US Patent 10336443 Retractable and deployable flight rotor system

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises a shaft, a rotor, and a cam surface. The shaft comprises a spiral spline along a length of the shaft. The rotor comprises a blade extending from the rotor and a tubular hole extending into the rotor. The tubular hole comprises a spiral groove configured to mate with the spiral spline on the shaft. Relative rotation between the spiral spline and the spiral groove causes the rotor to linearly move along the shaft. The cam surface comprising a recession. The blade nesting in the recession to constrains rotation of the rotor about the shaft and allows linear movement of the rotor along the shaft.