US 12,296,965 B2
Airplane comprising a passenger pod
Alessandro Cornali, Castenedolo (IT)
Assigned to Alessandro Cornali, Castenedolo (IT)
Appl. No. 18/280,924
Filed by Alessandro Cornali, Castenedolo (IT)
PCT Filed Feb. 23, 2022, PCT No. PCT/IB2022/051589
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Sep. 7, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/189877, PCT Pub. Date Sep. 15, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 102021000005921 (IT), filed on Mar. 12, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2024/0140609 A1, May 2, 2024
Int. Cl. B64D 25/12 (2006.01); B64C 1/32 (2006.01)
CPC B64D 25/12 (2013.01) [B64C 1/32 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An airplane, mainly extending along an axis (X-X) between a nose group comprising a cockpit, and a tail group comprising empennage members, wherein the airplane comprises:
i) a fuselage extending axially between the nose group and the tail group, comprising a fuselage wall internally defining a fuselage housing;
ii) wings extending transversely to the axis (X-X) from the fuselage;
iii) at least one passenger pod comprising a pod wall internally defining a pressurized passenger housing in which passengers are accommodable, wherein said at least one passenger pod is removably housable in the fuselage housing; and
iv) pod-connecting members housed in the fuselage housing and in the at least one passenger pod, suitable for removably connecting the at least one passenger pod to the fuselage, wherein said pod-connecting members collectively comprise:
at least one fuselage track positioned inside said fuselage housing; and
at least one pod track complementary to said at least one fuselage track;
wherein said at least one fuselage track and said at least one pod track extend along the axis (X-X); and
wherein one of said at least one fuselage track and said at least one pod track comprises a ferromagnetic material, and the other of said at least one fuselage track and said at least one pod track comprises a superconducting electromagnet that is configurable between an active configuration, in which it generates a magnetic field, and a passive configuration;
wherein the airplane is configurable in:
an operating configuration, suitable for allowing flight of the airplane, in which the at least one passenger pod is housed in the fuselage housing; and
an emergency configuration, in which, with the airplane in flight, the at least one passenger pod is ejected from the fuselage housing; and
wherein in said emergency configuration said pod-connecting members are commanded into a release configuration so as to allow the at least one passenger pod to be ejected from the fuselage housing.