rotation of the main rotor;

a tail rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft directed transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor;

the auxiliary rotor being provided with two elongated rotor elements extending essentially in a line with their longitudinal axis, the auxiliary rotor being mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft which is provided essentially transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor and being directed essentially transversally to the longitudinal axis of the vanes;

two elongated rotor elements extending essentially in a line with their longitudinal axis in the sense of rotation of the main rotor is essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor or is at a relatively small acute angle relative to the axis;

the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor being connected to each other by a mechanical link, such that the swinging motion of the auxiliary rotor controls the angle of incidence of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor;

an actuator for engaging with a control assembly depending from the auxiliary rotor, wherein the actuator includes at least a portion of a cam outer engaging surface, the cam being mounted about the rotor shaft, and an actuator arm being engagable with the cam, the actuator arm being movable between different positions thereby to move the cam into different relative positions about the rotor shaft, such that the control assembly of the auxiliary rotor engages the cam in different positions of engagement, an inter-engagement of the cam and a first element of the control assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least one vane of the auxiliary rotor, the first element engaging through an interface with the cam, at least one of the first element or cam has a curved face interface, and the first element and cam being for sliding engagement, the action of the cam being for movement between non-tilted and tilted positions relative to the rotor shaft and the first element, wherein the cam retains contact with the first element, and the first element contacts different portions of the cam for different positions of relative tilt of the cam; and

wherein the longitudinal axis of the elongated rotor elements of the auxiliary rotor in the sense of rotation is located within an angle of about 45 to 15 degrees, and preferably about 25 degrees with the longitudinal axis of one of the rotor blades of the main rotor and wherein the auxiliary rotor is located relatively below the main rotor.

12. A helicopter according to claim 11, wherein the main rotor includes two blades situated essentially in line with each other.

13. A helicopter according to claim 11, wherein the rotor blades of the main rotor, the vanes of the auxiliary rotor respectively, are connected to each other through a mechanical linkage including a rod coupling and hinge joints, the joints with the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor being located relatively transversally to the rotor shaft and spaced from the rotor shaft, the coupling being relatively parallel to the rotor shaft, and being spaced from the rotor shaft, and the spindle of the main rotor being directed essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the main rotor.

14. A helicopter according to claim 11 wherein the rod hinge is mounted to a vane of the auxiliary rotor with one fastening point and is hinge-mounted with another fastening point to the rotor blade of the main rotor which is parallel to one of the vanes or is at an acute angle relative to the blade.

15. A helicopter according to claim 11 wherein the tail rotor is supported by a swing with its rotor shaft which can rotate round a swinging shaft which essentially extends according to the longitudinal direction of the body of the helicopter.

16. A remote control toy helicopter comprising:

a body;

a motor and a battery for the motor, the motor being controllable by a controller remote from the helicopter body;

a main rotor with propeller blades which is driven by a rotor shaft on which the blades are mounted;

an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor for rotation in the sense of rotation of the main rotor;

a second rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft; and

the auxiliary rotor being driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor and being provided with two vanes extending essentially in a line with their longitudinal, the auxiliary rotor being mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft which is provided essentially transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor and being directed essentially transversally to the longitudinal axis of the vanes, and the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor are connected to each other by a mechanical link, such that the swinging motion of the auxiliary rotor controls the angle of incidence of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor, and a control for moving the angle of incidence of at least one blade of the rotor cyclically along at least part of a 360 degree rotation path around a rotor shaft, causing a variation in lift force of the blade along the rotations path such that the swinging motion of the auxiliary rotor controls the angle of incidence of at least one of the propeller blades of the main rotor, and a joint of the main rotor to the propeller blade formed of a spindle which is fixed to the rotor shaft of the main rotor, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the auxiliary rotor and the rotor shaft may vary;

an actuator for moving the angle of incidence of at least one vane of the auxiliary rotor relative to the angle of incidence of a blade of the main rotor cyclically along at least part of a 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and wherein a length of an actuator arm relative to a length of a control assembly from a location of anchoring the rotor to the shaft effects the degree of interaction with the control assembly and the degree of change of angle of inclination of the at least one vane;

the actuator for engaging with the control assembly depending from the auxiliary rotor, wherein the actuator includes at least a portion of a cam outer engaging surface, the cam being mounted about the rotor shaft, and the actuator arm being engagable with the cam, the actuator arm being movable between different positions thereby to move the cam into different relative positions about the rotor shaft, such that the control assembly of the auxiliary rotor engages the cam in different positions of engagement, an inter-engagement of the cam and a first element of the control assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least one vane of the auxiliary rotor, the first element engaging through an interface with the cam, at least one of the first element or cam has a curved face interface, and the first element and cam being for sliding engagement, the action of the cam being for movement between non-tilted and tilted positions relative to the rotor shaft and the first element, wherein the cam retains contact with the first element, and the first element contacts different portions of the cam for different positions of relative tilt of the cam; and

wherein the longitudinal axis of the vanes of the auxiliary rotor in the sense of rotation is located within an angle of about 45 to 15 degrees, and preferably about 25 degrees with a longitudinal axis of the propeller blades of the main rotor.

17. A rotor assembly for a remote control toy helicopter, comprising:

a motor and a battery for the motor, the motor being controllable by a controller remote from the helicopter body;

a main rotor having two propeller blades mounted on a rotor shaft for rotation with the rotor shaft;

an auxiliary rotor mounted on the rotor shaft for rotation in the sense of rotation of the main rotor, the auxiliary rotor being mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft provided essentially transverse to the rotor shaft of the main rotor and the swinging motion being relatively upwardly and downwardly about the oscillatory shaft;

the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor having planes of rotation spaced from each other and being linked with each other by a mechanical linkage, such that the swinging motion of the auxiliary rotor controls an angle of incidence of the propeller blades of the main rotor;

wherein at least one propeller blade of the main rotor is for pivotably mounting on a spindle which is fixed on the rotor shaft;

an actuator for moving the angle of incidence of at least one elongated rotor element of the auxiliary rotor cyclically along at least part of a 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the at least one elongated rotor element of the auxiliary rotor and the rotor shaft may vary;

the actuator for engaging with a control assembly depending from the auxiliary rotor, wherein the actuator includes at least a portion of a cam outer engaging surface, the cam being mounted about the rotor shaft, and an actuator arm being engagable with the cam, the actuator arm being movable between different positions thereby to move the cam into different relative positions about the rotor shaft, such that the control assembly of the auxiliary rotor engages the cam in different positions of engagement, an inter-engagement of the cam and a first element of the control assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least one vane of the auxiliary rotor, the first element engaging through an interface with the cam, at least one of the first element or cam has a curved face interface, and the first element, and cam being for sliding engagement, the action of the cam being for movement between non-tilted and tilted positions relative to the rotor shaft and the first element, wherein the cam retains contact with the first element, and the first element contacts different portions of the cam for different positions of relative tilt of the cam; and

wherein the auxiliary rotor includes flanges, the flanges being for interaction with an element of the control assembly thereby to change the elongated rotor element incidence angle.

18. A rotor assembly according to claim 17, wherein the auxiliary rotor is located relatively below the main rotor, and the auxiliary rotor is effectively mechanical coupled with the actuator located on the body whereby the actuator is for effecting changes to the incidence angle of the elongated rotor element, and the auxiliary rotor is hinge connected with the main rotor.

19. A rotor assembly according to claim 17, wherein a longitudinal axis of the elongated rotor element of the auxiliary rotor in the sense of rotation is located within an angle of about 45 to 15 degrees, and preferably about 25 degrees with a longitudinal axis of the propeller blades of the main rotor.

20. A rotor assembly according to claim 17, wherein the main rotor defines a plane for rotation and the rotor includes components, the components being relatively movable to each other, the relative motion being possible in the plane of rotation.