US 12,434,830 B2
Vertical take-off and landing aircraft with AFT rotor tilting
Geoffrey C. Bower, Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Assigned to Archer Aviation Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed by Archer Aviation Inc., San Jose, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 4, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/594,401.
Application 18/594,401 is a continuation of application No. 17/170,242, filed on Feb. 8, 2021, granted, now 11,919,631.
Prior Publication US 2024/0208646 A1, Jun. 27, 2024
Int. Cl. B64C 29/00 (2006.01); B64C 27/28 (2006.01)
CPC B64C 29/0033 (2013.01) [B64C 27/28 (2013.01)] 37 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft comprising:
a fuselage;
at least one tail extending from the fuselage;
a single wing that extends across the fuselage or a single pair of wings extending from each side of the fuselage, wherein the single wing or single pair of wings are the only wings of the aircraft;
a first plurality of proprotors mounted to the single wing or single pair of wings, each of the first plurality of proprotors being independently tiltable between a lift configuration for providing lift for vertical take-off and landing of the aircraft and a forward propulsion configuration for providing forward propulsion to the aircraft;
a second plurality of proprotors mounted to the single wing or single pair of wings, each of the second plurality of proprotors being independently tiltable between the lift configuration and the forward propulsion configuration; and
a plurality of booms on each side of the fuselage that are mounted to the single wing or single pair of wings,
wherein each boom of the plurality of booms supports one proprotor of the first plurality of proprotors pivotably mounted to a forward end of the respective boom and one proprotor of the second plurality of proprotors, pivotably mounted to a rearward end of the respective boom, and wherein at least one boom of the plurality of booms merges with a leading edge of the single wing or single pair of wings such that the leading edge of the single wing or single pair of wings is interrupted by the at least one boom and at least a portion of an upper surface of the single wing or single pair of wings overlying the at least one boom is uninterrupted by the at least one boom,
wherein blades of the first plurality of proprotors rotate in a first direction and blades of the second plurality of proprotors rotate in a second direction that is opposite the first direction,
wherein all propulsion available for the aircraft is provided by the first and second plurality of proprotors,
wherein each proprotor is configured to tilt about a respective pivot axis,
wherein each pivot axis is canted relative to a horizontal plane by a respective cant angle, and
wherein the cant angle of each proprotor is different from that of an adjacent proprotor on an adjacent boom.