US 12,752,908 B2Granted

Propulsor assembly with teeter mechanism

AssigneeBeta Air, LLC

InventorsKyle Thomas Brookes, Sebastien Gauthier Perron, Daniel Benjamin Spira, Read Ferguson Frost

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Abstract

An electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft including a teetering propulsor assembly is provided. The teetering propulsor assembly includes a propulsor, the propulsor including a monolithic blade including first and second blade portions extending radially outward from a hub, formed as a single unit. The coupling assembly includes a pair of torsional bearings coupled at the hub of the monolithic blade. The torsional bearings allow the monolithic blade to passively teeter in response to external forces applied to the propulsor, and exert a biasing, or centering, or restoring force on the monolithic blade that returns the monolithic blade to a neutral position. The torsional bearings may include an elastomeric member having relatively high stiffness, such as a high capacity laminate bearing.

Claims19

Dependent claims

A propulsor assembly, comprising:

a motor;
a blade driven by the motor, the blade including:
a hub portion;
a first blade portion extending radially outward from the hub portion;
and
a second blade portion extending radially outward from the hub portion;
and
a coupling assembly including a yoke coupled at an end of a shaft of the motor such that the yoke rotates together with the shaft about a first axis, the coupling assembly further including at least one bearing coupled to the yoke such that the at least one bearing is disposed adjacent a side of the hub portion and spaced outward from the side of the hub portion, the at least one bearing coupling the blade to the yoke such that the hub portion is spaced from the end of the shaft along the first axis,
wherein the at least one bearing, in response to pivoting of the blade about a second axis extending through the hub portion and oriented at an angle with respect to the first axis, exerts a restoring force that urges the blade toward a neutral position;
and
wherein a central axis of the hub portion of the blade corresponding to the second axis is offset from a central axis of the blade, the central axis of the blade corresponding to a span of the blade extending from a tip end portion of the first blade portion to a tip end portion of the second blade portion of the blade.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.