Vehicles particularly useful as VTOL vehicles
AssigneeUrban Aeronautics Ltd.
InventorRafi Yoeli
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle including a fuselage, at least one lift-producing propeller carried by the fuselage on each side of its transverse axis a pilot's compartment formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis, and a pair of payload bays formed in the fuselage between the lift-producing propellers and on opposite sides of the pilot's compartment. Many variations are described enabling the vehicle to be used not only as a VTOL vehicle, but also as a multi-function utility vehicle for performing many diverse functions including hovercraft and ATV functions.
Claims18
A vehicle comprising:
- a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis wherein said fuselage includes a pair of thrust-producing propellers at the rear end of said fuselage on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis, said pair of thrust-producing propellers supported above said fuselage on a pair of pylons extending upwardly from said fuselage;
- at least two lift-producing propellers carried within said fuselage respectively on each side of said transverse axis;
- a compartment formed in said fuselage between said lift-producing propellers;
- and
- at least two engines, each capable of driving said pair of thrust-producing propellers and said lift-producing propellers.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis;
- at least one lift-producing propeller carried by said fuselage on each side of said transverse axis;
- a compartment formed in said fuselage between said lift-producing propellers;
- at least one payload bay formed in said fuselage between said lift-producing propellers, wherein the vehicle is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicle;
- and
- wherein said VTOL vehicle includes a pair of stub wings each moveable between a retracted, stored postion and an extended, deployed postion;
- and a
- pair of thrust-producing propellers supported on pylons extending upwardly from a rear end of said fuselage, on opposite sides of said longitudinal axis.
A ducted fan vehicle comprising:
- a fuselage having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis wherein said fuselage includes at least two ducted fans incorporating lift-producing propellers carried within said fuselage respectively on each side of said transverse axis;
- a compartment formed in said fuselage between said lift-producing propellers;
- wherein said fuselage includes two engines, each of said engines capable of driving all of said lift-producing propellers, said two engines being mechanically coupled together in a common transmission system;
- and
- wherein each of the engines connects to one of the lift-producing propellers via plural gear boxes, and the other of the lift-producing propellers is connected to said two engines via another gear box longitudinally aligned with one of said plural gear boxes, and further comprising a pair of thrust-producing propellers connected to respective ones of said two engines via two of said plural gear boxes connected directly to said engines.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.