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US 12,208,879 B2Granted
Method and system for protecting a rotatable shaft of a motor from excessive bending moments
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorsEmil Ghapgharan, Lane Dalan, Pavel Belik, Christopher Eugene Fisher, Austin Craig Gunder
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A motor assembly that includes a motor having a motor casing, a rotatable shaft extending from said motor casing to a shaft length and a hub coupled to said rotatable shaft, the hub having a circumferential skid surface disposed immediately proximal to the motor casing and having a channel configured to seat a propeller, when a propeller is present, wherein a bending moment applied to the shaft through the hub results in the circumferential skid surface contacting said motor casing.
Claims18
A method of comprising:
- limiting bending deformation of a rotatable shaft with reinforcing contact between a first structure and a skid surface of a rotatable hub as the rotatable shaft bends, wherein the skid surface comprises opposing radial hub wings;
- wherein a possibility of damage to a motor by a propeller ground strike is reduced by providing reinforcing contact between the first structure and the skid surface of the rotatable hub during at least a portion of a rotation of the rotatable shaft.
A system comprising:
- a rotatable hub having a skid surface;
- a first structure having a skid face for providing reinforcing contact spaced immediately apart from and in complementary opposition to the skid surface of the rotatable hub;
- and
- a channel, wherein a propeller is configured to be seated onto a rotatable shaft by the channel so that a bending moment applied to the propeller is transmitted to the rotatable shaft of a motor and results in the first structure contacting the skid surface for providing reinforcing contact;
- wherein a bending deformation of the rotatable shaft is limited by reinforcing contact between the first structure and the skid surface of the rotatable hub as the rotatable shaft bends;
- and
- wherein a possibility of damage to the motor by a propeller ground strike is reduced by providing reinforcing contact between the first structure and the skid surface of the rotatable hub during at least a portion of a rotation of the rotatable shaft.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.