Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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VTOL HIGH SPEED AIRCRAFT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[1] The present invention generally relates to a vertical take-off and
landing flying vehicle, but
more particularly to a vertical take-off and landing high speed aircraft.
2. Description of Related Art
[2] There has always been a compromise between the ability of a helicopter
to take off
vertically without a landing strip, and the speed capabilities of an airplane.
Helicopters are limited
in how fast they can go because of their long rotating blades which move at
different relative
speeds. Indeed, the forward moving blade has a higher relative speed, while
the rearward moving
blade has a lower relative speed. As the helicopter moves faster, the forward
moving blade
approaches the speed of sound and becomes very inefficient, while the backward
moving blade
encounters what is known as retreating blade stall, meaning that it loses
lift. For this reason,
helicopters are limited to speed of about 140-180 mph. The military has
tackled this problem by
making vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircrafts, such as the Bell/Boeing
V22 Osprey or the
Sikorsky X-plane that use complex and very expensive methods to achieve both
vertical and high
speed flight. However, the advantages of aircrafts not requiring an airstrip
are numerous and should
not be just reserved for the military. Consequently, there is a need for a
VTOL high speed aircraft
for civilian use.
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BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[3] In one embodiment of the present invention, a vertical take-off and
landing high speed
aircraft is provided comprising a fuselage having a first and a second end; a
first pair of wings
positioned between the first and second end; a secondary pair of wings
positioned at the second end,
wherein the first and second pairs of wings are joined by a pair of booms,
each boom of the pair of
booms having a fore end and an aft end; a drive propeller positioned at the
first or second end; and a
plurality of lift rotors positioned at the fore and aft ends of the pair of
booms, the plurality of lift
rotors providing a lift force necessary for vertical take-off and landing.
[4] In one embodiment, the fuselage includes a cockpit, an engine, a
clutch, and a main gear
box, wherein the engine is configured to provide power to the main gear box
via the clutch. In one
embodiment, two primary drive shafts are provided, wherein the power from the
main gearbox is
split into the two primary drive shafts. In another embodiment, the two
primary drive shafts include
proximal and distal ends and the two primary drive shafts are located inside
the first pair of wings.
In one embodiment, the proximal ends are attached to the main gearbox, and the
distal ends connect
to a pair of divider gear boxes.
[5] In one embodiment, two secondary drive shafts located through the booms
are provided,
wherein the two secondary drive shafts are connect to a plurality of lift
rotor gear boxes at each
distal end of the two secondary drive shafts, wherein the plurality of lift
rotor gear boxes are
connected to the plurality of lift rotors. In another embodiment, the
plurality of lift rotors are
positioned and configured longitudinally along the pair of booms to reduce
drag when the clutch is
disengaged and the aircraft reaches a sufficient speed via the drive propeller
such that the lift force
via the first and second pairs of wings is maintained without the need of the
plurality of lift rotors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
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[6] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent when the
following detailed description is read in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, in which:
[7] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a VTOL high speed aircraft according to
an embodiment of
the present invention.
[8] FIG. 2 is a partially transparent top view of a VTOL high speed
aircraft according to an
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[9] The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in
the art to make and use
the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of
carrying out their
invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to
those skilled in the art,
since the general principles of the present invention have been defined herein
to specifically provide
a VTOL high speed aircraft.
[10] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a VTOL high speed aircraft 10 according
to an embodiment
of the present invention. Referring now FIG. 1, the VTOL high speed aircraft
comprises a fuselage,
a first pair of wings 14, and a second pair of wings 16. The first pair of
wings is the primary wings
positioned approximately to the center of the fuselage, and the second pair of
wings is the
secondary wings forming the tail of the aircraft. The first and second pairs
of wings are joined by a
pair of booms 18.
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[11] In one embodiment, a drive propeller 30 is provided and attached to
the fuselage. The
drive propeller can be located either at the front end or the rear end of the
fuselage, depending
upon the airplane design. In one embodiment, lift rotors 32, preferably four,
are held by the pair of
wings and booms. The lift rotors provide the lift force necessary for take-off
and landing.
[12] FIG. 2 is a partially transparent top view of a VTOL high speed aircraft
10 according to an
embodiment of the present invention. Referring now FIG. 2, the VTOL high speed
aircraft is
illustrated. In one embodiment, the fuselage comprises an engine (not
illustrated), a clutch 22, and
a main gear box 24. The fuselage further comprises a cockpit 28 (FIG. 1) as
well known in the art.
[13] During operation, including both liftoffs and landings, the lift
rotors provide lift force and
are actuated by the engine via the clutch, which is then shifted to bring
power to the main gearbox.
Next, the power from the main gearbox is split into two primary drive shafts
34. The two primary
drive shafts include proximal and distal ends and are located inside the first
pair of wings. The
proximal ends are attached to the main gearbox, and the distal ends connect to
divider gear boxes
36. In one embodiment, two secondary drive shafts 38 located through the
booms, are connected to
lift rotor gear boxes 40 at each distal end of the two secondary drive shafts.
The lift rotor gear
boxes arc connected to the lift rotors for operation, as well known in the
art. In one embodiment,
the engine connects to an engine shaft 44 via belts or gears 42, wherein the
engine shaft connects to
one end to the clutch and at the other end to the drive propeller.
[14] In one embodiment, when the VTOL high speed aircraft achieves sufficient
speed via the
drive propeller maintaining lift from the wings, the clutch may be disengaged,
wherein the lift
rotors are positioned and configured longitudinally along the booms to reduce
drag. In this
embodiment and configuration, a much higher speed can be achieved than
compared to a helicopter.
This is a particular advantage of the present invention, as there are no
horizontally rotating rotor
blades creating drag, allowing the VTOL aircraft to configure and perform as a
high speed fixed
wing airplane.
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[15] Although the invention has been described in considerable detail in
language specific to
structural features and or method acts, it is to be understood that the
invention defined in the
appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts
described. Rather, the
specific features and acts are disclosed as exemplary preferred forms of
implementing the claimed
invention. Stated otherwise, it is to be understood that the phraseology and
terminology employed
herein, as well as the abstract, are for the purpose of description and should
not be regarded as
limiting. Therefore, while exemplary illustrative embodiments of the invention
have been
described, numerous variations and alternative embodiments will occur to those
skilled in the art.
Such variations and alternate embodiments are contemplated, and can be made
without departing
from the spirit and scope of the invention. For instance, the lift rotors can
be driven with electric
motors rather than through a system of shafts and gear boxes. The motors could
then be turned off
to stop the rotors for high speed flight.
[16] It should further be noted that throughout the entire disclosure, the
labels such as left, right,
front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise, counter clockwise, up,
down, or other similar
terms such as upper, lower, aft, fore, vertical, horizontal, oblique,
proximal, distal, parallel,
perpendicular, transverse, longitudinal, etc. have been used for convenience
purposes only and are
not intended to imply any particular fixed direction or orientation. Instead,
they are used to reflect
relative locations and/or directions/orientations between various portions of
an object.
[17] In addition, reference to "first," "second," "third," and etc. members
throughout the
disclosure (and in particular, claims) are not used to show a serial or
numerical limitation but
instead are used to distinguish or identify the various members of the group.
