Amphibious helicopter-type aircraft

Claim 2

An aircraft comprising: an annular housing surrounding a central circular housing to form an annular air duct, and means for substantially rigidly joining said housings extending across said duct to form a fuselage; said central housing having therein a center support and a hub rotatable relative to said support, means connecting said hub and a rotatable ring disposed around the central housing; rotor blades, pivots therefor on said ring, said blades extending from said ring towards the annular housing and across said duct; power means in the central housing for rotating said hub and ring to drive said blades around the duct, said power means being carried by a platform affixed to said support; a swash ring forming a tilting cam within the circular housing and means carried on said platform for tilting said cam in any of various directions relative to the fuselage and for changing the elevation of the Cam relative to said ring at any or no tilt while preventing rotation of the ring relative to the platform; followers engageable with said cam at any tilt and elevation thereof, linkages connecting sad rotor blades with said followers for engaging the followers with said cam thereby pivoting the blades on said ring, on the one hand to change their angles of air attack of the blades simultaneously and equally by changing the elevation of the cam, and on the other hand upon tilting the cam at any of its elevations changing the angles of attack of each blade from a maximum to a minimum during one revolution thereof around said duct; counterrotation fins, pivots therefor on the fuselage, said counterrotation fins extending substantially radially across said space below said rotor blades for impingement thereon of downwash of air engendered by movements of said blades around said duct, and means for adjusting the angles of said counterrotation fins around their pivots to prevent rotation of said housings in response to driving reactions from said power means; horizontal motion fins, pivots therefor on the fuselage, said horizontal motion fins extending tangentially relatively to said annular duct and below the counterrotation fins, said horizontal motion fins being arranged in quadrature around the duct; and means for controlling the angular positions of said horizontal motion fins around their pivots for modifying the axial flow and thrust of air through said duct for navigating the craft.

Claim 3

An aircraft according to claim 1, wherein said annular housing is of toroidal form and said circular housing is of a dome shape to provide a downwardly tapering annular venturi-shaped air duct for said rotor blades.

Claim 4

An aircraft according to claim 1, wherein each of said linkages comprises a rigid extension from a trailing portion of a blade, each extension carrying a follower which is in the form of a roller, a rocker pivoted to the ring and articulated with said extension, and means biasing said rocker to force the follower into contact with said cam which is formed by a flange on the swash ring.

Claim 5

An aircraft according to claim 1, wherein the annular housing contains a floor dividing it horizontally into upper and lower annular compartments, and a series of ports extending around the lower compartment permitting flow of outside air through said lower compartment from leading to trailing portions thereof to reduce air drag on the craft while navigating.

Claim 6

An aircraft according to claim 4, including resilient landing pads extendable and retractible relative to the annular housing.

Claim 7

An aircraft according to claim 5, including recess means in the lower compartment of said annular housing for receiving the pads when retracted.

Claim 8

An aircraft according to claim 6, wherein said pads are constructed for flotation on water.

Claim 9

An aircraft according to claim 6, wherein said landing pads comprise resilient gas-inflated means for flotation of the craft on water, a piston rod extending from each inflated means and into a hydraulic cylinder in the annular housing for control of extension and retraction of said pads.

Claim 10

An aircraft comprising: a toroidal housing spacedly surrounding a central circular dome forming a central housing to form an annular downwardly and inwardly tapering air-vortex duct, support means for substantially rigidly joining said housings extending across said duct to form a fuselage, said means including four pairs of parallel bars, the pairs being arranged in quadrature whereby each pair has an opposite pair across the duct; said central housing having therein a support and a hub rotatable relative to said support, means connecting said hub and a rotatable ring disposed around the central housing; rotor blades, pivots therefor on said ring for changing their angles of air attack, said blades extending from said ring towards but short of the toroidal housing and across said duct; a prime mover in the cenTral housing for rotating said hub and ring to drive said blades around the duct, said prime mover being carried by a platform affixed to said support; a swash ring forming a tilting cam within the circular housing and means carried on said platform for tilting said cam in any of various directions relative to the fuselage and for changing the elevation of the cam relative to said ring at any or no tilt while preventing rotation of the ring relative to the platform; followers engageable with said cam at any tilt and elevation thereof, resiliently biased linkages connecting said rotor blades with said followers for engaging the followers with said cam thereby pivoting the blades on said ring, on the one hand to change their angles of air attack of the blades simultaneously and equally by changing the elevation of the cam, and on the other hand upon tilting the cam at any of its elevations changing the angles of attack of each blade from a maximum to a minimum during one revolution thereof around said duct; counterrotation fins, pivots therefor on the fuselage, said counterrotation fins extending substantially radially across said space below said rotor blades for impingement thereon of downwash of air engendered by movements of said blades around said duct, and means for adjusting the angles of said counterrotation fins around their pivots to prevent rotation of said housings in response to driving reactions from said power means; ladder banks of horizontal motion fins, pivots therefor on said four pairs of bars respectively, whereby said horizontal motion fins are caused to extend tangentially relatively to said duct and below the counterrotation fins, said ladder banks of horizontal motion fins being arranged in quadrature around the duct; and means for equally and reversely changing the angular positions in one or both pairs of opposite banks of the horizontal motion fins around their pivots with reactions to the air vortex to provide thrusts on the fuselage along one or both of two perpendicular axes lying in the general plane thereof.

Claim 11

An aircraft comprising: a toroidal housing spacedly surrounding a central circular dome forming a central housing to form an annular downwardly and inwardly tapering air-vortex duct, support means for substantially rigidly joining said housings extending across said duct to form a fuselage, said means including four pairs of parallel bars, the pairs being arranged in quadrature whereby each pair has an opposite pair across the duct; said central housing having therein a support and a hub rotatable relative to said support, means connecting said hub and a rotatable ring disposed around the central housing; rotor blades, pivots therefor on said ring for changing their angles of air attack, said blades extending from said ring towards but short of the toroidal housing and across said duct; a prime mover in the cenTral housing for rotating said hub and ring to drive said blades around the duct, said prime mover being carried by a platform affixed to said support; a swash ring forming a tilting cam within the circular housing and means carried on said platform for tilting said cam in any of various directions relative to the fuselage and for changing the elevation of the cam relative to said ring at any or no tilt while preventing rotation of the ring relative to the platform; followers engageable with said cam at any tilt and elevation thereof, resiliently biased linkages connecting said rotor blades with said followers for engaging the followers with said cam thereby pivoting the blades on said ring, on the one hand to change their angles of air attack of the blades simultaneously and equally by changing the elevation of the cam, and on the other hand upon tilting the cam at any of its elevations changing the angles of attack of each blade from a maximum to a minimum during one revolution thereof around said duct; counterrotation fins, pivots therefor on the fuselage, said counterrotation fins extending substantially radially across said space below said rotor blades for impingement thereon of downwash of air engendered by movements of said blades around said duct, and means for adjusting the angles of said counterrotation fins around their pivots to prevent rotation of said housings in response to driving reactions from said power means; ladder banks of horizontal motion fins, pivots therefor on said four pairs of bars respectively, whereby said horizontal motion fins are caused to extend tangentially relatively to said duct and below the counterrotation fins, said ladder banks of horizontal motion fins being arranged in quadrature around the duct; and means for equally and reversely changing the angular positions in one or both pairs of opposite banks of the horizontal motion fins around their pivots with reactions to the air vortex to provide thrusts on the fuselage along one or both of two perpendicular axes lying in the general plane thereof.

Claim 12

An aircraft according to claim 9, wherein the toroidal housing contains means therein forming an annular air duct and a ring of airports in said toroidal housing extending entirely around the same and communicating with said duct.

Claim 13

An aircraft according to claim 10, including a ring of resilient and flotation landing pads, means for extending and retracting said pads, said air duct being provided with a ring of enclosed spaces for reception of said pads when retracted.