The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 11, 2018
Filed:
Mar. 24, 2016
The United States of America As Represented BY the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC (US);
David D. North, Williamsburg, VA (US);
Mark J. Aull, Cincinatti, OH (US);
William J. Fredericks, Williamsburg, VA (US);
Mark D. Moore, Williamsburg, VA (US);
Paul M. Rothhaar, Newport News, VA (US);
William T. Hodges, Yorktown, VA (US);
Zachary R. Johns, Virginia Beach, VA (US);
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE ADMINISTRATOR OF NASA, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
Systems, methods, and devices provide a vehicle, such as an aircraft, with rotors configured to function as a tri-copter for vertical takeoff and landing ('VTOL') and a fixed-wing vehicle for forward flight. One rotor may be mounted at a front of the vehicle fuselage on a hinged structure controlled by an actuator to tilt from horizontal to vertical positions. Two additional rotors may be mounted on the horizontal surface of the vehicle tail structure with rotor axes oriented vertically to the fuselage. For forward flight of the vehicle, the front rotor may be rotated down such that the front rotor axis may be oriented horizontally along the fuselage and the front rotor may act as a propeller. For vertical flight, the front rotor may be rotated up such that the front rotor axis may be oriented vertically to the fuselage, while the tail rotors may be activated.