Dual channel wing for an aerocar
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorTaewoo Nam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A dual channel wing for an aircraft, comprising an inboard and an outboard portion, wherein each portion comprises a channel wing section. Each channel may include a propulsor and the propulsors of each of the channels may be offset relative to one another in the chordwise direction of the wing. The wing may be foldable upon itself about a chordwise axis such that the inboard and outboard channels overlap. At least one dual channel wing may also be located on an aerocar.
Claims20
A wing comprising:
- an inboard portion;
- an outboard portion;
- a first channel located in the outboard portion of the wing;
- a second channel located in the inboard portion of the wing;
- a first propulsor located along an axis of the first channel;
- a second propulsor located along an axis of the second channel;
- and
- a control surface;
- wherein one of the first and second propulsors is located near a trailing edge of the wing and the other of the first and second propulsors is forwardly offset on the respective axis towards a leading edge of the wing;
- and
- wherein the control surface is located within the channel of the forwardly offset propulsor and is located downstream from the forwardly offset propulsor.
A dual channel wing comprising:
- an inboard channel section;
- and
- an outboard channel section;
- wherein the inboard and outboard channel sections are arranged side-by-side along a span of the wing;
- and
- wherein the wing is configured to fold about a chordwise axis located between the channel sections such that the outboard channel section is stowed atop the inboard channel section.
A method of stowing and deploying at least one dual channel wing on an aerocar, the method comprising:
- providing an aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- and
- at least one dual channel wing;
- wherein the at least one dual channel wing comprises:
- an inboard channel section;
- and
- an outboard channel section;
- wherein the inboard and outboard channel sections are arranged side-by-side along the span of the at least one wing;
- wherein the at least one wing is configured to fold about a chordwise axis such that the outboard channel section is stowed atop the inboard channel section;
- swinging the outboard channel section about the chordwise axis such that the outboard channel section stows atop the inboard channel section to place the channel sections in a stowed state;
- and
- swinging the outboard channel section, from the stowed state, about the chordwise axis such that the outboard channel section and the inboard channel section are unfolded and arranged side-by-side to place the channel sections in a deployed state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.