Patent Application
20220106033
The invention relates to the field of air vehicles. More specifically, the invention comprises a safety device that injects high pressure air into the rotor blades of a ducted fan propulsion of air vehicles to affect rotation if the drive used to rotate the rotors fails.
Air vehicle safety systems include the ability to auto rotate their rotor blades when the primary power system fails. For example, as a helicopter falls to earth, the pilot levels the rotor blades causing them to spin up or increase revolutions per minute and when the helicopter is close to impacting the ground the pilot pulls up on the cyclic adding incidence to the rotor blades and the built in energy from the rotor is turned into thrust to allow for a softer landing.
The present invention comprises a novel induced rotor rotation safety system generally consisting of at least one high pressure air tank that can be filled or repressurized when the vehicle using the device is refueled, which sends high pressure air into the flywheel/rotor blades creating a secondary emergency auto-rotation system. A pneumatic regulator valve releases high pressure air from the air tank into the flywheel/rotors causing rotation either manually by the pilot or autonomously through a system of avionics that detects a malfunction in the propulsion system that induces a free-fall. Nozzles located below the flywheel/rotor will induce spin when high-pressure air is aimed through their blades. In preferred embodiments, the nozzles are located in a cross member that supports the rotating rotor assembly and in close proximity to the flywheel/rotor's blades/fans.
Preferred and alternative examples of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the following drawings.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence of addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which the invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the one context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combination are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
New thrust producing gyroscope autorotation safety devices, apparatuses, and methods for creating a secondary means to accelerate a rotor/flywheel when the primary means of power fails are discussed herein. In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
The present invention will now be described by referencing the appended figures representing preferred embodiments. Referring to
With further reference to
In one example, when the vehicle is having its batteries recharged, or petroleum fueled in the case of a combustion type jet engine, pneumatic tubing connected to a compressor will plug into the vehicle as part of the energy/fuel port to keep the air tank full. The valve can be controlled in a plurality of methods such as autonomously through avionics, or by the pilot. The pressure in the pneumatic tank can be monitored by viewing console gauges or avionics driven instrumentation. In a preferred embodiment, an emergency signal will occur if the pressure in the tank drops.
While the preferred embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the disclosure of the preferred embodiment. Instead, the invention should be determined entirely by reference to the claims that follow.
This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/088,775, filed Oct. 7, 2020, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63088775 | Oct 2020 | US |
