Rotorcraft with a blade tip illumination system
AssigneeAirbus Helicopters Deutschland GmbH
InventorsMichael Heckl, Julius Vogl
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A rotorcraft with a fuselage and a tail boom, comprising: a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the tail boom; rotor blades with rotor blade tips which form a virtual blade tip circle upon rotation around a rotor head; luminescent components provided on the rotor blade tips; and a blade tip illumination device comprising at least one light source integrated into the horizontal stabilizer and configured to emit a light beam toward the virtual blade tip circle for excitation of the luminescent components; wherein the luminescent components emit light in response to excitation via the emitted light beam, and wherein the emitted light forms during rotation of the rotor blade tips around the rotor head on the virtual blade tip circle a luminous ring.
Claims20
A rotorcraft with a fuselage and a tail boom, comprising:
- a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the tail boom;
- at least one main rotor with a rotor head and a plurality of rotor blades extending from the rotor head toward associated rotor blade tips, wherein the associated rotor blade tips form a virtual blade tip circle upon rotation around the rotor head;
- at least one luminescent component provided on at least one of the associated rotor blade tips;
- and
- a blade tip illumination device comprising at least one light source that is integrated into the horizontal stabilizer and configured to emit a light beam toward the virtual blade tip circle for excitation of the at least one luminescent component, wherein the emitted light beam is at least approximately emitted in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer, and wherein the emitted light beam is focused towards the virtual blade tip circle and strikes the at least one luminescent component at least approximately perpendicularly during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head;
- wherein the at least one luminescent component is adapted to emit light in response to excitation via the emitted light beam, wherein the emitted light forms during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head on the virtual blade tip circle a luminous ring, and
- wherein the emitted light beam is a light beam with a luminous intensity of at least 65,000 cd and with a beam angle of less than 10°.
A rotorcraft with a fuselage and a tail boom, comprising:
- a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the tail boom;
- at least one main rotor with a rotor head and a plurality of rotor blades extending from the rotor head toward associated rotor blade tips, wherein the associated rotor blade tips form a virtual blade tip circle upon rotation around the rotor head;
- at least one luminescent component provided on at least one of the associated rotor blade tips;
- and
- a blade tip illumination device comprising at least one light source that is integrated into the horizontal stabilizer and configured to emit a light beam toward the virtual blade tip circle for excitation of the at least one luminescent component, wherein the emitted light beam is at least approximately emitted in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer, and wherein the emitted light beam is focused towards the virtual blade tip circle and strikes the at least one luminescent component at least approximately perpendicularly during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head;
- wherein the at least one luminescent component is adapted to emit light in response to excitation via the emitted light beam, wherein the emitted light forms during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head on the virtual blade tip circle a luminous ring,
- wherein the emitted light beam is a white light beam with a luminous intensity of 68,000 cd and with a beam angle of 8°.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.