VTOL flying taxicab

Abstract

A VTOL flying taxicab is provided to solve the ground and airport traffic congestion problems by directing the traffic from two-dimensional ground space to the three-dimensional air space. The VTOL-Flying-Taxicab includes two rows of independently controllable small electrical-motor driven propellers, located above-and-below each of its two wings' leading edges. This configuration divides each wing-top-surface and wing-bottom-surface into independently controllable strips of wing surfaces, where the thrust vector, air velocity vector and air pressure on each and all strips of wing surfaces are independently controllable at any vehicle speed. These features provide all control requirements of the VTOL-flying-taxicab maneuvers.

Claims

1. A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) flying taxicab, comprising: a fuselage with a pair of wings, wherein a first wing transversely extending left and right from a fuselage body and a second wing transversely extending left and right from a fuselage tail section, wherein each of said first wing and said second wing having a plurality of rows of electrically-powered ducted propellers on a top surface and a bottom surface of each of said first wing and said second wing; a plurality of independently controllable sections of wing flaps with said fuselage; and, a plurality of feathers having independently controllable surface segments positioned on said top surface and said bottom surface of each of said first wing and said second wing and on each side of a tilt shaft of each of said first wing and said second wing.

2. A vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) flying taxicab, comprising: a fuselage with a pair of wings, wherein a first wing transversely extending left and right from a fuselage body and a second wing transversely extending left and right from a fuselage tail section, wherein each of said first wing and said second wing having a plurality of rows of electrically-powered ducted propellers on a top surface and a bottom surface of each of said first wing and said second wing; and, a plurality of feathers having independently controllable surface segments positioned on said top surface and said bottom surface of each of said first wing and said second wing and on each side of a tilt shaft of each of said first wing and said second wing.

3. The vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) flying taxicab according to claim 1, wherein said feathers are used to fine-tune aerodynamic force on each of said first wing and said second wind by redirecting a portion of ducted-propellers thrust vectors acting on the first wing or the second wing to assist tilting the first wing or the second wing to a desired angle and to maintain said VTOL flying taxicab's pitch, roll and yaw controls required during any flight.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

(1) In order that the invention may be more fully understood, it will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

(2) FIG. 1A is a side view of the VTOL Flying Taxicab with both wings in a vertical position;

(3) FIG. 1B is a front view of the VTOL Flying Taxicab with both wings in a vertical position;

(4) FIG. 1C is a top view of the VTOL Flying Taxicab with both wings in a vertical position;

(5) FIG. 2A illustrates the air flow over the wing section;

(6) FIG. 2B illustrates the use of flap section and feathers to produce torque;

(7) FIG. 2C illustrates wing section contribute to Taxicab's roll pitch and yaw controls;

(8) FIG. 3A is a top of one of the braking discs connecting fuselage with wing;

(9) FIG. 3B is a sectional view taken from FIG. 3A as indicated, illustrating location of braking blocks and their controlling solenoids;

(10) FIG. 4A is a top view of Taxicab with both wings in level flight;

(11) FIG. 4B is a left side view of the Taxicab shown in FIG. 4A;

(12) FIG. 4C is a right side view of the Taxicab shown in FIG. 4A;

(13) FIG. 5A is a side-view during hover illustrating all ducted propeller thrust vectors intercepting high above the Taxicab's center of gravity;

(14) FIG. 5B is a side-view during level flight illustrating all ducted propeller thrust vectors intercepting high above the Taxicab's center of gravity; and,

(15) FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the Taxicab rescue craft in anchored-level-flight position to rescue people in a high rise building window.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCED NUMERALS

(16) Turning now descriptively to the drawings, in which similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views, the Figures illustrate the batting practice device of the present invention. With regard to the reference numerals used, the following numbering is used throughout the various drawing figures. tilt rotation angle range of wing 1w tilt rotation angle range of wing 1w 1a front wing-top surface ducted propellers 1a two rows ducted-propellers above leading edge rear-wing and top surface of 1w 1ai the ith ducted propeller of 1a 1ai ducted propellers of rear-wing 1b front wing-bottom surface ducted propellers 1bi two rows ducted-propellers below leading edge rear-wing and bottom surface of 1w 1bi the ith ducted propeller of 1b 1bj jth ducted-propeller of ducted row propellers 1b 1f fuselage 1h local horizontal flight direction of 10 1i instrument panel 1m brake disk of 1mn fixed to fuselage structure but not fixed to shaft 1s fuselage-fixed-disk 1mn front wings braking disks 1mn rear wings braking disks 1n brake disk of 1mn fixed to fuselage structure and fixed to shaft 1s wing-fixed-disk 1p pilot seat 1p passenger's seats 1r ground parking wheel positions 1s center line tube connecting left side and right side of 1w 1s center line tube connecting left side and right side of 1w 1v local vertical direction of 10 1v+ slight backward tilt of forward wing 1w from vertical 1v 1v slight backward tilt of forward wing 1w 1w front-wings left and right 1w rear-wing left and right 1x leading edge of 1w 1x rear wing leading edge 2e multiple independent front flaps covering ducted propeller frontal area independently controlled to tilt slightly 2f multiple independent wing flaps 21i lift vector 21j lift vector in jth wing section 2mi electric motors 2pi propellers 2ti sum of thrust vectors produced by ducted-propellers 2ai above and 2bi below wing 1w 2v0 air velocity in front of wing 1w ith section 2v1 air velocity vector after 1ai on wing 1w top surface 2v1i cumulative air velocity wing-top surface 2v2 air velocity vector after 1bi on wing 1w bottom surface 2v2i cumulative air velocity wing-bottom surface 2v3 air velocity vector on top side of wing flap 2v4 air velocity vector on bottom side of wing flap 2zj lift vector in jth wing section 3n wing-fixed-disks 3x braking blocks of fuselage-fixed-disk 1m 3y solenoid mechanisms engaging and disengaging contact with wing-fixed-disk 1n 4a1 feathers 4a2 feathers 4b wing rechargeable battery package d(4b) shift of 4b 4b wing rechargeable battery package 4f1 controllable small rectangular surfaces (feathers) on top surface of the first wing 4f1 controllable small rectangular surfaces (feathers) on top surface of the second wing 4f2 controllable small rectangular surfaces (feathers) on bottom surface of wing 1w 4f2 controllable small rectangular surfaces (feathers) on bottom surface of wing 1w 5i ideal center of the ideal small sphere 5s small sphere 5ta line extension of all thrust vectors from all ducted propellers in row 1a 5ta line extension of all thrust vectors from all ducted propellers in row 1a 5tb line extension of all thrust vectors from all ducted propellers in row 1b 5tb line extension of all thrust vectors from all ducted propellers in row 1b 6b high rise bldg 6w window opening 6y support structure 6v pathway for rescued people to move from the building to the VTOL-rescue-Craft

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

(17) This discussion should not be construed as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments, practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. For definition of the complete scope of the invention, the reader is directed to appended claims.

(18) A more complete appreciation of the present disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(19) NOTE: In the following descriptions, different views of a same item are labeled by the same figure number followed by a different capital letter. For example: three views of FIG. 1 are identified as: FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C. Furthermore, each important item in each figure is identified by a bold face figure number followed by a lower case bold face letter: The bold face number corresponding to the figure number where each item is described. For example, item labeled 1a in FIG. 1A identifies the row of electric-motor-driven-ducted-propellers shown as rows of small rectangles on wing leading edge top area. The item in FIG. 1C labeled tai in FIG. 1C identifies the ith electric-motor-driven-ducted-propeller in wing leading edge top row of electric-motor-propellers 1a shown as a small circle.

(20) FIGS. 1A through 1C shows the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab with both of its wings, 1w and 1w, tilted at or close-to local vertical positions during hover, vertical-ascent or vertical-descent flights. FIG. 1A is the side-view. FIG. 1B is the front-view and FIG. 1C is the top-view.

(21) Each independently operated ducted-propeller (on wing-bottom surface, below wing leading edge 1x) is shown either as a row of small rectangles 1b in FIG. 1B or as a row of small circles 1b in FIG. 1C. Each ducted-propeller contains an electric motor and a propeller, both are covered by a short tube with inner spiral-fins to re-direct some high rotational air flow to linear air flow direction toward the wing flap. These spiral-fins are not shown in FIG. 1A-1C to avoid clutters.

(22) The left and right sides of the front-wings 1w are attached to the left and right sides of the fuselage 1f via a pair of braking disks identified as 1mn. The left and right sides of the rear-wing 1w are attached to the left and right sides of the vertical tail 1t via a pair of braking disks labeled as 1mn.

(23) Two rows of independently operated ducted-propellers are labeled as 1a (on front wing 1w top surface, above wing leading-edge 1x) and 1b (on 1w wing-bottom surface, below wing leading-edge 1x). Rows of ducted-propellers 1a are fixed, above both-sides of the forward wing 1w leading edges. Item labeled 1ai is the ith ducted-propeller in row 1a of ducted-propellers, where i=1, 2 . . . k. Row 1b on wing leading-edge bottom surface and each ducted-propeller is identified as 1bi, where i=1, 2 . . . , k.

(24) Two rows of independently operated ducted-propellers labeled as 1b are located on the left and right sides of wing 1w bottom surfaces and below 1w leading edges 1x. Two rows of independently operated ducted-propellers labeled as 1a are fixed above the rear-wing 1w leading edge 1x and on the 1w top surface. Two rows of independently operated ducted-propellers labeled 1b are located below the rear-wing 1w leading edge 1x and on 1w bottom surface. Item identified as 1bj identified the jth ducted-propeller in the row of ducted propellers 1b, where j=1, 2 . . . q. Item identified as is represents the center line of the tube connecting the left-side and right-side of the front wing 1w, it is about this tube the wing 1w tilts from horizontal level flight to vertical hover flight. Rechargeable batteries will be located between the shaft 1s and the entire flaps 2f to balance the weight of two rows of ducted-propellers. The center line of the long tube connecting the left-side to the right-side of the rear wing 1w is identified and labeled as 1s.

(25) Items labeled as and are wing 1w and wing 1w tilt rotation angles ranges respectively. Items labeled 1v and 1h are the local vertical and local horizontal directions respectively of the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab. Item labeled 1v+ represents a slight backward-tilt of the forward wing 1w from local vertical 1v. This is identified, because for best stable hover flight: if the thrust vectors from all rows of ducted-propellers 1a, 1b, and 1a, 1b intercept inside a small sphere, with the small sphere center at an ideal point high above the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab center of gravity point (see FIG. 5). To ensure this ideal point, will require installing each ducted-propellers, 1ai, 1bi, 1ai and 1bi, center lines tilted slightly. This will, ideally, make all thrust vectors from both wings to intercept inside the small sphere high above (or in-front of) the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's center of gravity point to achieve best stable hover (or forward) flights. This small sphere accounts for wing load deflections, wing vibrations, wind gusts, etc. Item labeled 1t is the vertical tail, which is attached to the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab structure frame 1f.

(26) A pair of braking-disks connecting both-sides of front wing 1w and the fuselage walls are identified as 1mm. A pair of braking-disks connecting both-sides of rear wing 1w and the vertical tail 1t are identified as 1mn. Label 1p identifies the pilot's seat. 1p are the passengers' seats. Note for pilotless VTOL-Flying-Taxicabs two more seats can be added at 1p location. This will increase the passengers seating capacity of FIG. 1A-1C configuration from 2 to 4 or 5.

(27) 1i is the instrument panel, which can include sensors subsystems hardware and software required for future pilotless VTOL-Flying-Taxicabs. 1r are the ground parking wheel positions. In FIG. 1B the two arrows labeled (see FIG. 2) identifies the cut-away section of a typical VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's wing-section as illustrated in detail in FIG. 2A-2B.

(28) FIGS. 2A through 2C illustrates the air flow over the wing section, the use of flap section and feathers to produce torque and wing section contribute to Taxicab's roll pitch and yaw controls. Shown is a section view of a typical VTOL-Fling-Taxicab wing cut-away-section as identified by two arrows and labeled (see FIG. 2) in FIG. 1B. FIG. 2A illustrates the air flow over the wing section. FIG. 2B illustrates the use of a flap section 2f, in combination of feathers 4a1 and 4a2, to produce CW or CCW torque about shaft 1s. FIG. 2C illustrates that each section of each wing can independently contribute VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's roll, pitch and yaw controls.

(29) The typical ith ducted-propellers, shown as small circles in FIG. 1C and labeled as 1ai and 1bi are enlarged in FIG. 2A to illustrate the electric motor 2mi which drives the propeller 2pi inside the ith ducts 1ai and 1bi near 1w leading edge 1x.

(30) Items identified as 2e are each a strip of surfaces, covering each row of ducted-propellers' frontal areas. Each 2e can be independently controlled to tilt slightly as shown by dashed lines 2e in FIG. 2A. Note, some surfaces 2e can also be made as an extension of 1x. Most importantly, this independently controllable surface 2e can be used as wing's front-flaps control surface to assist wing tilt control as discussed in FIG. 2B below. 2v0 is the air velocity in front the wing 1w ith section. 2v1 is the air velocity vector after 1ai on 1w top surface. 2v2 is the air velocity vector after 1bi on 1w bottom surface. 2v3 and 2v4 are velocity vectors on top and bottom sides of the wing-flap. Their directions are depending on each flap section deflection angles.

(31) It is important to note that depending on power inputs differences to each electric motor 2mi in 1ai and 1bi, will cause their corresponding propellers 2pi to rotate at different RPMs. This will create a pressure difference across that wing's ith section. Therefore, creating a lift vector 2li pointing either up or down depending if 2v1>2v2 or 2v1<2v2. This feature is used to control this VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's pitch and row maneuvers. By making all 1a row of ducted-propellers rotating at higher RPMs than all 1b row of ducted-propellers' RPMs, this will make the entire wing-top velocity higher than the entire wing-bottom velocity, 2v1i>>2v2i for all i=1, 2 . . . k. A large upward pointing lift force will developed to allow the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab to take-off or land on very short runways without tilting its wings to vertical positions.

(32) FIG. 2B illustrates the used of flap 2f, feathers 4a1-4a2, eye-lip 2e and wing-battery-package 4b shift d(4b) to control wing tilt angle . Each wing section can make small contribution to change the wing tilt angle as needed by the mission: surfaces 4a1, 4a2, 2e and 2f in each wing section can deflect in combination with shifting a selected wing-battery package 4b position change, (4b). These actions change the air flow directions 2v1, 2v2, 2v3 and reduce the torques required to tilt the wing about is axis.

(33) Wing leading edge 1x can be enlarged to independently controllable surfaces to assist the wing tilt requirement.

(34) FIG. 2C illustrate the lift force vector on each wing section produced by the velocities difference on wing-top 2v1 and on wing-bottom 2v2. A dot in a circle, labeled 2yj, represents the lift vector 21j generated in the jth wing section pointing-out-off the page. Ainside a circle, labeled 2zj, represents the lift vector 21j generated in the jth wing section pointing-into of the page. These force vectors produce torques causing the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab to roll and pitch. 2ti is the sum of thrust vectors produced by the ith ducted-propellers 2ai and 2bi above and below the ith sections of wing 1w surfaces respectively. The difference between the left-wing and right-wing 2ti vectors controls the vehicle yaw.

(35) FIGS. 3A and 3B are illustrations one of the two large pairs of braking-disk 1mn. FIG. 3A is a top view the two disks 1m and in of disk 1mn: where disk 1m connecting one side of a fuselage 1f wall and disk in connecting to one side of the wing 1w. FIG. 3B is the section B-B, identified in FIG. 3A, illustrating the locations of braking blocks 3x and their controlling solenoids 3y on the inner circumference of braking disk 1m. Each pair of braking-disk is identified as 1mn for wing 1w and 1mn for wing 1w. The disk fixed to the fuselage structure but not fixed to the shaft 1s is called fuselage-fixed-disk and labeled 1m. The disk fixed to the wing structure and also fixed to the shaft 1s is called wing-fixed-disk and labeled 1n. 3x are braking-blocks, which are evenly distributed along the inside circumference of the fuselage-fixed-disk 1m. These 3x are simultaneously controlled by their solenoid mechanisms 3y, to make-or-not-make contact with the wing-fixed-disk 1n.

(36) During constant flight condition, where the wing is locked on the fuselage, all 3y are pushing their respective 3x firmly on the wing-fixed-disks 3n. Some additional locking mechanism (not shown) will be applied to lock the wing during long flight operations.

(37) When mission requires change of wing tilt angle , all 3y will be issued a pulsing mode commands to pulsing all their 3x blocks in-and-out in contact with their respective wing-fixed-disks at varying strengths and frequencies. This allows the aerodynamic forces, assisted by either hydraulics or electrical-mechanical devices (not shown), to change the wing tilt angle to its latest required position.

(38) FIGS. 4A through 4C illustrate pilotless or piloted VTOL flying taxi basic flight control options including VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's wing tilt control's unique hardware locations. FIG. 4A is the top view of a VTOL-Flying-Taxicab with both wing 1w and 1w in level flight positions. FIG. 4B is the left-side-view of FIG. 4A and FIG. 4C is the right-side-view of FIG. 4A. As indicated in FIG. 4A the flight direction arrow is identified as local horizontal 1h.

(39) Items labeled 4f1 and 412 are rows of controllable small rectangular surfaces on both top and bottom sides of wing 1w respectively. They are called feathers. For wing 1w rows of feathers 4f1 and 4f2 are located below their respective rows of ducted-propellers 1a and 1b and on either sides of shaft 1s respectively. Similarly, for wing 1w, rows of feathers 4f1 and 412 are below their respective rows of ducted-propellers 1a and 1b and on either sides of shaft 1s respectively. These rows of feathers 4f1, 412, 4f1 and 4f2 are used to assist multiple independent wing flaps 2f and 2e controls of VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's pitch, roll and yaw maneuvers as described in FIG. 2B. The optional use of multiple rows of feathers may replace multiple sections of wing flaps in some VTOL-Flying-Taxicab models. These feather surfaces can be selectively commanded to tilt up to deflect air velocities 2v1 or 2v2 away from 1w (FIG. 2B). Similarly, 4f1 and 4f2 can deflect air from 1w. These control actions can also be used to rotate an unlocked wing to its desired tilt angle position.

(40) Rechargeable battery packages 4b and 4b are located between the wing shafts is or 1s and flaps 2f or 2f on wings 1w and 1w respectively. Each row of batteries is separated into smaller packages that can be independently controlled to shift a small distance d(4b) (FIG. 2B) towards/away from their respective shafts 1s or 1s.

(41) When a nose-up command is issued to the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab in high speed level flight, the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab can fly straight up vertically in the 1v direction without making any wing tilt change.

(42) Optionally, short-fins may be installed along wing chords to prevent air cross-flows. These short-fins are not shown in any figures to avoid clutters. Specially placed feathers may be used to adjust ducted-propellers' thrust vector directions.

(43) FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate intersection of all ducted propellers in row 1a and all ducted propellers in row 1b. Illustrated is an ideal condition, where the extension lines of all ducted-propellers' thrust vectors intercept at points inside an ideal small sphere high-above (or far-in-front of) the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's center of gravity point during hover (or during forward level) flights. FIG. 5A is a side-view during hover and FIG. 5B is a side-view during level-flight, 5ta represents the line extension of all thrust vectors 2ti lines from all ducted-propellers in row 1a. 5tb represents the line extension of all thrust vectors 2ti lines from all ducted-propellers in row 1b. 5ta represents the line extension of all thrust vectors 2ti lines from all ducted-propellers in row 1a. 5tb represents the line extension of all thrust vectors 2ti lines from all ducted-propellers in row 1b. 5i is the ideal center of the idea small sphere 5s, where all thrust vectors intercept inside this sphere. When both wings are simultaneously tilted vertically up, 5i will be high above the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's center of gravity point. When both wings are simultaneously tilted close to horizontal position for level forward flights, this 5i point will be far in front the VTOL-Flying-Taxicab's center of gravity point.

(44) In order to have all thrust vectors line-extensions to meet inside an ideal small sphere 5s, it will require each ducted-propeller be installed slightly tilted on its wing. This small sphere is introduced to account for wing load deflections, vibrations, wind gusts, etc.

(45) FIG. 6 is an illustrated side-view of a VTOL-Rescue-Craft in anchored-level-flight position to rescue people in a high rise building window. This is done by simply attaching few supporting structure to the front-end of a VTOL-Flying-Taxicab. The anchored-level-flight and the added supporting structures 6y are described in Reference 1, 6b is the high-rise building wall and floor. 6w is the window opening and 6v is the pathway where the rescued people move from the building to the VTOL-Rescue-Craft.

(46) While only several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.