Hybrid drive and fuel vaporizer for UAV and other mobile environments
A hybrid drive having a load shaft; a motor/generator coupled to the load shaft; an internal combustion engine; an electromagnetic clutch, configured to disengageably couple the internal combustion engine to the load shaft, and located between the motor/generator and the internal combustion engine; and a power supply, coupled to the motor/generator and to the clutch.
1 . A hybrid drive comprising:
a load shaft;
a motor/generator coupled to the load shaft;
an internal combustion engine;
an electromagnetic clutch, configured to disengagably couple the internal combustion engine to the load shaft, and located between the motor/generator and the internal combustion engine; and
a power supply, coupled to the motor/generator and to the electromagnetic clutch; and
a fuel vaporizer configured to provide a combustible air/fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine, the fuel vaporizer including a body, a fuel inlet, an air inlet, an air/fuel outlet, and a heater that rapidly vaporizes the fuel, wherein the air inlet is disposed downstream of the fuel inlet at a location wherein the fuel has been rapidly vaporized by the heater so that air flows from the air inlet in a direction tangential to flow of the vaporized fuel so as to cause formation of an air vortex that mixes with the vaporized fuel from the fuel inlet thereby forming the combustible air/fuel mixture.
2 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 1 , configured so that the internal combustion engine both drives the load shaft and causes the motor/generator to recharge the power supply.
3 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 1 , configured so that the internal combustion engine is started by energy from the power supply delivered to the motor/generator.
4 . An aircraft having a hybrid drive according to claim 1 , further comprising a thruster coupled to the load shaft.
5 . A method of achieving a quiet mode of operation of a UAV using the hybrid drive of claim 1 , the method comprising, in the following order:
(1) turning off the internal combustion engine when the quiet mode of operation is required and driving the load shaft solely with the motor/generator; and
(2) restarting the internal combustion engine when the quiet mode of operation is no longer required, using the motor/generator to restart the internal combustion engine.
6 . A method of achieving a dash speed operation of an UAV using the hybrid drive of claim 1 , the method including driving the load shaft with both the motor/generator and the internal combustion engine.
7 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 1 , wherein the power supply includes an electronic control unit configured to switch the motor/generator's mode of operation to a mode of operation selected from the group consisting of motor operation, generator operation, and combinations thereof.
8 . A hybrid drive according to claim 1 , wherein the heater is operated by an arrangement selected from the group consisting of electrical means, exhaust gas, and combinations thereof.
9 . A hybrid drive comprising:
a load shaft;
an electric motor, coupled to the load shaft;
an over-running one-way clutch, coupled to the load shaft;
a motor/generator, disengageably coupled to the load shaft through the over-running one-way clutch;
an internal combustion engine having an engine output shaft, the engine output shaft coupled to the load shaft and the electric motor, so that the load shaft is driven by a source selected from the group consisting of the electric motor, the internal combustion engine in combination with the motor/generator, and the internal combustion engine in combination with the motor/generator and the electric motor; a power supply, coupled to the electric motor and the motor/generator;
wherein the load shaft, and the clutch, and the engine output shaft are co-axially aligned; and
a fuel vaporizer configured to provide a combustible/fuel mixture to the internal combustion engine, the fuel vaporizer including a body, a fuel inlet an air inlet, an air/fuel outlet, and a heater that rapidly vaporizes the fuel, wherein the air inlet is disposed downstream of the fuel inlet at a location wherein the fuel has been rapidly vaporized by the heater so that air flows from the air inlet in a direction tangential to flow of the vaporized fuel so as to cause formation of an air vortex that mixes with the vaporized fuel from the fuel inlet thereby forming the combustible air/fuel mixture.
10 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 9 , configured so that the internal combustion engine both drives the load shaft and causes the motor/generator to recharge the power supply.
11 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 9 , configured so that the internal combustion engine is started by energy from the power supply delivered to the motor/generator.
12 . A hybrid drive according to claim 9 , wherein the heater is operated by an arrangement selected from the group consisting of electrical means, exhaust gas, and combinations thereof.
13 . An aircraft having a hybrid drive according to claim 9 , further comprising a thruster coupled to the load shaft.
14 . A method of achieving a quiet mode of operation of a UAV using the hybrid drive of claim 9 , the method comprising, in the following order:
(1) turning off the internal combustion engine when the quiet mode of operation is required and driving the load shaft solely with the electric motor; and
(2) restarting the internal combustion engine when the quiet mode of operation is no longer required, using the motor/generator to restart the internal combustion engine.
15 . A method of achieving a dash speed operation of an UAV using the hybrid drive of claim 9 , the method including driving the load shaft with a combination of the motor/generator, the electric motor, and the internal combustion engine.
16 . A hybrid drive, according to claim 9 , wherein the power supply includes an electronic control unit configured to switch the motor/generator's mode of operation to a mode of operation selected from the group consisting of motor operation, generator operation, and combinations thereof.
17 . A fuel vaporizer, of the type coupled for use with an internal combustion engine, and including a body, a fuel inlet, an air inlet, an air/fuel outlet, and a heater that rapidly vaporizes the fuel, wherein the air inlet is disposed downstream of the fuel inlet at a location wherein the fuel has been rapidly vaporized by the heater so that air flows from the air inlet in a direction tangential to flow of the vaporized fuel so as to cause formation of an air vortex that mixes with the vaporized fuel from the fuel inlet thereby forming an air/fuel mixture.
18 . The fuel vaporizer according to claim 17 , wherein the heater is operated by an arrangement selected from the group consisting of electrical means, exhaust gas, and combinations thereof.