Did You Know...
...that the inventor of the electric motor was a blacksmith named Thomas Davenport? Described as "a brilliantly unsuccessful inventor", Davenport invented the first rotary electric motor. In 1836 he headed out -- on foot -- from his Vermont home to file a patent application at the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. By the time he got there, he had squandered away his money and couldn't afford the $30 filing fee so he turned around and went home. When he later mailed in his application with money he'd raised, the Patent office was destroyed in a fire. He did finally get credit for his invention on Feb. 5, 1837.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8141814 | Lighter-than-air vertical load lifting system An aerial load lifting system features a non-rigid or blimp-type dirigible providing a lighter-than-air envelope that is placed within a structural shell. The system is designed so that the envelope provides essentially neutral buoyancy for the structure, leaving on... | 03/27/2012 |
| 7364114 | Aircraft The present invention concerns an aircraft having a plurality of lifting and thrust rotors, with an electric motor and an inverter for each motor. In order to provide an aircraft having a greater payload, connecting bars are provided between the motors. In that resp... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7350746 | Dual hull airship controlled by thrust vectoring A highly maneuverable aircraft with aerostatic lift consists, in particular, of a non-rigid airship (10) which can be piloted or radio-controlled; the airship (10) is sustained by helium and consists of two spindle-shaped elements side by side (11 | 04/01/2008 |
| 7273195 | Vertical lift craft A vertical lift craft includes a vertical lift craft, a powered rotor system including two counter-rotating lift rotors rotatably mounted to the body and a cage fixed to the body and extending about the powered rotor system, the cage including flexible rods extendin... | 09/25/2007 |
| 7263939 | Simplified elevated sailing apparatus An elevated sailing apparatus that extracts traction power from the wind. It operates without the heeling moment (typical of conventional sailboats), which constrains the design and limits the power that can be used. A wing or sail is attached beneath a streamlined ... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7264202 | Tri-cycloidal airship An unmanned, lighter-than-air airship includes three omnidirectional thrust generating units. One unit is mounted at the fore-end of the airship to generate thrust in a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the airship. This unit controls pitch and... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7219854 | Cycloidal hybrid advanced surface effects vehicle A “wing in ground effect” aerial vehicle includes a wing mounted on a fuselage, and two cycloidal propulsion units for providing lift, thrust and longitudinal control. Additional lift is provided by a lighter-than-air gas such as helium contained in the fuselage... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7201346 | Circular fixed wing VTOL aircraft A VTOL aircraft includes a wing, a propulsion system, and an air dam. The propulsion system is located in a central void formed in the wing to cause air flow from an outer perimeter of the wing over the wing and down through the void to generate lift. The air dam is... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7173649 | Video airship The video airship is a lighter-than-air airship, preferably spherical, including a video display disposed with substantially all of the craft's outer surface, a nearly invisible computerized electric propulsion-control system, speakers, microphones, video cameras, c... | 02/06/2007 |
| 7131613 | High-altitude launching of rockets lifted by helium devices and platforms with rotatable wings A system is disclosed for lifting a rocket into the upper atmosphere and establishing forward flight at several hundred miles per hour, before the rocket engines are ignited and the rocket is released from the lifting system. The main subassemblies of this lifting s... | 11/07/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7108228 | Hydrogen-fueled spacecraft A spacecraft having facilities for carrying astronauts and payloads into the earth satellite orbit and space having a composite fiber body with a Kevlar exterior skin. Said craft having a substantially round shape with a portion covered with solar cells. Said solar ... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7093788 | Rotating flying wing aircraft and control system A rotating wing aircraft has a rotating fuselage and wings. The aircraft is configured to rotate with the air passing over the wings because of the rotation providing the lift needed to keep the aircraft aloft. The wings have rudders coupled to them, such as at the ... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7036768 | Multi-purpose airship A multi-purpose airship usable for multi-purposes with less maintenance cost is provided. The multi-purpose airship comprises an operator cabin (1) to which a work device of agricultural chemical scattering device (10) or the like is fittable, a rotor ... | 05/02/2006 |
| 6935963 | System and apparatus for propelling and carrying a user within a confined interior The present invention comprises an inflatable balloon of sufficient volume and buoyancy to allow a human pilot to float above the ground and to glide over the ground within an enclosed area. The balloon incorporates several safety features that permit it to be used ... | 08/30/2005 |
| 6925949 | Elevated sailing apparatus An elevated sailing apparatus that includes one or more wings, tethered to a conveyance, and suspended from beneath a streamlined, lighter-than-air blimp. The wings generate both propulsive and lifting forces from the wind. The propulsive force is used to propel a c... | 08/09/2005 |
| 6860449 | Hybrid flying wing An aircraft has a flying wing and two wingtip hulls installed on the wingtips of the flying wing. Both of the wingtip hulls contain lighter-than-air gas to generate static lift. These wingtip hulls not only contribute to lift-generating but also help the aircraft ac... | 03/01/2005 |
| 6834829 | Vertical lift aircraft having an enclosed rotary wing A vertical lift aircraft comprises a cabin mounted to an enclosed rotary wing which provides vertical lift for the aircraft. The rotary wing includes an annular housing and a main rotor blade rotatable within a space circumscribed by the housing. The main rotor blad... | 12/28/2004 |
| 6471159 | Airship shaped space craft The present airship-shaped space craft has a middle fuselage extending in a fore-and-aft direction, and a pair of two outer fuselages extending in the fore-and-aft direction located symmetrically on both sides of the middle fuselage. In the above fuselage... | 10/29/2002 |
| 6467724 | Articulated drive An aircraft has a fuselage designed essentially as an aerostatic lift body and combined lift and propulsion devices which are articulated on the fuselage, are provided with propellers and form propulsion units and which in each case are tiltable between a... | 10/22/2002 |
| 5931411 | Hovering aircraft In a novel hovering aircraft, an airfoil blade structure rotatable about a vertical axis comprises a set of upper blades and a set of lower blades, all having variable lift, the upper blades converging toward the lower blades from root to tip. Struts, loc... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5823468 | Hybrid aircraft A hybrid aircraft is taught having VTOL, R-VTOL and S-STOL capabilities. The aircraft has a lifting body hull and four wing sections arranged in tandem which are pivotally moveable about their neutral axis. Each wing section has mounted thereon a pivotal ... | 10/20/1998 |
| 5810286 | Lighter-than-air aircraft A stable and highly maneuverable lighter-than-air aircraft is provided. The aircraft includes a body portion which is supported beneath a balloon portion by a stem or axle. The balloon is fillable with a lighter-than-air gas and is sized to accept suffici... | 09/22/1998 |
| 5449129 | Propulsion system for a lighter-than-air vehicle The invention is a propulsion system for a lighter-than-air vehicle, the vehicle having a longitudinal, lateral and vertical axis. In detail, the propulsion system includes a thrust producing assembly rotatably mounted on the vehicle, the assembly rotatab... | 09/12/1995 |
| 5383627 | Omnidirectional propelling type airship An omnidirectional propelling type of airship can be propelled in any direction in three-dimensions. The airship includes an airtight gas chamber, gas having a specific gravity smaller than that of air and filling the gas chamber, a section capable of acc... | 01/24/1995 |
| 5368256 | Propulsion system for a lighter-than-air vehicle The invention is a propulsion system for a lighter-than-air vehicle. In detail the propulsion system includes a pylon having a longitudinal axis and first and second ends, the first end of the pylon rotatably mounted to the vehicle and the second end exte... | 11/29/1994 |
| 5240206 | Airship An acrobatic airship capable of making a perfect somersault, and a 360 degree roll in a limited small air space, without utilizing high-powered thrusters or sophisticated automatic control mechanisms. The airship has a rather thick and round axi-symmetric... | 08/31/1993 |
| 5152478 | Unmanned flight vehicle including counter rotating rotors positioned within a toroidal shroud and operable to provide all required vehicle flight controls An unmanned flight vehicle wherein two counter-rotating rotors are positioned within a toroidal fuselage and in which rotor pitch solely is utilized to generate all required lift, pitch, roll, yaw and vibration and stress control for the vehicle.... | 10/06/1992 |
| 5082205 | Semi-buoyant composite aircraft with non-rotating aerostat A hybrid aircraft with a large non-rotating balloon chamber containing a lighter-than-air gas which provides a large static lifting force having a magnitude substantially greater than the weight of the aircraft with a support structure system which is sub... | 01/21/1992 |
| 5079809 | Anti-binding zipper slider An anti-binding slide for a slide fastener is provided and consists of a side wing segment at each corner of the slide to make a spreading action for reducing the binding of material to be zipped together and separated. The retainer bar is elongated and h... | 01/14/1992 |
| 5074489 | Method and system for supporting an airborne vehicle in space A method and system for supporting an airborne vehicle in space over a predetermined location and for an extensive period, comprises coupling the airborne vehicle by cables to a plurality of unmanned aircraft each having its own propulsion system; control... | 12/24/1991 |
| 5071383 | Radio-controlled flying apparatus A radio-controlled flying apparatus comprising an annular buoyant body and having an overall center of gravity below the center of buoyant force of the buoyant body. The annular buoyant body contains a gas of lighter weight than air. A main body is suppor... | 12/10/1991 |
| 5026003 | Lighter-than-air aircraft A lighter-than-air aircraft includes a rigid platform having cargo and passenger compartments and gas bags attached to the platform for holding a gas having a density less than air, thus imparting lift to the platform. The bags are arranged in pairs, ther... | 06/25/1991 |
| 4799629 | Flying object for collecting solar rays A flying object for collecting solar rays comprises a disk-shaped flying body equipped with floating and propelling means installed at the outer circumferential portions thereof. The flying object can detect its direction of flight and keep its position c... | 01/24/1989 |
| 4695012 | Aerial load-lifting system An aerial load-lifting system including a lighter-than-air unit, such as a blimp, below which is suspended a powered heavier-than-air unit, such as a helicopter, for example. The latter unit produces thrust which can be directed vertically, up or down, or... | 09/22/1987 |
| 4601444 | Aerial load-lifting system An aerial load-lifting system comprised of a lighter-than-air unit, such as a blimp, below which is suspended a powered heavier-than-air unit, such as a helicopter, for example. The latter unit produces thrust which can be directed vertically, up or down,... | 07/22/1986 |
| 4591112 | Vectored thrust airship An airship with provisions for vectored thrust provided by a plurality of controllable pitch rotor thrust producing units attached to the elongated aerostat hull spaced from and on opposite sides of the center of overall mass of the airship. The pitch con... | 05/27/1986 |
| 4482110 | Cyclorotor composite aircraft A composite aircraft comprising a system of airfoils rotating about a horizontal axis providing lift and thrust in combination with a lighter-than-air gas containment bag providing bouyant lift; said aircraft being capable of lifting and transporting a lo... | 11/13/1984 |
| 4272042 | Airship and associated apparatus and method for anchoring same An airship and a magnetically operated anchoring assembly adapted to provide rotation of the airship with respect to the ground, includes a gondola mounted to an envelope structure adapted to house lighter-than-air gas as well as any enclosures which may ... | 06/09/1981 |
| 4269375 | Hybrid annular airship An airship has a gas-containing annulus contained by the circular base portion of framework the central portion of which extends above the annulus. The capacity of the annulus in accordance with one embodiment is such as to render buoyant a weight equal a... | 05/26/1981 |
