Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11124306-B2
Application number	US-201816042328-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 23, 2018
Priority date	Jul 21, 2017
Publication date	Sep 21, 2021
Grant date	Sep 21, 2021

Abstract

An aircraft includes a fuselage; a propulsion system including a power source and a vertical thrust electric fan driven by the power source; and a wing extending from the fuselage. The vertical thrust electric fan is positioned on or within the wing, the wing including a diffusion assembly movable between a first position and a second position and positioned at least partially downstream of the vertical thrust electric fan when in the second position, the diffusion assembly including a first member and a second member, the second member movable generally along the vertical direction relative to the first member such that the first member and second member together define at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the first vertical thrust electric fan when the diffusion assembly is in the second position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aircraft defining a vertical direction, the aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a propulsion system comprising a power source and a vertical thrust electric fan driven by the power source; and
a wing extending from the fuselage, the vertical thrust electric fan positioned on or within the wing, the wing comprising a diffusion assembly movable between a first position and a second position and positioned at least partially downstream of the vertical thrust electric fan when in the second position, the diffusion assembly including a first member, a second member, and a third member, the first member positioned at least partially on a first side of the second member and the third member positioned at least partially on a second side of the second member along the vertical direction such that the first member, the second member, and the third member together define at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the first vertical thrust electric fan when the diffusion assembly is in the second position.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first position is a retracted position and wherein the second position is an extended position, and wherein the first member is nested at least partially within the second member when the diffusion assembly is in the retracted position.

3. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first member defines a closed cross-sectional shape having a minimum internal cross measurement, wherein the second member also defines a closed cross-sectional shape having a minimum internal cross measurement, and wherein the minimum internal cross measurement of the second member is greater than the minimum internal cross measurement of the first member.

4. The aircraft of claim 3 , wherein the vertical thrust electric fan defines a fan diameter, and wherein the minimum internal cross measurement of the first member is greater than or substantially equal to the fan diameter.

5. The aircraft of claim 3 , wherein the closed cross-sectional shape of the first member is a substantially circular shape with the minimum internal cross measurement being a minimum internal diameter, and wherein the closed cross-sectional shape of the second member is also a substantially circular shape with the minimum internal cross measurement also being a minimum internal diameter.

6. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the vertical thrust electric fan defines an axis, wherein the first member defines a substantially frustoconical shape, wherein the second member also defines a substantially frustoconical shape, and wherein the second member is moveable along the axis.

7. The aircraft of claim 6 , wherein the first member further defines a minimum internal diameter less than a minimum internal diameter of the second member, and wherein the second member further defines a maximum internal diameter greater than a maximum internal diameter of the first member.

8. The aircraft of claim 6 , wherein the third member is a substantially frustoconical member moveable along the axis of the first vertical thrust electric fan, and wherein the first member is nested within the second member and the second member is nested within the third member when the diffusion assembly is in the first position.

9. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the diffusion assembly is a first diffusion assembly, wherein the vertical thrust electric fan is a first vertical thrust electric fan, wherein the propulsion assembly further comprises a second vertical thrust electric fan with the first and second vertical thrust electric fans arranged along a length of the wing, and wherein the wing further comprises a second diffusion assembly including a first member and a second member, the second member of the second diffusion assembly movable generally along the vertical direction relative to the first member of the second diffusion assembly such that the first and second members of the second diffusion assembly together define at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the second vertical thrust electric fan when the second diffusion assembly is in the second position.

10. The aircraft of claim 9 , wherein the first position of the second diffusion assembly is a retracted position and wherein the second position of the second diffusion assembly is an extended position, and wherein the first member of the second diffusion assembly is nested at least partially within the second member of the second diffusion assembly when the second diffusion assembly is in the retracted position.

11. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the propulsion system is a hybrid electric propulsion system, and wherein the power source of the hybrid electric propulsion system comprises a combustion engine and an electric generator.

12. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein vertical thrust electric fan is fixed in orientation within the wing to generate lift generally along the vertical direction.

13. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the wing comprises a variable geometry assembly moveable between a forward thrust position and a vertical thrust position, and wherein the variable geometry assembly substantially completely encloses the diffusion assembly when the diffusion assembly is in the first position and the variable geometry assembly is in the forward thrust position.

14. A diffusion assembly for an aircraft having a wing and a propulsion system comprising a vertical thrust electric fan positioned on or in the wing, the aircraft defining a vertical direction, the diffusion assembly comprising:
a first member configured to be coupled to the wing at a location downstream of the vertical thrust electric fan; and
a second member moveable generally along the vertical direction relative to the first member when the diffusion assembly is moved between a retracted position and an extended position; and
a third member moveable generally along the vertical direction relative to the second member when the diffusion assembly is moved between a retracted position and an extended position, the first member, the second member, and the third member together defining at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the first vertical thrust electric fan when the diffusion assembly is in the extended position, wherein the first member is nested at least partially within the second member when the diffusion assembly is in the retracted position, and wherein the second member is nested at least partially within the third member when the diffusion assembly is in the retracted position, the first member, and the second member, and the third member together defining at least in part an exhaust flowpath for the first vertical thrust electric fan when the diffusion assembly is in the extended position.

15. The diffusion assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first member defines a substantially frustoconical shape, and wherein the second member also defines a substantially frustoconical shape.

16. The diffusion assembly of claim 15 , further comprising:
a third member, wherein the third member is a substantially frustoconical member moveable along the vertical direction relative to the first and second members, and wherein the second member is nested within the third member when the diffusion assembly is in the retracted position.

17. The diffusion assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first member defines a closed cross-sectional shape having a minimum internal cross measurement, wherein the second member also defines a closed cross-sectional shape having a minimum internal cross measurement, and wherein the minimum internal cross measurement of the second member is greater than the minimum inter

Assignees

• Gen Electric

Inventors

• Murrow Kurt David
• Zatorski Darek Tomasz

Classifications

• B64D27/31

  within, or attached to, wings · CPC title

• B64D35/023

  of series-parallel type · CPC title

• B64D27/357

  using batteries · CPC title

• B64D27/33

  Hybrid electric aircraft · CPC title

• B64D27/406

  Suspension arrangements specially adapted for supporting thrust loads, e.g. thrust links · CPC title