Multirotor Joined-Wing VTOL Aircraft Thrust Layout
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional VTOL multirotor aircrafts face challenges in controllability, stability, and safety due to the arrangement of thrust producing units and wings, leading to issues with access, structural efficiency, and safety risks, particularly in emergency situations.
Innovation Solution
A multirotor aircraft design featuring a joined-wing configuration with a fuselage, tail boom, and thrust producing units arranged to minimize negative aerodynamic interactions, providing safe boarding zones and improved structural weight efficiency, with thrust units mounted on the wings to generate lift and forward thrust, and batteries housed in wing pods to enhance safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If thrust producing units are arranged adjacently to the fuselage for compact design, then device complexity is reduced, but safety is worsened due to exposure risks during boarding and emergency operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent relocates thrust producing units from adjacent positions to outboard positions on the wings, utilizing the spanwise dimension of the wing structure. This dimensional redistribution creates spatial separation between the thrust units and the fuselage, establishing safe boarding zones and emergency operation areas near the fuselage while maintaining compact overall design.
2Productivity
If thrust producing units are mounted on wings for lift generation, then productivity is improved through enhanced lift capability, but device complexity increases due to integration requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the thrust producing units to serve dual functions: generating lift during vertical take-off and landing operations, and providing forward thrust during cruise flight. This multi-functionality is achieved by mounting the units on the wings and enabling rotational movement between vertical and horizontal orientations, allowing a single component to replace what would traditionally require separate lift and propulsion systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates rotational mechanisms that allow the thrust producing units to dynamically change their orientation. The units can rotate between a vertical position for lift generation during VTOL operations and a horizontal position for forward thrust during cruise, enabling adaptive functionality based on flight phase requirements.
3Device complexity
If conventional VTOL multirotor aircraft designs are used with less than eight thrust producing units, then device complexity is reduced, but stability and controllability are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a conventional multirotor configuration with vertically stacked rotors to a joined-wing configuration with outboard-mounted thrust units. This spatial redistribution across the wing span creates a more stable and controllable platform by distributing thrust generation across multiple outboard positions, improving rotational control and reducing the negative aerodynamic interactions present in conventional compact designs.
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 design enhances stability, controllability, and safety by balancing lift and thrust, allowing for safe boarding and emergency operations while reducing structural loads and weight, and protecting occupants from rotor failures.
Implementation Method 1
a thrust producing units assembly (40) being provided for producing thrust in operation
Implementation Method 2
at least one lower wing (12), and at least one upper wing (11), wherein the at least one upper wing (11) is joined to the at least one lower wing (12) in a joined-wing configuration
Data Source
AI summary
A multirotor aircraft that is adapted for vertical take-off and landing. The multirotor aircraft comprises a fuselage, a tail boom that is provided with a vertical fin, a thrust producing units assembly that is provided for producing thrust in operation, at least one lower wing which comprises a lower wing inboard section that is connected to the fuselage and a lower wing outboard section that forms a lower wing tip, and at least one upper wing which is connected to the vertical fin and which forms an upper wing tip. The at least one upper wing is joined to the at least one lower wing in a joined-wing configuration.