Quad-wing vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11267570-B2
Application number	US-201916356276-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 18, 2019
Priority date	May 3, 2018
Publication date	Mar 8, 2022
Grant date	Mar 8, 2022

Abstract

A vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft, configured to transport passengers and/or cargo, uses propellers during vertical flight and wings during forward flight to generate lift. The VTOL aircraft includes a front wing and a rear wing connected by inboard booms. The rear wing may include a wingtip boom attached to each free end of the wing. A propeller may be attached to each inboard boom and each wingtip boom. The propellers attached to the inboard booms may be stacked propellers including at least two co-rotating propellers. The aircraft can also include a cruise propeller attached to the tail region of the fuselage, where the cruise propeller is configured to rotate in a plane approximately perpendicular to the fuselage to generate thrust during forward flight.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a front wing and a rear wing mounted to the fuselage, each wing having a port segment and a starboard segment extending outward and backward from the fuselage;
a first inboard boom attached at a first point along the starboard segment of the front wing and attached at a second point along the starboard segment of the rear wing;
a second inboard boom attached at a first point along the port segment of front wing and at a second point along the port segment of the rear wing;
a set of propellers including a first propeller, a second propeller, and a third propeller, wherein the first propeller and the second propeller are coupled to the front wing and the third propeller is coupled to the rear wing;
a tail extending from the rear of the fuselage, the tail arranged substantially orthogonal to the rear wing;
a cruise propeller attached to the tail, the cruise propeller configured to rotate in a plane substantially perpendicular to a rotational plane of the set of propellers;
a first wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the starboard segment of the rear wing; and
a second wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the port segment of the rear wing,
wherein one of the first wingtip boom or the second wingtip boom is configured as a resonator tuned to a frequency of the third propeller during a mode of operation.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first point along the starboard segment of the front wing is a free end of the starboard segment of the front wing and the first point along the port segment of the front wing is a free end of the port segment of the front wing.

3. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first propeller is attached to the front wing at a free end of the starboard segment of the front wing and the second propeller is attached to the front wing at a free end of the port segment of the front wing.

4. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the third propeller is recessed within a cavity of the aircraft during a mode of operation.

5. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first inboard boom or the second inboard boom is configured to retain a battery.

6. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first inboard boom or the second inboard boom includes a rotatable control surface positioned below one of the set of propellers and boom control effector configured to direct airflow generated by the one propeller.

7. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first propeller, the second propeller, and the third propeller have equal diameters.

8. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the propellers in the set of propellers includes a set of co-rotating propellers.

9. The aircraft of claim 1 , further comprising a fourth propeller coupled to a free end of the port segment of the rear wing, and wherein the third propeller is coupled to a free end of the starboard segment of the rear wing.

10. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first propeller is configured to recess within a cavity of the first inboard boom and the second propeller is configured to recess within a cavity of the second inboard boom during a mode of operation.

11. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first propeller rotates in a direction opposite to the rotational direction of the second propeller during a mode of operation.

12. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the front wing and the rear wing extend outward and backward from the fuselage at an angle of up to 25 degrees with respect to an axis perpendicular to the fuselage.

13. The aircraft of claim 1 , further comprising a set of batteries, each of the batteries substantially of equal size and weight, the set of batteries configured to power the aircraft.

14. The aircraft of claim 1 , further comprising a set of wing control surfaces, wherein the wing control surfaces are pitched downward during a mode of operation.

15. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein a total area of discs of the set of propellers yields a disc loading of less than 15 pounds per square foot.

16. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the first inboard boom and the second inboard boom are substantially parallel with the fuselage.

17. An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a front wing and a rear wing mounted to the fuselage, each wing having a port segment and a starboard segment extending outward and backward from the fuselage;
a first inboard boom attached at a first point along the starboard segment of the front wing and attached at a second point along the starboard segment of the rear wing;
a second inboard boom attached at a first point along the port segment of front wing and at a second point along the port segment of the rear wing;
a first set of propellers coupled to the front wing;
a second set of propellers coupled to the rear wing;
a tail having a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the fuselage and the tail extending therefrom substantially orthogonal to the rear wing;
a cruise propeller attached to the second end of the tail, the cruise propeller configured to rotate in a plane substantially perpendicular to a rotational plane of the second set of propellers
a first wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the starboard segment of the rear wing; and
a second wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the port segment of the rear wing,
wherein one of the first wingtip boom or the second wingtip boom is configured as a resonator tuned to a frequency of the third propeller during a mode of operation.

18. An aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
a front wing and a rear wing mounted to the fuselage, each wing having a port segment and a starboard segment extending outward and backward from the fuselage;
a first inboard boom attached at a first point along the starboard segment of the front wing and attached at a second point along the starboard segment of the rear wing;
a second inboard boom attached at a first point along the port segment of front wing and at a second point along the port segment of the rear wing;
a first propeller coupled to the first inboard boom proximate the front wing;
a second propeller coupled to the second inboard boom proximate the front wing;
a third propeller coupled to a first wingtip boom proximate the rear wing;
a fourth propeller coupled to a second wingtip boom proximate the rear wing;
a tail having a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the fuselage and the tail extending therefrom substantially orthogonal to the rear wing;
a cruise propeller attached to the second end of the tail, the cruise propeller configured to rotate in a plane substantially perpendicular to a rotational plane of the set of propellers;
a first wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the starboard segment of the rear wing; and
a second wingtip boom coupled to a free end of the port segment of the rear wing,
wherein one of the first wingtip boom or the second wingtip boom is configured as a resonator tuned to a frequency of the third propeller during a mode of operation.

Assignees

• Joby Aero Inc

Inventors

• Villa Ian Andreas
• Moore Mark
• Mcdonald Robert Alan
• Won Henry Thome
• Chase Adam
• Gary Alex Michael
• Seubert Cory

Classifications

• B64D27/32

  within, or attached to, fuselages · CPC title

• B64D27/31

  within, or attached to, wings · CPC title

• B64C27/10

  arranged coaxially · CPC title

• B64C27/30

  with provision for reducing drag of inoperative rotor · CPC title

• Y02T50/30

  Wing lift efficiency · CPC title