Patent ID: 11912393
Assignee: JOBY AERO, INC.
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 8:
9. An aerial vehicle with a drag reduction system, said aerial vehicle comprising:
a motor driven rotor assembly, said motor driven rotor assembly comprising:
a rotor;
a stator, said rotor rotationally coupled to said stator;
a nacelle, said nacelle defining an outer surface, wherein all of said rotor is forward of a forward edge of the nacelle, the forward edge of said outer surface of said nacelle defining an air inlet gap behind said rotor, said air inlet gap fluidically coupled to an interior of said nacelle, wherein said nacelle comprises an airflow exit, said airflow exit fluidically coupled to an interior of said nacelle;

a multi-channel diffuser, said diffuser comprising one or more diffuser plates, said diffuser fluidically coupled to said air inlet gap, said diffuser fluidically coupled to said interior of said nacelle;
an air fan, said air fan adapted to suck air into said air inlet gap, said air fan structurally coupled to said stator, said air fan downstream from said diffuser, wherein said air fan is a segmented fan, said segmented fan adapted to transfer momentum of a first portion of the airflow through said fan to a second portion of the airflow through said fan, and
an air flow channel structures adapted to channelize the airflow through said diffuser into different intake areas of said segmented fan,

wherein said motor driven rotor assembly is adapted to ingest air during flight into said air inlet gap at a flow volume fraction of greater than 0.5.