CONFORMAL ENERGY BAY

Abstract

An aircraft comprising at least one bay for receiving different types of standardized modules. The bay is configured to receive at least two different types of energy modules as standardized modules, preferably two types of energy modules chosen from a conventional fuel tank, a battery, a fuel tank for a fuel cell, a tank for electrofuel, a tank for nano-electrofuel, a gas tank or a combined energy source.

Claims

1. Aircraft comprising at least one bay for receiving different types of standardized modules, wherein the at least one bay is configured to receive at least two different types of energy modules as standardized modules.

2. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least two types of energy modules are chosen from the following group of energy modules: a conventional fuel tank, a battery, a fuel tank for a fuel cell, a tank for electrofuel, a tank for nano-electrofuel, a gas tank, and/or a compact energy source.

3. Aircraft according to claim 2, wherein the at least one bay is configured to receive more than two and/or all of the different types of energy modules in an interchangeable manner.

4. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay is configured to receive more than one energy module at a time.

5. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay is unpressurized.

6. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein at least one bay is located in and/or arranged around a center of gravity of the aircraft.

7. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein at least one bay is arranged at least partly inside a wing of the aircraft.

8. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is an airplane with a length of less than 40 meters.

9. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay has a volume between 400 liters and 100 liters.

10. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay is accessible from a bottom of the aircraft.

11. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein all bays have essentially the same characteristics.

12. Energy module configured to be charged into the at least one bay of an aircraft according to claim 1.

13. Energy module according to claim 12, wherein the energy module comprises a conventional fuel tank and/or a battery and/or a fuel tank for a fuel cell and/or a tank for electrofuel and/or a tank for nano-electrofuel and/or a gas tank and/or a compact energy source.

14. Energy module according to claim 13, wherein the tank for nano-electrofuel comprises a first reservoir for an anode-nano-electrofuel and a second reservoir for a cathode-nano-electrofuel.

15. Aircraft system comprising an aircraft according to claim 1 and comprising at least one energy module configured to be charged into the at least one bay, wherein the at least one energy module comprises a conventional fuel tank and/or a battery and/or a fuel tank for a fuel cell and/or a tank for electrofuel and/or a tank for nano-electrofuel and/or a gas tank and/or a compact energy source.

16. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is an airplane with a length of less than 30 meters.

17. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the aircraft is an airplane with a length of less than 20 meters.

18. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay has a volume between 300 liters and 200 liters.

19. Aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bay has a volume of approximately 250 liters.

20. Aircraft system according to claim 15, wherein the at least one energy module is at least two energy modules.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0024] In the following, the disclosure is described in detail by means of drawings, wherein show:

[0025] FIG. 1: A schematic bottom view of an aircraft comprising an energy bay according to a first embodiment of the disclosure,

[0026] FIG. 2: A zoom-in on the energy bay of the aircraft already shown in FIG. 1, together with six different types of energy modules,

[0027] FIG. 3: A schematic bottom view of an aircraft according to a second embodiment of the disclosure, and

[0028] FIG. 4: A schematic bottom view of an aircraft according to a third embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a schematic bottom view of an aircraft A according to one embodiment of the disclosure. The aircraft A is an airplane. The aircraft A comprises two wings 2.1, 2.2 and a fuselage 3. The aircraft A furthermore comprises a bay 1, also referred to as energy bay or conformal energy bay. The bay 1 is arranged in a center of gravity of the aircraft A, in the middle between the two wings 2.1, 2.2 and at the bottom of the fuselage 3. Like this, the bay 1 is accessible from below the aircraft A, when the aircraft A is on the ground. The bay 1 is configured to receive different types of standardized energy modules (not shown in FIG. 1). The aircraft A furthermore comprises an engine 4, which is arranged at the very front of the aircraft A. The aircraft A furthermore has a tail 5.

[0030] FIG. 2 shows a zoom-in on the bay 1 of the aircraft A already shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 furthermore shows a set of different types of energy modules 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. These energy modules 6 to 11 all have the same dimensions and are configured to fit into the bay 1. In other words, the energy modules 6 to 11 form a set of energy modules which are interchangeably insertable into the bay 1 of the aircraft A. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the first energy module 6 is a conventional fuel tank, the second energy module 7 is a battery, the third energy module 8 is a fuel tank for a fuel cell, the fourth energy module 9 is a tank for a nano-electrofuel, the fifth energy module 10 is a gas tank and the sixth energy module 11 is a compact energy source. The energy modules 6 to 11 form an energy module set. The energy module set together with the aircraft A form an aircraft system according to at least some embodiments the disclosure. In such an energy module set, the number of energy modules is not limited to six. In fact, the number of energy modules is theoretically not limited at all. For example, in certain embodiments, the energy module set comprises more than one energy module of at least one energy module type, for example more than one battery 7, more than one conventional fuel tank 6 and/or more than one compact energy source 11. In certain embodiments, the energy module set comprises more than one energy module of all energy module types.

[0031] FIG. 3 shows a schematic bottom view of an aircraft A.1 according to a second embodiment of the disclosure. The aircraft A.1 in FIG. 3 in principle corresponds to the embodiment already depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. The sole difference is that the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 comprises two wing-integrated bays 1.1, 1.2, in addition to the fuselage-integrated bay 1 already present in the first embodiment. The wing-integrated bays 1.1, 1.2 typically have the same characteristics as the fuselage-mounted bay 1, for example in terms of dimensions, pressurization, connections for modules and the like. In other words: the technical details given for the fuselage-integrated bay 1 at least partly also apply to the wing-integrated bays 1.1, 1.2. The two wing-integrated bays 1.1, 1.2 are typically symmetrically arranged, in particular around a center of gravity of the aircraft A.1. The embodiment shown in FIG. 3 makes it possible to carry different energy modules at a time and therefore to further improve the flexibility of the aircraft A.1.

[0032] Even though the embodiments in FIG. 3 only shows one fuselage-mounted bay 1 and only two wing-mounted bays 1.1, 1.2, other embodiments of the disclosure with additional bays can in principle be designed. For example, in particular embodiments, an aircraft can comprise two, three or more fuselage-integrated bays and/or two, three or more wing-integrated bays per wing. In such applications with more than three bays, all bays can in principle have the same or at least similar characteristics.

[0033] It is however also possible that the configurations of the bays differ in such embodiments, for example such that not all bays are configured to receive the same types of energy modules. For example, in particular embodiments, some or all wing-integrated bays can be configured to only carry fuel tanks and/or batteries and/or compact energy sources as energy modules. Furthermore, in particular embodiments, some or all fuselage-integrated bays can be configured to only carry fuel tanks and/or batteries and/or compact energy sources as energy modules.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a schematic bottom view of an aircraft A.2 according to a third embodiment of the disclosure. The aircraft A.2 in FIG. 4 in principle corresponds to the aircraft A shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, instead of a front-mounted turboprop engine, the aircraft A.2 comprises two rear-mounted engines 4.1, 4.2 which are arranged between the two wings 2.1, 2.2 and the tail 5 of the aircraft A.2.

[0035] It goes without saying that the bays 1, 1.1, 1.2 in aircraft A.1, A.2, respectively, of FIGS. 3 and 4 can be interchangeably equipped with the energy modules 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 depicted in FIG. 2. In other words: the explanations given for aircraft A with regard to FIG. 2 also apply, mutatis mutandis, to the embodiments shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[0036] The functioning of embodiments of the disclosure is as follows:

[0037] The aircraft A, A.1 and A.2 are each configured in such a way that they can use energy in different forms, for example electric energy and/or chemical energy and/or energy in the form of conventional fuel for satisfying its energy needs. For example, one can imagine that the engines 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 are hybrid turboprop engines, which are configured such that they can be driven by conventional aircraft fuel, by electric motors or by a combination of both. Likewise, one can imagine that the engines 4.1 and 4.2 shown in FIG. 4 are hybrid turbofans, which are configured such that they can be driven by conventional aircraft fuel, by electric motors or by a combination of both. The electric motor(s) themselves can be driven for example by batteries or by electric current produced by fuel cells or flow batteries or the like. This means that the aircraft A, A.1, A.2 have highly flexible energy management systems and are able to be powered by conventional fuel, battery power or any type of gas or liquid that can serve as fuel in a fuel cell or a flow battery for example.

[0038] The fact that the aircraft A, A.1, A.2 each comprise one or more bays 1, 1.1, 1.2, which are configured to receive different types of energy modules, has the advantage per certain embodiments to even improve the flexibility of the energy management system of the aircraft. The reason for this is that, depending on which mission the aircraft A, A.1, A.2 are supposed to carry out, a particularly convenient aircraft configuration can be chosen by choosing the appropriate energy module or modules to be placed into the bay(s) 1, 1.1, 1.2.

[0039] For example, if the aircraft A is supposed to be powered exclusively by means of electric power, for example because the aircraft A is supposed to not produce any exhaust fumes and/or fly as quietly as possible, the second energy module 7, which corresponds to a battery, can be chosen as appropriate energy module and be inserted into bay 1 for this mission. On the other hand, if in another mission the aircraft A is supposed to run as efficiently as possible, the third energy module 8 in the form of a tank for a fuel cell can be chosen. On the other hand, in particular missions where it is foreseeable that the aircraft A is going to a location where only conventional fuel will be available, the first energy module 6, corresponding to a conventional fuel tank, can be placed inside the bay 1, thereby increasing the amount of conventional aircraft fuel that can be charged into the aircraft A.

[0040] Likewise, if the aircraft A.1 shown in FIG. 3 is supposed to run as long as possible on electric power, all three bays 1, 1.1 and 1.2 can be equipped with three second energy modules 7, which correspond to batteries. On the other hand, if a particularly high flexibility for the aircraft A.1 is desired, it is possible to mount different types of energy modules in the bays 1, 1.1, 1.2, for example a conventional fuel tank 6 in bay 1, a gas tank 10 in bay 1.1 and a tank for a nano-electrofuel 9 in bay 1.2. Another possibility would be to mount a compact energy source 11 in the form of a flow battery system inside the fuselage-integrated bay 1 and one tank for nano-electrofuel 9 in each wing-integrated bay 1.1, 1.2. Various other configurations are possible, and this underlines the great flexibility achieved by the invention.

[0041] The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments described here. The scope of protection is defined by the claims.

[0042] Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, where each claim may stand on its own as a separate embodiment. While each claim may stand on its own as a separate embodiment, it is to be noted that although a dependent claim may refer in the claims to a specific combination with one or more other claims other embodiments may also include a combination of the dependent claim with the subject matter of each other dependent or independent claim. Such combinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that a specific combination is not intended. Furthermore, it is intended to include also features of a claim to any other independent claim even if this claim is not directly made dependent to the independent claim.

[0043] It is further to be noted that methods disclosed in the specification or in the claims may be implemented by a device having means for performing each of the respective acts of these methods.

[0044] All the features and advantages, including structural details, spatial arrangements and method steps, which follow from the claims, the description and the drawing can be fundamental to the invention both on their own and in different combinations. It is to be understood that the foregoing is a description of one or more preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the particular embodiment(s) disclosed herein, but rather is defined solely by the claims below. Furthermore, the statements contained in the foregoing description relate to particular embodiments and are not to be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention or on the definition of terms used in the claims, except where a term or phrase is expressly defined above. Various other embodiments and various changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiment(s) will become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such other embodiments, changes, and modifications are intended to come within the scope of the appended claims.

[0045] As used in this specification and claims, the terms “for example,” “for instance,” “such as,” and “like,” and the verbs “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and their other verb forms, when used in conjunction with a listing of one or more components or other items, are each to be construed as open-ended, meaning that the listing is not to be considered as excluding other, additional components or items. Other terms are to be construed using their broadest reasonable meaning unless they are used in a context that requires a different interpretation.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0046] 1, 1.1, 1.2 Bays [0047] 2.1, 2.2 Wings [0048] 3 Fuselage [0049] 4. 4.1, 4.2 Engines [0050] 5 Tail [0051] 6 First energy module, e. g. conventional fuel tank [0052] 7 Second energy module, e. g. battery [0053] 8 Third energy module, e. g. fuel tank for a fuel cell [0054] 9 Fourth energy module, e. g. tank for nano-electrofuel [0055] 10 Fifth energy module, e. g. gas tank [0056] 11 Sixth energy module, e. g. compact energy source [0057] A, A.1, A.2 Aircraft