WO2003020584A1

WO2003020584A1 - Wing of flying object for flapping motion

Info

Publication number: WO2003020584A1
Application number: PCT/KR2002/001672
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jong Bok Woo
Original assignee: Aerodavinci Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-09-04
Filing date: 2002-09-04
Publication date: 2003-03-13
Also published as: KR20030020731A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wing of a flying object for flapping motion, which comprises a wing frame and a wing cloth, the wing cloth having a repeated curved surface substantially to the direction of flying of the flying object in which the top surface is convex and the bottom surface is concave, thereby determining the directions of inflow of air into the wing and outflow of air out of the wing, and the curved surface being formed with grooves at a regular distance to the perpendicular direction of flying of the flying object, thereby generating eddy flow to increase lifting and propulsion forces.

Description

WING OF FLYING OBJECT FOR FLAPPING MOTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a wing structure of a flying object capable of performing flapping motions. More specifically, the present invention relates to a wing structure of a flying object having a wing cloth and capable of performing the flapping motions, in which the wing cloth has a plurality of curved parts repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction; each of the curved parts has a plurality of laterally elongate depressions to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions and to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth; the airflow forms vortexes to increase the lifting force; and a wing frame is provided with an extension part for serving as a weight.

Background of the Invention

The human desire for flying over the sky has been continuously existed from the ancient times to the present. According to this desire, the two brothers of Wilber Writer and Obil Writer of U.S. succeeded in making a first winged and powered airplane. This airplane actually owes to the toy airplanes for its success of birth.

Thus the model airplanes including the toy airplanes suggest a new technology in the aircraft industry. The model airplanes are also used as sports or recreational means. Among the conventional toy flying objects, there is the kite but this kite is made to float in the sky by utilizing the wind, and therefore, the center of gravity has to be inevitably considered in making the kite. Further, the kite is controlled with a long string, and the manipulation of the string is not easy, with the result that its utility as a toy is limited. Besides the kite, there are the radio-controlled airplanes and helicopters. Therefore, a demand has arisen for a new kind of a wing assembly of the flying object which is different from the integral wings of the wind-utilizing kite, and is capable of flying at a low velocity. In connection of this, the present inventor developed a flying object which is capable of flying through flapping motions of wings which are in turn powered by a compressed-air engine. This flying object was filed for a patent in Korea (Patent Application No.2000-43618: Jul. 28, 2000) and as a PCT application (PCT/KROl/00932: Jun. 1, 2001).

The present invention provides a wing structure for the flying object of the mentioned patent applications (2000-43618) and (PCT/KROl/00932), and as a matter of fact, these wings can be applied to all the flying objects that perform flapping motions.

Summary of the Invention

Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a wing structure of a flying object in which the wing cloth has a plurality of curved parts repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction, and each of the curved parts has a plurality of laterally elongate depressions to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions. It is another object of the present invention to provide a wing structure of a flying object in which the wing cloth has a plurality of curved parts repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction, and each of the curved parts has a plurality of laterally elongate depressions to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a wing structure of a flying object in which the wing cloth has a plurality of curved parts repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction, each of the curved parts has a plurality of laterally elongate depressions to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions and to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth, and the airflow forms vortexes to increase the lifting force; It is still another object of the present invention to provide a wing structure of a flying object in which a wing frame is provided with an extension part for serving as a weight.

In achieving the above objects, the wing structure of a flying object having a wing cloth and capable of performing flapping motions according to the present invention includes: the wing cloth 4 consisting of a plurality of curved parts 21 repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction; each of the curved parts 21 having a plurality of laterally elongate depression parts 22 to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions and to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth; the airflow forming vortexes to increase the lifting force; and a wing frame 3 provided with a lateral extension part 31 for serving as a weight.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described referring to the attached drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above objects and other advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the flying object having two pairs of wings and capable of performing the flapping motions;

FIG. 2A is a plan view of the wing frame of the rear left wing, and FIG. 2B is a plan view of the wing cloth;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the wing cloth according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 illustrates sectional views taken along the line A-A and line B-B of FIG. 3.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the flying object having two pairs of wings la, lb, 2a and 2b and capable of performing the flapping motions. The present invention provides a wing structure of a flying object capable of performing the flapping motions. Each of the wings includes: a wing frame 3; and a wing cloth 4 attached and secured on the wing frame 3. The flying object of FIG. 1 is the invention of PCT/KROl/00932, and includes a compressed-air engine as well as capable of performing the flapping motions.

The wing structure of the flying object capable of performing the flapping motions according to the present invention can be applied not only on the flying object of PCT/KROl/00932 but also on all other wings performing the flapping motions.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the rear left wing 2a of the present invention consisting of the wing frame 3 and the wing cloth 4. The wing cloth 4 consists of a plurality of curved parts 21 repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction, and each of the curved parts 21 includes a plurality of laterally elongate depressions 22 which are formed in the substantially lateral direction relative to the curved parts 21.

The wing frame 3 is provided with a lateral extension part 31 which serves as a weight, this being one of the basic features of the present invention. The wing of the present invention performs the flapping motions and at the same time twisting motions, and under this condition, the weight serves to generate inertia. The flapping motions and the twisting motions of the wings are described in detail in PCT/KROl/00932.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wing cloth 4 and the wing frame 3 can be manufactured separately, and then coupled together. Or they can be manufactured integrally using the same material. The preferable materials for the wing cloth 4 and the wing frame 3 includes: various polymers, plastics, silicon, ceramics and any other proper materials. The manufacturing methods include: the general machining, injection molding or extrusion, press-forming, the rapid prototyping (RP), MEMS (micro electro mechanical system) and the like. This can be easily carried out by those ordinarily skilled in the art. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the wing cloth according to the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates sectional views taken along the line A-A and line B-B of FIG. 3. The wing cloth includes a plurality of curved parts 21 repetitively arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction, and each of the curved parts 21 includes a plurality of laterally elongate depressions 22 so as to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions and so as to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth 4. Further, the incoming airflow forms vortexes so as to increase the lifting force.

Each of the curved parts 21 of the wing cloth 4 forms a convex shape, while its bottom is concave. The size of each of the curved parts 21 can be varied depending on the size of the flying object, that is, depending on the size of the wing. This can be easily carried out by those ordinarily skilled in the art. Further, each of the curved parts 21 includes a plurality of elongate depressions 22 which are lateral to the curved parts 21. The laterally elongate depressions 22 are small elongate grooves, and if viewed their cross sections, they are recess, while their bottoms are convex. The size and their distance between the laterally elongate depressions 22 can be decided in view of the size of the flying object, i.e., the size of the wings. This can be easily carried out by those ordinarily skilled in the art. The wing structure of the flying object according to the present invention is such that a plurality of the curved parts 21 are arranged perpendicularly to the advancing direction of the flying object. Each of the curved parts 21 includes a plurality of laterally elongate depressions 22 to decide the air incoming and outgoing directions, to reinforce the tension of the wing cloth, and to form vortexes in the incoming airflow so as to increase the lifting force.

That is, the plurality of the curved parts 21 are formed perpendicularly to the advancing direction of the flying object, and each of the curved parts includes a plurality of laterally elongate depressions 22. Therefore, the wing cloth comes to be stronger, and therefore, the tension of the wing cloth is reinforced. Further, the curved parts 21 and the laterally elongate depressions 22 cause the formation of the vortexes, thereby increasing the lifting force.

The weight, width, intervals, division direction and the like of the curved parts 21 can be varied in accordance with the size of the flying object, its velocity, its weight, its flying time and the like. The laterally elongate depressions 22 can be also decided in the same manner. This design can also be used to achieve that the lifting force and the propulsion force of a particular portion of the wing cloth 4 are promoted, or the vortex is removed from a particular portion of the wing cloth, thereby improving the flying performance.

In the case where the wing cloth 4 and the wing frame 3 are separately manufactured, they can be firmly coupled by using an adhesive, while in the case where they are manufactured in an integral manner, there can be employed the semiconductor deposition method, the RP method, or the injection molding method. These methods can be easily carried out by those ordinarily skilled in the art.

In the case where the press-forming method is employed, the preferable materials for manufacturing the wing cloth 4 and the wing frame 3 include: polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyethyleneterepthalate (PET), polyvinylchloride (PVC), polycarbonate (PC) and other similar synthetic resins. The most preferable is polypropylene. In the case where the R/P method is adopted, there can be used the nylon resins. In the case where a tiny flying object is manufactured, there can be used the semiconductor deposition method for the wing cloth and the wing frame. In this last case, the usable materials are wider.

In the above, the present invention was described based on the specific preferred embodiment and the attached drawings, but it should be apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be added without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, which will be defined in the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A wing structure of a flying object having a wing cloth and capable of performing flapping motions, comprising: the wing cloth 4 consisting of a plurality of curved parts 21 repetitively arranged perpendicularly to an advancing direction of the flying object; each of the curved parts 21 having a plurality of laterally elongate depression parts 22 to decide air-incoming/outgoing directions and to reinforce a tension of the wing cloth; an airflow over the laterally elongate depression parts 22 forming vortexes to increase the lifting force; and a wing frame 3 provided with a lateral extension part 31 for serving as a weight.

2. The wing structure as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each of said curved parts is of a convex form, its bottom is concave; each of the laterally elongate depressions is an elongate groove, each of them is concave, and its bottom is convex.

3. The wing structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said wing cloth and wing frame are made of a material selected from the group consisting of a polymer, a plastic, a silicon and a ceramic.

4. The wing structure as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said wing cloth and wing frame are manufactured by using one selected from the group consisting of a conventional machine process, an injection molding process, a die extrusion process, a press-forming process, a rapid prototyping process, a MEMS method, and a semiconductor deposition method.

5. The wing structure as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said wing cloth and wing frame are integrally manufactured in one body.

6. The wing structure as claimed in claim 3, wherein said polymer is selected from the group consisting of a polypropylene (PP), a polyethylene (PE), a polyethyleneterepthalate (PET), a polyvinylchloride (PVC), a polycarbonate (PC) and a nylon resin.