US 12,534,194 B1 · Propeller blade configuration

Abstract

A rotor system design can reduce blade-wake interaction by staggering the vertical mounting position of the rotor blades on a hub. By staggering the vertical position, as the hub turns, the turbulent air impingement on subsequent rotor blades can be reduced. By reducing the turbulence on subsequent rotor blades the drag and noise is reduced. In rotor systems with an even number of blades, opposing rotor blade pairs can be mounted at the same vertical distance which can be different from other opposing rotor blade pairs. In rotor systems with an odd number of rotor blades, the rotor blades can be mounted at a fixed or variable vertical distances from the preceding blade so each rotor blade travels in a different tip path plane. Other techniques for reducing the wake vortices impingement can include mounting opposing blades at a dihedral/anhedral angle with respect to subsequent rotor blades.

Claims16

Dependent claims

A rotor system comprising:

a hub that extends a vertical height from a base of the hub when mounted on a driveshaft;
and
a plurality of rotor blades mounted to the hub, wherein the rotor blades are staggered at different vertical positions with respect to the base of the hub as compared to a preceding rotor blade and a succeeding rotor blade, wherein at least a first blade root and a second blade root are mounted along the hub a vertical distance apart, a magnitude of the vertical distance based on at least one of a first speed when in a hover configuration or a second speed when in a forward flight configuration, wherein a vertical separation between at least two blade roots at the hub is a function of one or more of a thrust coefficient, a number of blades, and a rotor radius.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Propeller blade configuration

Life of this patent

Propeller blade configuration

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16