Tilt rotor vertical take-off aircraft - K
A vertical take-off aircraft comprising a main propeller 1 at the top of the aircraft which consists of an assembly of blades 2, 3, and a rotor 4. A drive assembly 5 rotates the propeller. The drive assembly comprises a power plant 5a. The drive assembly is connected to the main body 6 of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint 7. The tilt enabling joint is connected to the main body by a telescopic tube assembly comprising tubes 12 and 13. To counter the rotational force exerted on the main body 6 of the aircraft by the rotation of the blades 2, 3, an additional power plant 15 is attached to the drive assembly. Tilting the drive assembly causes tilting of the additional power plant.
This is a divisional patent application, being a division of the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/180,925.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENTNot applicable.
REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTINGNot applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the InventionThis invention relates to the vertical take-off field of aviation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThere are many helicopters in existence today. However, helicopters rely on variable pitch rotor blades to maintain control and provide vertical lift, and the construction of helicopters with variable pitch rotors has resulted in limited operational ability when helicopters are used in forest areas, at high altitudes where the air is thin and when operating near steep mountains. Pitch varying mechanisms require frequent time consuming and expensive maintenance and a failure in the pitch varying mechanism on a helicopter often results in disaster due to instantaneous loss of control that cannot be overcome.
The present invention overcomes the need for varying the pitch of rotor blades while at the same time allowing vertical lift on take-off and directional control by providing a vertical take-off aircraft using a propeller or main blade assembly at the top of the aircraft, which main blade assembly consists of an assembly of blades.
Vertical lift is obtained by the rotation of the propeller or blade assembly thereby forcing air in a downward direction by way of the angle of pitch of the blades. Rotation of the propeller or main blade assembly is achieved using an engine assembly and a rotor located between the main body of the aircraft and the blades of the propeller or main blade assembly, which engine assembly is a rotor drive assembly which rotates the rotor, and which main engine assembly is connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint. The tilt enabling joint consists of numerous components, some of which provide the means to support the main body of the aircraft below the main engine assembly and allow the tilt enabling joint to have a tilting ability while other components provide the means to control and cause tilting motions in the tilt enabling joint during flight, thereby enabling controlled tilting to occur, such that the main engine assembly and the main blade assembly can be tilted together as a unity relative to the main body of the aircraft in a controlled manner during flight, thereby providing a means for controlling the directional travel of the aircraft during flight and changing the aircraft's direction of travel. The main blade assembly and the main engine assembly can be merged in the form of turboprop. That is, the aircraft could comprise a turboprop at the top of the aircraft, which is connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint, with vertical lift being achieved by means of the blades of the turboprop forcing air in a downward direction.
During flight, rotational stability of the main body of the aircraft is maintained by means of an additional engine assembly attached to the aircraft which rotates an additional propeller or blade assembly, thereby pushing air primarily in a horizontal direction to counter the rotational force exerted on the main body of the aircraft by the rotation of the upper main blade assembly, which additional blade assembly consists of an assembly of blades.
The additional propeller or blade assembly and the additional engine assembly can be merged in the form a turboprop or even a jet engine.
Hence, in one form the aircraft could comprise a turboprop at the top of the aircraft to force air in a downward direction, which turboprop is connected to the main body by a tilt enabling joint, and an additional turboprop to force air to travel in a horizontal direction to counter the rotational force exerted on main body of the aircraft by operation of the main turboprop at the top of the aircraft.
In another form of the aircraft, the aircraft could comprise a turboprop at the top of the aircraft, connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint, and a jet that can force exhaust gas to travel in a horizontal direction to counter the rotational force exerted on the main body of the aircraft by operation of the turboprop at the top of the aircraft.
As can be seen from the diagrams that follow, the present invention makes many of the components needed to construct a conventional helicopter obsolete, while providing an aircraft that can perform not only tasks normally performed by conventional helicopters but also other tasks that conventional helicopters cannot perform due to their configuration necessitated by variable pitch rotors—such as landing among trees in a forest without cleared landing zones, and grasping trees growing in a forest with grasping mechanisms to gain support and stability by grasping trees.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Looking at the aircraft in
Tilting of the drive assembly 5 initiates changes in the direction of travel of the aircraft without the need to change the pitch angles of the blades 2 and 3. The tilt enabling joint 7 is connected to the main body 6 by telescopic tube assembly comprising oblong shaped tubes 12 and 13. The base 14 of the tilt enabling joint is connected to tube 12.
To counter the rotational force exerted on the main body 6 of the aircraft by the rotation of the main propeller,
Claims
1. A vertical take-off aircraft consisting of a main body, a propeller, and a means for rotating the propeller, which means for rotating the propeller comprises at least one power plant, and which propeller is above the means for rotating the propeller, with vertical lift able to be achieved by the means for rotating the propeller rotating the propeller, thereby forcing air in a downward direction by means of the propeller, and which aircraft comprises at least one additional power plant, which at least one additional power plant is able to produce thrust extending in a lateral direction relative to the main body of the aircraft such that a rotational force exerted on the main body of the aircraft by rotation of the propeller can be countered,
- and which means for rotating the propeller and the propeller are connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint such that the means for rotating the propeller and the propeller are able to be tilted together in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body of the aircraft, in a controlled manner.
2. A vertical take-off aircraft consisting of a main body, a rotor and blade assembly, and a means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly, which means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly comprises at least one power plant, and which rotor and blade assembly comprises an assembly of blades and a rotor, and which blades are above the means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly, with vertical lift able to be achieved by the means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly rotating the rotor and blade assembly, thereby forcing air in a downward direction by means of the blades, and which aircraft comprises at least one additional power plant, which at least one additional power plant is able to produce thrust extending in a lateral direction relative to the main body of the aircraft such that a rotational force exerted on the main body of the aircraft by rotation of the rotor and blade assembly can be countered, and which means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly and the rotor and blade assembly are connected to the main body of the aircraft by a tilt enabling joint such that the means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly and the rotor and blade assembly are able to be tilted together in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body of the aircraft, in a controlled manner.
3. A vertical take-off aircraft comprising a means for downwardly extending thrust, a main body, and a means for extending thrust in a lateral direction relative to the main body, which means for downwardly extending thrust is connected to the main body by a tilt enabling means such that the means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be tilted in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body, in a controlled manner, and which means for extending thrust in a lateral direction is connected to the main body such that tilting of the means for downwardly extending thrust relative to the main body is able to cause the means for extending thrust in a lateral direction to move relative to the main body.
4. A vertical take-off aircraft comprising a means for downwardly extending thrust and a main body, which means for downwardly extending thrust is connected to the main body by a tilt enabling means such that the means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be tilted in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body, in a controlled manner, and which tilt enabling means is connected to the main body such that the distance between the base of the tilt enabling means and the main body is able to be varied and such that means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be raised and lowered relative to the main body without being tilted relative to the main body.
5. A vertical take-off aircraft comprising a means for downwardly extending thrust and a main body, which means for downwardly extending thrust is connected to the main body by a tilt enabling means such that the means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be tilted in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body, in a controlled manner, and which tilt enabling means is connected to the main body such that the distance between the base of the tilt enabling means and the main body is able to be varied and such that the tilt enabling means is able to be vertically aligned with the main body.
6. A vertical take-off aircraft comprising a means for downwardly extending thrust, a main body, and a means for extending thrust in a lateral direction relative to the main body, which means for downwardly extending thrust is connected to the main body by a tilt enabling means such that the means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be tilted in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body, in a controlled manner, and which tilt enabling means is connected to the main body such that the distance between the means for downwardly extending thrust and the main body is able to be varied and such that the means for downwardly extending thrust is able to be raised and lowered relative to the main body, and which means for extending thrust in a lateral direction is connected to the main body such that the means for extending thrust in a lateral direction is able to be raised and lowered relative to the main body, and such that raising and lowering the means for downwardly extending thrust relative to the main body is able to cause the means for extending thrust in a lateral direction to be raised and lowered, respectively.
7. The vertical take-off aircraft of claim 4, wherein the vertical take-off aircraft comprises a means for extending thrust in a lateral direction relative to the main body, which means for extending thrust in a lateral direction is connected to the main body such that the means for extending thrust in a lateral direction is able to be raised and lowered relative to the main body, and such that raising and lowering the base of the tilt enabling means relative to the main body is able to cause the means for extending thrust in a lateral direction to be raised and lowered, respectively.
8. The vertical take-off aircraft of claim 1, wherein the which means for rotating the propeller and the propeller are connected to the main body of the aircraft by the tilt enabling joint such that the means for rotating the propeller and the propeller are able to be tilted together in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body of the aircraft, in a controlled manner, and such that the main body of the aircraft is able to be vertically aligned with the means for rotating the propeller.
9. The vertical take-off aircraft of claim 2, wherein the which means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly and the rotor and blade assembly are connected to the main body of the aircraft by the tilt enabling joint such that the means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly and the rotor and blade assembly are able to be tilted together in a plurality of directions and angles relative to the main body of the aircraft, in a controlled manner, and such that the main body of the aircraft is able to be vertically aligned with the means for rotating the rotor and blade assembly.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 4, 2012
Publication Date: Dec 13, 2012
Inventor: Tom Kusic (Maribyrnong)
Application Number: 13/507,084
International Classification: B64C 27/52 (20060101);