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US 10,589,838 B1Granted
Multicopter with passively-adjusting tiltwing
AssigneeThe Suppes Family Trust
InventorGalen Suppes
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Transitioning quadcopters and tricopters use passively adjusting tiltwings to reduce the number of actuators needed to control flight. Both transitioning copters can operate with four controlled actuators comprising four motor speeds for the quadcopter and three motor speeds and one rudder position for the tricopter.
Claims11
A multicopter comprising:
- a fuselage, a fuselage first thruster, a wing (1), and a first tiltwing thruster (2) statically connected to the wing (1) forming a passively-adjusting tiltwing (3),
- wherein a bearing mechanically couples the tiltwing and the fuselage said tiltwing freely rotatable relative to the fuselage within a predetermined angular range around a tiltwing axis (4),
- said tiltwing having i) a mass centroid, ii) an area centroid, iii) a mass centroid torque distance being the distance between the mass centroid and the tiltwing axis, iv) an area centroid torque distance being the distance between the area centroid and the tiltwing axis, and v) a tiltwing centroid ratio said centroid ratio being the mass centroid torque distance divided by the area centroid torque distance,
- wherein the value of the tiltwing centroid ratio is between 0.2 and 5,
- wherein aerodynamic and gravitational forces produce torques about the tiltwing axis said torques comprising a positive tiltwing center of gravity force torque, a negative impacting air aerodynamic force torque, and a third positive torque, and
- wherein thrust of the fuselage first thruster relative to thrust of the first tiltwing thruster controls the pitch of the fuselage.
3 more elements
A multicopter comprising a single front passively-adjusting tiltwing in front of a single fuselage, at least one rear thruster, and a plurality of longitudinally-extending lift-generating surfaces (27) forming a total aerodynamic lift surface area;
- the plurality of longitudinally-extending lift-generating surfaces comprising the fuselage (46), the front passively-adjusting tiltwing (3), and an arm (56) mechanically connecting the front passively-adjusting tiltwing to the fuselage;
- wherein the plurality of longitudinally-extending lift-generating surfaces forms a lift path
- wherein lift provided by the front passively-adjusting tiltwing is less than half the lift provided by the total aerodynamic lift surface area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.