DRONE SILVER AND DRONE WITH IT

Abstract

TITLE: DRONE WING AND DRONE COMPRISING IT The drone wing comprises, on each side of the fuselage, two wing halves that deploy in opposite directions of rotation until their tips meet. Preferably, this wing comprises, at the tips of the wing halves, means for attaching these tips together, for example, for lower wing halves, vertical notches formed in winglets and, for upper wing halves, horizontal notches. In some embodiments, the wing comprises, on each side of the drone fuselage, an upper wing half and a lower wing half, the wing being rhomboidal when fully deployed. Figure for the abbreviation: Figure 6

Description

Title of the invention: DRONE WING AND DRONE COMPRISING IT Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to a drone wing and a drone comprising it. It applies, in particular, to drones launched in a folded configuration. State of the art

[0002] Drones launched in a folded configuration, generally from a launch tube, have wings mounted on rotation shafts. As a result, their anchoring to the fuselage of the drone is small. The oscillations of the wings caused by the airflow are therefore only very little damped by these anchors. These oscillations limit the navigation control capabilities of these drones, require heavier mechanical parts, to the detriment of the payload and cause additional drag on the drone, to the detriment of its speed and range. Presentation of the invention

[0003] The wing structure according to the invention comprises, on each side of the fuselage, two half-wing structures which deploy in opposite directions of rotation until their ends meet. Means for attaching these ends to each other reduce the degrees of freedom of movement of the half-wing structures. The rigidity of the wing structure is thus improved.

[0004] The attachment means may comprise a notch formed in one of the half-wings and / or a hook shape at the end of the other of these half-wings.

[0005] Preferably, the sail is rhomboidal, once fully deployed. Brief description of the figures

[0006] Other advantages, aims and particular characteristics of the invention will emerge from the following non-limiting description of at least one particular embodiment of the device and the substation which are the subject of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: [Fig.l] represents, in perspective, a particular embodiment of a wing and a drone which are the objects of the invention, in a folded configuration, [Fig.2] represents, in top view, the wing and the drone illustrated in [Fig.l], in the folded configuration,

[0007] [Fig.3] represents, in side view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 1 and 2, in the folded configuration,

[0008] [Fig.4] represents, in front view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 1 to 3, in the configuration folded in a launch tube,

[0009] [Fig.5] represents, in perspective, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 1 to 4, in a partially deployed configuration, [Fig.6] represents, in top view, the wing and the drone illustrated in [Fig.5], in the partially deployed configuration,

[0010] [Fig.7] represents, in side view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 5 and 6, in the partially deployed configuration,

[0011] [Fig.8] represents, in front view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 5 to 7, in the partially deployed configuration,

[0012] [Fig.9] represents, in perspective, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 1 to 8, in a fully deployed configuration, [Fig. 10] represents, in top view, the wing and the drone illustrated in [Fig.9], in the fully deployed configuration,

[0013] [Fig. 11] represents, in side view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 9 and 10, in the fully deployed configuration, and

[0014] [Fig. 12] represents, in front view, the wing and the drone illustrated in figures 9 to 11, in the fully deployed configuration. Description of the embodiments

[0015] The present description is given without limitation, each characteristic of an embodiment being able to be combined with any other characteristic of any other embodiment in an advantageous manner.

[0016] It should be noted from now on that the figures are to scale.

[0017] As understood from reading this description, various concepts The inventive methods may be implemented by one or more methods or devices described below, several examples of which are provided herein. The actions or steps performed in carrying out the method or device may be ordered in any suitable manner. Accordingly, it is possible to construct embodiments in which the actions or steps are performed in a different order than illustrated, which may include performing certain acts simultaneously, even if they are shown as sequential acts in the illustrated embodiments.

[0018] The expression "and / or", as used herein and in the claims, is to be understood as meaning "either or both" of the elements so conjoined, i.e., elements which are present conjunctively in some cases and disjunctively in other cases. Multiple elements listed with "and / or" are to be interpreted in the same way, i.e., "one or more" of the elements so conjoined. Other elements may possibly be present, other than the elements specifically identified by the "and / or" clause, whether or not related to those specifically identified elements. Thus, by way of non-limiting example, a reference to "A and / or B", when used in conjunction with open language such as "comprising" may refer, in one embodiment, to A only (possibly including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to B only (possibly including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (possibly including other elements); etc.

[0019] As used herein in the description and claims, "or" is to be understood inclusively.

[0020] As used in this specification and in the claims, the expression "at least one", with reference to a list of one or more elements, is to be understood to mean at least one element selected from one or more elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including at least one of each element specifically listed in the list of elements and not excluding any combination of elements in the list of elements. This definition also allows for the optional presence of elements other than the specifically identified elements in the list of elements to which the expression "at least one" refers, whether or not related to those specifically identified elements.Thus, by way of non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or, equivalently, "at least one of A or B", or, equivalently, "at least one of A and / or B") may refer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, without B present (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, B, without A present (and optionally including elements other than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionally including more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including more than one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc.

[0021] In the claims, as well as in the description below, all transitional expressions such as "comprising", "including", "carrying", "having", "containing", "involving", "holding", "composed of", and the like, are to be understood as being open, i.e., as meaning including but not limited to. Only the transitional expressions "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of" are to be understood as closed or semi-closed transitional expressions, respectively.

[0022] Throughout the description, the term "top" or "upper" refers to what is at the top when the drone is flying, "bottom" or "lower" refers to what is at the bottom when the drone is flying, "left" refers to what is on the left when looking at the drone from above, towards the front, that is, from the rear end of its fuselage to the front end of the fuselage, and "right" means what is on the right in this position.

[0023] The particular embodiment illustrated in the figures, the wing is rhomboidal, once fully deployed. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this shape of wing but concerns all wings in which the ends of half-wings located on the same side of the fuselage can join.

[0024] It can be seen, in figures 1 to 12, that the wing 20 comprises: - a left upper half-wing 22, - a right upper half-wing 23, - a left lower half-wing 24 and - a half right lower wing 25.

[0025] The half-wings 22 to 25 are carried by a fuselage 21 equipped with a propeller 26, here positioned at the rear of the fuselage 21. The upper half-wings 22 and 23 are rotatable around a rear rotation axis 27. The lower half-wings 24 and 25 are rotatable around a front rotation axis 28.

[0026] As can be seen particularly in [Fig.4], in the launch tube 31, the half-wings 22 and 23 are superimposed above the fuselage 21, the upper right half-wing 23 being between the fuselage 21 and the upper left half-wing 22. Similarly, the half-wings 24 and 25 are superimposed below the fuselage 21, the lower left half-wing 24 being between the fuselage 21 and the lower right half-wing.

[0027] As illustrated in figures 5 to 8, during deployment of the wing 20, seen from above and as illustrated by the broken arrows in [Fig.6]: - the upper left half-wing 22 rotates counterclockwise around the rear rotation axis 27, - the upper right half-wing 23 rotates clockwise around the rear rotation axis 27, - the lower left half-wing 24 rotates clockwise around the front rotation axis 28 and - the lower right half-wing 25 rotates counterclockwise around the front rotation axis 28.

[0028] It is also observed, in figures 5 to 8, that the lower half-wings 24 and 25 each carry, at their free end, a notch 29. The notches are in the vertical plane of a winglet. Their openings are oriented towards the front of the drone. It is recalled here that the winglets are curves at the end of the wings which reduce the drag of the wing and therefore the consumption of the drone.

[0029] The upper half-wings 22 and 23 carry, at their free end, hooks 30 practically in a horizontal plane and whose openings are oriented towards the rear of the drone.

[0030] When deploying the wing 20, the hooks 30 and the notches 29 gradually move closer together.

[0031] As illustrated in Figures 9 to 12, once fully deployed, the half-wings located on the same side of the fuselage 21, join at their free ends. The hooks 30 penetrate into the notches 29 and thus immobilize, relative to each other, the ends of the left half-wings 22 and 24, on the one hand, and the ends of the right half-wings 23 and 25.

[0032] As can be seen in figures 10 and 12, the entire wing forms, in top view and in front view, a rigid diamond which is therefore very little deformable. Summary of the invention

[0033] The present invention aims to remedy all or part of the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0034] To this end, according to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a drone wing, which comprises, on each side of the fuselage, two half-wings which deploy in opposite directions of rotation until their ends meet.

[0035] In embodiments: - the wing comprises, at the end of the half-wings s, means for attaching these ends to each other, - the attachment means comprise, for lower half-wings, vertical notches formed in winglets, - the attachment means comprise, for lower half-wings, horizontal notches, - the wing comprises, on each side of the drone fuselage, an upper half-wing and a lower half-wing, the wing being rhomboidal, once fully deployed.

[0036] According to a second aspect, the present invention relates to a drone comprising a wing which is the subject of the invention.

Claims

Claims

1. Drone wing, which comprises, on each side of the fuselage, two half-wings which deploy in opposite directions of rotation until their ends meet.

2. Drone wing according to claim 1, which comprises, at the end of the half-wings, means for attaching these ends to each other.

3. Wing according to claim 2, in which the attachment means comprise, for lower half-wings, vertical notches formed in winglets.

4. A wing according to claim 3, in which the attachment means comprise, for lower half-wings, horizontal notches.

5. Wing according to one of claims 1 to 4, which comprises, on each side of the fuselage of the drone, an upper half-wing and a lower half-wing, the wing being rhomboidal, once fully deployed.

6. Drone comprising a wing according to one of claims 1 to 5.

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