Propellers and propeller related vehicles

Abstract

A propeller related vehicle in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is described as a helicopter having an airframe housing a motor mechanism for powering a main propeller attached to a main drive shaft that extends vertically through the airframe and for powering a tail rotor. The helicopter further includes a horizontal stabilizing mechanism attached between the main propeller and the main drive shaft, which permits the main propeller to freely pivot about the main drive shaft independently from the airframe. As such when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the rotating main propeller has a centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof and will tend to pivot about the horizontal stabilizing mechanism in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position. In addition various main propeller configurations may be employed that provide additional self-stabilization.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 60/337,670 upper chassis 20horizontal propellers. FIG. 8, propellers with a generally vertical orientation FIG. 8 depicts an airplane 192 that includes a propeller 194 pair of propellers 194 which may be configured similarly to one of the above embodiments, more particularly to a propeller 194 that includes. Each propeller 194 may include a pair of blades 196, each blades blade including a half safety arc 198 covering the leading edge 197 of each blade 196.

In addition, the present invention is applicable to an aircraft having one or more propellers that rotate in a horizontal plane. The aircraft would typically have an airframe for housing a motor mechanism, which is used to power each propeller. Each propeller is attached to a corresponding drive shaft that extends vertically through the airframe. The aircraft further includes a horizontal stabilizing means attached between each propeller and the corresponding drive shaft, which permits the propeller to freely pivot about the corresponding drive shaft independently from the airframe. As such when a propeller that is rotating begins to pitch, the rotating propeller has a centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof that tends to pivot the propeller about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the aircraft remains in a substantially horizontal position.

From the foregoing and as mentioned above, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concept of the invention. For example, the propellers, while shown may be used in airplanes, may find further applications in other propeller driven vehicles, either miniature or life-size, such as but not limited to water driven vehicles (such as boats and submarines), land driven vehicles (such as propeller operated cars) and other air driven vehicles (such as rockets) as well as other products that use propellers. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific methods and apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred.

Claims

1. A toy helicopter having an airframe housing, a housing a motor mechanism for powering a main propeller attached to a main drive shaft that extends vertically through the airframe and for powering a tail rotor, the toy helicopter further comprising a horizontal stabilizing means attached between the main propeller and the main drive shaft, which permits the main propeller to freely pivot about relative to the main drive shaft independently from the airframe, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the rotating main propeller having a centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position

wherein the horizontal stabilizing means comprises a rotor head secured to the main drive shaft and a rotor mount mounted to the rotor head by only one pin such that the main propeller pivots about only one axis relative to the main drive shaft,

wherein the main propeller is pivotally supported by the horizontal stabilizing means and comprises a pair of blades extending outwardly from the rotor mount and such that the blades are mounted parallel to the pin, and

wherein the horizontal stabilizing means and the main propeller are arranged with one another such that the toy helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position when a pitch of the main propeller during rotation is offset by a centrifugal force acting on the main propeller causing the propeller to pivot relative to the main drive shaft about the pin of the horizontal stabilizing means.

2. The toy helicopter of claim 1, wherein the main propeller includes further comprises:

a pair of blades extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means along a single axis, each blade having each blade of the pair of blades having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means, and a distal end; and

a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade first and second safety arcs, the first safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of one of the blades and the second safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of the other of the blades, wherein each of the safety arcs is positioned forward of a respective leading edge of the corresponding blade.

3. The toy helicopter of claim 2, wherein the safety arc has a diameter that each of the safety arcs transitions from a relatively flat horizontal surface by the at the respective proximal end into a wider vertical surface by the at the respective distal end.

4. The toy helicopter of claim 1, wherein the main propeller includes:

a pair of blades extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means each of the blades of the pair of blades extending outwardly along a horizontal plane, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade; and first and second safety arcs, the first safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of one of the blades and the second safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of the other of the blades, wherein each of the safety arcs is positioned forward of the respective leading edge of the corresponding blade; and

a pair of flybars extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means a central portion of the main propeller along said horizontal plane, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position

wherein the flybars and blades are arranged with one another such that a pitch of the blades is offset by an increased centrifugal force created by rotation of the flybars to act on and pivot the blades about the pin of the horizontal stabilizing means to maintain a substantially horizontal position of the toy helicopter.

5. The toy helicopter of claim 1, wherein the main propeller includes:

a pair of blades pivotally the pair of blades being pivotally supported by the horizontal stabilizing means and extending outwardly along a horizontal plane from the horizontal stabilizing means, each blade of the blades having an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a crossbar joint that is secured to the proximal ends of the blades;

a pair of crossbars extending outwardly from the crossbar joint along the horizontal plane, each crossbar having an end proximal secured to the crossbar joint and a distal end;

a circular safety ring secured to the distal ends of each crossbar and having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and distal end of each of the blades; and

a flybar a first flybar and a second flybar each extending outwardly both from a leading edge and of a respective one of the blades and a third flybar and a fourth flybar each extending from a trailing edge defined in each blade of a respective one of the blades, each flybar of the four flybars extending along said horizontal plane,

wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal positionwherein when the main propeller is rotating and begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force acting thereupon and created by the rotation will pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the toy helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position.

6. The helicopter of claim 1, wherein the main propeller includes:

two pair of blades pivotally extending outwardly along a horizontal plane from the horizontal stabilizing means, such that one pair of blades is perpendicular to the other pair of blades, each blade having an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a circular safety ring having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and

a flybar extending outwardly from a leading edge defined in each blade, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position.

7. The toy helicopter of claim 4, 5, or 6 4 or 5, wherein the flybars include weighted ends to increase the centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof.

8. The helicopter of claim 1, wherein the horizontal stabilizing means is defined as a pivotal main rotor head mounted to the main drive shaft, and a main propeller mount extending downwardly from the main propeller; the main propeller mount pivotally mounted to the pivotal main rotor head such that the main propeller may pivot about the main drive shaft.

9. A self-stabilizing propeller assembly for use in an rotary-type aircraft wherein the propeller is rotatably attached to a drive shaft and rotates in a plane, the propeller comprising: a toy rotary aircraft, the propeller assembly including:

a propeller mounted via a pin to a drive shaft for rotation in a plane and for pivotal movement about only one axis relative to the drive shaft;

a pair of blades of the propeller extending outwardly from each other along a single axis such that each of the blades is mounted parallel with the pin, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the other blade, and a distal end; and

a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade first and second safety arcs, the first safety arc extending forward of the leading edge of a first one of the blades and attached to the proximal and distal ends of the first one of the blades and the second safety arc extending forward of the leading edge of a second one of the blades and attached to the proximal and distal ends of the second one of the blades, each safety arc having a predetermined weight,

wherein when the propeller is rotating the weight of the a weight of each of the safety arcs creates a centrifugal force that tends to offset that offsets a pitch force exhibited by the propeller when rotating such that the propeller has a tendency to remain remains in substantially the same plane.

10. The helicopter self-stabilizing propeller assembly of claim 9, wherein the safety arc has a diameter that each of the safety arcs transitions from a relatively flat horizontal surface by the at the respective proximal end into a wider vertical surface by the at the respective distal end.

11. An aircraft having an airfame housing a motor mechanism for powering at least one substantially horizontal orientated propeller, each propeller is attached to a corresponding drive shaft that extends vertically through the airframe, the aircraft further comprising at least one horizontal stabilizing means attached between one of the propellers, of the at least one propeller, and the corresponding drive shaft, which permits the propeller to freely pivot about the corresponding drive shaft independently from the airframe, wherein when said propeller is rotating and said rotating propeller begin to pitch, the rotating propeller having a centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the aircraft remains in a substantially horizontal position.

12. The helicopter of claim 11, wherein at least one of the at least one propeller includes:

a pair of blades extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means along a single axis, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means, and a distal end; and

a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade.

13. The helicopter of claim 12, wherein the safety arc has a diameter that transitions from a relatively flat horizontal surface by the proximal end into a wider vertical surface by the distal end.

14. The helicopter of claim 11, wherein at least one of the at least one propeller includes:

a pair of blades extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means along a horizontal plane, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade; and

a pair of flybars extending outwardly from the horizontal stabilizing means along said horizontal plane, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position.

15. The helicopter of claim 11, wherein the main propeller includes:

a pair of blades pivotally extending outwardly along a horizontal plane from the horizontal stabilizing means, each blade having an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a crossbar joint that is secured to the proximal ends of the blades;

a pair of crossbars extending outwardly from the crossbar joint along the horizontal plane, each crossbar having an end proximal secured to the crossbar joint and a distal end;

a circular safety ring secured to the distal ends of each crossbar and having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and

a flybar extending outwardly both from a leading edge and a trailing edge defined in each blade, each flybar extending along said horizontal plane, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position.

16. The helicopter of claim 11, wherein the main propeller includes:

two pair of blades pivotally extending outwardly along a horizontal plane from the horizontal stabilizing means, such that one pair of blades is perpendicular to the other pair of blades, each blade having an end proximal to the horizontal stabilizing means and a distal end;

a circular safety ring having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and

a flybar extending outwardly from a leading edge defined in each blade, wherein when the main propeller is rotating and the main propeller begins to pitch, the flybars having an increased centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot the blades about the horizontal stabilizing means in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the helicopter remains in a substantially horizontal position.

17. The helicopter of claim 14, 15, or 16, wherein the flybars include weighted ends to increase the centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof.

18. The helicopter of claim 11, wherein the horizontal stabilizing means is defined as a pivotal main rotor head mounted to the main drive shaft, and a main propeller mount extending downwardly from the main propeller; the main propeller mount pivotally mounted to the pivotal main rotor head such that the main propeller may pivot about the main drive shaft.

19. A self-stabilizing aircraft having at least one propeller comprising:

a motor mechanism in communication with at least one drive shaft, each drive shaft corresponding to one of the propellers, of the at least one propeller,

a rotor head mounted to each drive shaft; and

each propeller having a propeller mount that is pivotally attached to the rotor head of the corresponding drive shaft, such that each propeller pivots about the corresponding drive shaft freely and independently from the aircraft, wherein when the propeller is rotating and the propeller begins to pitch, the rotating propeller having a centrifugal force created by the rotation thereof will tend to pivot about the corresponding drive shaft in a manner that offsets the pitch such that the aircraft remains in a substantially horizontal position.

20. The self-stabilizing aircraft of claim 19, wherein at least one of the propellers, includes: a pair of blades extending outwardly from each other along a single axis, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the other blade, and a distal end; and a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade.

21. The self-stabilizing aircraft of claim 19, wherein at least one of the propellers, includes: a pair of blades extending outwardly from the propeller mount of said propeller; and a pair of flybars extending outwardly from said propeller mount.

22. The self-stabilizing aircraft of claim 19, wherein at least one of the propellers, includes: a pair of blades extending outwardly from the propeller mount of said propeller, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to said propeller mount and a distal end; a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade; and a pair of flybars extending outwardly from said propeller mount.

23. The self-stabilizing aircraft of claim 19, wherein at least one of the propellers, includes: a pair of blades extending outwardly from the propeller mount of said propeller, each blade having an end proximal to said propeller mount and a distal end; a crossbar joint that is secured to the proximal ends of the blades; a pair of crossbars extending outwardly from the crossbar joint, each crossbar having an end proximal secured to the crossbar joint and a distal end; a circular safety ring secured to the distal ends of each crossbar and having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and a flybar extending outwardly both from a leading edge and a trailing edge defined in each blade.

24. The self-stabilizing aircraft of claim 19, wherein at least one of the propellers, includes: two pair of blades extending outwardly from the propeller mount of said propeller, such that one pair of blades is perpendicular to the other pair of blades, each blade having an end proximal to said propeller mount and a distal end; a circular safety ring having pivots for receiving the distal ends of each blade; and a flybar extending outwardly from each leading edge defined in each blades.

25. A propeller assembly for use in toy rotary aircraft, the propeller assembly comprising:

a pair of blades extending outwardly from each other along a single axis, each blade having a leading edge, a proximal end defined as an end proximal to the other blade, and a distal end; and a safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of each blade and positioned in front of the leading edge of each blade

a rotor mount extending from an underside of the pair of blades for pivotally attaching via only one pin to a rotor head secured to a main drive shaft defined by the toy rotary aircraft such that the pair of blades pivot about only one axis relative to the main drive shaft;

the pair of blades extending outwardly from each other such that each of the blades is mounted parallel to the pin; and

first and second safety arcs, the first safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of one of the blades and the second safety arc attached to the proximal and distal ends of the other of the blades, wherein each of the safety arcs is positioned forward of the respective leading edge of the corresponding blade.

26. The propeller assembly of claim 25, wherein the safety arc has a diameter that each of the safety arcs transitions from a relatively flat horizontal surface by the surface at the respective proximal end into a wider vertical surface by the at the respective distal end.

27. The propeller assembly of claim 25 further comprising a pair of flybars extending outwardly from the proximal ends of the blades.

28. As is claimed in claim 1 or claim 11 The toy helicopter of claim 1 further comprising a means for internally cooling the airframe defined by having a plurality of vents positioned in the airframe and a combo gear in communication with the motor mechanism, the combo gear having a plurality of cooling blades positioned such that when the combo gear rotates the cooling blades draw air through the plurality of vents into the airframe.

29. The aircraft of claim 19 wherein the aircraft further includes an airframe housing the motor mechanism, and a means for internally cooling the aircraft defined by having a plurality of vents positioned in the airframe and a combo gear in communication with the motor mechanism, the combo gear having a plurality of cooling blades positioned such that when the combo gear rotates the cooling blades draw air through the plurality of vents into the airframe.

30. The toy helicopter of claim 1 further comprising:

a circuit board in communication with the motor mechanism configured to control the motor mechanism; and a transmitter/receiver in communication with the circuit board.

31. The toy helicopter of claim 30, further comprising a power supply to power the motor mechanism and a charging jack through which the power supply is rechargeable.

32. The toy helicopter of claim 1, wherein the rotor head is a U-shaped element.