aircraft

Abstract

Vertical take-off and landing aircraft (10), characterized by the following features: - the aircraft (10) has an emergency rotor to assist or replace any helicopter rotors in the event of an emergency landing and - the emergency rotor can be extended from a rest position (11) by a translational movement in the direction of travel flight (13) of the aircraft (10) into an operational position (12) projecting forward from a missile in front of a cockpit.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

[0002] In aerospace engineering, VTOL refers to any type of aircraft, drone, or rocket capable of taking off and landing essentially vertically without a runway. This collective term is used in a broad sense below, encompassing not only fixed-wing aircraft with wings, but also rotary-wing aircraft such as helicopters, gyroplanes, and helicopters, as well as hybrids such as compound helicopters or combination helicopters, as well as convertible aircraft. It also includes aircraft capable of particularly short takeoff and landing (STOL), short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL), or vertical takeoff and horizontal landing (VTHL).

[0003] US 7,677,491 B2 discloses an airborne delivery system with an extendable autorotation rotor system. The rotor system facilitates descent control.

[0004] An extendable rotor according to US Pat. No. 3,333,643 A has flexible blades and a collapsible structure for minimal storage. The assembly deploys automatically after release to an initial, partially open position, where built-in vanes drive the rotor due to airflow during descent, and the rotor blades are gradually released by a speed-dependent mechanism, gradually increasing deceleration. When fully deployed, the rotor is directional and automatically regulates the descent rate.

[0005] An extendable rotor according to US 4 017 043 A can, for example, be used as a lifting device for an ejection seat, whereby the pitch of the rotor blades is varied according to the rotation speed.

[0006] The invention is based on the problem of providing an improved aircraft of the type mentioned.

[0007] The invention provides an aircraft, in particular a fully electric one, capable of vertical takeoff and landing in the above sense, according to independent claim 1.

[0008] One advantage of this solution is the increased safety of a suitably equipped aircraft. During regular cruise operation, the rotor is protected within the aircraft, thus preventing bird strikes.

[0009] Further advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the dependent patent claims. For example, the aircraft can be equipped with bent or even optionally bent wings. Such a variant increases the effective wing area in horizontal flight without increasing the footprint of the aircraft.

[0010] Furthermore, the aircraft may have a fast-charging battery system that provides the propulsion energy for vertical takeoff and landing as well as horizontal flight and enables short-term charging of the aircraft while stationary.

[0011] Instead of free-running rotors, several ducted fans of varying sizes can be used to propel the aircraft, similar to those found in hovercraft or airboats outside of aeronautical technology. In such a design, the cylindrical casing surrounding the propeller can significantly reduce thrust losses due to turbulence at the blade tips. Suitable ducted propellers can be oriented horizontally or vertically, pivotable between the two positions, or covered by louvers for aerodynamic reasons during horizontal flight.

[0012] In addition, pure horizontal thrust generation using fixed ducted propellers is conceivable.

[0013] Finally, in addition to a preferably fully autonomous operation of the aircraft, the granting of manual control to the human pilot, with sufficient qualification, is also possible, which gives the device according to the invention the greatest possible flexibility in handling.

[0014] An embodiment of the invention is shown in the drawing and is described in more detail below.

[0015] The figure shows the top view of an aircraft.

[0016] The single figure illustrates the structural features of a preferred embodiment of the aircraft (10) according to the invention.

[0017] The aircraft (10) has an emergency rotor on its nose (14), which can be extended upwards and thus in the cruising direction (13), as shown in the illustration. While this slim emergency rotor is integrated into the fuselage of the aircraft (10) in its rest position (11) and is essentially unnoticeable, occupying a very small installation space. If necessary, it can be brought into an operational position (12) projecting forward from the aircraft in front of the cockpit by a translational movement of approximately one and a half times its diameter. In this end position, the emergency rotor can serve to support or replace any lifting rotors in the event of an emergency landing or to counteract a stall when cruising is slowed down due to a failure.

Claims

[1] Vertical take-off and landing aircraft (10), characterized by following features: - the aircraft (10) has an emergency rotor to support or replace any lifting rotors in the event of an emergency landing, and - the emergency rotor can be extended from a rest position (11) by a translational movement in the cruising flight direction (13) of the aircraft (10) into an operational position (12) projecting forward from a missile in front of a flight deck. [2] Aircraft (10) according to claim 1, characterized by following feature: - the emergency rotor is arranged on a nose (14) of the aircraft (10). [3] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by following feature: - the aircraft (10) has a fully electric drive. [4] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by following feature: - the aircraft (10) comprises folded or foldable wings. [5] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized by following feature: - the aircraft (10) comprises a fast-charging battery system. [6] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized by following feature: - the aircraft (10) comprises horizontally fixed ducted propellers for take-off and landing. [7] Aircraft (10) according to claim 6, characterized by following features: - the aircraft (10) has slats and - the horizontal ducted propellers can be optionally covered using the slats. [8] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized by following feature: - the aircraft (10) comprises vertically fixed ducted propellers for generating propulsion. [9] Aircraft (10) according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized byfollowing feature: - the aircraft (10) can optionally be controlled fully autonomously.

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