Patent Application
20220089276
The present invention relates to an aerial vehicle. More particularly, in preferred forms, the invention relates to aerial vehicles having gyroscopic fans with pivoting fan blades.
Any references to methods, apparatus or documents of the prior art are not to be taken as constituting any evidence or admission that they formed, or form part of the common general knowledge.
Since the invention of flight, a variety of different forms of aircraft have been developed such as, for example, helicopters and aeroplanes. There are many factors and forces involved in achieving stable and controllable flight, with different types of aircraft have different flying characteristics with various advantages and disadvantages.
For example, fixed wing aeroplanes can be configured to fly relatively fast over long distances but cannot fly too slow or hover and require long runways for horizontal take-off and landing. Helicopters, on the other hand, are able to take off and land vertically and can hover, but are more limited in their size, as well as the speed and distance they can travel. These characteristics make fixed wing aeroplanes well suited to long distance point to point travel of relatively large loads and helicopters well suited to shorter travel of a relatively small load and/or to emergency and rescue operations where the ability to fly slowly and hover is particularly advantageous. It is desirable to provide an aerial vehicle that combines the advantages and/or minimises the disadvantages to at least provide an aerial vehicle with different, preferably more versatile, characteristics.
One application for aerial vehicles is in the fighting of fires. Uncontrolled fires pose a serious problem today and large fires can rage out of control sweeping through woods/forests, communities, industrial areas and businesses resulting in loss of forests/woods, homes, other property, animals and even human life. Efforts employed to contain fires are not always successful. Controlling and preventing the spread of fires is often difficult.
There are many known methods and techniques for controlling and preventing the spread of fires. These methods include traditional uses of firefighters and equipment, including such techniques as the dumping of large amounts of water or fire suppressing chemicals from aircrafts onto the fire, creating fire lines across the direction of travel of the fire, spraying water or fire suppressing chemicals onto the fire by firefighters on the ground, and back burning an area towards the fire in a controlled manner so as to effectively remove wood or other sources of fuel from an approaching fire.
It has been found that the use of water and chemicals alone can be ineffective against larger fires. It has been hypothesised when a fire's intensity is greater than a certain threshold, the use of water and other fire suppressant material becomes largely ineffective because the water or fire suppressant evaporates or gets dissociated before reaching the core of the fire. In view of these issues, it is also desirable to provide an alternative method of suppressing fires, particularly larger fires.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an aerial vehicle comprising:
an aerodynamic body;
a jet turbine or an electric motor coupled to the aerodynamic body by an aerial vehicle frame to provide thrust to the aerial vehicle, the jet turbine having a source of fuel, an engine air intake to draw air, and an outlet through which a combusted air fuel mixture is exhausted;
a shaft assembly configured to be driven by the jet turbine; and
a gyroscopic stabilisation assembly comprising at least one gyroscopic member coupled to the jet turbine by the shaft assembly;
wherein the at least one gyroscopic member is configured to be rotationally driven by the jet turbine and gyroscopically stabilise the aerial vehicle during flight.
In an embodiment, the gyroscopic member is a gyroscopic fan comprising a plurality of fan blades. The gyroscopic fan preferably comprises a plurality of pivoting fan blades. Preferably the gyroscopic fan comprises a plurality of alternating pivoting fan blades. Orientation of one or more of the fan blades for the fan is preferably variable to allow the pitch of said one or more blades to be varied. The one or more fan blades may be pivotally coupled to the shaft to allow the pitch of said one or more blades to be varied. In an embodiment, the gyroscopic member may comprise a gyroscopic disc.
The plurality of fan blades may be arranged around a centre hub. The centre hub is preferably coupled to the shaft. The fan blades may be curved. The gyroscopic fan is preferably located within the aerodynamic body. The radially distal ends of the fan blades are preferably contained within an opening of the aerodynamic body. Preferably the opening is a circular opening in a fuselage of the aerodynamic body.
In an embodiment, the shaft assembly is coupled to the vehicle frame. The shaft assembly may further comprise a controller for controlling the gyroscopic stabilisation assembly. The controller may control the gyroscopic stabilisation assembly via a gear box such that angular momentum from the gyroscopic stabilisation assembly is significantly larger than the moment of inertia of the aircraft such that the aerial vehicle is substantially gyroscopically stabilised during flight. The aerial vehicle is preferably configured to allow vertical take off and landing (VTOL).
In an embodiment, the aerial vehicle further comprises a cockpit module. The cockpit module may comprise a cabin. The cockpit module is preferably coupled with the vehicle frame. The cockpit module is preferably movably coupled to the vehicle frame. A cabin of the cockpit module is preferably coupled to the vehicle frame by a gimbal. The cockpit module may comprise a counterbalance arrangement to stabilise the cockpit by countering the movement of the aerial vehicle frame and/or exhaust of the jet turbine.
In an embodiment, the cockpit module is pivotally attached to the aerial vehicle frame. A cabin of the cockpit module may be pivotally mounted to a gimbal ring for rotation about at least a first axis. The gimbal ring may be pivotally mounted to the aerial vehicle frame for rotation about a second axis.
In an embodiment, the cockpit module is releasably coupled to the vehicle frame such that the cockpit module is detachable. The releasably coupling may allow the aerial vehicle to optionally have the cockpit module attached for crew assisted flying and/or autonomous flying or optionally have the cockpit module detached for remote and/or autonomous flying. The releasable coupling may comprise an ejector assembly. The cockpit module may be in the form of a self-contained pod.
In an embodiment, the body of the aerial vehicle comprises a fuselage. The fuselage may comprise a plurality of control surfaces. The control surfaces are preferably movably attached to the fuselage for controlling flight of the aerial vehicle. The plurality of control surfaces may be manipulated to control the flight of the aircraft about a pitch axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and a yaw axis that is perpendicular to both the longitudinal axis of the aircraft and the pitch axis.
In an embodiment, the jet turbine, shaft, and gyroscopic stabilisation assembly are arranged longitudinally. The jet turbine, shaft, and gyroscopic stabilisation assembly may be arranged to rotate about a longitudinal axis of the aerial vehicle.
In an embodiment, the jet turbine and gyroscopic stabilisation assembly are arranged transverse to each other. The jet turbine and gyroscopic stabilisation assembly may be arranged such that their respective axes of rotation are perpendicular (or at least substantially perpendicular). One or more gyroscopic fans may be arranged in a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the jet turbine.
In an embodiment, parallel gyroscopic fans may be provided. A first fan may be located in an upper side of the fuselage and a second fan may be located in a lower side of the fuselage. The axial axis of the first fan and the axial axis of the second fan are preferably aligned. The shaft assembly may comprise a longitudinal shaft, preferably coupled to the jet turbine, and a transverse shaft, preferably coupled to the one or more gyroscopic fans.
In an embodiment, the air flow directing assembly comprises an exhaust nozzle adapted to be directed towards specific directions. In such embodiments, the exhaust nozzle may be directed for suppressing fires.
In an embodiment, the aerial vehicle further comprises a supporting structure positioned below the fuselage for supporting the jet turbine and allowing directional movement of the jet turbine. In such embodiments, the directional movement may allow the air flow directing assembly to direct some of the drawn air in a desirable direction, such as for suppressing fires.
In an embodiment, the body may be annular. In such an embodiment, the fuselage may be in the form of a torus or ‘doughnut’ shape. A plurality of jet turbines may be mounted to the sides of the fuselage, preferably for propulsion and/or lift. The plurality of jet turbines mounted to the sides of the fuselage may be rotatable, preferably to enable VTOL capability. One or more gyroscopic stabilisation jets may be mounted to an inner side of the fuselage. At least one gyroscopic fan is preferably located in the centre of the body. A cockpit module may be located inside the body.
In another aspect, the invention provides a method of suppressing a fire, the method comprising the steps of:
moving an aerial vehicle with a jet turbine coupled to an aerial vehicle frame of the aerial vehicle to a location in the vicinity of the fire wherein the jet turbine provides thrust to the aerial vehicle, the jet turbine having a source of fuel, an engine air intake to draw surrounding air, an outlet through which a combusted air fuel mixture is exhausted at a high speed and a shaft assembly adapted to be driven by the jet turbine,
operating a gyroscopic stabilisation arrangement coupled to the jet turbine by the shaft assembly and gyroscopically stabilising the aerial vehicle during flight; and
operating the jet turbine to draw air and controlling an air flow directing assembly an air flow directing assembly for directing combusted air fuel mixture from the outlet in a desirable direction for suppressing fires.
Preferred features, embodiments and variations of the invention may be discerned from the following Detailed Description which provides sufficient information for those skilled in the art to perform the invention. The Detailed Description is not to be regarded as limiting the scope of the preceding Summary of the Invention in any way. The Detailed Description will make reference to a number of drawings as follows:
The jet turbine 250 positioned in the opening of the fuselage 210 preferably works like any other jet turbine whereby air is drawn in by the turbine and a compressor raises the pressure of the air. The compressor is made with many blades attached to a shaft assembly 260. The blades spin at high speed and compress or squeeze the air. The compressed air is then sprayed with fuel and an electric spark lights the mixture. The burning gases expand and blast out through exhaust nozzle 255 at the back of the engine. As the jets of gas shoot backward, the engine and the aerial vehicle 200 is thrust in an opposite direction (which is an upward direction with respect to
In this embodiment, the fuselage 210 of the aerial vehicle 200 is mounted on an aerial vehicle frame 245 and is shown to be of a specific shape that is generally symmetrical about an axis. However, the shape of the fuselage 210 is not to be regarded as limiting and the shape of the fuselage 210 may be varied in other embodiments. The jet turbine 250 drives the shaft assembly 260 which is also coupled to a gyroscopic stabilisation assembly comprising a gyroscopic fan 240. The gyroscopic fan assists with stabilisation of the aerial vehicle 200 during flight.
The blades of the gyroscopic fan 240 are arranged around a central hub that is coupled with the shaft assembly 260. The blades of the gyroscopic fan 240 are alternating pivoting fan blades that vary the angle of the fan blades as needed to provide the necessary stabilisation to the aerial vehicle 200. In the preferred embodiment, the longitudinal axis of the fuselage 210 extends longitudinally through the ducted opening along the shaft assembly 260 that also drives the blades of the gyroscopic fan 240. The gyroscopic fan 240 includes a plurality of blade members that are preferably variable pitch blades such that the pitch of the blades can be changed by pivoting the blade members. Since the blade members are of variable pitch, i.e. each blade member can pivot about its longitudinal axis (its pitch axis) in order to adapt the orientation of its leading edge to engine speed. The orientation of the blade members (also referred to as the pitch setting) thus constitutes one of the parameters that enable the thrust of the jet turbine 250 to be managed easily.
A controller is also provided for controlling the gyroscopic stabilisation arrangement via a gear box such that angular momentum provided by the gyroscopic stabilisation arrangement (particularly the fan blades of the gyroscopic fan 240) is significantly larger than the moment of inertia of the aerial vehicle 200 so that the aerial vehicle 200 is substantially gyroscopically stabilised during flight.
It is important to appreciate that the provision of the gyroscopic stabilisation arrangement in combination with the jet turbine 250 provides a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aerial vehicle 100 and 200 (and also aerial vehicles 300 and 400 described hereinafter). Providing an aerial vehicle with VTOL capability allows the aerial vehicle 100, 200, 300, and 400 to be used in a large variety of situations including, for example, firefighting efforts, especially where access to, or conveyance of fire suppressing media to, the area concerned is proves otherwise difficult, impossible or dangerous.
The gyroscopic stabilisation arrangement is preferably configured to provide sufficient angular momentum, by sufficient mass angular velocity, such that the aerial vehicle 100, 200, 300, and 400 is gyroscopically stabilised during various phases of flight. In one embodiment the fuselage may be fixedly attached to the jet turbine. In another embodiment, the jet turbine may be pivotably mounted to the fuselage especially when the exhaust nozzle of the jet turbine needs to be directed towards a fire front, or the like.
In a preferred embodiment, the fuselage 110 is adapted to allow the aerial vehicle 100, 200, 300, and 400 to land and take-off in a vertical take-off or landing (VTOL) profile. In particular, an undercarriage assembly comprising landing gear in the form of landing struts may allow the aerial vehicle to take-off from a surface with the plane of the fan blades of the gyroscopic fan being substantially parallel to the plane of the ground to allow the aerial vehicle to land in a similar manner. In the preferred embodiment, the fuselage may be pivotally or movably fastened to the aerial vehicle's frame which may allow relative movement between the fuselage and the aerial vehicle frame.
The aerial vehicle 100 and 200 can also be equipped with annular wing flaps 115, 215 that may be mounted to the outer lateral surfaces of the fuselage. The annular wing flaps 115, 215 may also provide additional flight surfaces to facilitate horizontal flight of the vehicle 100 and 200 (such as illustrated in
As has been described in the earlier sections, the aerial vehicle 100 and 200 includes a gyroscopic stabilization arrangement which gyroscopically stabilises the aerial vehicle 100 and 200 during its entire flight envelope. It is important to appreciate that the use of gyroscopic stabilisation results in a more stable aerial vehicle thereby providing stable flight characteristics which is very important for achieving the flexible and versatile flight characteristics for a variety of applications including, for example, in suppressing fires. Each of the blade members of the gyroscopic fan 240 are attached to a rotating propeller shaft, which is in turn coupled to the shaft assembly 260, so as to generate sufficient angular momentum such that the aircraft is gyroscopically stabilised so that when external or internal moments are applied to the aircraft, the resulting force of the moments is translated into gyroscopic precession. It should be appreciated that a larger aerial vehicle with increased motor size and increased performance will require larger gyroscopic stabilisation members or gyroscopic stabilisation members that are rotated at higher angular velocities in order to gyroscopically stabilise the vehicle. Similarly, smaller and more lightweight aircraft require smaller and more lightweight gyroscopic stabilisation members.
The aerial vehicle 200 may also include a cockpit module 105 which is coupled, preferably via a releasably coupling 220, with the frame of the aerial vehicle 200. The cockpit module 105 includes a counterbalancing arrangement to counterbalance the cockpit module 105 by countering the movement of the fuselage 210 and/or exhaust of the jet turbine 250. In the presently described embodiment, the cockpit module 105 may comprise a gimbal like mechanism to allow a cabin 106 of the cockpit module 105, and its occupants, to be positioned in a substantially upright position during all periods of flight, including both during vertical take offs and landing of the aerial vehicle 200 (as illustrated in
In the preferred embodiment, the cabin 106 of the cockpit module 105 is pivotally mounted to a gimbal ring 125 at attachment points 135 for rotation about a first axis. As seen most clearly in
In firefighting embodiments of the invention, which is a preferred but by no means essential application, the exhaust may be obtained from one or more jet turbines or jet engines. As used herein, the term “jet turbine” refers to a turbine that accelerates and discharges a fast moving jet of fluid, e.g., a gas such as exhaust gas, to generate propulsion or thrust for the aerial vehicle. In a typical jet engine air from an air intake is directed to a rotating compressor where its pressure and temperature are increased. Pressurized air is introduced to a combustion chamber where it is combined with fuel and the mixture is ignited. The combustion raises the temperature of the gases, which expand through the turbine. In the turbine some of the temperature rise is converted to rotational energy, which can be used to drive the compressor. A combusted gas mixture (which is generally devoid of oxygen) exits through an exhaust directing assembly which includes an exhaust nozzle 255.
Preferably the turbine is a gas turbine, which acts like a windmill, extracting energy from the hot gases leaving the combustor. Suitable types of turbines that can be utilized include transonic turbines, contra-rotating turbines, statorless turbines, ceramic turbines, shrouded as well as shroudless turbines and others known in the art. Micro turbines may also be used in at least some embodiments.
The exhaust nozzle 255 can be a convergent-divergent, divergent, fluidic, variable, e.g., ejector nozzles, iris nozzles, or can have another suitable design. Generally, a jet turbine exhaust and an exhaust nozzle such as nozzle 255 is characterised by its temperature, chemical composition, velocity, delivery volume, rate of delivery, pressure and by other parameters, e.g., noise, air quality, and so forth. Exhaust from a jet engine can have a temperature of several hundreds degrees and piping and exhaust nozzles may need to be protected by air cooling.
The exhaust from such a vehicle is considered to be particularly well suited for suppressing fires using the exhaust generated by one or more engines, preferably jet engines. More specifically, the invention relates to using the exhaust to supress a fire, e.g., an above-the-ground forest, dwelling, commercial or industrial fire. As with fires, explosions also can be suppressed or smothered.
With respect to its chemical composition, the exhaust gas from a jet turbine generally includes products of combustion, e.g., carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and water (H2O), un-combusted gas, e.g., nitrogen gas (N2), oxygen (O2), uncombusted hydrocarbons (UHC) and other components such as soot (C), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and/or oxides of sulfur (SOX). Compared to atmospheric air, which at sea level contains close to 21% by volume O2 and about 0.03% by volume CO2, jet engine exhaust has lower O2 and higher CO2 levels. For instance, the pressurized emission products of the complete combustion of hydrocarbon fuels in an efficiently operated turbine engine are comprised of about 72% volume/volume CO2 gas and about 27.6% volume/volume of steam. As a result, the chemical composition of the exhaust gas plays an important role when the aerial vehicle 100, 200 is utilised for control or extinguish a fire by directing the exhaust nozzle 255 towards the fire. The ratio of air to fuel may also be manipulated by using a throttle mechanism, diluting with inert gases or by other means which may further lower the oxygen concentration in the exhaust resulting in improving the fire-fighting capabilities of the aerial vehicle 100, 200.
As explained in the previous sections, using a jet turbine results in jets of gases being directed away from the aerial vehicle 100, 200 at extremely high velocities. During a fire suppressing operation, it is likely that there may be a considerable distance between the jet turbine 150 and the fire front, or leading edge of a fire and the jet turbine 150 should be capable of generating sufficient high exhaust pressure to blow significant quantities of exhaust gas mixture into the fire from such a distance. By way of example, any Pratt & Whitney JT8 through JT30 Series Turbine may be capable of providing sufficient propulsion to fly the aerial vehicle 100 whilst also provide sufficient velocity to exhaust gases that are capable of extinguishing a fire. It might be important to take into account some practical considerations such as not operating the jet turbine at 100% capacity in order to control the temperature of the exhaust gases particularly during a fire suppression operation. It is also important to note that other turbines fully capable of use in the present circumstances for the present job may provide different effective ranges of exhaust pressures may be used for providing the desired fire suppression functionality.
Advantageously, the turbine 250 may be mounted on a support that not only supports the turbine 250 but also allows the turbine 250 to be moved in a plurality of directions. In at least some embodiment, the support may allow the turbine to be rotated 360 degrees. A steering assembly may be coupled with the support and be controlled by an operator of the aerial vehicle to control the orientation of the jet turbine 250 in order to direct the exhaust gases in a desirable direction in order to supress a fire.
As shown in
The aerial vehicle 300 is also adapted to be gyroscopically stabilised in a manner as has been previously described. The aerial vehicle 300 also comprises a ducted fuselage 345 that includes an opening in which the jet turbine 340 is positioned to provide a propulsion mechanism. The aerial vehicle 300 is provided with wing flaps 325 that are adapted to pivot about pivot points 315. The aerial vehicle 300 also comprises an articulated front wing 320 that is adapted to pivot about pivot point 365.
The aerial vehicle 300 also includes a pivoting cockpit module 310 (which provides an ovoid shaped ‘pod’ enclosure) that is adapted to be pivot along two different axes. Specifically, the cockpit module 310 is adapted to pivot about pivot point 330A to allow the pivoting of the cockpit module 310 along a first axis (roll). The cockpit module 310 is also adapted to pivot about pivot point 330B to allow the cockpit module 310 to pivot about a second axis (pitch). The provision of the cockpit module 310 allows the aerial vehicle 300 to be operated by a pilot, or the like, during flight.
The aerial vehicle 300 may also relate to the use of exhaust generated from a jet turbine 340 to suppress a fire. The jet turbine 340 provides thrust to the aerial vehicle 300. During use, the engine air intake draws surrounding air and a combusted air fuel mixture is releases out of an outlet 360 through which a combusted air fuel mixture is exhausted at a high speed. An air flow directing assembly comprising an exhaust nozzle may be used for directing the combusted air fuel mixture from the outlet 360 in a desirable direction for suppressing fires.
Advantageously, the present invention provides a versatile aerial vehicle (100, 200, 300, 400) that has many useful and versatile flight characteristics including, for example, aerial vehicles with VTOL capabilities and gyroscopically stabilised flight between take off and landing. As identified previously, one particular application of interest is in the fighting of fires. However, such vehicles could also be used for transportation or rescue operations. Still further, embodiments of the aerial vehicle could be used to land on other planets provided they have a suitable atmosphere. The gyroscopic fan could also be replaced with a gyroscopic disc to provide stabilisation in space, where there is no atmosphere, in space craft and/or satellites.
In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in language more or less specific to structural or methodical features. The term “comprises” and its variations, such as “comprising” and “comprised of” is used throughout in an inclusive sense and not to the exclusion of any additional features.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to specific features shown or described since the means herein described comprises preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.
The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted by those skilled in the art.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019900211 | Jan 2019 | AU | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/AU2020/050038 | 1/23/2020 | WO | 00 |
