Patent ID: 9598167
Date: 2017-03-21
CPC Classifications: B64C,Y02B,Y02T

Claim:
1. An airfoil, comprising: a leading edge including a flexible leading edge skin having a first end, a second end, and an arc length defined therebetween, the first end and the second end being constrained locations of the flexible leading edge skin; a shape control mechanism attached to the flexible leading edge skin at a plurality of discrete, fixed support locations and configured to transition the flexible leading edge skin from a first shape having a first curvature profile to a second shape having a second curvature profile different than the first curvature profile without a change in the arc length; and the shape control mechanism including at least one main arm and at least one rotation arm each directly connected to and extending from an airfoil main portion and coupled to a same support location in a manner such that when the shape control mechanism transitions the leading edge skin from the first shape to the second shape: the main arm enforces a displacement of the leading edge skin at the same support location; and the rotation arm enforces a slope change of the leading edge skin at the same support location.