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US 11,230,388 B2Granted
Stowable wing aircraft with dual, fuselage-mounted engines
AssigneeTextron Innovations Inc.
InventorsColton Gilliland, David Bockmiller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An embodiment of the present invention provides an aircraft that includes a fuselage and a rotatable wing disposed above the fuselage. At least one cross-wing driveshaft is disposed within the wing and is driven in rotation by a drive system connected to first and second engines that are located at respective sides of the fuselage beneath the wing. The drive system is so configured that one or both of the first engine and the second engine can drive the at least one cross-wing driveshaft in the event of failure of an engine.
Claims13
An aircraft, comprising:
- a fuselage including a right side and a left side;
- a rotatable wing disposed above the fuselage;
- at least one cross-wing driveshaft disposed within the rotatable wing;
- a first engine and a second engine disposed beneath the rotatable wing and associated with the respective right side and left side of the fuselage and at least a portion of each of the respective first engine and the second engine extends externally from the respective right and left sides of the fuselage beneath the rotatable wing;
- and
- a drive system between the first engine and the second engine and the at least one cross-wing driveshaft;
- the drive system comprises:
- a combining gearbox disposed inside the fuselage and connected to a first engine driveshaft and a second engine driveshaft by a respective first coupling shaft and second coupling shaft, the combining gearbox including a riser shaft that extends vertically therefrom and drives the at least one cross-wing driveshaft;
- a first spiral gearbox disposed between the first engine driveshaft and the first coupling shaft;
- and
- a second spiral gearbox disposed between the second engine driveshaft and the second coupling shaft;
- wherein each of the first spiral gearbox and the second spiral gearbox include a spiral bevel input gear and a spiral bevel output gear, the spiral bevel input gear associated respectively with the first engine driveshaft and the second engine driveshaft, the spiral bevel output gear associated respectively with the first coupling shaft and the second coupling shaft, the first spiral gearbox and the second spiral gearbox change power direction from the longitudinal axis of the first and second engine output shafts to the longitudinal axis of the first and second coupling shafts;
- wherein the combining gearbox is configured to transfer rotary motion between the first and second coupling shafts to the riser shaft;
- wherein at least one of the first coupling shaft and the second coupling shaft define an angle with the riser shaft from about 10 degrees to about 90 degrees relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft;
- wherein the drive system is so configured that one or both of the first engine and the second engine can drive the at least one cross-wing driveshaft.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.