US Patent 7,182,295 for personal flight and system using ion electric air propulsion which is considered a clean technology that has none of the carbon emissions or volatile fuels involved with combustion engines.  The advantage of ion propulsion is efficiency.

The founder of the company developed an improved way to use new electrically charged, polarized, proprietary alloys to create thrust to lift small, ultralight aircraft commonly referred to as Personal Ultralight Vehicles (PAVs) without the need for a propeller, jet, balloon or rockets. 

Additionally, it's innovations in beaming targeted, focused electrical energy from ground to air makes this patent critical for commercialization by Boeing,Intel, Raytheon, and other tech integrators.

Improvements over related patented technologies include:

• A novel method for beaming focused electrical power  
• Using the beamed power in a DC to DC conversion device
• The use of beamed electricity to provide power for UAV's
• Materials used to make the lifting media--using polarized metals so ions will jump off more efficiently
• Greatly improved lifting material uses thin film with embedded polarized metals.  The result is an extremly long propulsion ribbon wound into disks, providing far more lift than other ion propulsion  designs.
• Creating an optomized ionized atmospheric field around the craft
• The design of the antenna that receives the beamed energy and how the energy is processed

Applications

Border Patrol/Security/Surveillance   The use of manned and unmanned ultralight aerial vehicles that can hover for patrol and surveilance is predicted to grow to become a $400 million market by 2012.  DARPA has funded research for a hybrid land/air machine  for "urban scouting," casualty evacuation and commando-delivery missions.

Unmanned air vehicle (UAV) market   A recent market research report dated Feb 9, 2010 from the Teal Group estimates that UAV spending will more than double over the next decade from current worldwide UAV expenditures of $4.9 billion annually to $11.5 billion, totaling just over $80 billion in the next ten years.

More than 40 countries worldwide are developing and/or deploying UAV systems. Many more either produce or import aerial targets to train their air defense missile crews and artillery batteries.  The United States budget for UAV’s exceeded one billion dollars for the first time for the financial year 2003 - and this is just the military market.   

Within a few years, they are expected to begin to realize their potential in the civil market too, fo telecommunications, law enforcement, environmental patrol, and many other tasks where the presence of an on-board human pilot is not essential.

Wireless powering of  devices and sensor nodes:  Wireless energy transmission may be used to deliver electrical energy to power the sensor nodes.  The sensor network may monitior machinery or structures like bridges, dams and buildings.  Devices may include pumps for firefighters inside a burning building.

Problems Solved by This Innovation

Manned, ultralight aircraft without the use of propellers has been under development since the 1950s.  However, none of those devices to date have been able to provide sustained flight for more than a few minutes.  The overall weight of the aircraft and its required power supply (chemical propellants, engine, etc.) has prevented efficient use of these PAVs.

The PFS technology solves those inefficiencies. In simple terms, the base technology uses the flow of ions from one electrode to another to move air which is pushed when these ions collide in an air medium.  Electrons driven across an air-gap create a flow in that media when they collide with particulates in the air, resulting in thrust directionally opposite to the master cathode.  

Several novel methods are used to improve the performance and efficiency of the thrust, including:

1. New design for capacitive thrust plates that emit and receive the electrical charge using embedded polarized metals and wire ribbons used in the computer industry.

2. Creating an optimized ionized field around the craft by conditioning of air between and around the capacitive plates

3. Design of attachments to the lifting panel that help translate lift into horizontal thrust for direction

4. A ground-based broadcast power system and on-board rectenna eliminates the need for onboard power storage.  The result its more lift. range and higher payload.
5. Automated flight navigation.

Video of test model lifter built by Personal Flight Systems

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The ion engines "Star Trek's" Spock dreamt of 30 years ago are now a reality.

One examplie is NASA's Deep Space 1 spacecraft uses ion-drive technology developed by NASA and Hughes Electron Dynamics Division (now part of Boeing), which is a world leader in the design and manufacture of microwave, traveling wave-tube amplifiers, and ion thrusters for commercial and military applications.  Personal Flight Systems' ultralight aerial vehicle is another example.

Personal Flight Systems (PFS) patent covers various methods, apparatuses, and systems in which an electric-energy lifting panel levitates a user who is secured to the electric-energy lifting panel.

The electric-energy lifting panel includes a first capacitive plate and a second capacitive plate having different geometric dimensions to generate a net-directional force. An ion conditioner ion enhances air around the first capacitive plate and the second capacitive plate. The firm successfully to overcome patent examiner skepticism by overcoming a NASA patent on older versions of this technology.

The patent's second innovation for ion-thrusters powered Personal Ultralight Vehicles (PAVs) is an energy source which is located on the ground.  Power can be wireless beamed to PAV’s through the use of rectennas and cell towers.  This approach lightens the PAV's substantially.

The ground based power distribution tower may have high voltage Direct Current power-supply to inductively provide a pulsating Direct Current to the onboard inductive transformers. The ground based tower may also have electromagnetic field shielding in place.  This patent, therefore, provides later filing potential for coverage of wireless electicity embodiments.

The ground based power distribution towers may be located strategically along urban points to provide initial thrust enhancement to the personal flight vehicle, thus reducing the system weight. The ground based may also provide control lift points for the Federal-Air-Aviation air traffic control requirements.

The ground based power distribution tower may contain a module to communicate with the navigation system onboard the personal flight vehicle to provide tracking of the personal flight vehicle as well as focusing power to a particular personal flight vehicle.

A Global Positioning Systemmay be incorporated into both the towers and the onboard the navigation system. The communication module may send a warling light and sound an audible signal the user that they have wandered outside of prescribed flight lanes.

The ground-based towers use an induction broadcast power-supply based upon proven power broadcast theory currently being demonstrated by some of the largest electronics companies. The projected induction power from the ground based power distribution tower reduces the onboard power requirements of the personal flight vehicle.

 Patent Art of Power Transmitter

A ground based power distribution tower produces directed high-voltage, high-frequency, low-amperage power either directed at one or more personal flight vehicles in the range of the tower or in a limited general broadcast area. The ground based power distribution tower slowly lowers a personal flight vehicle to the ground if a user goes outside the prescribed air-lane due to the natural fall off of available energy when the user goes outside the area where the tower pulsates the energy.

Launch towers could also be incorporated into emergency and tactical vehicles as collapsible towers. The energy broadcast towers could also be incorporated into emergency and tactical vehicles for fixed operating environment, rapid deployment situations.

Related Research

Microwave Power-Beaming Demonstrationwith 6-kV Rectenna and Ion-Breeze Thruster

T. Cummings*, J. Janssen*, J. Karnesky*, D. Laks*, M. Santillo*, B. Strause* and L.N. Myrabo§

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590

A. Alden¶, P.Buliane¶, and M. Zhang¶ Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

39th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference and Exhibit July 2003, Huntsville, Alabama

Abstract:

On 14 April 2003 , a 5.85-GHz transmitter beamed 3-kW of microwave power to a remote rectifying antenna (i.e., rectenna) that delivered 6-kV to a special ‘Ion-Breeze’ Engine (IBE).  Three of CRC ’s latest 26.5-cm by 31-cmrectennas were connected in series to provide the ~6-kV output. RPI ’s new, low-voltage IBE thrusters performed well in a “world’s first” power-beaming demonstration with rectennas and endoatmospheric ion-propulsion engines.  The successful tests were a low-tech, proof-of concept demonstration for the future Microwave Lightcraft (MWLC) and its airbreathing ‘loiter’propulsion mode; this advanced electric thruster will employ 1-5 MeV electron accelerators (instead of the IBE’s wire electrodes) to create ion ‘clouds’ around its oppositely-charged hull, to produce thrust.

Wireless Resonant Energy Link

Intel research project in Seattle--The goal of the WREL project is to cut the last cord---the power cord. Building on principles proposed by MIT physicists in 2006, the WREL team recently lit a 60W lightbulb at a range of several feet and very high efficiency---around 70%. The demonstration received extensive news coverage..

What is claimed is: