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US 11,697,505 B2Granted
Distributed propulsion configurations for aircraft having mixed drive systems
AssigneePratt & Whitney Canada Corp.
InventorsJean Thomassin, Eric LaTulipe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft propulsion system is disclosed that includes at least one hybrid-electric powerplant for delivering power to an air mover for propelling the aircraft, wherein the at least one hybrid-electric powerplant includes a heat engine and an electric motor arranged in a parallel drive configuration or an in-line drive configuration.
Claims21
An aircraft propulsion system, comprising:
- at least one hybrid-electric powerplant for delivering power to a first air mover for propelling an aircraft, wherein the at least one hybrid-electric powerplant includes a heat engine and an electric motor arranged in a parallel drive configuration to drive the first air mover, wherein the first air mover is the only air mover driven by the hybrid-electric powerplant;
- and
- an electric powerplant for delivering power to a second air mover for propelling the aircraft, wherein the at least one hybrid electric powerplant and the electric powerplant are connected such that if a failure of the heat engine of the electric powerplant occurs, power from a healthy heat engine of a second hybrid electric powerplant can be extracted with an electric motor of the second hybrid electric powerplant and transferred to the electric motor of the electric powerplant so as to balance load between the first air mover and the second air mover.
An aircraft propulsion system, comprising:
- at least one electric powerplant, at least one combustion powerplant, and at least one hybrid-electric powerplant including a heat engine and an electric motor, wherein each powerplant delivers power to a respective air mover for propelling an aircraft, wherein the at least one combustion powerplant is associated with a tail section of the aircraft,
- wherein the at least one hybrid electric powerplant and the at least one electric powerplant are connected such that if a failure of the heat engine of the at least one electric powerplant occurs, power from a healthy heat engine of a second hybrid electric powerplant can be extracted with an electric motor of the second hybrid electric powerplant and transferred to the electric motor of the at least one electric powerplant so as to balance load between the respective air movers.
An aircraft propulsion system, comprising:
- a plurality of hybrid-electric powerplants for delivering power to respective air movers to propel an aircraft, wherein each hybrid-electric powerplant includes a heat engine and an electric motor that are arranged in a parallel drive configuration,;
- and
- a plurality of electric powerplants for delivering power to a respective air mover for propelling the aircraft,
- wherein at least one of the plurality of hybrid electric powerplants and at least one electric powerplant of the plurality of electric powerplants are connected such that if a failure of the heat engine of the at least one electric powerplant occurs, power from a healthy heat engine of a second hybrid electric powerplant can be extracted with an electric motor of the second hybrid electric powerplant and transferred to the electric motor of the at least one electric powerplant so as to balance load between the respective air movers.
1 more element
An aircraft propulsion system, comprising:
- a plurality of powerplant locations for delivering power to respective air movers to propel the aircraft, wherein at least one powerplant location includes both:
- a first powerplant at a first powerplant location having a heat engine and an electric motor arranged in a parallel drive configuration,;
- and
- a second powerplant at a second powerplant location having an electric motor,
- wherein the first powerplant and the second powerplant are connected such that if a failure of the heat engine of the first powerplant occurs, power from a healthy heat engine of the second powerplant can be extracted with an electric motor of the second powerplant and transferred to the electric motor of the first powerplant so as to balance load between the respective air movers.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.