Convertiplane with new aerodynamic and technical solutions which make the aircraft safe and usable

• US 9,919,796 B2
• Filed: 08/07/2014
• Issued: 03/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: UNIT1 Srl
• Original Assignee: UNIT1 Srl
• Inventors: Giovenga, Pietro
• Primary Examiner(s): Badawi, Medhat
• Application Number:
  US14/908,850
• Publication Number:
  US 20160167780A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,321 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 29/0033 the propellers being tiltable relative to the fuselage
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 3/385 Variable incidence wings
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 3/54 Varying in area
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 27/08 within, or attached to, fuselages
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 10/25 Fixed-wing aircraft VTOL aircraft B64U10/20
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/10 Wings
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/20 Rotors; Rotor supports
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 30/26 Ducted or shrouded rotors
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/14 ducted or shrouded
• CPC Class Codes: B64U 50/19 using electrically powered motors
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/10 Drag reduction

Abstract

A convertiplane has the ability to take off like a helicopter and then fly horizontally like a conventional aircraft. The aircraft includes a variable incidence front wing of variable span located below the fuselage and mounted on a structure in the form of a venturi tube, a rear wing having two propellers for controlling the stability of the vehicle in pitch and roll installed therein, two counter-rotating, pivotally mounted ducted propellers equipped with four flaps orthogonal to each other provided on the sides of the cockpit, engines placed behind the cockpit close to the center of gravity, a static balancing system for controlling the center of gravity of the aircraft consisting of a weight placed in the lower part of the fuselage, self-propelled on the track rack longitudinally to the fuselage, and a digital flight control system.

Claims

1. An aircraft comprising:

a fuselage;

a pair of wings surfaces supported by said fuselage one in front of said fuselage and one in back of said fuselage;

a pair of engines connected to each other in tandem, said pair of engines positioned in said fuselage located behind a pilot of the aircraft;

a pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers having a variable pitch, said pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers positioned at respective sides of said fuselage, said pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers having a backbone positioned on a vertical plane passing through a center-of-gravity of the aircraft, the wing surface at the back of the fuselage containing at ends of a respective pair of small propellers having a reversible pitch;

a weight positioned at a lower part of said fuselage, said weight is longitudinally self-propelled;

a digital control system cooperative with three computers, said digital control system receiving data from sensors, said digital control system cooperative with a GPS, said fuselage having a vertical fuselage section and a horizontal fuselage section that have a 1;

4.5 ratio of height and length, an aluminum tubular is positioned on an axis of aerodynamic lift of the wing;

a tubular support integral with the wing surface at the front of said fuselage, said tubular support causes the wing surface at the front of the fuselage to rotate to change an incidence of the wing surface, the wing surface at the front of the fuselage rotatable by 14 degrees about a longitudinal axis parallel to a plane of horizontal flight of the aircraft, the wing surface at the front of said fuselage having ends that are retractable centrally, said tubular support is connected to a central structural element, the wing surface at the front of said fuselage having a space, said space receiving the ends when the ends are retracted, the wing surface at the front of the fuselage defining a pair of half wings, said pair of half wings is retractable by a hydraulic or electromechanical system that is controlled by said digital control system, said pair of half wings having a winglet at the end of said pair of half wings, the wing surface at the back of said fuselage supported by an empennage, the wing surface at the back of said support fuselage fixed at an incline of approximately 3 degrees to a direction of running, the pair of small propellers positioned respectively at the ends of the wing surface at the back of said fuselage, the pair of small propellers each independently creating rotation torque to counter rolling motion and pitching during flight of the aircraft, said pair of small motors driven respectively by electric motors and pitch-controlled by electromechanical actuators, said pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers rotatable between −

2 degrees and +100 degrees on said supporting axis relative to the plane of horizontal flight of the aircraft, the wing surface at the front of said fuselage and the pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers rotatable independent of each other, each of said pair of half-wings having a pair of front spoilers and a pair of rear spoilers, said weight slidably positioned on a rail to control the center-of-gravity of the aircraft, said digital control system cooperative with said weight to move said weight longitudinally on said rail.

2. The aircraft of claim 1, said pair of counter-rotating ducted propellers supported by a tubular positioned on said fuselage vertical to a longitudinal axis of the center-of-gravity of the aircraft, said tubular fixed to said fuselage, four ailerons positioned at orthogonal axes of said tubular.

3. The aircraft of claim 1, said digital control system linked to accelerometer sensors and gyroscopic sensors, said digital control system measuring an attitude of the aircraft and a bearing capacity of the aircraft to determine a position of said weight relative to the center-of-gravity of the aircraft and a thrust of said pair of small propellers.

4. The aircraft of claim 1, further comprising:

a pair of motors positioned interior of said fuselage, said pair of motors stacked in tandem and connected to a transmission system, said transmission system having a transmission axis parallel to shafts of said pair of motors.

5. The aircraft of claim 1, the wing surface at the front of said fuselage comprising a pair of front wings, said pair of front wings retractable for up to 50% of a length of said pair of front wings.

6. The aircraft of claim 1, further comprising:

a camera connected to said GPS to automatically determine a landing point of the aircraft.

7. The aircraft of claim 1, further comprising:

a wireless steering system cooperative with said digital control system to allow the aircraft remote control.

8. The aircraft of claim 1, further comprising:

three electronic gyros control three axes of the aircraft, said three electronic gyros is connected to said digital control system, said three computers operating separately in cascade, a first computer of said three computers controlling operation of the aircraft, said second computer of said three computers repeating simultaneously the operation of the aircraft, a third computer of said three computers repeating simultaneously the operations of the aircraft and checking for discrepancies.