A ducted powered manned eVTOL

Abstract

The present application provides a ducted power manned eVTOL, which is composed of a fuselage, a fixed wing and a plurality of ducted fans arranged thereon, and can realize efficient transition of two states of vertical take-off and landing and flat flight and flexible and accurate control of the whole machine attitude under the cooperation of the ducted fans and the airfoil. The distributed ducted fans and energy system can provide strong redundancy to meet the high safety requirements of low-altitude manned scenarios. The fuselage, fixed wing, skin and other components are made of lightweight materials, which can further reduce the weight, resistance and energy consumption of the whole machine, and effectively improve the range and speed indicators.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of small passenger aircraft technology, specifically relating to a ducted-drive manned eVTOL. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, numerous solutions have been proposed in this field for the power and overall configuration of eVTOL. Most of these solutions are based on multi-rotor, ducted fan, or a combination of both power systems. Among them, ducted power has certain advantages over other power types in terms of range, speed, low noise, and energy consumption, making it more suitable for manned applications. However, there are still some obvious problems to be solved in the existing technologies using ducted power systems, such as: (1) the duct and aerodynamic structure design is not reasonable enough, resulting in poor aerodynamic efficiency during vertical take-off and landing and hovering; (2) the power layout is too concentrated, lacking a relatively complete zoned full-ducted distributed electric propulsion capability and power redundancy; (3) the integration and coordination between the duct and the fuselage, and between the wing and the wing surface is not high, making it difficult to balance the weight, drag, and energy consumption of the whole aircraft; (4) there is a lack of specific aircraft optimization for manned commuting, business travel, rescue, and sightseeing scenarios, and the solutions generally remain at the theoretical level. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, and in response to the technical problems existing in the field, the present invention provides a ducted fan powered eVTOL, comprising: a fuselage, fixed wings and a ducted fan power system; The ducted fan propulsion system consists of a fuselage lift ducted fan, flap ducted fans, underwing ducted fans, and a tail thrust ducted fan. The fuselage houses the cockpit, with fuselage lift ducted fans positioned before and after the cockpit to provide vertical thrust. The fixed wings include the main wing, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer. The main wing is located on both sides of the mid-fuselage. A flap is located on the inner trailing edge of the main wing near the fuselage. Several flap ducted fans are mounted on the flap surfaces. The flap ducted fans can tilt synchronously with the flaps to achieve thrust conversion between vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and level flight. Each flap has an outer wing. A tiltable underwing ducted fan is suspended below the leading edge of the main wing to achieve thrust conversion between VTOL and level flight, as well as roll and yaw attitude control. The horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are located on both sides of the tail of the fuselage. An elevator is located on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer, and a rudder is located on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer. A tiltable tail thrust ducted fan is located at the tail cone of the fuselage to assist in adjusting pitch attitude.

[0004] Furthermore, the cabin features a four-seat layout.

[0005] Furthermore, the eVTOL uses multiple lithium battery packs to form an energy system to provide power to the entire aircraft; the lithium battery packs are distributed and installed inside the fuselage and main wings.

[0006] Furthermore, the fuselage lift ducted fan is equipped with an automatically opening and closing cover, which is used to open during vertical takeoff and landing and to close during level flight or parking, thereby reducing drag during level flight and protecting the main ducted fan from foreign objects.

[0007] Furthermore, the flaps can tilt the flap ducted fans within a 100° range; the ailerons can deflect within a 30° range; the elevators and rudders can both deflect within a 40° range; and the underwing flap ducted fans can tilt within a 100° range.

[0008] Furthermore, each main wing is equipped with four flap ducted fans and two underwing ducted fans; the tail thrust ducted fans are specifically configured with two units, which are installed on the left and right sides of the tail cone, and slightly higher than the horizontal tail fin.

[0009] Furthermore, the fuselage, main wings, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer are all made of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials.

[0010] Furthermore, each ducted fan adopts a fully enclosed structure including a permanent magnet synchronous motor, blades, and guide vanes. The blade material is specifically carbon fiber composite material, with 12 blades, and noise reduction material is installed on the inner wall of the duct.

[0011] Furthermore, the eVTOL also includes a fly-by-wire flight control system with multi-redundancy full-authority control capabilities. The system integrates attitude sensors, positioning modules, altitude sensors, obstacle avoidance sensors, ducted fan speed acquisition modules, and tilt angle acquisition modules, and has built-in fault identification and power reconfiguration programs.

[0012] The ducted-drive manned eVTOL provided by this invention consists of a fuselage, fixed wings, and multiple ducted fans mounted on them. It can efficiently transition between vertical takeoff and landing and level flight, as well as flexibly and precisely control the overall aircraft attitude, through the coordinated operation of the ducted fans and wing surfaces. The distributed ducted fans and energy system have strong redundancy, meeting the high safety requirements of low-altitude manned scenarios. By using lightweight materials to manufacture the fuselage, fixed wings, skin, and other components, the overall weight, drag, and energy consumption can be further reduced, effectively improving range and speed. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1 A perspective view of the eVTOL provided by this invention; Figure 2 Views of the eVTOL from various angles in vertical takeoff and landing mode; Figure 3 Views of the eVTOL from various angles during the transition from vertical takeoff and landing to level flight. Figure 4 These are views of the eVTOL from various angles in level flight. Detailed Implementation

[0014] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0015] The ducted-drive manned eVTOL provided by this invention, such as Figure 1 As shown, it includes: fuselage 1, fixed wings and ducted fan power system; The ducted fan propulsion system consists of a fuselage lift ducted fan 2, flap ducted fans 3, underwing ducted fans 4, and a tail thrust ducted fan 5. A cockpit 6 is located on the fuselage, with the fuselage lift ducted fans 2 positioned before and after the cockpit 6 to provide vertical thrust. The fixed wings include a main wing 7, a horizontal stabilizer 8, and a vertical stabilizer 9. The main wing 7 is located on both sides of the middle section of the fuselage 1. A flap is located on the inner trailing edge of the main wing 7 near the fuselage 1. Several flap ducted fans 3 are mounted on the flap surfaces. The underwing ducted fan 3 can tilt synchronously with the flaps to achieve thrust conversion between vertical takeoff and landing and level flight; each flap has an outer wing; a tiltable underwing ducted fan 4 is suspended below the leading edge of the main wing 7 to achieve thrust conversion between vertical takeoff and landing and level flight, as well as roll and yaw attitude control; the horizontal stabilizer 8 and vertical stabilizer 9 are located on both sides of the tail of the fuselage, with an elevator at the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer and a rudder at the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer; a tiltable tail thrust ducted fan 5 is located at the tail cone of the fuselage to assist in adjusting pitch attitude.

[0016] In a preferred embodiment, the cockpit features a four-seat layout, accommodating four passengers, including the driver, making it suitable for various scenarios such as urban commuting, intercity travel, emergency rescue, business travel, and low-altitude sightseeing.

[0017] In a preferred embodiment, the eVTOL uses multiple lithium battery packs to form an energy system to provide power to the entire machine; the lithium battery packs are distributed inside the fuselage and main wings.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment, the fuselage lift ducted fan is provided with an automatically opening and closing cover, which is used to open during vertical takeoff and landing and to close during level flight or parking, thereby reducing drag during level flight and protecting the main ducted fan from foreign objects.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment, the flaps can tilt the flap ducted fan within a 100° range; the ailerons can deflect within a 30° range; the elevators and rudders can both deflect within a 40° range; and the underwing flap ducted fan can tilt within a 100° range.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment, each main wing is equipped with four flap ducted fans and two underwing ducted fans; specifically, two tail thrust ducted fans are installed on the left and right sides of the tail cone, slightly higher than the horizontal tail fin. This layout places the ducted fans in different zones of the aircraft, effectively improving lift and propulsion efficiency, and providing sufficient power and safety redundancy even in the event of a small number of ducted fan failures in any zone.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment, the fuselage, main wing, horizontal tail, and vertical tail are all made of carbon fiber reinforced composite material, and carbon fiber foam sandwich composite material can also be used in the main wing.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment, each ducted fan adopts a fully enclosed structure including a permanent magnet synchronous motor, blades, and guide vanes, ensuring that rotating components are not exposed. Specifically, carbon fiber composite material is selected for the blades, and there are 12 blades. The inner wall of the duct is coated with a porous noise-reducing coating and other noise-reducing materials, which effectively suppress noise and improve adaptability to urban environments.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, the eVTOL further includes a fly-by-wire flight control system with multi-redundancy full-authority control capabilities. The system integrates an attitude sensor, a positioning module, an altitude sensor, an obstacle avoidance sensor, a ducted fan speed acquisition module, and a tilt angle acquisition module, and has built-in fault identification and power reconfiguration programs.

[0024] In a specific example, the aircraft is designed with a maximum takeoff weight of 2,500 kg, a payload of 400 kg, a standard cruise speed of 250 km / h, a range of 500 km, a normal cruise altitude of 1,000 m, a maximum service ceiling of 4,000 m, and can be equipped with suitable landing gear according to the actual use scenario.

[0025] The flight process of the aforementioned eVTOL can be divided into four stages: vertical takeoff and landing, transition, horizontal cruise, and landing. The preferred cooperative working mode of the fixed-wing and ducted fan power systems in each stage is as follows: (1) Vertical take-off and landing phase, such as Figure 2 As shown, its fly-by-wire flight control system activates the fuselage lift ducted fans to lift the entire aircraft off the ground; at the same time, it adjusts the flap ducted fans, underwing ducted fans and tail thrust ducted fans to a vertical position and starts them. While ensuring vertical thrust, it adjusts the overall attitude of the aircraft by independently adjusting the speed of each ducted fan and by adjusting the rudder.

[0026] (2) Transitional phase, such as Figure 3As shown, after the aircraft hovers and stabilizes, the fly-by-wire flight control system controls the flap ducted fans, underwing ducted fans, and tail thrust ducted fans to gradually tilt towards the horizontal direction, while gradually increasing the thrust of the fuselage lift ducted fans to ensure the overall aircraft attitude is stable and maintains flight altitude. As the flight speed increases, the main wing gradually generates lift, the power of the fuselage lift ducted fans gradually decreases, and the tilt angle of the flap ducted fans, underwing ducted fans, and tail thrust ducted fans tends to be horizontal until the horizontal speed reaches the stall speed. The ailerons, vertical tail, and horizontal tail generate sufficient control effect to smoothly transition from vertical takeoff and landing to horizontal cruise.

[0027] (3) Level cruise phase, such as Figure 4 As shown, the fuselage lift ducted fan stops working and the cover is closed. The flap ducted fan, underwing ducted fan, and tail thrust ducted fan are all in a fully horizontal position to provide level flight thrust for the entire aircraft. The main wing provides the main lift. The fly-by-wire flight control system accurately maintains the flight altitude and flight path based on information from the positioning system and altitude sensors. It adjusts the roll attitude through the ailerons, the yaw attitude through the rudder, and the pitch attitude through the elevator to ensure stable flight. The obstacle avoidance sensor detects surrounding obstacles in real time and automatically avoids risks when an obstacle is detected.

[0028] (4) Landing phase: The fly-by-wire flight control system controls the fuselage lift duct aerodynamics and gradually increases power. The flap ducted fan, underwing ducted fan and tail thrust ducted fan gradually tilt from horizontal to vertical. The level flight speed gradually decreases to 0 and the flight attitude remains stable. The attitude of the horizontal tail, rudder and flap ducted fan is adjusted in real time to ensure that the fuselage descends slowly and the attitude is stable. After landing, all ducted power components stop working and the entire flight process is completed.

[0029] When different faults occur, the eVTOL of this invention can employ the following response logic in its fly-by-wire flight control system: a. When a single ducted fan fails, the flight control system immediately initiates the fault identification and power reconfiguration procedure.

[0030] b. When a single-wing underducted fan malfunctions, the flight control system increases the output power of the flap tilt ducted fan on the same side and other available ducted fans, and adjusts the corresponding tilt angle and control surface deflection angle to compensate for roll and yaw moments.

[0031] c. In the event of a failure of the front fuselage lift ducted fan, the flight control system increases the output power of the rear fuselage lift ducted fan and related auxiliary ducted fans, and corrects the pitch moment through the tail thrust ducted fan and elevator.

[0032] d. When the tail thrust duct fails, the flight control system increases the elevator deflection angle and works with other ducted fans to fine-tune thrust in order to compensate for pitch attitude changes.

[0033] The above-mentioned emergency response strategies are all executed within the preset flight envelope and control authority range, which can fully ensure the attitude controllability and safety of the aircraft under abnormal operating conditions.

[0034] It should be understood that the sequence number of each step in the embodiments of the present invention does not imply the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present invention.

[0035] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A ducted-drive powered eVTOL, characterized in that: include: Fuselage, fixed wings, and ducted fan power system; The ducted fan power system consists of a fuselage lift ducted fan, flap ducted fans, underwing ducted fans, and a tail thrust ducted fan. The fuselage has a cockpit, with the fuselage lift ducted fans positioned in front of and behind the cockpit. The fixed wings include the main wing, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer. The main wing is located on both sides of the mid-fuselage. A flap is located on the inner trailing edge of the main wing near the fuselage. Several flap ducted fans are mounted on the flap surface, which can tilt synchronously with the flap. Each flap has an outer wing. A tiltable underwing ducted fan is suspended below the leading edge of the main wing. The horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are located on both sides of the tail of the fuselage, with an elevator on the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer and a rudder on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer. A tiltable tail thrust ducted fan is located at the tail cone of the fuselage.

2. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The cabin features a four-seat layout.

3. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The eVTOL uses multiple lithium battery packs to form an energy system that provides power to the entire aircraft; the lithium battery packs are distributed and installed inside the fuselage and main wings.

4. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The fuselage lift duct fan is equipped with an automatically opening and closing cover, which is used to open during vertical takeoff and landing and to close during level flight or parking.

5. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The flaps can tilt the flap ducted fans within a 100° range; the ailerons can deflect within a 30° range; the elevators and rudders can both deflect within a 40° range; and the underwing flap ducted fans can tilt within a 100° range.

6. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Each main wing is equipped with four flap ducted fans and two underwing ducted fans; the tail thrust ducted fans are specifically configured with two units, which are installed on the left and right sides of the tail cone, and slightly higher than the horizontal tail fin.

7. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The fuselage, main wings, horizontal stabilizer, and vertical stabilizer are all made of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials.

8. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Each ducted fan adopts a fully enclosed structure including a permanent magnet synchronous motor, blades, and guide vanes. The blade material is specifically carbon fiber composite material, with 12 blades. Noise reduction material is installed on the inner wall of the duct.

9. The eVTOL as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The eVTOL also includes a fly-by-wire flight control system with multi-redundancy full-authority control capabilities. The system integrates attitude sensors, positioning modules, altitude sensors, obstacle avoidance sensors, ducted fan speed acquisition modules, and tilt angle acquisition modules, and has built-in fault identification and power reconfiguration programs.

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