Vehicle with asymmetric nacelle configuration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9988148-B2
Application number	US-201514795505-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 9, 2015
Priority date	Jul 22, 2014
Publication date	Jun 5, 2018
Grant date	Jun 5, 2018

Abstract

A vehicle is provided and includes a wing having opposite surfaces and opposite sides and first and second engines disposed to drive wing movement and being respectively supported asymmetrically on the opposite surfaces and at the opposite sides of the wing.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle, comprising:
a wing having opposite surfaces and opposite sides; and
first and second engines disposed to drive wing movement and being respectively supported asymmetrically on the opposite surfaces and substantially equidistant from a mid-line at the opposite sides of the wing wherein a surface opposite of the first engine is devoid of an engine and a surface opposite the second engine is devoid of an engine.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with hover capability.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the wing comprises:
opposite leading and trailing edges; and
opposite side edges extending between the opposite leading and trailing edges.

4. The vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein at least one of the leading and trailing edges is substantially planar and at least one of the leading and trailing edges is tapered.

5. The vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein trailing edge tapering comprises a point at a mid-line of the wing between the opposite sides.

6. The vehicle according to claim 3 , wherein the wing has a side-to-side wing axis extending between the opposite surfaces and the first and second engines define a lift axis transversely oriented relative to the wing axis.

7. The vehicle according to claim 6 , further comprising an additional engine supported at a crossing of the wing and lift axes.

8. The vehicle according to claim 6 , further comprising additional engines supported asymmetrically on the opposite surfaces and at the opposite sides of the wing.

9. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the first and second engines each comprise a propeller-rotor.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a first engine nacelle configured to support the first engine and coupled to one of the opposite surfaces at one of the opposite sides of the wing; and
a second engine nacelle configured to support the second engine and coupled to the other one of the opposite surfaces at the other one of the opposite sides of the wing.

11. The vehicle according to claim 1 , further comprising:
first and second secondary wings extending from each of the opposite surfaces at one of the opposite sides of the wing; and
third and fourth secondary wings extending from each of the opposite surfaces at the other of the opposite sides of the wing.

12. The vehicle according to claim 11 , further comprising alighting elements disposed at trailing ends of the first, second, third and fourth secondary wings to support the wing during grounded conditions.

13. A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft with hover capability, comprising:
a wing having opposite surfaces, opposite sides and a side-to-side wing axis extending between the opposite surfaces; and
first and second nacelle supported, propeller-rotor engines disposed to drive wing movement,
the first and second nacelle supported, propeller-rotor engines being respectively supported asymmetrically on the opposite surfaces and substantially equidistant from a mid-line at the opposite sides of the wing to define a lift axis transversely oriented relative to the wing axis to thereby facilitate center of gravity control during hover operations, wherein a surface opposite of the first engine is devoid of an engine and a surface opposite the second engine is devoid of an engine.

14. The VTOL aircraft with hover capability according to claim 13 , further comprising one or more of:
an additional engine supported at a crossing of the wing and lift axes; and
additional engines supported asymmetrically on the opposite surfaces and at the opposite sides of the wing.

15. The VTOL aircraft with hover capability according to claim 13 , further comprising:
first and second secondary wings extending from each of the opposite surfaces at one of the opposite sides of the wing;
third and fourth secondary wings extending from each of the opposite surfaces at the other of the opposite sides of the wing; and
alighting elements disposed at trailing ends of the first, second, third and fourth secondary wings to support the wing during grounded conditions.

Assignees

• Sikorsky Aircraft Corp

Inventors

• Alber Mark R

Classifications

• B64C29/02 Primary

  having its flight directional axis vertical when grounded · CPC title

• B64D27/02

  Aircraft characterised by the type or position of power plants · CPC title

• B64C2201/088

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B64C39/024

  of the remote controlled vehicle type, i.e. RPV · CPC title

• B64C2201/021

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic