An operating method of a vehicle cabin air supply device comprising taking fresh air from outside the cabin, diverting the fresh air to an air exhaust during an exhaust duration period after starting the air supply device, before injecting the fresh air into the cabin, such that the fresh air injected in the cabin after the exhaust duration period minimizes unpleasant odors in the cabin. A vehicle cabin air supply device and an aircraft comprising such a device is also provided.

A ram-air duct system includes a ram-air duct configured to receive a flow of ram-air from a ram-air inlet and discharge the flow to a ram-air outlet. The system also includes a heat exchanger configured to exchange heat with air within the ram-air duct, an auxiliary air passageway and an electrically-driven air mover configured to move a flow of auxiliary air along the auxiliary air passageway for discharge into the ram-air duct through an intermediate inlet between the ram-air inlet and the ram-air outlet. The air duct system further includes a controller configured to selectively operate the ram-air duct system in an auxiliary supply mode in which the air mover and/or a control valve are controlled to cause the flow of auxiliary air to be discharged into the duct through the intermediate inlet, to thereby control a rate of heat exchange between the heat exchanger and air within the duct.

A propeller system for a tail section of an aircraft includes a propeller hub located at the tail section of the aircraft, a plurality of propeller blades mounted to and extending outwardly from the propeller hub, a propeller shaft coupled to the propeller hub and operable to rotate the propeller hub about an axis of rotation, and a propeller gearbox connected to the propeller shaft. The propeller gearbox is fluidly cooled by an airflow within the tail section. A spinner assembly surrounds the propeller hub. The spinner assembly includes at least one outlet opening formed therein downstream from the propeller hub relative to the airflow. The spinner assembly is rotatable to draw the airflow into at least one cooling flow inlet formed in the tail section and across the propeller gearbox to cool the propeller gearbox and out the at least one outlet opening.

A battery thermal management system for an air vehicle includes a first heat exchange circuit, a battery in thermal communication with the first heat exchange circuit, and a heat exchanger positioned on the first heat exchange circuit. The heat exchanger is operatively connected to a second heat exchange circuit. The system includes a controller operatively connected to the second heat exchange circuit. The controller is configured to variably select whether heat will be rejected to the second heat exchange circuit. A method for controlling a thermal management system for an air vehicle includes determining an expected fluid temperature of fluid in a fluid heat exchange circuit. The method includes commanding a flow restrictor at least partially closed or commanding the flow restrictor at least partially open.

A vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aerial vehicle and a cooling system for the unmanned aerial vehicle. Heat dissipation in an arm of an unmanned aerial vehicle is achieved by providing a forward-facing opening at the front end of each of a left linear support and a right linear support of the unmanned aerial vehicle, thereby achieving the purposes of lowering temperature in the arm and protecting equipment in the arm.

A battery system includes a plurality of battery modules each formed from a plurality of battery cells. A shared cooling structure is thermally coupled to each of the battery modules. The shared cooling structure is configured to conduct heat relative to the battery modules. A thermal interface is disposed between the battery cells of each battery module and the shared cooling structure. Each thermal interface is configured to transition from a first thermal conductivity state to a second thermal conductivity state when heat generated by the respective battery cells exceeds a threshold level. The second thermal conductivity state is lower than the first thermal conductivity state such that after one of the thermal interfaces has transitioned from the first thermal conductivity state to the second thermal conductivity state, heat transfer from the respective battery cells to the shared cooling structure is reduced.

An impeller for use in a fan system includes a hub extending along an axis of rotation and having a hub outer surface. There also are a plurality of blades extending radially outwardly of the hub outer surface. The blades have a unique cross-section at several different locations that result in relatively thin blades. A fan system and method are also disclosed.

An impeller for use in a fan system includes a hub extending along an axis of rotation and having a hub outer surface. There also are a plurality of blades extending radially outwardly of the hub outer surface. The blades have a unique cross-section at several different locations that result in relatively thin blades. A fan system and method are also disclosed.

Disclosed is a mechanism to exhaust refrigerant vapor resulting from operation of a thermal management system that is used to cool a thermal load by a vehicle, such as an airborne vehicle. The thermal management system includes an open circuit refrigeration system featuring a receiver configured to store a liquid refrigerant fluid, an evaporator configured to extract heat from the thermal load that contacts the evaporator, and an exhaust line, where the receiver, the evaporator, and the exhaust line are connected to provide an open refrigerant fluid flow path. Other implementations of open circuit refrigeration systems include the use of a gas receiver, a pump and an ejector are also described, as are other mechanisms to exhaust refrigerant vapor resulting from operation of the thermal management system.

A method of fragrance release within an aircraft having a cabin and an environmental control system for controlling the cabin environment. The method includes: receiving a current aircraft status from the aircraft's environmental control system, wherein the current aircraft status comprises one of: boarding, take-off, breakfast service, lunch service, dinner service, beverage service, sleep mode, cruise, landing, deboarding and emergency; determining an appropriate fragrance for the current aircraft status from a plurality of fragrance sources; and releasing the appropriate fragrance for the current aircraft status into the aircraft's cabin.