Granted Patent B2

US 12,729,012 · App. 18/222,558 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Michael Heckl (Donauworth, DE); Julius Vogl (Gersthofen, DE)

Assignee: AIRBUS HELICOPTERS DEUTSCHLAND GMBH

B64D47/06B64C27/463B64C27/82F21K2/00B64C2027/8281

Abstract

Claims (50)

1 . A rotorcraft with a fuselage and a tail boom, comprising:

a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the tail boom;

at least one main rotor with a rotor head and a plurality of rotor blades extending from the rotor head toward associated rotor blade tips, wherein the associated rotor blade tips form a virtual blade tip circle upon rotation around the rotor head;

at least one luminescent component provided on at least one of the associated rotor blade tips; and

a blade tip illumination device comprising at least one light source that is integrated into the horizontal stabilizer and configured to emit a light beam toward the virtual blade tip circle for excitation of the at least one luminescent component, wherein the emitted light beam is at least approximately emitted in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer, and wherein the emitted light beam is focused towards the virtual blade tip circle and strikes the at least one luminescent component at least approximately perpendicularly during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head;

wherein the at least one luminescent component is adapted to emit light in response to excitation via the emitted light beam, wherein the emitted light forms during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head on the virtual blade tip circle a luminous ring, and

wherein the emitted light beam is a light beam with a luminous intensity of at least 65,000 cd and with a beam angle of less than 10°.

2 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the horizontal stabilizer forms a wing-like structure with an inner volume, and wherein the at least one light source is arranged inside the inner volume.

3 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the at least one light source is covered by a transparent cover, and wherein the transparent cover is aligned with an upper surface of the horizontal stabilizer.

4 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the emitted light beam is a white light beam.

5 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the horizontal stabilizer and the virtual blade tip circle are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined vertical distance of at most 2 m.

6 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the horizontal stabilizer and the virtual blade tip circle are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined vertical distance of 1.5 m.

7 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the at least one light source is one of a LED, Halogen, Laser or Xenon light.

8 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the at least one luminescent component comprises a luminescent coating applied to the at least one of the associated rotor blade tips.

9 . The rotorcraft of claim 8 ,

wherein the luminescent coating comprises at least a base coating, a phosphorescent layer, and a glossy clear coating.

10 . The rotorcraft claim 9 ,

wherein the glossy clear coating comprises a glossiness of more than 90 Gloss units.

11 . The rotorcraft of claim 9 ,

wherein the phosphorescent layer is adapted to return light in response to excitation with a white light beam, and wherein the glossy clear coating is adapted to return light in response to excitation with an infrared light beam.

12 . The rotorcraft of claim 11 ,

further comprising a command unit configured to command the at least one light source to emit one of the white light beam, or the infrared light beam.

13 . The rotorcraft of claim 11 ,

wherein the emitted light has a wavelength suitable for detection with a night-vision device, if the emitted light beam is the infrared light beam with a radiant intensity of approximately 0.1 W/sr.

14 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the luminous ring disappears within a predetermined period of time, if the at least one light source is switched off.

15 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the luminous ring disappears within a predetermined period of time that is less than 5 minutes, if the at least one light source is switched off.

16 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the at least one luminescent component comprises a luminescent sticker attached on the at least one of the associated rotor blade tips.

17 . The rotorcraft of claim 8 ,

wherein the at least one luminescent component comprises a luminescent sticker attached on the at least one of the associated rotor blade tips.

18 . The rotorcraft of claim 1 ,

wherein the horizontal stabilizer forms a wing-like structure with an inner volume, and wherein the at least one light source is arranged inside the inner volume, wherein the at least one light source is covered by a transparent cover, and wherein the transparent cover is aligned with an upper surface of the horizontal stabilizer.

19 . The rotorcraft of claim 18 ,

wherein the at least one luminescent component comprises a luminescent sticker attached on the at least one of the associated rotor blade tips, or a luminescent coating applied to the at least one of the associated rotor blade tips.

20 . A rotorcraft with a fuselage and a tail boom, comprising:

a horizontal stabilizer mounted to the tail boom;

at least one main rotor with a rotor head and a plurality of rotor blades extending from the rotor head toward associated rotor blade tips, wherein the associated rotor blade tips form a virtual blade tip circle upon rotation around the rotor head;

at least one luminescent component provided on at least one of the associated rotor blade tips; and

a blade tip illumination device comprising at least one light source that is integrated into the horizontal stabilizer and configured to emit a light beam toward the virtual blade tip circle for excitation of the at least one luminescent component, wherein the emitted light beam is at least approximately emitted in a direction perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer, and wherein the emitted light beam is focused towards the virtual blade tip circle and strikes the at least one luminescent component at least approximately perpendicularly during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head;

wherein the at least one luminescent component is adapted to emit light in response to excitation via the emitted light beam, wherein the emitted light forms during rotation of the associated rotor blade tips around the rotor head on the virtual blade tip circle a luminous ring,

wherein the emitted light beam is a white light beam with a luminous intensity of 68,000 cd and with a beam angle of 8°.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (9)