US 10,669,869 B1Granted

Independently rotatable propeller blade mounts

AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.

InventorsBradley David Urban, Dominic Timothy Shiosaki, Ricky Dean Welsh

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Abstract

Aerial vehicles may be equipped with propellers having pivotable blades that are configured to rotate or fold when the propellers are not rotating under power. A pivotable blade may rotate about an axis of a propeller with respect to a hub in the presence of wind flow until the pivotable blade is coaligned with a fixed blade, in a direction opposite to the wind flow. A pivotable blade may also fold over a hub of a propeller in the presence of wind flow, with the pivotable blade and a fixed blade being oriented in directions opposite to the wind flow. A center of mass of the pivotable blade may be caused to be on the same side of an axis as a center of mass of a fixed blade, even where the axis is not normal to the wind flow, thereby reducing an amount of drag generated by the propeller.

Claims21

Dependent claims

An unmanned aerial vehicle comprising:

a frame;
a first motor mounted to the frame, wherein the first motor comprises a first shaft;
a first propeller comprising a first hub, a first blade joined to a first root and a second blade joined to a second root,
wherein the first hub is coupled to the first shaft and configured to rotate about a first axis defined by the first shaft during operation of the first motor,
wherein the first hub comprises a first guide track defined within an outer perimeter of the first hub,
wherein the first root is slidably mounted within the first guide track and configured to translate within the first guide track between a first perimetric position at a first end of the first guide track and a second perimetric position at a second end of the first guide track,
wherein the first perimetric position is antipodal to the second perimetric position,
wherein the second root is fixedly mounted to the first hub at a third perimetric position, and
wherein the third perimetric position is coaligned with the second perimetric position;
a second motor mounted to the frame, wherein the second motor comprises a second shaft;
and
a second propeller comprising a second hub, a third blade joined to a third root and a fourth blade joined to a fourth root,
wherein the second hub is coupled to the second shaft and configured to rotate about a second axis defined by the second shaft during operation of the second motor.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.