IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0058520
(2008-03-28)
|
등록번호 |
US-9272783
(2016-03-01)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
|
출원인 / 주소 |
- Star Technology and Research, Inc.
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Dicke, Billig & Czaja, PLLC
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
6 인용 특허 :
20 |
초록
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A long endurance powered aircraft includes a fuselage, a propeller coupled to the fuselage, a wing coupled to the fuselage, and an energy storage system disposed within the fuselage. The wing includes an adjustable surface area including solar cells configured to collect incident solar energy and co
A long endurance powered aircraft includes a fuselage, a propeller coupled to the fuselage, a wing coupled to the fuselage, and an energy storage system disposed within the fuselage. The wing includes an adjustable surface area including solar cells configured to collect incident solar energy and convert the collected incident solar energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during daylight flight. The energy storage system is configured to convert excess electrical energy converted from collected incident solar energy to chemical energy, store the chemical energy, and convert the stored chemical energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during night flight.
대표청구항
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1. A long endurance powered heavier-than-air aircraft comprising: an energy storage system functioning as a fuselage;an electric motor and a propeller coupled to the energy storage system;a non-inflatable parawing coupled to the energy storage system, the parawing comprising: a leading edge spar,mul
1. A long endurance powered heavier-than-air aircraft comprising: an energy storage system functioning as a fuselage;an electric motor and a propeller coupled to the energy storage system;a non-inflatable parawing coupled to the energy storage system, the parawing comprising: a leading edge spar,multiple battens including a first batten and a last batten, andmultiple wing segments including a first wing segment coupled between the energy storage system and the first batten and a last wing segment coupled between the last batten and the leading edge spar, each wing segment formed of a flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet including flexible solar cells integrated with a flexible thin film foil, the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheets of the multiple segments structured to aerodynamically support the aircraft during flight, the parawing having an adjustable wing surface area, the flexible solar cells configured to collect incident solar energy and convert the collected incident solar energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during daylight flight; anda parawing morphing system to deploy and control the adjustable wing surface area and wing flexibility;the energy storage system configured to convert excess electrical energy converted from collected incident solar energy to chemical energy, store the chemical energy in the energy storage system, and convert the stored chemical energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during night flight. 2. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein the energy storage system comprises a fuel cell coupled to a water tank disposed between and coupled to a hydrogen tank and an oxygen tank, the water tank configured to selectively adjust the aircraft's center of mass as the fuel cell is charged/discharged, wherein the energy storage system forms at least one of the water tank, the hydrogen tank, and the oxygen tank. 3. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein an exterior surface of the energy storage system comprises additional solar cells. 4. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 3, wherein the wing and the energy storage system combine to comprise a solar cell area of between about 800-2000 square feet. 5. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein the flexible solar cells are configured to collect incident solar energy which is converted to electrical energy, the electrical energy employed for powering the aircraft during daylight flight at a first altitude and the excess electrical energy stored in the energy storage system is employed for powering the aircraft during night flight at a second altitude that is lower than the first altitude. 6. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet comprises an entire thickness of the parawing. 7. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet comprises flexible infrared cells integrated with the flexible thin film foil opposite the flexible solar cells. 8. A long endurance powered heavier-than-air aircraft comprising: an energy storage system functioning as a fuselage;an electric motor and a propeller coupled to the energy storage system;a thin film folding non-inflatable parawing coupled to the energy storage system, the thin film folding parawing configured to fold to low aspect ratios for turbulence-safe takeoff and landing and to unfold to high aspect ratios for efficient flight above controlled airspace, the thin film folding parawing comprising: a leading edge spar,multiple battens including a first batten and a last batten, andmultiple wing segments including a first wing segment coupled between the energy storage system and the first batten and a last wing segment coupled between the last batten and the leading edge spar, each wing segment formed of a flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet including flexible solar cells integrated with a flexible thin film foil, the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheets of the multiple segments structured to aerodynamically support the aircraft during flight;a deployable thin film ventral fin parawing for aerodynamic control; andan auxiliary thin film capacitor storage in the thin film folding parawing and the thin film ventral fin parawing. 9. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 8, wherein the thin film folding parawing is configured to unfold to a first high aspect ratio for daylight flight and a second high aspect ratio that is less than the first high aspect ratio configuring the aircraft for minimum power night flight at low trim velocity. 10. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 8, comprising: a leading spar coupled to the energy storage system, the leading spar configured to selectively diverge from the energy storage system to define a morphing thin film folding parawing configured to change shape to optimize aircraft flight parameters in response to changes in at least one of altitude, air speed, angle of attack, lift-to-drag ratio, and maximum endurance. 11. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 8, wherein the energy storage system comprises a nose cone enclosing at least a portion of the energy storage system, the energy storage system comprising a fuel cell coupled to a water tank disposed between and coupled to a hydrogen tank and an oxygen tank, the water tank configured to provide the aircraft with an adjustable center of mass as the fuel cell is charged/discharged. 12. A long endurance powered heavier-than-air aircraft comprising: an energy storage system functioning as a fuselage, the energy storage system comprising a closed-cycle regenerative fuel cell for night flight;an electric motor and a propeller coupled to the energy storage system; anda ventral fin and a thin film energy collecting non-inflatable wing coupled to the energy storage system, the thin film energy collecting wing comprising: a leading edge spar,multiple battens including a first batten and a last batten, andmultiple wing segments including a first wing segment coupled between the energy storage system and the first batten and a last wing segment coupled between the last batten and the leading edge spar, each wing segment formed of a flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet including flexible solar cells integrated with a flexible thin film foil, the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheets of the multiple segments structured to aerodynamically support the aircraft during flight. 13. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 12, wherein the thin film energy collecting wing comprises solar cells configured to collect solar energy and convert the collected solar energy to electrical energy for powering the aircraft during daylight flight. 14. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 12, wherein the energy storage system comprises a water tank and an electrolyzer configured to electrolytically separate water into hydrogen stored in a hydrogen tank and oxygen stored in an oxygen tank. 15. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 12, wherein the closed-cycle regenerative fuel cell electrochemically reacts hydrogen stored in the hydrogen tank and oxygen stored in the oxygen tank to produce electrical energy employed to power the aircraft during night flight and a by-product of water stored in the water tank. 16. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 12, wherein the energy storage system comprises the closed-cycle regenerative fuel cell coupled to a water tank disposed between and coupled to a hydrogen tank and an oxygen tank, the water tank configured to selectively adjust the aircraft's center of gravity as the closed-cycle regenerative fuel cell is charged/discharged. 17. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 1, wherein the flexible integrated solid energy cell sheet comprises a first flexible conductive thin film foil integrated with the flexible solar cells, a second flexible conductive thin film foil, and a flexible dielectric layer disposed between the first flexible conductive thin film foil and the second flexible conductive thin film foil to define an energy storage capacitor. 18. The long endurance powered aircraft of claim 17, comprising: flexible infrared cells integrated in the second flexible conductive thin film foil opposite of the flexible dielectric layer.
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