Coaxial VTOL Propeller Tilt Control With Integrated Rod Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rotary-wing aircraft propulsion devices with coaxial counter-rotating propellers face assembly and maintenance challenges due to complexity, numerous parts, and functional gaps, leading to reliability issues.
Innovation Solution
A propulsion device with a simplified design using a hollow frame, ball-and-pin joints, and torque motors for propeller rotation, along with tilt control means comprising fixed-length control rods and control wheels for synchronized propeller tilting around roll and pitch axes, eliminating mechanical latency and balancing forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If numerous rods and complex mechanisms are used to ensure propeller tilting and balance forces, then propeller control reliability is improved, but device complexity increases and assembly/maintenance difficulty worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the functions of multiple rods (tilting rods and balance rods) into a single integrated control rod for each propeller. This merging eliminates the need for separate mechanisms to balance forces, reducing the number of parts while maintaining control reliability through the unified rod design that inherently provides both tilting and balancing functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The control rod serves multiple functions simultaneously: it controls propeller tilting, balances forces during operation, and provides structural support. This multi-functional design eliminates the need for separate dedicated components for each function, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining reliability.
2Reliability
If numerous rods and complex mechanisms are used to ensure propeller tilting and balance forces, then propeller control reliability is improved, but assembly and disassembly difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple rods into a single control rod, the patent reduces the number of assembly steps and connections required. The simplified structure with fewer parts makes assembly and disassembly significantly easier while maintaining the reliability benefits through the integrated design that ensures proper force balancing and tilting control.
3Reliability
If numerous rods and complex mechanisms are used to ensure propeller tilting and balance forces, then propeller control reliability is improved, but maintenance complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The integration of multiple functions into a single control rod reduces the number of components that require maintenance. With fewer parts, there are fewer potential failure points and simpler diagnostic procedures, making maintenance easier while preserving the reliability advantages of the force-balancing design.
4Ease of manufacture
If a simplified design with fewer parts is used, then assembly and maintenance ease is improved, but control reliability may worsen due to functional gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The simplified control rod design incorporates multiple functions (tilting control and force balancing) within a single component, eliminating functional gaps that would exist in simpler designs. This ensures that all necessary control functions are present while maintaining the ease of assembly and maintenance associated with a reduced part count.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution provides a more reliable, robust, and compact control system that simplifies assembly, maintenance, and repair, while ensuring synchronized propeller control and reducing mechanical latency and backlash.
Implementation Method 1
the blade-carrying ring of each propeller being connected to the drive means by a ball-and-pin joint
Implementation Method 2
two control pinions being mounted each on one of the respective control rods and in direct mesh with the control wheel
Implementation Method 3
the frame carrying, for each control rod, a tapped hole into which a threaded portion of the control rod is screwed
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4
AI summary
The invention relates to a device (1) for propelling, by means of counterrotating coaxial propellers, a rotary wing aerodyne with vertical take-off and landing. This device comprises a hollow chassis (5) and two propellers each having a blade-carrying ring (6) which carries the blades at a fixed pitch. Drive means (14) make it possible to rotate each propeller about its axis of rotation, and inclination control means (24) make it possible to incline said propellers about the roll axis and the pitch axis, and comprise two pairs of control rods (26) which can be translated in parallel with the yaw axis in both directions by two control devices (27) such that one end of each rod (26) is able to bear against a blade-carrying ring (6) so as to tilt said ring about the roll axis or the pitch axis.