Ornithopter

Abstract

An ornithopter includes a fuselage, a wing flapping assembly, a tail control assembly, a tail and a pair of wings. The wing flapping assembly and the tail control assembly are each mounted on the fuselage. The tail is operably connected to the tail control assembly and the position thereof controls the direction of flight and the angle of lift. The wing flapping assembly may have a flapping mode and a glide mode and the wing flapping assembly may include a pawl which is engageable with a cam. In the flapping mode the pawl passes the cam and in the glide mode the pawl engages the cam. Each wing may include a generally triangular inner wing portion and a generally triangular outer wing portion. The outer wing portion may have a plurality of spaced apart battens extending between the diagonal stiffening member and the trailing edge.

What is claimed as the invention is:  
     
         1 . An ornithopter for use in association with a remote control device comprising: 
 a fuselage;    a pair of wings operably connected to the fuselage;    a wing flapping assembly mounted on the fuselage and operably connected to the pair of wings wherein the wing flapping assembly has a flapping mode and a glide mode; the wing flapping assembly includes a pawl which is engageable with a cam, in the flapping mode the pawl passes the cam and in the glide mode the pawl engages the cam;    a remote control means to control the wing flapping assembly.    
     
     
         2 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the wing flapping assembly includes a drive system for driving an output crank which causes a first and second wing flapping lever to move upwardly and downwardly and wherein the first and second wing flapping levers are operably connected to the pair of wings.  
     
     
         3 . An ornithopter as claim in  claim 2  wherein the drive system rotates the output crank in a first direction and wing flapping assembly further includes a reverse drive system that rotates the output crank in a second opposite direction and whereby rotation in the second opposite direction disengages the cam from the pawl.  
     
     
         4 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the cam is a shaped portion of the output crank.  
     
     
         5 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 4  wherein the first wing flapping lever is operably connected to the output crank and the second wing flapping lever is a slave lever operably connected to the first wing flapping lever.  
     
     
         6 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 3  wherein the drive system is a fuel operated engine and the reverse drive system is a battery operated motor.  
     
     
         7 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 3  wherein an electric motor is the drive system and the reverse drive system.  
     
     
         8 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 3  further including a tail control assembly mounted on the fuselage and a tail operably connected to the tail control assembly wherein the position of the tail controls the direction of flight and the angle of lift.  
     
     
         9 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the tail is generally planar defining a rudder angle between the tail and the fuselage and the tail control assembly includes a tail rudder servo whereby movement of the tail rudder servo causes the rudder angle to change.  
     
     
         10 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 9  wherein the tail control assembly further includes a tail lift servo whereby movement of the tail lift servo causes the tail to move between angling upwardly and angling downwardly relative to the fuselage.  
     
     
         11 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 10  wherein the rudder angle ranges between 80 degrees upwardly to the right and 80 degrees upwardly to the left.  
     
     
         12 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 11  wherein the tail moves between a 45 degree upward angle to a 45 degree downward angle.  
     
     
         13 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 8  wherein each wing has a stiffened leading edge; a trailing edge; a fuselage edge; a generally triangular inner wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the fuselage edge and a diagonal stiffening member; and a generally triangular outer wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the trailing edge and the diagonal stiffening member and wherein the outer wing portion has a plurality of spaced apart battens extending between the diagonal stiffening member and the trailing edge.  
     
     
         14 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 13  wherein a length of the stiffened leading edge is defined by a distance between the fuselage and a wing tip and the diagonal stiffening member extends from a point generally one third of the leading edge length on the stiffened leading edge to a tail end of the fuselage.  
     
     
         15 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 14  wherein the stiffened leading edge includes a sleeve having an adjustable closure, the sleeve extending from the fuselage to the wing tip and a leading edge rod is positioned in the sleeve and the wing flapping assembly includes the leading edge rod and wherein the wing has a tension characteristic and a trim characteristic and whereby adjusting the closure varies the tension in the wing and varies the trim of the wing.  
     
     
         16 . An ornithopter for use in association with a remote control device comprising: 
 a fuselage;    a wing flapping assembly mounted on the fuselage;    a tail control assembly mounted on the fuselage;    a tail operably connected to the tail control assembly wherein the position of the tail controls the direction of flight and the angle of lift;    a pair of wings operably connected to the wing flapping assembly and the fuselage.    
     
     
         17 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the tail is generally planar defining a rudder angle between the tail and the fuselage and the tail control assembly includes a tail rudder servo whereby movement of the tail rudder servo causes the rudder angle to change.  
     
     
         18 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 17  wherein the tail control assembly further includes a tail lift servo whereby movement of the tail lift servo causes the tail to move between angling upwardly and angling downwardly relative to the fuselage.  
     
     
         19 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 18  wherein the rudder angle ranges between 80 degrees upwardly to the right and 80 degrees upwardly to the left.  
     
     
         20 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 19  wherein the tail moves between a 45 degree upward angle to a 45 degree downward angle.  
     
     
         21 . An ornithopter for use in association with a remote control device comprising: 
 a fuselage;    a wing flapping assembly mounted on the fuselage; and    a pair of wings operably connected to the wing flapping assembly and the fuselage, each wing having a stiffened leading edge, a trailing edge and a fuselage edge, each wing including a generally triangular inner wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the fuselage edge and a diagonal stiffening member and a generally triangular outer wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the trailing edge and the diagonal stiffening member, the outer wing portion having a plurality of spaced apart battens extending between the diagonal stiffening member and the trailing edge.    
     
     
         22 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 21  wherein stiffened leading edge includes a sleeve having an adjustable closure, the sleeve extending from the fuselage to a wing tip and a leading edge rod is positioned in the sleeve and the wing flapping assembly includes the leading edge rod and wherein the wing has a tension characteristic and a trim characteristic and whereby adjusting the closure varies the tension in the wing and varies the trim of the wing.  
     
     
         23 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 22  wherein a stiffened leading edge length is defined by a distance between the fuselage and the wing tip and the diagonal stiffening member extends from a point generally one third of the leading edge length on the stiffened leading edge to a tail end of the fuselage.  
     
     
         24 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 23  wherein each wing includes a flapping portion and the flapping portion of the pair of wings are made of one membrane that is reinforced along the fuselage.  
     
     
         25 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 24  wherein each leading edge rod is a pultruded carbon rod, each diagonal rod is a pultruded carbon rod and each batten is a micro carbon batten.  
     
     
         26 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 25  wherein leading edge sleeve is attached to the membrane and the membrane is ripstop polyester and the sleeve is Dacron.  
     
     
         27 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 24  wherein the trailing edge is serrated.  
     
     
         28 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 26  wherein each wing has a shape that corresponds to the shape of a bird wing.  
     
     
         29 . An ornithopter wing assembly for use in an ornithopter comprising a pair of wings each having a stiffened leading edge, a trailing edge and a fuselage edge, each wing including a generally triangular inner wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the fuselage edge and a diagonal stiffening member and a generally triangular outer wing portion bounded by the leading edge, the trailing edge and the diagonal stiffening member, the outer wing portion having a plurality of spaced apart battens extending between the diagonal stiffening member and the trailing edge.  
     
     
         30 . An ornithopter as claimed in  claim 29  wherein stiffened leading edge includes a sleeve having an adjustable closure, the sleeve extending from the fuselage to a wing tip and a leading edge rod is positioned in the sleeve and wherein the wing has a tension characteristic and a trim characteristic and whereby adjusting the closure varies the tension in the wing and varies the trim of the wing.  
     
     
         31 . An ornithopter as claimed in claim  30  wherein a stiffened leading edge length is defined by a distance between the fuselage edge and the wing tip and the diagonal stiffening member extends from a point generally one third of the leading edge length on the stiffened leading edge to a tail end of the fuselage.