Four-rotor aircraft |
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申请号 | EP14153034.5 | 申请日 | 2014-01-29 | 公开(公告)号 | EP2772429A1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2014-09-03 |
申请人 | Shenzhen Hubsan Technology Co., Ltd.; | 发明人 | Zhou, Qiangwu; Zhou, Shidong; Chen, Guangyao; | ||||
摘要 | The present invention relates to a four-rotor aircraft comprising an upper cowling (5) having a first upper arm (51) and a second upper arm (52); and a lower cowling (6) having a first lower arm (61) and a second lower arm (62), wherein the first upper arm (51) and the first lower arm (61) comprise a first upper shell and a first lower shell respectively, wherein the second upper arm (52) and the second lower arm (62) comprise a second upper shell and a second lower shell respectively, wherein the first upper shell is connected to the first lower shell, and wherein the second upper shell is connected to the second lower shell, and wherein the upper cowling (5) is thereby secured to the lower cowling (6). | ||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | The disclosure herein relates to vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Four-rotor aircraft such as helicopters have found applications in both military and civilian markets. One type of aircraft generally known as a four-rotor aircraft is for example made for entertainment purposes. However, four-rotor aircraft are by no means limited to toys or remotely controlled models. Four-rotor aircraft can also be used in surveying, surveillance and aerial photography. Many conventional four-rotor aircraft comprise a great number of components distributed throughout the entire aircraft. Exemplary components include carbon fiber plates, carbon fiber rods and aluminum alloy plates. These components usually have complex shapes. The number and the complexity to the components render these conventional four-rotor aircraft less crash-resistant, less deformation-resistant, less wind-resistant, less fatigue resistant, less agile and/or less controllable (especially when performing complex maneuvers). The objective of the present invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a four-rotor aircraft which can be easily assembled and which has high resistance against crashing, deforming, wind, fatigue and/or high agility and/or controllability. The four-rotor aircraft comprises: an upper cowling having a first upper arm and a second upper arm and a lower cowling having a first lower arm and a second lower arm. The first upper arm and the first lower arm comprise a first upper shell and a first lower shell respectively. The second upper arm and the second lower arm comprises a second upper shell and a second lower shell respectively. The first upper shell is connected to the first lower shell and the second upper shell is connected to the second lower shell, thereby securing the upper cowling to the lower cowling. At least one of the first upper shells and second upper shells comprises slots and recesses, and at least one of the first lower shells and second lower shells comprises projections and steps. The projections engage with the slots and the steps engage with the recesses. The lower cowling comprises a battery seating, with said battery seating being designed so as to detachably connect the battery to the lower cowling. The upper cowling has a pocket at each end of the first upper arm and second upper arm, said pocket being configured so as to accommodate one or more electric motor(s). The four-rotor aircraft further comprises a printed circuit board configured to: receive satellite and remote control signals; transmit signals to satellites and remote control devices; control the location, speed, heading and trajectory of the four-rotor aircraft; process image signals; or combinations thereof. The printed circuit board is mounted to the upper cowling. The four-rotor aircraft further comprises solar panels. The four-rotor aircraft moreover comprises two first electric motors mounted on the first upper arm and two second electric motors mounted on the second upper arm. The two first electric motors of the four-rotor aircraft rotate clockwise and the two second electric motors rotate counter-clockwise. Or the two first electric motors rotate counter-clockwise and the two second electric motors rotate clockwise. The rotors mounted on the respective first electric motor and respective second electric motor are covered. The rotors mounted on the respective first electric motor are a mirror image of the rotors mounted on the respective second electric motor. The axis of the first electric motor and the axis of the second electric motor are parallel to each other and situated on the same cylindrical surface. The rotation of the rotors creates the lifting force. The four-rotor aircraft further comprises a battery. The battery is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The battery is designed such that it can be removably inserted on one side of the four-rotor aircraft. The lower cowling further comprises one or more rib(s), said rib(s) being designed so as to prevent accidental release of the battery from the four-rotor aircraft. The four-rotor aircraft moreover comprises a battery holder with the battery holder being mounted in the lower cowling and the battery disposed in the battery holder. The battery insertion opening of the battery holder is provided on the side of the four-rotor aircraft. The battery is designed such that it can be removably inserted into the battery holder through the battery insertion opening. An elastic plug is arranged on the battery insertion opening of the battery holder. The elastic plug is designed so as to prevent the battery from sliding out of the battery holder. The four-rotor aircraft further comprises an electronic video recording module. The electronic video recording module comprises a camera and is disposed on the lower cowling between the lower cowling and the battery holder. A mounting slot for the camera is provided on the battery holder into which the camera is mounted. A through hole for the camera is provided on the lower cowling and the camera is passed through the camera through hole. The camera is secured between the inner hole shoulder of the camera through hole and the camera mounting slot. A jack bar is provided on the side of the battery holder corresponding to the lower cowling. The electronic video recording module is positioned between the jack bar and the lower cowling. The lowest end parts of the first upper arm and the second upper arm of the upper cowling of the four-rotor aircraft are lower than the lowest end of the lower cowling so as to form the start and landing support legs for the four-rotor aircraft and a soft rubber mat is provided on the base of the start and landing support legs. A single-piece T-shaped chuck is provided at the lower end of the start and landing support legs. The soft rubber mat is snapped into the T-shaped chuck accordingly. A continuous cable groove is further provided on the T-shaped chuck, the continuous cable groove being concealed within the soft rubber mat. A power cable receiving slot is provided on the first upper arm and the second upper arm respectively, by means of which the end and the upper cowling are connected. The size of the power cable receiving slot corresponds to the size of the individual power cable. The power cable passes through the power cable receiving slot and is secured and tensioned in the power cable receiving slot. The power cable receiving slot is connected to the cable groove on the T-shaped chuck. The first upper arm, the second upper arm, the first lower arm and the second lower arm have a triangular structure. An LED lamp is disposed at each end of the first upper arm and second upper arm and each luminiferous end of the LED lamp is positioned vertically upward. An insertion slot for the cable of the LED lamp is provided on the outermost side of each end of the first upper arm and the second upper arm. The insertion slot is connected to the cable groove on the T-shaped chuck. The cable of the LED lamp is inserted into the insertion slot and connected to the upper cowling via the cable groove and the power cable receiving slot. A heat dissipation and weight reduction hole is provided at each end of the first upper arm and the second upper arm of the upper cowling for the electric motor. The inner diameter of the pocket at each end of the first upper arm and the second upper arm for receiving the electric motor is smaller than the caliber. There is interference fit between the electric motor and the pocket. The interfitting socket and plug post are provided on the first upper arm and second upper arm of the upper cowling and on the corresponding first lower arm and second lower arm of the lower cowling. The corresponding plug post between the first upper arm and the first lower arm plugs into the socket and the corresponding plug post between the second upper arm and the second lower arm plugs into the socket. A cut-out hole is provided on the lower cowling. The four-rotor aircraft also comprises a protective covering and the rotors of the four-rotor aircraft are disposed within said protective covering. The mounting support of the protective covering is attached to the part of the electric motor projecting from the first upper arm and the second upper arm. The mounting support of the protective covering is disposed beneath the rotors' surface of rotation. With the above-cited structure, the four-rotor aircraft of the present invention has a simple structure and assembly and exhibits the following properties: high resistance against crashing, deforming, wind, fatigue and/or high agility and/or controllability.
The four-rotor aircraft comprises an upper cowling 5, lower cowling 6, printed circuit board 9, one or more electric motors 10 and 11, a battery 12 and four rotors 1, 2, 3 and 4. The four-rotor aircraft can further comprise one or more screws 8 and 7. As shown in According to the present embodiment, each end of the first and second lower arms 61 and 62 and each end of the first and second upper arms 51 and 52 comprise a shell and are configured to connect to one another when the upper cowling 5 and the lower cowling 6 are assembled. The printed circuit board 9 can be mounted to the upper cowling 5 using any suitable method such as, for example, screws 7 clips or adhesive. For example, the printed circuit board 9 can be mounted underneath the body 53 of the upper cowling 5. The printed circuit board 9 can comprise any suitable components such as, for example, remote control trans-mission module, antenna, microprocessor, memory, amplifier, GPS receiver, altitude meter and camera. The printed circuit board can be configured to perform the following functions: receive signals from satellites and remote control devices; transmit signals to satellites and remote control devices; control the location, speed, heading and trajectory of the four-rotor aircraft; process image signals; and drive the electric motors 10 and 11. The printed circuit board can be powered by any suitable power source such as the battery 12 or solar panels. As shown in Rotors 2 and 3 are mounted on electric motor 10 and rotors 1 and 4 are mounted on electric motor 11. In the present embodiment, the rotors 2 and 3 have the same angle of attack as rotors 1 and 4. Because rotors 2 and 3 rotate in the opposite direction from rotors 1 and 4, all the rotors 1 to 4 produce lift when rotating, the blades on rotors 2 and 3 rotating opposite to their hubs. Rotors 2 and 3 can be viewed as a mirror image of rotors 1 and 4. The battery 12 can be any applicable battery such as e.g. a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. As shown in In the embodiment depicted in In the embodiment depicted in As shown in As depicted in As depicted in As depicted in As As As depicted in As depicted in The four-rotor aircraft described herein is, according to one or more embodiments, stable, wind-resistant, crash-resistant, agile and controllable. When words such as "a," "an," "at least one" or "at least one part" are used in the claims, the claim is not limited to only one such feature unless specifically stated to the contrary in the claim.
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