Electric Vertical Take-Off And Landing Aircraft
AssigneeJoby Aero, Inc.
InventorsJoeBen Bevirt, Alex Stoll
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical takeoff and landing using a set of wing mounted thrust producing elements for takeoff and landing. An aerial vehicle which is adapted to vertical takeoff with the rotors in a rotated, take-off configuration and then transitions to a horizontal flight path, with some or all of the rotors rotated to a powered horizontal configuration. The aerial vehicle may have deployment mechanisms which deploy electric motor driven propellers from a forward facing to a vertical orientation. The aerial vehicle may be powered with electric motors.
Claims19
1-15. (canceled)
An aerial vehicle adapted for vertical take-off and horizontal flight, the aerial vehicle comprising:
- a right wing portion, the right wing portion comprising:
- a right wing nacelle coupled to the right wing, the right wing nacelle comprising a fore end positioned forward of the right wing portion and an aft end positioned aft of the right wing portion;
- a plurality of right wing forward rotor assemblies, each right wing forward rotor assembly comprising an electric motor and a propeller blade, each right wing forward rotor assembly being coupled to the right wing portion by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy the respective right wing forward rotor assembly from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical flight configuration, wherein a first right wing forward rotor assembly of the right wing forward rotor assemblies is coupled to the fore end of the right wing nacelle;
- and
- a first fixed right wing aft rotor assembly coupled to the aft end of the right wing nacelle, wherein a number of propeller blades coupled to the first right wing forward rotor assembly is greater than a number of propeller blades coupled to the first right wing aft rotor assembly;
- a left wing portion, the left wing portion comprising:
- a left wing nacelle coupled to the left wing, the left wing nacelle comprising a fore end positioned forward of the left wing portion and an aft end positioned aft of the left wing portion;
- a plurality of left wing forward rotor assemblies, each left wing forward rotor assembly comprising an electric motor and a propeller blade, each left wing forward rotor assembly being coupled to the left wing portion by a deployment mechanism adapted to deploy the respective left wing forward rotor assembly from a forward facing horizontal flight configuration to a vertical flight configuration, wherein a first left wing forward rotor assembly of the left wing forward rotor assemblies is coupled to the fore end of the left wing nacelle;
- and
- a first fixed left wing aft rotor assembly coupled to the aft end of the left wing nacelle, wherein a number of propeller blades coupled to the first left wing forward rotor assembly is greater than a number of propeller blades coupled to the first left wing aft rotor assembly;
- and
- one or more electric power sources, the one or more electric power sources electrically coupled to the electric motors.
A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft comprising:
- a wing structure configured to provide lift during horizontal flight, the wing structure comprising a fore side and an aft side;
- and
- first and second nacelles respectively coupled to the wing structure, each nacelle comprising:
- a fore end and an aft end;
- a deployment mechanism at least partially housed within the fore end;
- a forward rotor assembly, comprising an electric motor and a propeller, coupled to the deployment mechanism, the deployment mechanism being configured to deploy the forward rotor assembly selectively between a horizontal flight configuration and a vertical flight configuration;
- and
- an aft rotor assembly, comprising an electric motor and a propeller, coupled to the aft end in a fixed flight configuration, wherein the forward rotor assembly has a greater number of propeller blades than a number of propeller blades of the aft rotor assembly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.