1542

DESIGN: UniCopter ~ Rotor - Hub - ARR - Twinned Blades

Overview:

To produce two opposed blades at the same time. To be used in an 'Absolutely' Rigid 4-blade rotor.

Reasons:

To have the centrifugal force of one blade opposed the centrifugal force of the other blade.
To reduce the size (and drag) of the rotorhub.
To allow one opposed pair of blades to be rotated 90º inplane, so that the blade pairs are parallel and take up less space for parking.

Sketch:

Notes:

A single spar runs from the tip of one blade to the tip of the opposing blade. It consists of unidirectional carbon thread combined with an elastic epoxy. This thread-epoxy combination allows the tips of the spar to be twisted about their feathering axis in opposition to each other while maintaining an extremely strong resistance to out-of-plane and in-plane bending.

To allow blade-pair alignment for storage: The hub housing consists of two halves, one on top of the other. Inside the hub, the portion of the spar of one blade-pair passes over the portion of the other blade-pair. The two housings are interlocked during operation. However, the upper hub half and its blade-pair are raised and rotated 90º in-plane for storage.

A precone of approximately 4º (total of 8º) will be wound and cured into the twin blade assembly.

How are the two (sets?) of feathering bearings installed over the spar? Two part elastomeric, similar to a split bushing?

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Initially displayed: January 15, 2007 ~ Last Revised: January 15, 2007

The above utility invention is openly and publicly disclosed on the Internet to negate an entity from patenting it, to the exclusion of all others whom may wish to use it. ~ Reference patent law 35 U.S.C. 102 A person shall be entitled to a patent unless - (a) the invention was known ... by others in this country, ..., before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent.