Aeronautical vortex recuperator

Abstract

The invention refers to an aerodynamic construction attached to the tip of an aircraft's wing, used to recover redundant energy that can be used in the aircraft's consuming systems and discharged. The construction according to the invention is mounted on an aircraft (A) at wing tip, fastened with help of clamps (1) that fix a flange (2) to which is attached two casings (3 and 4) outer and funnel, between which some ribs (5) are fixed, the outer casing (3) having an aerodynamic shape, with two connecting radius (r1) and (r2), frontal and upper, and the funnel casing (4) having two radius (r3 and r4), upper and lower, with two inlet and outlet sections (a and b), the air from the outlet section (b) it is taken with the help of a collar (6) to an installation inside the wing of the aircraft (A) on which an air filter (7) with automatic drainage, an amplifier (8) and a pressure distributor (9) are mounted, from where the pressure is used as a source of energy for several consumer systems (C) of the aircraft (A) and for discharge (E) directed to the distributor (10) from where the pressure is successively or combined redistributed in several directions in the branched tubing (11), provided at the exit sections with flap (12).

Description

[0001] Aeronautical vortex recuperator

[0002] The invention refers to an aerodynamic construction attached to the tip of the wings of an aircraft, used to recover redundant energy of the wing tip vortex.

[0003] In order to eliminate the inconvenience created by the vortex of the wing tip of the plane during the flight, in the current stage of aircraft construction, the use of marginal boards or lower and upper wings called winglets by attaching them to the tip of wings is known.

[0004] These constructions solve to a small extent the disadvantages produced by the wing tip vortex of an aircraft during flight, having the disadvantage of low efficiency in reducing the induced drag of the aircraft, increasing load and decreasing fuel consumption, achieving only attenuation and dissipation of wing tip vortex.

[0005] Aeronautical vortex recuperator eliminates the disadvantages because it recovers the disruptive force of this air current that appears in the same place of the aircraft wing tip boundary, regardless of their shape or length, accompanying the aircraft from takeoff to landing, having the same shape and trajectory, being more strong in heavy aircraft with low speed and which decreases with the altitude and speed of aircraft, with the help of this streamlined shape construction, positioned at tip of wings, through the clamps that fix a flange to which an aerodynamic outer casing is attached, which is attached to the inside with the help of some ribs an inner casing in the shape of the funnel provided with an air intake in the lower part, at a certain distance from wing tip and which take over the vortex in the stage of formation and ascent, interrupting the free and predictable formation of this air current, with the known negative effects, in the first phase and uses the recovered redundant force of the wing tip vortex, regularized as direction and with the air flow speed increased by reducing the exit section (Bernoulli'law's, Venturi tube), as the energy source, the current of air being taken in the usual form through the connection with the help of a collar to the rest of the pneumatic installation inside the wing of the aircraft where it is filtered, drained, amplified and distributed for the operation of other consumer systems of the aircraft and its discharge and redistribution through branched piping depending on the needs and the stage of the flight, successively or combined to the leading edge, trailing edge, lower and upper surface of the wing with much greater benefits in flight economy.

[0006] An example of the realization of invention is given next in connection with figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 which represent:

[0007] - figure 1 , the aircraft with the free shape representation of the wing tip vortex.

[0008] - figure 2, the aircraft in flight with wing tip vortex representation in ascent and aeronautical vortex recuperator mounted in the wing tip, front view.

[0009] - figure 3, the aircraft in flight with aeronautical vortex recuperator, side view.

[0010] - figure 4, the aircraft with vortex recoverers mounted in the tip of wings, top view.

[0011] - figure 5, the wing break with diagram of installation in the wing, front view.

[0012] - figure 6, the wing break with diagram of installation in the wing, top view.

[0013] - figure 7, aeronautical vortex recuperator, longitudinal section plane D:D.

[0014] The aeronautical vortex recuperator, according to the invention, is positioned on the aircraft (A), at the tips of the wings, attached to the wings by the clamps (1), which fix a flange (2), to which the outer casing (3), the funnel casing (4) is attached, between the two casings the rib (5) are connected. The outer casing has an aerodynamic shape with connecting radius (r1) frontal and (r2) upper and the funnel casing (4), having the radius (r3) lower and (r4) upper with the inlet section (a) and the outlet section (b). From the area of section (b), the air is taken in the usual way using the collar (6), to the installation in the wing, respectively the air filter with drainage (7), the pressure amplifier (8), the pressure distributor (9), from which recovered energy of the wing tip vortex is distributed during the operation of the consuming systems (C) of the aircraft (A) and during discharge (E) through the distributor (10) from where the discharged energy is redistributed successively or combined in several directions through the branched tubing (11) , provided at the exit section with flap (12) that opens by itself to outside at the moment of the passage of the compressed air stream and close when its distribution is interrupted.

[0015] By applying the invention, the following advantages are obtained:

[0016] - decrease the induced drag of aircraft.

[0017] - increasing the load.

[0018] - reducing the thrust of engines.

[0019] - increasing the speed of aircraft.

[0020] - fuel economy.

[0021] - increasing the autonomy of the aircraft.

[0022] - decreasing flight time between airports.

[0023] - better maneuverability of the aircraft.

[0024] - faster ascent of the aircraft.

[0025] - improving engine performance by using the recovered energy of wing tip vortex for the fan, compression, combustion, postcombustion, cooling the turbine blades and the nozzle.

[0026] - increasing the number of engines operating hours.

[0027] - reduction of maintenance time and costs.

[0028] - use of the redundant energy recovered from the wing tip vortex for the flight control surfaces (ailerons, flaps, slats, spoilers, rudder, elevators), landing gear and production of the electrical energy.

[0029] - reducing operating time of the auxiliary power unit.

[0030] - increased safety in the operation of the aircraft.

[0031] - increasing the number of flights and operational capacity of the airports.

[0032] - reduction of chemical and noise pollution.

[0033] - faster transition to the large electric aircraft.

[0034] - lower parasite drag of the aerodynamic construction.

[0035] - constructive simplicity and low construction costs.

[0036] - more efficient use of ground effect at take off.

[0037] - the use of the compressed air as a reversing force deceleration during the landing phase, propulsion during the take off and cruise phases and for better aircraft maneuverability.

Claims

AMENDED CLAIMS received by the International Bureau on 21 February 2026 (21.02.2026)AMENDED CLAIMS (1-5)Claim 1 (Independent)1. An aeronautical vortex recuperator mounted at a wing tip of an aircraft, comprising:- an aerodynamic outer casing (3) fixed at the wing tip,- a funnel-shaped inner casing (4) arranged inside the outer casing,- the inner casing having an inlet opening (a) positioned downstream of the wing tip at a predetermined distance from the wing tip edge, such that the inlet intersects the predictable trajectory of the already formed wing tip vortex core after vortex roll-up and before vortex breakdown, in the region vortex ascent,- the inner casing comprising a converging duct defining a Venturi geometry,- wherein an outlet opening (b) has a cross-sectional area smaller than the inlet opening (a), thereby structurally accelerating the ingested vortex airflow,- a pneumatic conduit connected to the outlet opening (b) for routing the accelerated airflow into the interior of the wing,- and a distribution unit configured to supply the recovered airflow energy to aircraft consumer systems and / or aerodynamic discharge outlets.Claim 2 (Dependent)2. The recuperator according to claim 1 , wherein the recovered airflow is selectively redistributed towards a leading edge, trailing edge, upper or lower wing surface.AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19)Claim 3 (Dependent)3. The recuperator according to claim 2, wherein the redistributed airflow is discharged through outlets arranged for boundary-layer control in order to improve lift and / or reduce induced drag.Claim 4 (Dependent)4. The recuperator according to claim 1 , wherein the recovered airflow energy is supplied to pneumatic consumer systems of the aircraft.Claim 5 (Dependent)5. The recuperator according to claim 1 , wherein the pneumatic conduit comprises an air treatment unit including filtering and pressure regulation.AMENDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19)

Images