Lift and propulsion device, and heavier-than-air aircraft provided with such a device
View Patent ↗The invention relates to a device suitable for vertical and horizontal transport of loads, in particular heavy loads, in good weather conditions, using the load-bearing capacity obtained by means of blowing a stream of air, produced by a generator, on two longitudinal lifting wings, substantially rectilinear, arranged symmetrically on either side of a supporting structure, to which the wings are connected.
1. A lift and propulsion device for a vertical or short take-off and landing aerodyne, by the effect of lift obtained by blowing an airflow produced by an airflow generator over lift airfoils connected to a support structure, the device comprising two substantially rectilinear longitudinal airfoils disposed on either side of said support structure and substantially parallel to a roll axis of the device, said two longitudinal airfoils being symmetrical to each other with respect to a plane defined by said roll axis and a yaw axis,
wherein each longitudinal airfoil has a length along said roll axis which is at least equal to the sum of the blower diameter for the total amount of blowers,
wherein generatrices of the lifting surfaces of said longitudinal airfoils are substantially rectilinear and substantially parallel to said roll axis or slightly inclined to said roll axis, and
wherein said airflow generator comprises at least one blower having an axis which is vertical or at a maximum angle of substantially 30° to said yaw axis, mounted in said support structure, with a maximum diameter that corresponds to an extreme rotation diameter of blower blades, and which is more than 50% of the width of said support structure.
2. The device according to claim 1 , wherein said support structure has, in the direction of forward cruising flight, which is the direction of said roll axis, a length greater than said width, in the direction of a pitch axis of the device, and the length of said support structure is preferably greater than twice its width.
3. The device according to claim 1 , wherein said longitudinal airfoils are connected to said support structure in such a way that said airfoils assume any angle from −10° to +10° relative to a plane defined by two of said roll axis, pitch axis and a yaw axis of the device.
4. The device according to claim 3 wherein said longitudinal airfoils and at least one structural element that connects them to said support structure form a rigid assembly that may be locked with respect to an articulation axis parallel to or coinciding with said roll axis or an articulation axis parallel to or coinciding with a pitch axis.
5. A vertical or short take-off and landing aerodyne, comprising a support structure supporting a lift and propulsion device comprising an airflow generator and two substantially rectilinear longitudinal airfoils disposed on either side of said support structure and substantially parallel to a roll axis of the device, said two longitudinal airfoils being symmetrical to each other with respect to a plane defined by said roll axis and a yaw axis,
wherein said airflow generator comprises at least one blower having an axis which is vertical or at a maximum angle of substantially 30° to said yaw axis, mounted in said support structure, with a maximum diameter that corresponds to an extreme rotation diameter of blower blades,
wherein each longitudinal airfoil has a length along said roll axis which is at least equal to the sum of the blower diameter for the total amount of blowers, and which is more than 50% of the width of said support structure, said device being supported in an upper part of said support structure, which is fitted out, in a lower part, as a nacelle accommodating a driving system and disposed between said two longitudinal airfoils of said device.