Toyota’s Flying Car Patent Looks Like Henry Ford Drawing the Wright Brother’s Plane ‘Details’

Toyota Motor Corp., which is interested in all sorts of mobility, has filed for a patent that could lead to a flying car.

According to Car and Driver, in the application that was filed back in March 2014, but only just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, Toyota and two US inventors submitted designs and specifications for a "stackable wing for an aerocar".

Toyota's flying vehicle features a set of wings situated on the car's roof that can be raised and lowered as needed. When the vehicle is in "roadable mode", namely driving on terra firma, the stack of wings sit tight against each other on the top of the car.

Unlike other flying cars, such as the one being planned by Terrafugia for 2021, Toyota's vehicle doesn't have collapsable wings on its side. This is done partially for aesthetics, but also to eliminate the road-going blind spots caused by folded up side-mounted wings.

The wings in Toyota's hypothetical aerocar can then be raised as required for takeoff, cruising and landing. The section of every wing, except the top one, can be modified via internal actuators. This not only allows the car to adjust the amount of lift created, but also means that the wings can be stacked in a more space efficient manner.

Not much is said by Toyota about about the flying car's means of propulsion, except that it may be supplied by a "pusher propeller, open rotor, turbofan, or other thrust generation system".

Source: Toyota's Flying Car Patent Looks Like Henry Ford Drawing the Wright Brother's Plane 'Details'