Toyota and its flying car patent

The evolution of the auto industry has been nothing short of remarkable. Starting with the steam engine, then the internal combustion engine and now the electric motor, it is quite evident that the automotive industry is one of the most evolved industries the world has seen. All these advancements have been facilitated by the new emerging technologies such as the computer. Today, a car is not just a means to take you from point A to B, but it is a far much complex machine with unimaginable comfort and safety features. Today’s car is intelligent and carries out most of the operations on its own. In fact, self-driving cars have been made and it is only a matter of time before these type of cars become available commercially.

Toyota has been part and parcel of the auto industry. It is even quite hard to mention the advancements made in the automotive industry without mentioning Toyota and its contributions. Toyota has been a pioneer in many of the cutting-edge technologies used in cars and it is no surprise that they are ready to take cars to the next level; flying cars! Yes, you heard me right, Toyota has acquired a patent to develop an aero-car in future. Here is what you need to know about the patent and the flying car:

• The patent was filed in 2014 and it is called the “shape morphine fuselage of an aero-car”

Toyota filed the patent of the flying car in the US Patent and Trademark office on 2^nd March 2014 but was only made public in June 2016. According to the patent, Toyota describes this as a shape morphine fuselage of an aero-car meaning that they anticipate the fuselage of the flying car to be flexible and stretch in several flexible ways.

• The patent describes moulding a tensile body so as to keep the wings in interior space when driven on road
  

  

Unlike many other flying car designs, Toyota intends to build a morphing car that can be used both on land and in the air. In order for this to be so, there have to be adjustments both on the body of the aero-car as well as its wings. Toyota intends to develop a tensile body that will be able to stretch and fold around or within certain parameters. This is all in an effort to make the car be able to transit between land and air mode.

• The wings of the aero car would be folded inside the car compartment and released through a hatch

Just like the way a bird folds up its wings and stretches them for flight, is the same way Toyota intends to develop the aero-car. When the car is being used on land or during land mode, the wings would be able to fold into an inside compartment. There would also be a hatch which would release the wings for flight. This would make the aero-car safe for use both on land and in the air.

• The flying car would have a propeller on the back
  

  

The patent shows a propeller on the back bumper of the car. This suggests that the car will have a rear engine for propulsion. The patent goes further to state that the aero-car would be powered by a power system that would include an internal combustion engine turbine, a battery pack, fuel cell as well as other energy conversion devices.

Well, there is so much that can be said about Toyota’s flying car patent but one thing that is for sure is that this is an interesting idea and definitely something to look forward to if it will be actualized. Toyota has no plans of starting to build the flying car anytime soon but you never know what the future holds!

Update: Totoya created a normal looking car that can ‘fly’. Watch it ‘fly’ here.