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, rear exhaust ports, plenum air chamber and annular inlet. 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.
Claims22
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 and comprising an upper level duct and a lower lever duct;
- a first laterally-oriented fan in the upper level duct of the first intake channel;
- a first lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the upper level duct of the first intake channel;
- a second intake channel extending from the front of the airframe to the rear of the airframe and comprising an upper level duct and a lower level duct;
- a second laterally-oriented fan in the upper level duct of the second intake channel;
- a second lateral channel extending from and in fluid communication with the upper level duct of 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
- a plenum chamber in fluid communication with the upper level ducts of the first intake channel and the second intake channel;
- and
- an annular inlet in the upper surface in fluid communication with the plenum chamber.
A method of operating a vehicle comprising a first plurality of axially-oriented fans, a second plurality of axially-oriented fans, a first intake channel, a second intake channel, a first lateral channel, second lateral channel, an annular inlet, a plenum chamber, and a laterally oriented fan in each of an upper level duct of the first intake channel, an upper level duct of the second intake channel, the first lateral channel and the second lateral channel;
- wherein the plenum chamber is in fluid communication with the upper level duct of the first intake channel, the upper level duct of the second intake channel, the first lateral channel and the second lateral 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;
- ingesting air through the first and second intake channels and the annular inlet;
- collecting ingested air in the plenum chamber;
- channeling air from at least one of the first and second intake channels and from the annular inlet to the laterally oriented fans in the upper level ducts of the first and second intake channels, to the laterally oriented fans in the first and second lateral channels and to a respective exit channel or exhaust port.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.