Appeal 2007-1831
Application 10/313,052
Appellants claim an improvement in winglets for commercial aircraft.
The improvement includes selectively pivotable control elements for varying
the coefficient of drag of the aircraft without varying the coefficient of lift
and without exerting a net yaw influence upon the aircraft.
Claim 1 reproduced below, is further illustrative of the claimed
subject matter.
1. In an aircraft including a fuselage, a tail unit having a
vertical stabilizer fin and a vertical rudder extending aft from
said fuselage, two wings protruding laterally from opposite
sides of said fuselage, and two aerodynamic components
arranged respectively on outboard wingtips of said two wings,
an improvement wherein said aerodynamic components
comprise control means including selectively pivotable control
elements for selectively varying a coefficient of drag of said
aircraft without varying a coefficient of lift of said aircraft and
without exerting a net yaw influence on said aircraft by
selectively pivotally deflecting said selectively pivotable
control elements.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner as
evidence of obviousness are:
Burnelli 1,987, 050 Jan. 08, 1935
Mitchell 2,480,040 Aug. 23, 1949
Boyle 4,042,197 Aug. 16, 1977
Daude 4,457,479 Jul. 03, 1984
Jupp 4,714,215 Dec. 22, 1987
Sigalla 4,784,353 Nov. 15, 1988
2
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