Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft sustentation – Sustaining airfoils
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-30
2001-11-27
Barefoot, Galen L. (Department: 3644)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft sustentation
Sustaining airfoils
C244S13400A
Reexamination Certificate
active
06322024
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to airfoils. In particular, the present invention is directed to a dynamic system for altering lift characteristics of various surfaces that can be used as air foils on vehicles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventional prior art in this field includes basic methods of causing lift in an aircraft wing. Bernoulli's Principal which states that pressure will be lower on the upper surface of a wing because the air must travel faster over the longer curved surface of the wing.
One approach to altering lift characteristics of air foils, based upon the Bernoulli Principal, has been through the use of moveable surfaces on various parts of air foils on a variety of vehicles ranging from airplanes to submarines. Examples of the various techniques are found in the file wrapper history of the parent application Ser. No. 08893,454, incorporated herein by reference. Many of these examples of conventional art use rollers to alter air foil surface characteristics. Others propose rotating bands on portions of air foil surfaces. However, no example of the conventional art provides a comprehensive system for controlling the lift of an air foil. Nor has the entire body of the conventional art explored the various applications in which rotating bands can be used to alter the characteristics of an air foil and thereby the lift performance of a vehicle associated with that air foil.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to overcome the limitations of conventional art air foils.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a variable lift control system for various types of vehicles moving through fluid mediums, such as air and water.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a dynamic system for automatically controlling lift in vehicles moving through fluid mediums.
Still another object of present invention is to provide a variable air foil configuration capable of adjusting lift characteristics responsive to the circumstances of a vehicle associated with those air foils.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dynamic lift control system capable of clearing an air foil of ice or other environmental accumulations.
It is again a further object of the present invention to provide a dynamic lift control mechanism that can be used on a wide variety of structures for a wide variety of different vehicles that move through fluid mediums.
It is again a further object of the present invention to provide a dynamic system capable of altering the performance of air foil control surfaces.
It is again another object of the present invention to provide a dynamic lift system that permits aircraft to land and take off on shorter runways than is possible with conventional airfoils.
It is still an additional object of the present invention to provide a dynamic lift system that greatly enhances the lift capability of an airplane without a substantial increase in the overall cost of the airplane.
It is yet another object of the present invention to reduce the drag, or turbulence and the boundary layer separation which occurs on airplanes under certain conditions.
These and other goals and objects of the present invention are achieved by a vehicle configured to move through a fluid medium. The vehicle includes a motivating device for moving the vehicle through the fluid medium and at least one lifting structure having two fluid interface surfaces for at least one control structure having at least two fluid interface surfaces. At least one of those lifting or control structures includes a moveable lift control device constituted by at least one continuous moveable band arranged to move at a plurality of different speeds. This movement adjusts the apparent speed of the vehicle through the fluid medium and controls a fluid vortex at at least one of the fluid interface surfaces. As a result, the lift of the vehicle is variably adjusted based upon the speed of the movable band and the speed of the vehicle itself.
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“Boundary Layer Theory” Hermann Soliciting 7thEdition McGraw-Hill, 1979.
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Barefoot Galen L.
E-Win Corporation
Lev Robert G.
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