Coaxially aligned propellers of an aerial vehicle
AssigneeAmazon Technologies, Inc.
InventorsBrian C. Beckman, Noam Sorek
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This disclosure describes aerial vehicles and systems for altering the noise generated by the rotation of a propeller during flight of the aerial vehicle. In some implementations, propellers of the aerial vehicle are paired in a coaxially aligned configuration in which the pair of propellers both rotate in the same direction, are rotationally phase aligned, and separated a defined distance so that the noise from high pressure pulse of the induced flow from the lower propeller is at least partially canceled out by the noise of the high pressure pulse of the induced flow from the upper propeller.
Claims20
An aerial vehicle apparatus, comprising:
- a body;
- a lifting propulsion mechanism, the lifting propulsion mechanism including:
- a first motor coupled to the body;
- a first shaft coupled to and rotatable by the first motor that extends from the first motor;
- a first propeller coupled to and rotatable by the first shaft;
- a second motor coupled to the body;
- a second shaft coupled to and rotatable by the second motor, wherein the second shaft is coaxially aligned with the first shaft and extends from the second motor toward the first motor;
- and
- a second propeller coupled to the second shaft at a distance from the first propeller coupled to the first shaft;
- and
- a control system configured to at least:
- during operation of the aerial vehicle apparatus, send an instruction that causes adjustment of at least one of an alignment, a direction of rotation, or a pitch of at least one of the first propeller or the second propeller.
A method to reduce a noise generated by an aerial vehicle during a flight, the method comprising:
- flying the aerial vehicle using a propulsion mechanism of the aerial vehicle, the propulsion mechanism comprising a first propeller rotated by a first shaft and a second propeller rotated by a second shaft, the first propeller and the second propeller being coaxially aligned and separated from each other by a distance;
- and
- during the flight of the aerial vehicle, adjusting at least one of an alignment, a direction of rotation, or a pitch of at least one of the first propeller or the second propeller of the propulsion mechanism such that a first noise generated by a first induced flow of the first propeller cancels out at least a portion of a second noise generated by a second induced flow of the second propeller.
An unmanned aerial vehicle (“UAV”), comprising:
- a body;
- a propulsion mechanism coupled to the body, including:
- a first motor;
- a first shaft coupled to and extending from the first motor;
- a first propeller coupled to the first shaft and rotatable by the first shaft in a first direction;
- a second motor;
- a second shaft coupled to and extending from the second motor, the second shaft being coaxially aligned with the first shaft;
- and
- a second propeller coupled to the second shaft, coaxially aligned with and at a distance from the first propeller, and rotatable by the second shaft in the first direction;
- and
- a control system configured to at least:
- during operation of the UAV, send an instruction that causes adjustment of at least one of an alignment, a direction of rotation, or a pitch of at least one of the first propeller or the second propeller.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.