Helicopter with horizontal control

• US 7,662,013 B2
• Filed: 01/26/2007
• Issued: 02/16/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Silverlit Toys Manufactory Limited (Silverlit Toys)
• Original Assignee: Silverlit Toys Manufactory Limited (Silverlit Toys)
• Inventors: Wai, Chi Pok Billy, Van de Rostyne, Alexander Jozef Magdalena
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim; Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): HYLINSKI, ALYSSA MARIE
• Application Number:
  US11/627,919
• Publication Number:
  US 20070164150A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,117 Days
• Field of Search: 446/34, 446 36- 38, 244/17.11, 244/17.13, 244/17.19, 244/17.21, 244/17.23, 244/17.25
• US Class Current: 446/36
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 27/12 Helicopters A63H27/04 takes precedence; Flying tops
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 27/625 including rotating masses or servo rotors

Abstract

A helicopter includes a system to effect motion in a horizontal dimension thereby to direct the desired direction. The rotor blades are driven by a rotor shaft and which is hinge mounted on this rotor shaft, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the main rotor and the rotor shaft may vary. 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 the rotor shaft. This causes a variation in a lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotations path. This causes the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of rest. The control includes an actuator for engaging with an assembly depending from the rotor, the inter-engagement of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor. The system includes a rotor, preferably complemented with a stabilizer rotor. There is a control ring attached to the main rotor, and an actuator device connected with the helicopter body structure. The control ring is generally centered around the vertical rotor axis, and moves with the rotor when tilted around the feather axis.

Claims

1. A helicopter comprising a body;

a main rotor with blades which is driven by a rotor shaft and which is hinge mounted on this rotor shaft, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the main rotor and the rotor shaft may vary;

a control for moving the angle of incidence of at least one blade of the rotor relative to the angle of incidence of another blade of the rotor cyclically along at least part of a 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, causing a variation in lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotation path and thereby cause the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of rest; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

2. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the actuator being selectively non-interfering and non-contacting with the assembly depending from the rotor, and the assembly selectively being in a position of rest relative to the actuator, when there is no command for the actuator to interact with the assembly.

3. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the interaction occurs when the assembly is in alignment with the actuator whereby the actuator contacts a ring of the assembly depending from the rotor.

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

5. A helicopter of claim 2 wherein the actuator includes an arm movable between a position of repose and a position of contact with the assembly and wherein the degree of movement of and the force exercised by the arm effects the degree of interaction with the assembly and the degree of change of angle of inclination of the at least one blade.

6. A helicopter of claim 2 wherein the actuator includes an arm movable between a position of repose and a position of contact with the assembly and wherein the length of the arm relative to the length of the assembly from the location of anchoring the rotor to the shaft effects the degree of interaction with the assembly and the degree of change of angle of inclination of the at least one blade.

7. A helicopter of claim 2 wherein the actuator includes an arm movable between a position of repose and a position of contact with the assembly, the assembly including a ring transversally located about and movable with the rotor shaft, and the actuator or multiple actuators are located at a fixed location on the body.

8. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the control is applied thereby to cause the blade to turn on the feather axis of the rotor blade, the control being effectively applied to the blade when an actuator is aligned relative to the blade thereby to effect the turning about the feather axis.

9. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the control is applied thereby to cause the blade to turn on the feather axis of the rotor, the control being effectively applied selectively to the blade through a system to operate the control thereby to effect the turning about the feather axis.

10. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the control is applied thereby to cause the blade to turn on the feather axis of the rotor blade, the control being effectively applied selectively to the blade through a system to operate the control thereby to effect the angle of incidence of the blade periodically or at selected times and with selective interactive force or movement thereby to selectively change the blade angle of incidence in requisite response to the control.

11. A helicopter of claim 1 wherein the control is applied thereby to cause the blade to turn on the feather axis of the rotor blade, the control being effectively applied selectively to the blade through a system to operate the control thereby to effect the angle of incidence of the blade periodically or at selected times or locations along a 360 degree path around the rotor shaft and with selective interactive force or movement thereby to selectively change the blade angle of incidence in requisite response to the control, and periodically or at selected times to permit the blade angle to be responsive to forces unrelated to the control, such that a stability system continues to operate together with a horizontal applied control when the horizontal control is applied.

30. A helicopter according to claim 1 including a control for regulating the degree of requisite horizontal movement and a control for regulating the stability of the helicopter in a relative non-horizontal moving sense and wherein a degree to which the horizontal movement control is dominant over the non-horizontal movement stability of the helicopter determines the rate of change in position in the horizontal sense.

31. A helicopter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the stability tends to work against an inclination of the rotor in a plane or rotor rotation.

32. A helicopter as claimed in claim 1 wherein the helicopter moves in a horizontal plane according at least in part to the inclination in that plane.

12. A helicopter comprising a body with a tail;

a main rotor with blades which is driven by a rotor shaft and which is hinge mounted on this rotor shaft, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the main rotor and the rotor shaft may vary;

a tail rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft directed transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor, an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor in the sense of rotation of the main rotor is an acute angle relative to a longitudinal axis of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor, 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 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 and thereby cause the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of horizontal rest, the relative position of horizontal rest being a relatively hovering position above a ground level; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

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

14. A helicopter according to claim 12, wherein a joint of the main rotor is formed of a spindle which is fixed transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor and which is directed essentially transversally to the axis of the oscillatory shaft of the auxiliary rotor.

15. A helicopter according to claim 14, wherein the spindle of the main rotor extends essentially in the longitudinal direction of the rotor blade of the main rotor.

16. A helicopter according to claim 12 wherein the mechanical link includes a rod hinge mounted to the auxiliary rotor with one fastening point and is hinge-mounted with another fastening point to the rotor blade of the main rotor.

17. A helicopter according to claim 12 wherein the longitudinal axis of the auxiliary rotor in the sense of rotation is located within an angle of about 10 degrees with the longitudinal axis of one of the rotor blades of the main rotor.

18. A helicopter according to claim 12 wherein the longitudinal axis of one of the rotor blades of the main rotor in the sense of rotation, is located at an acute angle with the axis of the spindle.

19. A helicopter according to claim 12 wherein the diameter of the auxiliary rotor is smaller than the diameter of the main rotor.

20. A helicopter according to claim 12 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.

21. A helicopter comprising a body with a tail;

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

a tail rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft directed transversally to the rotor shaft of the main rotor, an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor in the sense of rotation of the main rotor, the auxiliary rotor being mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft and the swinging motion being relatively upwardly and downwardly about the auxiliary shaft, and which auxiliary shaft is provided essentially transverse to the rotor shaft of the main rotor, 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 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 the rotor shaft, causing a variation in a lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotations path and thereby cause the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of rest; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

22. A helicopter according to claim 21 wherein the main rotor includes two rotor blades situated essentially in line with each other.

23. A helicopter according to claim 21 wherein a joint of the main rotor to the rotor blades is formed of a spindle which is fixed to the rotor shaft of the main rotor.

24. A helicopter according to claim 21 wherein the longitudinal axis of the auxiliary rotor in the sense of rotation is located within an angle of about 10 degrees with the longitudinal axis of one of the rotor blades of the main rotor.

25. A helicopter according to claim 21 wherein the longitudinal axis of one of the rotor blades of the main rotor in the sense of rotation, is located at an acute angle with the axis of a spindle mounting these blades to the rotor shaft.

26. A helicopter according to claim 21 including a downwardly directed stabilizer at the tail of the helicopter.

27. A helicopter comprising a body with a tail;

a rotor with rotor blades which is driven by a rotor shaft and which is mounted on this rotor shaft, such that the angle of incidence of the rotor in the plane of rotation of the rotor and the rotor shaft may vary; and

an auxiliary rotor rotatable with the rotor shaft and being for relative oscillating movement about the rotor shaft and being such that different relative position so that the auxiliary rotor causes the angle of incidence the main rotor to be different 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 the rotor shaft, causing a variation in a lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotations path; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

28. A helicopter according to claim 27 wherein a linkage between the main and auxiliary rotor causes changes in the position of the auxiliary rotor to translate to changes in the angle of incidence.

29. A helicopter comprising a body with a tail;

a main rotor with rotor blades which is driven by a rotor shaft and which is mounted on this rotor shaft, such that the angle between the plane of rotation of the main rotor and the rotor shaft may vary;

a tail rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft, an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor, and the main rotor and the auxiliary rotor being connected to each other by a mechanical link, such that the motion of the auxiliary rotor controls the angle of incidence of at least one of the rotor blades of the main rotor, and a stabilizer at the tail, the stabilizer being directed downwardly 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 the rotor shaft, causing a variation in a lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotations path and thereby cause the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of rest; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

33. A remote control toy helicopter comprising a body having a front end and a rear end;

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;

a second rotor which is driven by a second rotor shaft, an auxiliary rotor driven by the rotor shaft of the main rotor for rotation in the sense of rotation of the main rotor, and wherein each propeller blade has a profile wherein along the direction of its generally longitudinal axis of each blade includes a first upwardly longitudinal convex curve from a position towards the rotor shaft to a position towards an end area of the blade, wherein the auxiliary rotor is mounted in a swinging relationship on an oscillatory shaft and the swinging motion being relatively upwardly and downwardly about the oscillatory shaft, and which oscillatory shaft is provided essentially transverse to the rotor shaft of the main rotor, 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, wherein each rotor blade includes a second transverse convex curve in a profile on its top face from a position towards a leading edge towards a position towards a trailing edge, the second transverse convex curve preferably being present over a substantial generally longitudinal length of the blade; 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 the rotor shaft, causing a variation in a lift force of the blade along at least part of the rotations path and thereby cause the body to be urged in a relatively horizontal direction from a relative position of rest; and

wherein the control includes an actuator for selectively contacting an assembly depending from the rotor, the contact of the actuator and assembly effecting a change in the angle of incidence of at least the one blade of the rotor, the actuator being selectively movable into and out of contact with the assembly, such that, in a first operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is contact between the actuator and assembly along part of the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft, and in a second operative condition of the rotating rotor, there is no contact between the actuator and assembly along the 360 degree rotation path around the rotor shaft.

34. A remote control toy helicopter as claimed in claim 33 wherein the actuator is selectively non-interfering and non-contacting with assembly depending from the rotor, and the assembly selectively being in a position of rest relative to the actuator, when there is no command for the actuator to interact with the assembly.

35. A remote control toy helicopter as claimed in claim 33 wherein the control includes an assembly fixed to a longitudinal axis of the main rotor, the assembly having a ring for engagement by an actuator, the ring encircling the rotor shaft, wherein movement of the center of the ring relative to the rotor shaft corresponds to movement of the main rotor relative to the rotor shaft, and wherein the ring is not attached to the rotor shaft.