VTOL aircraft having fixed-wing and rotorcraft configurations

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11724801-B2
Application number	US-201816178892-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 2, 2018
Priority date	Nov 3, 2017
Publication date	Aug 15, 2023
Grant date	Aug 15, 2023

Abstract

An aircraft includes an airframe having a fixed-wing section and a plurality of articulated electric rotors, at least some of which are variable-position rotors having different operating configurations based on rotor position. A first operating configuration is a vertical-flight configuration in which the rotors generate primarily vertical thrust for vertical flight, and a second operating configuration is a horizontal-flight configuration in which the rotors generate primarily horizontal thrust for horizontal fixed-wing flight. Control circuitry independently controls rotor thrust and rotor orientation of the variable-position rotors to provide thrust-vectoring maneuvering. The fixed-wing section may employ removable wing panels so the aircraft can be deployed both in fixed-wing and rotorcraft configurations for different missions.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An aircraft, comprising: an airframe having a fixed-wing section; a plurality of electric rotors attached to the airframe, the rotors being variable-position rotors having first and second operating configurations and transitions therebetween based on rotor position signals supplied thereto, the first operating configuration being a vertical-flight configuration in which the rotors collectively generate primarily vertical thrust for vertical flight of the aircraft, the second operating configuration being a horizontal-flight configuration in which the rotors collectively generate primarily horizontal thrust for horizontal fixed-wing flight; a source of electrical power for powering the electric rotors; and control circuitry configured and operative to independently control each of the rotors independent of the other rotors, including at least rotor thrust and rotor orientation of each of the rotors to provide for (i) the transitions between the first and second operating configurations during corresponding transitions between the vertical flight configuration and the fixed-wing horizontal flight configuration, and (ii) commanded thrust-vectoring maneuvering of the aircraft in both the vertical-flight configuration and the horizontal-flight configuration, w herein the rotors are configured for variable angular position about respective first axes parallel to a tilt axis of the aircraft, and w herein the rotors are further configured for variable angular position about respective second axes parallel to a yaw axis of the aircraft, a combination of the variable angular positions about the respective first and second axes providing a resultant rotor orientation having respective angular components about the respective first and second axes, w herein the airframe has a wing-like central body having the rotors disposed thereabout, and the fixed-wing section is constituted by removable wing panels attached to the central body, the aircraft being further configured in a rotorcraft configuration without the removable wing panels and utilizing greater upward thrust from the rotors to maintain altitude in horizontal flight than in the fixed-wing horizontal flight configuration, and wherein the wing panels and central body are co-configured with an interlocking spar arrangement for securing the wing panels to the central body, each wing panel having a respective spar extending into a corresponding channel of the central body and being retained by a corresponding quick-release pin.

2. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the rotors include front rotors located forward of a center of the aircraft and rear rotors located rearward of the center of the aircraft, the front rotors having either an upward or downward orientation and the rear rotors having an opposite orientation to the orientation of the front rotors.

3. The aircraft of claim 2 , wherein the front rotors have the upward orientation providing tractor propulsion and the rear rotors have the downward orientation providing pusher propulsion.

4. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the rotors are further configured for variable pitch of respective rotor blades, and the control circuitry further provides control of the variable pitch of the rotor blades in the commanded maneuvering of the aircraft.

5. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the rotors include respective servo control mechanisms for commanded positioning thereof.

6. The aircraft of claim 5 , wherein the servo control mechanisms are parallel tandem servo mechanisms.

7. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the rotors include constrained rotors having limited variable positioning more limited than a variable positioning of others of the rotors.

8. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the rotors are mounted to respective ends of respective support booms, each support boom attached to a respective area of the airframe.

9. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein each support boom is attached to a central body of the airframe, the central body being configured to receive removable wing panels to constitute the fixed-wing section for fixed-wing flight with vertical take-off and landing.

10. The aircraft of claim 9 , further comprising additional support booms with additional rotors mounted thereto, the additional support booms being attached to the removable wing panels.

11. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein the support booms extend in a fore/aft direction.

12. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein the support booms extend in off-axis directions not aligned with a fore/aft direction of the aircraft.

13. The aircraft of claim 12 , wherein the support booms extend in a lateral direction perpendicular to the fore/aft direction of the aircraft.

14. The aircraft of claim 8 , further comprising adjustable-position landing gears attached to the support booms.

15. The aircraft of claim 8 , wherein each of the support booms is modularly attached to the airframe via an adjustable shim, the shim being adjusted to align the boom-mounted rotors relative to the aircraft to achieve desired thrust lines, angle-of-attack, and trim.

16. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the central body includes a payload compartment surrounded by battery compartments configured for adjustable positioning of respective batteries to manage overall center of gravity of the aircraft.

17. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein each of the rotors is a respective rotor assembly having a propeller and an electric motor configured to rotate the propeller in operation.

18. The aircraft of claim 1 , wherein the independent control of the rotors about the respective first and second axes includes control providing for pitch, roll, and yaw movements of the aircraft.

Assignees

• Textron Systems Corp

Inventors

• Baity Sean Marshall
• Billingsley David D
• Galloway Brad S
• Chapman Richard M

Classifications

• G05D1/49

  Control of attitude, i.e. control of roll, pitch or yaw · CPC title

• G05D1/652

  Take-off (delivering or retrieving payloads G05D1/667) · CPC title

• B64U50/14

  ducted or shrouded · CPC title

• B64U30/292

  Rotors or rotor supports specially adapted for quick release · CPC title

• B64U30/14

  detachable · CPC title