The invention relates to propulsion devices for subsonic fuel-efficient vertical take off and landing aerial vehicles that mitigate risk of injury due to exposed propeller blades or hot jet engine efflux.
Similar inventions include propeller engines, which are used in helicopters and quadrotor vehicles. These feature exposed blades that can injure the passenger and/or others in the immediate vicinity. Similar inventions also include Jet Engines which are used in similar applications such as the Flyboard and the Jetpack. The disadvantage of these vehicles is that they cannot fly for very long due to rate of fuel consumption.
It is an objective of the invention to create a high thrust high efficiency vertical take-off and landing engine for small personal aircraft (1-8 passengers) that does not feature exposed blades or hot engine efflux.
It is an objective of the invention to create a semi-conical wing that produces lift in conjunction with the turbofan engine via induction. The turbofan engine is a propulsion system, commonly used on commercial aircraft, which uses jet engine efflux to drive large fan blades and create thrust. The main components of the turbofan engine consists of an axial air compressor, a combustion system, two independent turbine systems, and a ducted fan. The majority of the thrust is not produced by the jet engine efflux but by the fan that it drives.
The embodiments herein feature an annular exhaust nozzle the inlet of which is fastened to the outlet of the engine cowling. Air flows into the annular ring and then out of an opening in the ring which is oriented 90° from the outlet of the engine cowling. The profile of the ring is an airfoil shape. The airfoil ring profile may be used to create additional lift for the engine
The annular exhaust nozzle is used to reorient a jet engine's thrust vector by forcing the airflow in another direction. The invention features an annular airflow jetting that is reinforced to withstand and re-orient exhaust generated by a turbofan engine.
The applications for such an annular exhaust nozzle can include retrofitting to turboshaft-powered rotary-wing aircraft.
The invention is described in preferred embodiments in the following description with reference to the Figs., in which like numbers represent the same or similar elements. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or similar language means that particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, “in certain embodiments”, and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment. It is noted that, as used in this description, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are recited to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Duct 22 is connected to annular exhaust assembly 24 via a mounting ring 23. In certain embodiments, mounting ring 23 is capable of rotation and is mounted on a bearing assembly. In these embodiments, actuating arms can be attached to the annular exhaust assembly 24, or mounting ring 23 can be motorized to allow the annual exhaust assembly 24 to be rotated.
An embodiment of annular exhaust assembly 24 is shown in cross section in
The annular exhaust nozzle 2 in one embodiment is fabricated primarily from carbon-reinforced fiber polymer using vacuum deposition.
Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to certain embodiments, one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which have been presented for purposes of illustration and not of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62938763 | Nov 2019 | US |