Hinged rotor blade to provide passive variable pitch
AssigneeKitty Hawk Corporation
InventorTodd Reichert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A propeller comprising a hub, a blade, and a hinge is disclosed. In various embodiments, a blade includes a neck portion angled away from a plane of rotation of the hub, wherein the blade has a longitudinal axis extending through the blade and running from a tip of the blade to an end of the neck portion, and a dihedral angle of the blade is an angle of the blade relative to the plane of rotation of the hub. The hinge includes a pivotal link, and connects the blade to the hub, wherein the hinge has an axis of rotation that is offset from a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade, and responds to forces acting on the blade to vary a pitch of the blade including causing the blade to be at a lower pitch and higher dihedral angle in a first mode.
Claims20
A propeller for an aircraft, comprising:
- a hub;
- a blade including a neck portion angled away from a plane of rotation of the hub, wherein:
- the blade has a longitudinal axis extending through a center of the blade and running from a tip of the blade to an end of the neck portion;
- and
- a dihedral angle of the blade is an angle of the blade relative to the plane of rotation of the hub;
- and
- a hinge including a pivotal link, the hinge connecting the blade to the hub, wherein:
- the hinge has an axis of hinge rotation that is offset from a line perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the blade;
- and
- the hinge responds to forces acting on the blade to vary a pitch of the blade including causing the blade to be at a lower pitch and higher dihedral angle in a first mode relative to a second mode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.