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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8091823 | Flapping apparatus with large flapping angles The present invention provides a flapping apparatus with a large flapping angle. The flapping apparatus includes a frame, a drive motor, a slider, connection links, actuating links and wings. The frame includes I-shaped plates which face each other in parallel, and ... | 01/10/2012 |
| 8033499 | Biomimetic micro-aerial-vehicle with figure-eight flapping trajectory A micro aerial vehicle includes: a fuselage; a flapping transmission mechanism mounted on a front portion of the fuselage; a flexible wing frame secured to and driven by the flapping transmission mechanism for producing a figure-eight flapping trajectory for mimicki... | 10/11/2011 |
| 7963478 | Wing-flapping flying apparatus and method of using the same The present invention provides a wing-flapping flying apparatus, which can fly by moving its wings similar to a bird hovering or flying in the air by flapping its wings. The wing-flapping flying apparatus comprises: a body; a rotating shaft rotatably joined to the b... | 06/21/2011 |
| 7651051 | Mechanism for biaxial rotation of a wing and vehicle containing such mechanism A vehicle with wings and a mechanism for causing a flapping motion in wings. Each wing structure comprises a wing and a wing spar coupled to a follower via a resilient member. Each wing carrier is pivotally connected to the body and is configured to restrain lateral... | 01/26/2010 |
| 7600712 | Ornithopter An new ornithopter is provided with an elongated body, wings extending laterally from the forward end of the elongated body, and a tail extending laterally from the rear end of the elongated body. In one embodiment, an elongated rotatable member is rotatably coupled... | 10/13/2009 |
| 7410121 | Man-powered ornithopter-sailplane A man-powered ornithopter-sailplane, which has one or two pair of flapping wings and a hang-glider wing wherein substantially novel femoral and humeral muscular propulsion engines with the aid of which the body members connected thereto form integrated moving-flying... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7350745 | Apparatuses and methods for applying forces to a structure utilizing oscillatory wing motions in a fluid Methods and apparatuses are disclosed that rotate a first member about a first point relative to a chassis, wherein the first member is rotatably coupled to a second member at a second point. A second member is counter-rotated at a ratio of the rotational speed of t... | 04/01/2008 |
| 7341222 | Micro-unmanned aerodynamic vehicle A MEMS-based micro-unmanned vehicle includes at least a pair of wings having leading wing beams and trailing wing beams, at least two actuators, a leading actuator beam coupled to the leading wing beams, a trailing actuator beam coupled to the trailing wing beams, a... | 03/11/2008 |
| 7270298 | Personal flying apparatus A personal flying apparatus has a substantially horizontal element having a lower surface adapted to acted on by a wind upwardly so as to produce a wind-generated lifting force, and an inflatable element connected with the substantially horizontal element and filled... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7267300 | Aircraft capable of vertical and short take-off and landing Aircraft comprising an airframe having a forward end, an aft end opposite the forward end, a top extending between the forward end and the aft end, and a bottom opposite the top side. The aircraft further includes a power plant mounted on the airframe. In addition, ... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7255305 | Flying device utilizing natural principles An efficient flying device having flapping wings, an ornithopter, which uses many of the principles seen in bird flight, is presented herein. The wings are highly flexible, translationally stable and oscillate as a natural pendulum. Described as a springboard, the w... | 08/14/2007 |
| 7234667 | Modular aerospace plane This invention relates to the design of a Modular Aerospace Plane (MAP) comprising a forward fuselage section, a main wing section, a tail section and wing attachments. Various sections can be integrated to offer a variety of aircraft characteristics, performance an... | 06/26/2007 |
| 7219855 | Rising and moving apparatus and manufacturing method thereof A fluid-structure interactive analysis is performed while n types of wing structure models are caused to flap in accordance with a prescribed model of flapping manner. Based on an analysis, data 1, data 2, . . . data n of physical values related to flu... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7204455 | Motion assisting apparatus A drive assembly for use with a mechanical flying or walking device comprises an articulated member (7) having first and second portions (7a, 7b) arranged such that the portions move relative to each other, and a drive mechanism ( | 04/17/2007 |
| 7195199 | Flapping apparatus A flapping apparatus includes a first disk rotated by a driving source, and a second disk that rotates in contact with a main surface of the first disk. The second disk is provided with first and second stoppers that limit its angle of rotation. When the stopper is ... | 03/27/2007 |
| 7137592 | High-aspect ratio hybrid airship In one aspect, a hybrid airship including an outer shell, a plurality of helium filled gas envelopes, and an all-electric propulsion system can have a high-aspect ratio wing shape. In some embodiments, the hybrid airship may be launched using buoyancy lift alone and... | 11/21/2006 |
| 7128653 | Double Cardan centering mechanism A centering device for a double Cardan universal joint is comprised of a disc-shaped body having a first and second annular face and an annular rim extending about a central axis. A first hollowed protrusion is centrally located on the first annular face, and a seco... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7121505 | Method of control for toy aircraft The invention described here offers a low-cost method of remote flight control suitable for use in toy airplanes and ornithopters (flapping-wing aircraft). To accomplish this, the aircraft is powered by a reversible electric motor. The propeller or flapping wing pro... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7107842 | Angular rate sensor using micro electromechanical haltere An angular rate sensing system suitable for a micromechanical flying insect (MFI) device. The system includes a rod, or haltere, that is moved in a plane by a piezoelectric actuator. Bending of the haltere due to angular movement of a body onto which the haltere is ... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7036769 | Microstructures using carbon fiber composite honeycomb beams A drive assembly for a wing of a micromechanical flying insect. The drive assembly comprises a honey comb structure. A method for flying a micromechanical flying insect comprising moving a wing with a drive assembly having a stiffness to weight ratio greater than ab... | 05/02/2006 |
| 7007889 | Flexible airfoils and method An airfoil for use in kites, movable wing aircraft and fixed wing aircraft has a straight spar inserted into a sleeve in the arcuate leading edge of a flexible wing panel. The resultant forces on the spar dynamically shape the airfoil. The airfoil is reinforced by b... | 03/07/2006 |
| 6974356 | Amphibious robot devices and related methods Devices for navigating in a fluid medium having a solid boundary include a vehicle body and a fin attached to the vehicle body. The fin is configured to oscillate relative to the body such that interaction between the fin and the fluid medium produces propulsive for... | 12/13/2005 |
| 6959895 | Dual wing-pair air vehicle A vehicle for flying and having a forward portion and a rearward portion opposite the forward. The vehicle includes a first pair of wings arranged at the forward portion of the vehicle, a second pair of wings arranged at the rearward portion of the vehicle, and a su... | 11/01/2005 |
| 6942455 | Strain isolated trim tab A rotor blade assembly system includes a trim tab assembly which utilizes relatively thick resilient members bonded between a trim tab and the two trim tab doublers. Spanwise segmenting of the tab and the use of thick resilient member isolates the trim tab from norm... | 09/13/2005 |
| 6938853 | Biomimetic mechanism for micro aircraft A biomimetic pitching and flapping mechanism including a support member, at least two blade joints for holding blades and operatively connected to the support member. An outer shaft member is concentric with the support member, and an inner shaft member is concentri... | 09/06/2005 |
| 6926230 | Flapping apparatus A flapping apparatus includes a first disk rotated by a driving source, and a second disk that rotates in contact with a main surface of the first disk. The second disk is provided with first and second stoppers that limit its angle of rotation. When the stopper is ... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6905096 | Kite with planar aerodynamic surface A kite system including a base, a substantially exposed substructure coupled to the base to flex the base, and one or more masts and sails coupled to the base. ... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6877692 | Oscillating foil propulsion system The invention provides a propulsion system based on “thuniform” movement of a foil member to achieve desired directional movement of a vehicle such as an unmanned submarine type of vessel. A pair of foil members are mounted to the vehicle body for reciprocating ... | 04/12/2005 |
| 6840476 | Resonant wingbeat tuning circuit using strain-rate feedback for ornithoptic micro aerial vehicles A resonant wingbeat tuning circuit automatically tunes the frequency of an actuating input to the resonant frequency of a flexible wing structure. Through the use of feedback control, the circuit produces the maximum flapping amplitude of a mechanical ornithoptic sy... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6840477 | Fluttering wing-operated flying moving apparatus On a main body portion of a fluttering apparatus, a wing (left wing) is formed which has a front wing shaft, a rear wing shaft and a wing film provided spreading over the front and rear wing shafts. Further, on the main body portion, a rotary actuator for driving th... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6824094 | Power assembly for ornicopter An ornithopter has a power assembly which provides flapping of the wings by a reciprocating shaft and bell cranks. The wings are mounted on a hub which rotates in response to the flapping of the wings. The sinusoidal movement of the wings provides lift for flight. | 11/30/2004 |
| 6783097 | Wing-drive mechanism and vehicle employing same A wing-drive mechanism is described that permits, with proper control, movement of a wing about multiple wing trajectories. The wing-drive is capable of independent movement about three rotational degrees of movement; movement about a flap axis is independent of mov... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6769949 | Power-driven ornithopter An ornithopter with an airframe structure that is lightweight, simple and stable and can generate sufficient lift and thrust. The ornithopter comprises a body, a main wing attached to an upper portion of a front section of the body, and a tail wing attached to a rea... | 08/03/2004 |
| 6644589 | Compressed air engine and flying object equipped therewith A compressed air engine and a flying object using the engine are disclosed. The flying object includes the following elements. That is, the compressed air engine includes: a top member 11 provided with an air inlet 16; an upper cylinder 12; a lower cylind... | 11/11/2003 |
| 6568634 | Wing-drive mechanism and vehicle employing same A wing-drive mechanism is described that permits, with proper control, movement of a wing about multiple wing trajectories. The wing-drive is capable of independent movement about three rotational degrees of movement; movement about a flap axis is indepen... | 05/27/2003 |
| 6550716 | Power-driven ornithopter piloted by remote controller A power-driven ornithopter piloted by a remote controller wherein a takeoff and landing motion, a climbing and descending motion, and a turning motion of the ornithopter can be controlled using the remote controller. The ornithopter comprises a body, a ma... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6540177 | Flying object by flapping motion of wings equipped with compressed air engine The present invention to a flying object by flapping motion of two pair of wings, which comprises a compressed air engine, a flying body (or compressed air container) assembled with the compressed air engine and in which compressed air is contained, two p... | 04/01/2003 |
| 6530541 | Compressed air engine and flying object equipped therewith A compressed air engine and a flying object using the engine are disclosed. The flying object includes the following elements. That is, the compressed air engine includes: a top member 11 provided with an air inlet 16; an upper cylinder 12; a lower cylind... | 03/11/2003 |
| 6530540 | Flapping-wing flying device A flapping wing flying device comprises wings that pivot about a pivot axis extending generally perpendicularly to an elongate body of the flying device, and wings that move relative to said elongate body of the flying device, so that the entire leading e... | 03/11/2003 |
| 6250585 | Impellers with bladelike elements and compliant tuned transmission shafts and vehicles including same A vehicle with improved maneuverability includes: a vehicle body; a first bladelike element; a first tuned compliant transmission shaft attached to the bladelike element; and a reciprocating unit for reciprocally driving the bladelike element within a flu... | 06/26/2001 |
