US 12,258,136 B2
Airship equipped with an electric distributed propulsion system
Jacques Bernard, Metz (FR); and Benoît Le Blanc, Paris (FR)
Assigned to Flying Whales, Suresnes (FR)
Appl. No. 18/258,301
Filed by Flying Whales, Suresnes (FR)
PCT Filed Dec. 17, 2021, PCT No. PCT/FR2021/052377
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 19, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/129811, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 23, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2013690 (FR), filed on Dec. 18, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2024/0051672 A1, Feb. 15, 2024
Int. Cl. B64B 1/32 (2006.01); B64D 27/24 (2024.01); B64D 27/35 (2024.01); H02J 4/00 (2006.01)
CPC B64D 27/24 (2013.01) [B64B 1/32 (2013.01); B64D 27/35 (2024.01); H02J 4/00 (2013.01); B64D 2221/00 (2013.01); H02J 2310/44 (2020.01)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A hover-capable airship, comprising an electric propulsion system comprising:
a plurality of electric power generators;
a plurality of electrical buses; and
a plurality of electric propulsion points, the plurality of electric propulsion points comprising at least one propellant bundle formed of a plurality of electric-driven propeller-based thrusters dedicated to exert a longitudinal thrust, and at least one propellant bundle formed of a plurality of dedicated electric-driven propeller-based thrusters to exert a vertical thrust, at least one of the longitudinal or vertical propellant bundles being arranged so that each thruster within the propellant bundle is electrically connected by way of an electrical bus among the plurality of electrical buses to a generator within the plurality of electric power generators, and each other thruster within the propellant bundle being electrically connected by way of another electrical bus among the plurality of electrical buses to another generator within the plurality of electric power generators;
wherein the plurality of propulsion points further comprising at least one propellant bundle dedicated to producing a lateral thrust, the propellant bundle being arranged so that one of its thrusters is electrically connected by way of an electrical bus among the plurality of electrical buses to a generator within the plurality of electric power generators, and each at least one other thruster within the propellant bundle is electrically connected by way of another electrical bus among the plurality of electrical buses to another generator within the plurality of electric power generators.