LAS VEGAS, Jan. 19, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mundus Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:MNDP) has received a patent for the Telescoping Wing Locking System (Patent No.: US 7,832,690 B1) from the United States patent Office for the VTOL Roadable Aircraft Int. division, (RAI). The system enables reliable wing extension and retraction of a telescoping wing in flight. This novel solution to wing articulation addresses a significant challenge facing designers in their effort to offer additional safety features to RAI. The difficulty encountered with earlier designs was the inability to reliably retract the deployed wing under operating loads without reducing clearance tolerances of the mechanism.
Greater clearances between the telescoping wing surfaces had led to accelerated wear and unacceptable service lives of the wing assembly. The solution was an electrometric bladder controlled by an air compressor and valve system. In the inflated mode the assembly is far stiffer than possible with conventional methods and the lubricated gasket all but eliminates the erosion issues first encountered. Once deflated, the retraction functions free of excessive surface friction thus addressing the risk of retraction failure.
"The significance of this invention to our designers is profound. The ability to offer a wing retraction feature will improve vehicle safety with a much simpler approach than competing designs that our team has considered. It is important because it provides lift to the ducted fan's primary Vertical Take Off and Landing VTOL thrust, once in flight and the telescopic wings allow forward flight to be more effectively controlled with the additional safety benefit of being able to glide and land safely.
In the current AutoDesk Inventor 3D design, the addition of a canard winglet at the front of the aircraft would prevent stalling and as this front canard winglet would drop first the craft would nose dive enough to pick up forward motion and the telescopic wings would provide lift with airspeed and improved lifting surfaces stabilize flight control easier," said Keith Field, Mundus Group Chairman.
RAI plans to revolutionize VTOL "inner space" travel with its patented configuration utilizing counter rotating propellers within a ducted fan that are unexposed and thereby allowing take offs and landings without the inherent danger found in the typical helicopter propellers of the current technology.
About Mundus Group, Inc.:
The Mundus Group, Inc. (Pink Sheets:MNDP) is an advanced aerospace technology consortium providing patented Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) technology for experimental aircraft and Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAV) since 1990 through its fully owned VTOL division, Roadable Aircraft International (RAI). From State of the Art, RC Remote Controlled Unmanned UAV Air Vehicles for aerial camera movie production and environmental testing to advanced VTOL aerospace technology for civilian and military uses, Mundus Group, Inc. is developing broad product and service offerings to provide economic protection and growth opportunities for investors.