Patent Application
20230234702
The technology discussed below relates generally to aerial vehicles, and more specifically to aerial vehicles with a plurality of rotors.
A multirotor or multicopter is a rotorcraft with more than two rotors. An advantage of multicopter aircraft is the simpler rotor mechanics required for flight control. In typical multicopters, control of vehicle motion is achieved by varying the relative speed of each rotor to change the thrust and torque produced by each.
Due to their ease of both construction and control, multicopter aircraft are frequently used in radio control aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) projects in which the names tricopter, quadcopter, hexacopter and octocopter are frequently used to refer to 3-rotor, 4-rotor, 6-rotor, and 8-rotor helicopters, respectively.
UAVs traditionally are stowed or packed for transport to where they are needed. UAVs are generally bulky and fragile to transport in their normal, flight ready state. The propellers, in particular, may be hit, twisted or otherwise damaged, because they extend beyond any other edges on the propeller arms. This creates maintenance hassles and expenses and may prevent timely deployment of the UAV if the damage is only discovered when the UAV is to be deployed.
Features and systems that can improve the operation of multicopter aircraft are generally desirable.
The following summarizes some aspects of the present disclosure to provide a basic understanding of the discussed technology. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated features of the disclosure, and is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of all aspects of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of any or all aspects of the disclosure. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects of the disclosure in summary form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.
Various examples and implementations of the present disclosure facilitate movement of one or more blades in a propeller between a storage position and a flight position. According to at least one aspect, propeller assemblies are provided. According to one or more embodiments, a propeller assembly may include a propeller adapter. A plurality of propeller blades may be coupled to the propeller adapter in a common plane, and at least one propeller blade of the plurality of propeller blades may be pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter to pivot within the common plane. A spring may be coupled between a portion of the propeller adapter and a portion of the at least one propeller blade pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter.
Additional aspects of the present disclosure include aircraft. According to one or more embodiments, an aircraft may include a frame, and at least one propeller coupled to the frame. The at least one propeller may include a propeller adapter positioned within a common plane, a plurality of propeller blades coupled to the propeller adapter and extending from the propeller adapter within the common plane, where at least one propeller blade of the plurality of propeller blades is pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter to pivot within the common plane. The at least one propeller may further include a spring mechanism coupled between a portion of the propeller adapter and a portion of the at least one propeller blade pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter.
Additional aspects of the present disclosure include methods of making an aircraft. According to at least one implementation, such methods may include coupling a plurality of propeller blades to a propeller adapter in a common plane, where at least one propeller blade of the plurality of propeller blades is pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter to pivot within the common plane. The propeller adapter may be coupled to a frame, and a spring mechanism may be coupled to a portion of the propeller adapter and to a portion of the at least one propeller blade pivotably coupled to the propeller adapter.
Other aspects, features, and embodiments associated with the present disclosure will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the following description in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
The description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of various configurations and is not intended to represent the only configurations in which the concepts and features described herein may be practiced. The following description includes specific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well known circuits, structures, techniques and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring the described concepts and features.
The illustrations presented herein are, in some instances, not actual views of any particular multicopter aircraft, propellers, or other specific components of a multicopter aircraft, but are merely idealized representations which are employed to describe the present disclosure. Additionally, elements common between figures may retain the same numerical designation.
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to aircraft with one or more propellers. Referring to
As shown, each propeller 104 includes a plurality of propeller blades 108, with each propeller blade 108 positioned within a common plane. For example,
More specifically, in the example depicted in
Turning to
According to one or more embodiments, a spring mechanism 306 may be included, and may be configured to exert a force on the propeller blades 108B, 108C to rotate the propeller blades 108 within the common plane 204 into the storage position. In the example shown in
Referring to
In operation, the propeller blades 108 pivot or fold co-planar to the common plane 204 in which the propeller blades 108 and the prop adapter 202 are positioned. More specifically, and with reference to
Additional aspects of the present disclosure include methods of making an aircraft, such as aircraft 102.
At 604, the prop adapter 202 may be coupled to the frame 106. For example, the prop adapter 202 may be coupled to the frame 106 to facilitate rotation of the prop adapter 202 and the propeller 104. A moto may further be operably coupled with the prop adapter 202 to spin the propeller 104 in a manner to generate thrust.
At 606, a spring mechanism 306 may be coupled to the at least one propeller blade 108 pivotably coupled to the prop adapter 202 and to the prop adapter 202. In some embodiments, the spring mechanism 306 may be a torsion spring, although other spring mechanisms 306 may be utilized. The spring mechanism 306 may be coupled to a first anchor 308 on the rotating sleeve 304 and to a second anchor 310 on the prop adapter 202. The spring mechanism 306 may be selected to apply a force on the at least one propeller blade 108B, 108C to pivot the at least one propeller blade 108B, 108C within the common plane 204 to a storage position when the plurality of propeller blades 108 are not rotating. Furthermore, the spring mechanism 306 is also selected such that the force applied on the at least one propeller blade 108B, 108C is overcome when the plurality of propeller blades 108 rotate, resulting in the at least one propeller blade 108B, 108C pivoting within the common plane 204 to a flight position when the propeller blades 108 are rotating.
While the above discussed aspects, arrangements, and embodiments are discussed with specific details and particularity, one or more of the components, steps, features and/or functions illustrated in
While features of the present disclosure may have been discussed relative to certain embodiments and figures, all embodiments of the present disclosure can include one or more of the advantageous features discussed herein. In other words, while one or more embodiments may have been discussed as having certain advantageous features, one or more of such features may also be used in accordance with any of the various embodiments discussed herein. In similar fashion, while exemplary embodiments may have been discussed herein as device, system, or method embodiments, it should be understood that such exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various devices, systems, and methods.
Also, it is noted that at least some implementations have been described as a process that is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination corresponds to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function. The various methods described herein may be partially or fully implemented by programming (e.g., instructions and/or data) that may be stored in a processor-readable storage medium, and executed by one or more processors, machines and/or devices.
Those of skill in the art would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, or any combination thereof. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system.
The various features associated with the examples described herein and shown in the accompanying drawings can be implemented in different examples and implementations without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, although certain specific constructions and arrangements have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the scope of the disclosure, since various other additions and modifications to, and deletions from, the described embodiments will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the scope of the disclosure is only determined by the literal language, and legal equivalents, of the claims which follow.
