RU2752039C2 - Hybrid aeronautical vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: aeronautical vehicles.

SUBSTANCE: hybrid aeronautical vehicle designed for off-road, water and air movement includes an electric car with all-terrain wheels, a quadcopter and gas tanks that create lift together with aircraft engines of the quadcopter. Gas tanks are made in the form of bellows changing the gas volume by means of tension devices. An electric car bottom is made in the form of a waterfowl vessel bottom, which improves the vehicle movement in water. Reserve gas tanks of excessive pressure are located at the electric car bottom. Electric car wheels have a rim and a disk made of aluminum, as well as tires filled with light gas.

EFFECT: invention is aimed at expanding the arsenal of technical means.

2 cl, 3 dwg

Description

The proposed invention relates to the field of aeronautical vehicles, in particular to the class of flying machines.

An attempt to teach cars to fly has not yet been feasible. Most of the creators of hybrid vehicles have taken the path of adapting aircraft to the roads. Hence the aeronautical calculation methodology, increased strength and precision in component fabrication.

Many problems arise during the operation of such hybrid vehicles:

- special sites are needed for takeoff and landing, winged vehicles still need a runway;

- learning problem;

- the problem of safety during flights;

- it is necessary to create an airspace control service;

- the entire land is built up with high-rise buildings and structures, entangled with wires, many restricted areas for flight, all this requires solving the legal problems of using hybrid vehicles.

Recently, interest in “exotic aviation” has been falling due to the lack of prospects for a hybrid of an airplane and a car ”[1]. However, to increase the maneuverability of infantry and airborne troops in off-road conditions, flying infantry fighting vehicles will find wide application.

The proposed invention represents a hybrid aeronautical vehicle, the components of which are: the lower part is the hull of a waterfowl with a propeller, the middle part is an electric vehicle with gas tanks, the upper part is a quadrocopter, which creates a lifting force together with gas tanks in the body of the bellows. To facilitate the structure, metal parts the wheels are made of aluminum, and the tires, with an increased diameter, are filled with light gas.

To date, many models of hybrid aircraft, helicopter and multicopter types are being developed, but the matter has not reached serial production.

Modern examples of "an airplane capable of moving on the road" are the "Transition" (Nransition) and "PAL - V One" cars, developed by the American company "Terrafugia" and the Dutch company "PAL - V Europe", respectively [2, 3].

The two-seater "Transition" has a composite structure, a folding wing and a two-fin tail unit, and is also equipped with a Rotax 912 ULS piston engine with a capacity of 95 hp. sec., which drives a three-bladed Rotax pusher propeller with a diameter of 1.7 meters and allows the car to reach speeds of up to 185 km / h and move along the highway at speeds up to 110 km / h. Flight range - 787 km, cruising range on the highway - 1296 km, length - 6.02 m, wingspan - 8.08 m, height - 1.98 m, length / width in the car version - 5.72 / 2.29 m, empty weight - 440 kg, payload weight - 210 kg, maximum takeoff weight - 650 kg. In the event of a stall, the crew can use a parachute, which ensures a smooth and safe descent of the "flying car". A plane-car uses ordinary high-octane gasoline as fuel, which can be refueled at any gas station. It is assumed that from 50 to 200 of these machines will be produced annually. It is rather difficult to estimate the size of the market, given that almost all adult Americans have a driver's license, then about 600 thousand US residents have a small aviation pilot license.

The main problem that the developers of the flying car were forced to solve was the creation of a folding wing. As a result, it was possible to develop a wing model that unfolds and folds at the touch of a button (earlier models of flying machines used a different method - the wings had to be attached manually). However, until now, Terrafugia has not yet received permission to manufacture its aircraft. For this Transition must meet the requirements of two different regulatory structures: the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, which licenses car models, and the Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses aircraft models. For obvious reasons, both structures use fundamentally different evaluation criteria. Filling the airspace with road cars is a multiplying problem of the safety of the entire air transport of countries.

The second device is more of a two-seater "flying motorcycle", and if we evaluate it from a technical point of view, it is a hybrid of an autogyro or gyrocopter and a mini-car, which moves in flight due to a pushing propeller installed in the tail of the "fuselage" and a main rotor ... Track stability is ensured by the spaced two-fin tail unit. The propellers and tail assembly are folding, the chassis is tricycle with wheels of sufficiently large diameter, the engine is a 160 kW gasoline engine that allows speeds in the air and on the ground up to 180 km / h. Empty weight - 680 kg, maximum takeoff weight - 910 kg. The prototype was tested in 2012, today the company is looking for investors to launch the device into mass production - the price of the machine should be about $ 300 thousand.

Both units can run on gasoline, biofuel or ethanol.

The Dutch "flying motorcycle" has attracted interest not only among civilian enthusiasts, but also among the police and the military. A special feature of the two cars is the power plant, which can run on both gasoline and biofuel or ethanol, and allows the vehicles to take off from a 170 m long highway section. The flight is possible after a training course.

Within the framework of the program, officially launched in 2010 and designed to be implemented in three stages, it was planned to develop both the apparatus itself and such individual systems as a fan propulsion system with a propeller in a ring nozzle and with a hybrid electric transmission, new electric motors, battery high-capacity batteries and capacitors, as well as a modern flight control system and on-board computer. Estimated performance characteristics of the American "Transformer" were planned as follows: length - 910 cm, width - 260 cm, height - 270 cm, crew - 4 people, payload weight - 450 kg, range - 450-460 km, armor - bulletproof. The cost of the serial sample was planned in the region of $ 1 million.

During the first stage, it was planned to carry out research in individual areas, as well as to develop a concept for the future "miracle weapon" and draft designs for a prototype and a serial sample. As part of this stage, DARPA was supposed to find performers and issue them contracts totaling $ 65 million. In reality, agreements were signed with a consortium of companies led by AAI Corporation, as well as with Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney. Rocketdyne ". The latter was tasked with developing a diesel engine for the Transformer.

As part of the second phase, the winning companies, AAI Corporation and Lockheed Martin, were to have already developed a full-fledged flying car project. The first company proposed a vehicle weighing about 3220 kg, capable of flying at an altitude of 3050 m and equipped with a Honeywell HTS900 turboshaft engine with a capacity of 1200 hp, which propels a four-wheel chassis when driving on the ground or pushing a propeller in a ring nozzle with a diameter of 1.42 m and main rotor with a diameter of 15.2 m. On land, the device was supposed to reach speeds of up to 128 km / h, and in the air - up to 287 km / h. The second company proposed a project for a machine weighing 3175 kg, equipped with two turboshaft engines driving rotary screws in an annular nozzle with a diameter of 2.6 m, mounted on a wing with a span of 12.5 m, as well as a Pratt & Whitney EnduroCore diesel engine, which was supposed to provide movement on land. Finally, in the third phase, the winning company of the second phase had to build a working prototype and fly it into the air in 2015.

Its own version of the army "flying car" was proposed by the company "AVX Aircraft", which applied a generally similar concept, but decided to rely on the use of a coaxial rotor, and the propellers in the annular nozzles should provide movement both in the air and on the ground [4] ...

AVX has proposed to DARPA its AVX-TX tactical flying vehicle, which uses a patented combination of coaxial main rotor and propellers in annular nozzles. The vehicle is designed for a payload of 470 kg, a flight speed of 225 km / h and a road speed of up to 130 km / h. " Logi Aerospace, in collaboration with Trek Aerospace and Zap Electric Vehicles, proposed the Tyrannos, which was to be powered by a 130 kW engine and could perform vertical takeoff and landing, for which it is proposed to use four propellers in annular nozzles, of which three were supposed to be used to ensure horizontal flight. The mass of "Tyranos" was determined at 1360 kg, payload - 500 kg, maximum flight speed - 250 km / h, and road speed - up to 100 km / h [5]. Airphibian became the first flying car in the world to be certified by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the predecessor of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). However, despite the apparent success of the flying machine, Fulton was unable to bring it to mass production [6].

In June 2017, French pilot Bruno Vezzoli crossed the English Channel in a flying car called "Pegasus", which was created by entrepreneur Jerome Dauphy [7].

Soviet engineers tried to create a "winged tank". On January 19, 1933, the design bureau of Aram Nazarovich Rafaelyants, a Soviet aircraft designer and future developer of the experimental vertical take-off vehicle Turbolet (1957) equipped with an AL-9G gas turbine engine, was tasked with creating such a tank. The idea was to suspend the BT tank to the aircraft from which the engine was dismantled, and the propeller was provided from the tank engine by means of a mechanical transmission. After landing, the crew had to undock the tank from the "plane" and join the battle, and the tankers would not have to leave the car for this. It is interesting that at the same time the future creator of coaxial helicopters Nikolai Ilyich Kamov presented his project of a "flying tank" at the same time - it was a kind of hybrid of a light tank and an autogyro. The "flying tank" of Rafaelyantsa was to be armed with a 20-mm automatic cannon and a DT machine gun, armor protection - bulletproof, power plant - a 650-horsepower M-17 engine. However, it soon became clear that with such a power plant, the tank could only fly "like a stone down." The project was closed, but after the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, when things at the front were not very brilliant, they began to grab at any straw. They also remembered the "flying tank", the work on which this time was taken over by the aircraft designer Oleg Konstantinovich Antonov.

It was about creating for the existing light tank T-60, produced in an amount of almost 6,000 pieces and armed with a 20-mm TNSh cannon and a 7.62-mm DT machine gun, a simple design of a disposable biplane airframe with a spaced two-fin tail with two stabilizers. The tank had to be "inserted" into the glider, which, in turn, had to be towed by DB-3 F or TB-3 aircraft. It was planned that the "winged tank" would detach from the towing aircraft 20-26 km from the designated landing area, silently cover the distance and land, after which the glider would be dropped and the vehicle would engage. This system was supposed to be used to transfer detachments of light tanks for sabotage raids behind enemy lines or to reinforce partisan detachments. The glider, which was given the designation "KT" ("Wings of the tank", also used the designations AT, AT-1 and A-40), was designed in just two weeks, and in the summer of 1942, the prototype, built in Tyumen, was ready to the tests. The biplane box of the airframe had a wingspan of 18.0 m, the length of the airframe was 12.06 m, the weight of the airframe with the tank was 7804 kg, and the tank itself was lightened to 5800 kg (for testing, the tank lost its weapons, headlights and almost all fuel). The wings are two-spar, with a plywood toe up to the first spar and linen sheathing, they were connected by a set of four I-struts and braces. The wings had ailerons and slotted flaps, the elevator was only on the upper stabilizer. The glider was controlled in flight by the tank driver, for which there was a cable control. The crew also included a shooter.

However, as in the case with any "miracle weapon", in reality the situation turned out to be significantly far from those fantasies that possessed the military and designers. There are no miracles. The same happened with the "flying tank" KT / T-60 - this armored airline complex was able to make only one flight, on September 2, 1942. A towing aircraft, in the role of which was a modified TB-3 bomber with four reinforced ones, with a capacity of 970 liters each. s, AM-34 RN engines (crew commander Pavel Arsentievich Eremeev), and the KT tank glider was operated by the famous Soviet test pilot Sergei Nikolaevich Anokhin (1910-1986). The complex, of course, rose into the air, but due to the high aerodynamic resistance, the power of the TB-3 power plant was only enough to lift the complex to a height of 40 meters and develop a speed of 130 km / h. An attempt to increase the speed was not crowned with success - the motors began to overheat, and the whole complex began to lose height. Pilot P.A. Erofeev eventually decided to unhook the glider with the tank in an emergency in the area of the nearest airfield, from where the tank returned to the base on its own. The Advanced Research Fund (FPI), supervised by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, has determined the winner of the competition to create a "flying car". 61 applications were submitted for the competition, and two companies became the winners - PromService from Istra (Moscow region) and Flash-M from Krasnoyarsk.

"It is planned to conclude agreements with the winner and prize-winner of the FPI for the implementation of aviation projects, based on the results of which decisions will be made on the implementation in 2018-2020 at the expense of the FPI of relevant scientific and technical projects to create a vertical or ultra-short takeoff and landing aircraft," says in the information of the FPI. Other details about the project are not given [8]. At present, Avtovaz is also planning to develop "flying cars". The Russian firm Hoversuper has developed a flying passenger taxi based on flying drones. The aircraft is fully automated and is guided by the Glanas system. Simultaneously, it monitors all objects in the surrounding airspace [9]. Extensive experience in testing experimental models of aircraft has shown that aircraft with vertical take-off and landing are more promising, the mass production of which is a problem of tomorrow. The German company Lilium Aviation has developed a machine that can accommodate four people, is capable of taking off vertically, like a helicopter, and will have a jet engine. It will run on hydrogen fuel. The flying car will use Urban Aeronautics' patented Fancraft technology, which means that the rotor blades will be installed inside the vehicle, rather than outside, like in helicopters. This technology will allow a flying car to land and take off vertically from any surface without jeopardizing the blades [10]. For a prototype, you can take an aeronautical apparatus consisting of a car and a paraglider. Here, the weight of the machine is compensated for by the lifting force of the paraplane. The machine must have a push propeller and a runway of more than 100 m. It flies at a speed of 60 km / h at an altitude of up to 900 m. Issues of control, takeoff and landing are problematic. Such a car is suitable only for extreme lovers [11].

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION - creation of a hybrid aeronautical vehicle based on an electric vehicle and a quadrocopter using gas tanks to create a lifting force, intended for movement on off-road, water and air.

The proposed hybrid aeronautical vehicle is designed to transport people and goods in off-road conditions, weak watered soil of the tundra and many rivers and streams without the presence of bridges during the construction of production facilities and laying pipelines in the Far North region.

The hybrid aeronautical vehicle includes an electric vehicle with increased cross-country ability, a quadraopter and gas tanks, characterized in that the gas tanks that create lift together with the aircraft propulsion units of the quadraopter are made in the form of bellows that change the gas volume using tensioning devices, and the bottom of the electric vehicle is made in the form of the bottom of a waterfowl the vessel, which improves the movement of the apparatus through the water, and at the bottom of the electric vehicle there are reserve gas tanks of overpressure. In order to facilitate the apparatus, the rim and disc of the wheels are made of aluminum, the tires are filled with light gas, which improves the movement of the apparatus on off-road, water and air. The machine is designed for short-term flights in difficult situations and is not intended for long-distance flights at high altitudes, which would require the presence of wings and powerful helicopter engines, and therefore additional batteries or fuel tanks, as well as the aerodynamic properties of the machine body. It will no longer be an electric vehicle, but a hybrid aircraft less suited for road travel and greater problems with access to the sky.

FIG. 1 shows a hybrid aeronautical vehicle for air travel;

in fig. 2 shows a hybrid aeronautical vehicle for off-road and water travel;

in fig. 3 shows a hybrid aeronautical apparatus from above with a cut.

The main elements of a hybrid vehicle are:

Cab, 2 - gas chamber bellows, 3 - tensioner, 4 - quadcopter propulsion, 5 - cargo compartment, 6 - batteries, 7 - propeller, 8 - reserve gas tanks, 9 - electric car motor, 10 - wheel with a tire filled gas, 11 - the lower part of the electric vehicle in the form of a waterfowl hull, 12 - waterline, 13 - electric vehicle control panel, 14 - quadcopter control panel.

When moving a hybrid aeronautical vehicle through the air, the following devices are involved (Fig. 1): the cabin - 1 of the electric vehicle is equipped with three seats for the driver and two for passengers, as well as an electric car control panel - 13 and a quadrocopter control panel - 14. When overcoming obstacles up to 3 m and the impossibility of going around it, the bellows of the gas chambers are moved apart - 2, which compensate for the weight of the electric vehicle.

Further movement of the device is carried out by the propellers of the quadrocopter - 4 under the control of the control panel - 14 and the navigation system.

When landing, the bellows 2 are compressed by automatic tensioning devices - 3 and the apparatus by the propellers 4 smoothly touches the ground. In case of gas leaks - helium from the bellows, the gas can be compensated from the reserve gas tanks - 8, which are under excess pressure (heavy compressed air cylinders are replaced by tanks with a light, durable polymer body).

When moving the hybrid aeronautical vehicle off-road and water (Fig. 2), the following devices are involved: the bellows of the gas chambers 2 are in a compressed state inside the body of the electric vehicle (the propulsion system of the quadrocopter can be dismantled with prolonged non-use). Gas chambers of bellows - 2 and reserve gas tanks - 8, significantly lighten the weight of the electric vehicle, which improves its movement on the water, while the propulsive force is carried out by the propeller - 7, and the control of movement on the water is carried out by turning the wheels - 10. The movement of the apparatus through the water is facilitated execution of the lower part of the electric vehicle - 11 in the form of a waterfowl hull.To preserve the vegetation cover of the tundra, the drums and wheel disks - 10 are made of aluminum, and tires larger than the usual ones are made of hard-elastic rubber or plastic and filled with light helium gas.

FIG. 3 shows a hybrid aeronautical apparatus from above with a cut. All wheels of the electric vehicle 10 are driven and each wheel is driven by an electric motor 9. The electric motors are powered by lithium-ion batteries 6, which are heavy, expensive and limit the carrying capacity and duration of operation of the hybrid aeronautical vehicle. It is possible in the future to use iridium pellets with plutonium 238, which generate energy in radioisotope thermoelectric generators that ensures the operation of aircraft or chargers for decades [12]. Such a charger or battery is very necessary for the conditions of the Far North, there are almost no villages in the tundra and taiga area.

The body of the electric vehicle is an aluminum frame covered with Kevlar. A cheaper polypropylene case, but such a case is not recoverable from an impact in an accident.

The speed of a hybrid aeronautical vehicle is much lower than that of airplanes adapted to the roads, but the power consumption is several times less. The carrying capacity of a hybrid aeronautical vehicle is limited: during flight - by the lifting force of the quadrocopter and gas chambers; when moving on water - by the waterline, and on the difficult-to-restore cover of the tundra - by the permissible specific pressure of the wheels on the kidney.

Most of the elements of the proposed device are made of aluminum, lightweight carbon plastics, for example, ABS plastic or KLEVLAR fibers, which are stronger than steel, but lighter than steel.

In endless Russia, there are few good roads, but there is a lot of snow, deserts and swamps. The proposed hybrid aeronautical vehicle can be a lifesaver in sand, snow and mud. And the cost of such a car is not much more than the usual one. The developed device is acceptable in the Far North, marshy weak tundra soil during the construction of industrial facilities and pipelines for the prompt delivery of documentation, spare parts and specialists.

1. Shcherbakov V. Flying car: from fantasy to reality // Brother: Monthly magazine of special purpose units. - M .: OOO "Vityaz-Brother", 2013. - No. 4. - S. 44-44

2. The Transition (Terrafugia, USA),

3 .. PALV (J. Becker, Holland),

4. AMV-211 (AMV Aircraft, USA),

5. Skyblazer (R. Haynes, USA),

6. Aerocar (Multon Taylor, USA),

7. The French pilot crossed the English Channel in a flying car. RuNews24.ru (June 14, 2017).

8.https: //news.drom.ru/52441.html?tcb=1499424897

9.https://yotube.com

10.rosbalt.ru

11.https: //myvi.ru

12. NASA Memo Regarding Radio-Isotope Thermal Generators. Posted: Saturday, March 17, 2018

Claims (2)

1. A hybrid aeronautical vehicle designed for off-road, water and air travel, including an electric vehicle with off-road wheels, a quadrocopter and gas tanks, characterized in that the gas tanks that create lift together with the aircraft propellers of the quadcopter are made in the form of bellows that change gas volume with the help of tensioning devices, and the bottom of the electric vehicle is made in the form of the bottom of a waterfowl, which improves the movement of the device through the water, and at the bottom of the electric vehicle there are reserve gas tanks of excess pressure. 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said wheels have a rim and a disc made of aluminum, as well as tires filled with light gas.

Images