Patents by Inventor Rafi Yoeli
Rafi Yoeli has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 7918416Abstract: A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: August 22, 2007Date of Patent: April 5, 2011Assignee: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 7789342Abstract: A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: GrantFiled: July 12, 2007Date of Patent: September 7, 2010Assignee: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20090140102Abstract: A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 22, 2007Publication date: June 4, 2009Applicant: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20080142643Abstract: A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 12, 2007Publication date: June 19, 2008Applicant: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 7275712Abstract: A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: November 15, 2004Date of Patent: October 2, 2007Assignee: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 7246769Abstract: A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: GrantFiled: February 22, 2005Date of Patent: July 24, 2007Assignee: Urban Aeronautics, Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20050242231Abstract: A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 22, 2005Publication date: November 3, 2005Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20050178881Abstract: A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 15, 2004Publication date: August 18, 2005Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 6883748Abstract: A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: GrantFiled: June 4, 2002Date of Patent: April 26, 2005Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 6817570Abstract: A vehicle, including a vehicle frame, a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle, and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame, the vanes being selectively pivotal about their axes to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: November 28, 2003Date of Patent: November 16, 2004Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20040155143Abstract: A vehicle includes a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.Type: ApplicationFiled: December 4, 2003Publication date: August 12, 2004Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20040149857Abstract: A vehicle, particularly a VTOL air vehicle, includes a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame; a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid, e.g. air, therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle; and a plurality of spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and selectively pivotal to produce a desired horizontal control force in addition to the lift force applied to the vehicle. In a described preferred embodiment, the vanes are substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame. Various vane arrangements are disclosed for producing side, roll, pitch and yaw movements of the vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 28, 2003Publication date: August 5, 2004Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 6568630Abstract: A VTOL aircraft (or other vehicle such as a sea vehicle) includes a pair of elongated ducts on opposite sides of the vehicle body, and a plurality of powered propellers (or other propulsion units such as jet engines) mounted within and enclosed by each of the elongated ducts, such as to produce an upward lift force to the vehicle. Each of the elongated ducts has a short transverse dimension slightly larger than the diameter of the blades of each propeller enclosed thereby, and a large transverse dimension slightly larger than the sum of the diameters of the blades of all the propellers enclosed thereby.Type: GrantFiled: August 21, 2001Date of Patent: May 27, 2003Assignee: Urban Aeronautics Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Publication number: 20030038213Abstract: A VTOL aircraft (or other vehicle such as a sea vehicle) includes a pair of elongated ducts on opposite sides of the vehicle body, and a plurality of powered propellers (or other propulsion units such as jet engines) mounted within and enclosed by each of the elongated ducts, such as to produce an upward lift force to the vehicle. Each of the elongated ducts has a short transverse dimension slightly larger than the diameter of the blades of each propeller enclosed thereby, and a large transverse dimension slightly larger than the sum of the diameters of the blades of all the propellers enclosed thereby.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 21, 2001Publication date: February 27, 2003Applicant: Romeo Yankee Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli
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Patent number: 6464166Abstract: A vehicle, particularly a VTOL air vehicle, includes a duct carried by the vehicle frame with the longitudinal axis of the duct perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame; a propeller rotatably mounted within the duct about the longitudinal axis of the duct to force an ambient fluid, e.g. air, therethrough from its inlet at the upper end of the duct through its exit at the lower end of the duct, and thereby to produce an upward lift force applied to the vehicle; and a plurality of parallel, spaced vanes pivotally mounted to and across the inlet end of the duct about pivotal axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the duct and substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame. The vanes are selectively pivotal to produce a desired horizontal force component to the lift force applied to the vehicle. Various vane arrangements are disclosed for producing side, roll, pitch and yaw movements of the vehicle.Type: GrantFiled: May 29, 2001Date of Patent: October 15, 2002Assignee: Romeo Yankee Ltd.Inventor: Rafi Yoeli