Rotor system for electrically powered rotorcraft
AssigneeSiFly Aviation, Inc.
InventorsBrian L. Hinman, Muhammad Mubeen Javaid
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A rotor system for electrically powered rotorcraft is described, providing the benefits of fast thrust response, depending on rotor inertia. The rotor system includes a rotor hub and two or more rotor blades, and an electric motor driving the rotor hub. The rotor hub includes a mechanism which adapts the collective pitch of the rotor blades in response to the torque applied by the electric motor. When there is significant torque over a threshold, the rotor hub biases the blades to a higher collective pitch, which supports greater thrust, thus avoiding the lag in rotor thrust that would occur through RPM control.
Claims20
A rotor system for a contra-rotating rotorcraft comprising:
- a rotor hub coupled to an electric drive motor, a first set of rotor blades, and a second set of rotor blades;
- a cyclic pitch adjustment mechanism coupled to the first set of rotor blades and configured to cause adjustment of the cyclic pitch of the first set of rotor blades;
- a torque activated biasing mechanism configured to cause mechanical adjustment of a collective pitch of the second set of rotor blades based on a function of a torque applied to the rotor hub by the electric drive motor;
- wherein the function has a threshold torque such that when the applied torque is greater than the threshold torque adjustment of the collective pitch of the second set of rotor blades occurs.
A method of operating a contra-rotating rotorcraft having a rotor hub coupled to an electric drive motor, a first set of rotor blades, and a second set of rotor blades, the method comprising:
- adjusting a cyclic pitch of the first set of rotor blades to cause an adjustment of the attitude of the rotorcraft;
- causing, by a torque activated biasing mechanism, a mechanical adjustment of a collective pitch of the second set of rotor blades based on a function of a torque applied to the rotor hub by the electric drive motor, wherein the function has a threshold torque such that when the applied torque is greater than the threshold torque, adjustment of the collective pitch of the second set of rotor blades occurs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.