This invention relates to the field of powered aerial vehicles which derive the lift for flight through the movement of their wings.
Man has long wondered and wrote about flying using the same principles as birds. Mythology tells of Icarus who might be considered the first ornithopter fatality. Later, Leonardo de Vinci is credited with the first publication of the possibility of flight using a mechanical vehicle, powered by the occupant, moving bird-like wings for lift. Even today, there is an unclaimed prize for the man powered flight of an helicopter.
After the Wright brothers, the development of aviation quickly by-passed the ornithopter for many reasons, among them the speed and simplicity of the airplane. Interest in vertical flight was almost dormant until Igor Sikorsky started the development of the modern helicopter. The helicopter development was directed toward the same characteristics as the airplane with the additional features of vertical take-off and landing and these characteristics make the helicopter a very complicated aircraft. Again, the ornithopter was not part of the main stream of technology and development.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,195 to Leigh-Hunt discloses a toy airplane with two pair of overlapping wings which reciprocate vertically out of phase with each other. The power is provided by a rubber band.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,749 to Fox discloses a two pairs of wings mounted in tandem along the fuselage of the vehicle. The forward wing of one pair reciprocates in phase with the diagonally located rear wing of the other pair. The other diagonally located wings reciprocate 180 degrees out of phase to reduce torque forces. The power may be by engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,573 to Kelfer discloses a drive mechanism for an ornithopter with two wings which describe a horizontal figure eight as the vehicle moves through the air. A drive sprocket drives an eccentric and a crank arm joined to a shaft connected to a knee joint for positive control of the wings throughout their up-and-down movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,483 to Therriault discloses a drive mechanism for an ornithopter with multiple sets of wings. The pitch of the wings is controlled by one drive shaft so that the broad side of the wings face downwardly in downward movement of the wings, during flapping, while the upward movement of the wings presents the leading edge to decrease resistance. Another drive shaft provides the flapping motion. The wings are mounted on opposite sides of the frame of the ornithopter.
What is lacking in the art is a light weight ornithopter with rotating wings which describe a sinusoidal path through the air to produce lift for slow speed flight.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the instant invention to teach an ornicopter that can hover above the ground and move laterally above the ground with the highest propulsive efficiency and no counterbalancing torque.
It is another objective of the instant invention to teach an ornicopter with a flapping wing which results in rotation of the wing assembly.
It is a further objective of the instant invention to teach an ornicopter having a vertical movement of the wing assembly producing lift and thrust.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention. The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.