Vertical take-off and landing (vtol) winged air vehicle with complementary angled rotors
AssigneeAeroVironment, Inc.
InventorsHenry Thome Won, Quentin Lindsey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, devices, and methods for an aircraft having a fuselage (110); a wing (120) extending from both sides of the fuselage; a first pair of motors (132b, 133b) disposed at a first end of the wing; and a second pair of motors (142b, 143b) disposed at a second end of the wing; where each motor is angled (381, 382, 391, 392) to provide a component of thrust by a propeller (134, 135, 144, 145) attached thereto that for a desired aircraft movement applies a resulting torque additive to the resulting torque created by rotating the propellers.
Claims20
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a wing extending from both sides of the fuselage, the wing having a first side and a second side;
- a first pair of motors disposed at a first end of the wing distal from the fuselage, wherein one motor of the first pair of motors is on the first side of the wing, and wherein the other motor of the first pair of motors is on the second side of the wing;
- a second pair of motors disposed at a second end of the wing distal from the fuselage, wherein the second end of the wing is opposite the first end of the wing, wherein one motor of the second pair of motors is on the first side of the wing, and wherein the other motor of the second pair of motors is on the second side of the wing;
- wherein each motor is angled to provide a component of thrust by a propeller attached thereto that for a desired aircraft movement applies a resulting torque additive to a resulting torque created by rotating the propellers.
A method comprising:
- providing substantially equal thrust to a top port motor, a bottom port motor, a top starboard motor, and a bottom starboard motor of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft to achieve a vertical take-off, wherein the top and bottom port motors are disposed at a first end of a wing, wherein the top and bottom starboard motors are disposed at a second end of the wing distal from the first end of the wing, wherein the top and bottom starboard motors are angled away from each other within a first plane generally perpendicular to a plane of the wing;
- and wherein the top and bottom port motors are angled away from each other within a second plane generally perpendicular to the plane of the wing;
- increasing thrust to the top motors, and decreasing thrust to the bottom motors to produce a net moment about a center of mass of the VTOL aircraft and cause the aircraft to pitch forward;
- and
- increasing thrust to the top motors, and increasing thrust to the bottom motors to achieve horizontal flight, wherein the wing of the VTOL aircraft provides primary lift in horizontal flight.
A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle comprising:
- a wing, the wing having a first side and a second side;
- a first motor assembly disposed at a first end of the wing, the first motor assembly comprising:
- a first motor disposed on the first side of the wing, wherein the first motor is angled from vertical away from the first side of the wing;
- a first winglet, wherein the first motor is spaced apart from the first end of the wing by the first winglet;
- a second motor disposed on the second side of the wing, wherein the second motor is angled from vertical away from the second side of the wing;
- a second winglet, wherein the second motor is spaced apart from the first end of the wing by the second winglet;
- wherein each motor is angled to provide a component of thrust by a propeller attached thereto that for a desired aircraft movement applies a resulting torque additive to the resulting torque created by rotating the propellers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.