Textron Innovations Inc.

Bell Helicopter Textron Inc.

Bell Textron Inc.

Andrew Paul Haldeman

Frank B Stamps

Aaron Alexander Acee

Drew Alan Sutton

Dalton T Hampton

Andrew Ryan Maresh

Gary Michael Miller

James Donn Hethcock, Jr

Robert Patrick Wardlaw

Eric Albert Sinusas

Patrick R Tisdale

Andrew Thomas Carter

Zachary Edwin Dailey

Diana Tinlin

James Everett Kooiman

George Matthew Thompson

Michael E Rinehart

Suvankar Mishra

Amarjit Olenchery Kizhakkepat

Bryan W Marshall

Glenn Alan Shimek

Lynn Francis Eschete

Steven Allen Robedeau, Jr

Timothy McClellan Mosig

Paul Wayne Woolbright

Derek Ray Eddins

Paul K Oldroyd

Steven Ray Ivans

John R McCullough

Brent Chadwick Ross

Bryan Kenneth Baskin

John T Lloyd

Michael Scott Seifert

Jared Mark Paulson

Gilberto Morales

Albert Gerard Brand

Jonathan Andrew Knoll

Paul Branson Sherrill

Jeffrey Paul Nissen

Jason Paul Winter

Clegg Benjamin Brian Smith

Mark Loring Isaac

Yann Lavallee

Matthew John Hill

Robert Paul Reynolds

Chad Lewis Jarrett

Ramesh Thiagarajan

Timothy Kent Ledbetter

James A Cordell

Jesse J Wrabel

Colin John Thomas

Marco A Agredano

Charles Owen Black

Jason C Owens

Glenn Thornton Lancaster

Hassan A Mughal

Jared Addison Hallett

Frank Bradley Stamps

Zachary Dailey

Patrick Ryan Tisdale

A teetering rotor assembly includes a rotor yoke and a plurality of rotor blades. The rotor yoke includes a hub portion that includes a shaft aperture and two teetering hinge cutouts. The rotor yoke further includes a plurality of pitched yoke arms. Each pitched yoke arm is coupled to the hub portion and includes one or more feathering bearings. Each pitched yoke arm includes a precone axis that is elevated at a precone angle relative to a plane of rotation of the rotor yoke. Each pitched yoke arm includes a twist axis that is twisted at a twist angle relative to the plane of rotation of the rotor yoke. Each rotor blade is configured to couple to a pitched yoke arm via the feathering bearings. Each rotor blade includes a root end that comprises a twisted shape to match the twist axis of a particular one of the pitched yoke arms.

Teetering rotor yoke with pitched arms

A linear actuator for axially translating a control tube to change the pitch of rotor blades at a top portion of the control tube, the linear actuator including an outer sleeve fixed in a stationary position with the control tube extending through the outer sleeve, a screw nut connected by a threaded interface to the control tube, and an actuator motor coupled to the screw nut to rotate the screw nut and thereby translate the control tube.

Linear actuator system

A system and method for slowing the rotation of a rotor using, for example, rotor brake system for a rotorcraft comprises: one or more generators connected to a main rotor gearbox; an electric distributed anti-torque system mounted on a tail boom of the rotorcraft comprising two or more electric motors connected to the one or more generators, wherein the two or more electric motors are connected to one or more blades; and wherein a rotation of the rotor is slowed by placing a drive load on the main rotor gearbox with the one or more generators to bleed the mechanical power from rotor into electrical power via the two or more electric motors, wherein the electric distributed anti-torque system generates thrust in opposing directions.

Rotor break effect by using electric distributed anti-torque generators and opposing electric motor thrust to slow a main rotor

One embodiment described herein is a damper for a rotor system, the damper comprising a cylindrical housing having a hollow interior; a piston disposed within the hollow interior and extending along a central axis of the housing; a first attachment member disposed on a first end of the damper and connected to the housing; a second attachment member disposed on a second end of the damper and connected to the piston; and a conductive cover wrapped around a portion of an exterior surface of the housing between the first attachment member and the second attachment member.

Techniques for increasing heat dissipation in lead-lag dampers

A blade pitch adjustment mechanism includes a pitch cylinder having a first face and pitch slots extending longitudinally from the first face, a blade sleeve having a second face and a blade slot extending longitudinally from the second face, the blade sleeve is configured to be rotationally positioned in the pitch cylinder with the second face located with the first face, wherein the blade slot and the pitch slots are cooperative to form keyway, corresponding to a discrete blade pitch, when the blade slot is aligned with a pitch slot.

Precision blade pitch adjustment

A rotor assembly includes a pitch spider, rotor blade assemblies, and pitch horn joints. The pitch spider has a body and pitch spider legs extending from the body. Each blade rotor assembly includes a rotor blade, a pitch adapter joined to the rotor blade and connecting the rotor blade to the rotor hub, and a pitch horn. Each pitch horn joint joins one of the rotor blade assemblies to a corresponding pitch spider leg. Each pitch horn joint includes a pitch horn joint bolt extending from the pitch horn of the rotor blade assembly to the pitch spider leg along a pitch horn joint axis, the pitch horn joint bolt fixed to the pitch horn; a spherical bearing having an inner ring and an outer ring; and a slider sleeve coupled to the spherical bearing, the slider sleeve enabling the pitch horn to translate along the pitch horn joint axis.

Pitch horn joint

A spherical bearing centrifugal force retention link includes an inboard spherical bearing to attach to a rotor hub and an outboard spherical bearing to attach to a rotor blade. In use, the inboard spherical bearing and the outboard spherical bearing react centrifugal force radially and a torsional moment of the centrifugal force link is substantially constant throughout the rotor blade pitch range.

Spherical bearing centrifugal force retention link

An exemplary electric distributed propulsion system includes two or more rotors that are individually controlled by the rotational speed of associated motors, an input control connected to the associated motors to provide rotational speed control to the two or more rotors to produce a desired net thrust, and a logic connected to the input control and the associated motors, the logic for controlling speed and direction of the two or more rotors to achieve the desired net thrust and to avoid a motor speed condition.

Electric distributed propulsion with different rotor rotational speeds

One embodiment is a rotor system including a rotor hub comprising a plurality of extension arms for connecting rotor blades to the rotor hub; a plurality of dampers connected between a respective one of the extension arms and the rotor hub; and a fairing disposed over the rotor hub, the fairing including an inlet plenum through which air is drawn from outside the fairing into the fairing; and at least one duct for conducting the air toward the at least one of the dampers.

Rotor hub fairing with integral cooling capabilities

An exemplary anti-torque system for a helicopter includes two or more electric fans rotatably mounted on a tail boom, the two or more electric fans rotatable about a longitudinal axis of the tail boom.

Rotating electric distributed anti-torque fin

Systems and methods include providing an aircraft with a ducted rotor assembly. The ducted rotor assembly includes a housing having a duct, a rotor drive mechanism coupled to a rotor system, and a plurality of stators that both structurally support the rotor drive mechanism within the duct of the housing and carry a fluid through internal fluid passages in the plurality of stators to provide cooling to the rotor drive mechanism. Some of the stators carry fluid to the rotor drive mechanism, where the fluid absorbs heat from the rotor drive mechanism, and some of the stators carry fluid away from the rotor drive mechanism. The rotor system generates an airflow over the stators carrying fluid away from the rotor drive mechanism to effect transfer between the fluid and the airflow.

Ducted rotor stators

The present invention includes a system and method for slowing the rotation of a rotor using, for example, rotor brake system for a rotorcraft comprising: one or more generators connected to a main rotor gearbox; an electric distributed anti-torque system mounted on a tail boom of the rotorcraft comprising two or more electric motors connected to the one or more generators, wherein the two or more electric motors are connected to one or more blades; and wherein a rotation of the rotor is slowed by placing a drive load on the main rotor gearbox with the one or more generators to bleed the mechanical power from rotor into electrical power via the two or more electric motors, wherein the electric distributed anti-torque system generates thrust in opposing directions.

Rotor brake effect by using electric distributed anti-torque generators and opposing electric motor thrust to slow a main rotor

A method of controlling a tail rotor system includes pivoting a swashplate of the tail rotor system about an axis passing through a diameter of the swashplate. Pivoting the swashplate causes a first linkage of a first pair of linkages coupled between the swashplate and a collective crosshead to move in a first direction and a second linkage of the first pair of linkages coupled between the swashplate and the collective crosshead to move in a second direction that is opposite the first direction. The movement of the first and second linkages causes a plane of rotation of a pair of rotors of the tail rotor system to cant relative to a centerline of a mast of the tail rotor system. A tail rotor system is also disclosed.

Tail rotor cyclic control for pitch attitude adjustment

A method is provided in one example embodiment and may include positioning at least one nozzle within a hollow portion of a rotor blade at a distance associated with a span of the rotor blade and providing, via the at least one nozzle, a liquid foam mixture in the hollow portion, wherein the liquid foam expands and becomes a solid foam material that fills the hollow portion of the rotor blade. Another method is provided in another example embodiment and may include providing a plurality of openings for a rotor blade that are positioned proximate to a hollow portion of the rotor blade and providing a liquid foam mixture in the hollow portion of the rotor blade through at least one opening of the rotor blade, wherein the liquid foam mixture expands and becomes a solid foam material that fills the hollow portion of the rotor blade.

Methods for forming rotor blades having foam cores

A tension-torsion strap, for example for a rotor aircraft, including a continuous length of carbon fiber tow arranged in multiple loops to form an elongated member extending between opposing ends and a flexible cover encasing the carbon fiber tow.

Tension-torsion strap

Growing community of inventors

Fort Worth, TX, United States of America

Andrew Paul Haldeman