Vertical take off and landing aircraft
AssigneeBoard of Regents, The University of Texas System
InventorsMehmet E. Erengil, Jayant Sirohi, Fabrizio Bisetti, Christopher G. Cameron
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Abstract
Embodiments described herein relate to a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, specifically an electric or hybrid electric aircraft having a plurality of ducted fans. The aircraft includes a plurality of axially oriented fans, laterally oriented fans, forward air intakes, side exit ports and rear exhaust ports. The aircraft achieves flight by capturing air in the intakes and diverting the air through the axially oriented fans or the laterally oriented fans through the channels selectively.
Claims24
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle, comprising:
- an airframe having an upper surface, a side surface and a lower surface and a central vertical axis;
- a first plurality of axially oriented fans, each axially oriented fan in a channel extending from the upper surface to the lower surface of the airframe, the first plurality of axially oriented fans arranged in a circular pattern in an arc defined by a first radius r1 from the central vertical axis;
- a second plurality of axially oriented fans, each axially oriented fan in a channel extending from the upper surface to the lower surface of the airframe, the second plurality of axially oriented fans arranged in a circular pattern in an arc defined by a second radius r2 from the central vertical axis;
- a first intake channel extending from a front of the airframe to a rear of the airframe;
- a first laterally-oriented fan in the first intake channel;
- a first lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the first intake channel;
- a second intake channel extending from the front of the airframe to the rear of the airframe;
- a second laterally-oriented fan in the second intake channel;
- a second lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the second intake channel;
- a third laterally-oriented fan in the first lateral channel and a fourth laterally-oriented fan in the second lateral channel;
- and
- wherein the first lateral channel comprises two exit channels and the second lateral channel comprises two exit channels, wherein each of the exit channels comprises an exit channel exhaust port in the side surface of the airframe.
A method of operating a vehicle, the vehicle including an airframe having an upper surface, a side surface and a lower surface and a central vertical axis;
- a first plurality of axially oriented fans, each axially oriented fan in a channel extending from the upper surface to the lower surface of the airframe, the first plurality of axially oriented fans arranged in a circular pattern in an arc defined by a first radius r1 from the central vertical axis;
- a second plurality of axially oriented fans, each axially oriented fan in a channel extending from the upper surface to the lower surface of the airframe, the second plurality of axially oriented fans arranged in a circular pattern in an arc defined by a second radius r2 from the central vertical axis;
- a first intake channel extending from a front of the airframe to a rear of the airframe;
- a first laterally-oriented fan in the first intake channel;
- a first lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the first intake channel;
- a second intake channel extending from the front of the airframe to the rear of the airframe;
- a second laterally-oriented fan in the second intake channel;
- a second lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the second intake channel, the method comprising:
- turning on the first plurality of axially oriented fans, the second plurality of axially oriented fans, the first laterally oriented fan and the second laterally oriented fan;
- capturing air through the first and second intake channels;
- channeling air from at least one of the first and second intake channels to a respective one of the first and second laterally oriented fans through a respective one of the first and second lateral channels or to a respective exit channel or exhaust port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.