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US 6,402,088 B1Granted
Passenger vehicle employing a circumferentially disposed rotatable thrust assembly
AssigneeAero Copter, Inc.
InventorsGeorge J. Syrovy, Siamak Yassini-Fard, Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle that employs a thrust assembly, a fuselage, and an intermediate rotation decoupling interface assembly for rotationally decoupling the thrust assembly from the fuselage. The thrust assembly forms a single combined thrust force about the fuselage in order to form a more stable vehicle during flight.
Claims290
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without impairing rotational movement thereto, said rotation decoupling interface assembly including nested roller bearing assemblies, and
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly and said rotation decoupling interface assembly for impairing rotational movement thereof.
1 more element
A vertical rake-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without imparting rotational movement thereto,
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly a said rotation decoupling interface assembly for imparting rotational movement thereto, and
- means for radially moving one or, more of said plurality of power sources relative to said rotatable thrust assembly.
2 more elements
A vehicle take-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without imparting rotational movement thereto, and
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly and said rotation decoupling interface assembly for imparting rotational movement thereto,
- one or more airfoils for controlling said thrust assembly, and
- means for moving the airfoil between a deployed position, where said airfoil extends outwardly from the thrust assembly, and a retracted position for stowing said airfoil within said thrust assembly.
3 more elements
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without imparting rotational movement thereto, and
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly and said rotation decoupling interface assembly for imparting rotational movement thereto, wherein at least one of the plurality of power sources is disposed in the rotation decoupling interface assembly.
1 more element
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without imparting rotational movement thereto, and
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly and said rotation decoupling interface assembly for imparting rotational movement thereto, wherein said thrust assembly is tiltable by rotation about an axis of the fuselage.
1 more element
A vertical take-off and landing vehicle, comprising
- a fuselage,
- a rotatable thrust assembly circumferentially disposed about the fuselage for generating a force for moving the vehicle,
- a rotation decoupling interface assembly concentrically disposed within the rotatable thrust assembly for mechanically coupling the rotatable thrust assembly to the fuselage without imparting rotational movement thereto, and
- a plurality of power sources coupled to one of said rotatable thrust assembly and said rotation decoupling interface assembly for imparting rotational movement thereto, wherein the rotation decoupling interface assembly includes a housing portion defining a fuel tank for storing fuel for the power sources.
1 more element
The vehicle of 242, wherein the rotatable thrust assembly generates a single total force having a selected force area for powering the vehicle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.