AU602749B2 - Air-to-surface delivery system - Google Patents

Description

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'ATENTS ACT 1952 Ull 4 gorm COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

FOR OFFICE USE Short Title: Int. CI: IThis docurnunt contains the amendcment~s made Linder Swin ng and is correct for Application Number: Lodged: PH 9938 26th January 1987 Cqmplete Specification-Lodgel: Accepted: Lapsed', t Published: 1 .1 Priority: Related Art! '~1 TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Nome of Applicant: Address of Appl-"cant: Actual Inventor; Address for Service, LAUR~ENCE CH-ARLES GRLJZMAN 13th floor, 174 Phillip Street, Sydney. N .S t. 2000.

Laurence Charles Gruzman HALFORD MAXWELL, Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 9th floor, 49-51 York Staroot, SYDNEY. 2000.

Comptuto Specificrition for theo invenition vntitled: 'AIR-TO-SURFACE DELIVERY SYSTEM'.

The following statement Is a full doscrittion of this invention, iocludhtig the host method of porforming It known to me_: This invention relates to air-to-surface delivery systems, and particularly but not exclusively to air-sea rescue and air-sea emergency delivery systems. The invention has the object of providing apparatus which will enable the dropping of rescue equipment or stores from a low altitude, typically from a light aircraft, and without the need for expensive equipment in its use.

It is known in the prior art to drop with an inflating life raft, a floating line which will be strung I Cout on the water to facilitate recovery of the raft by the rescuees. In preferred forms of the present invention, t such a line is also employed, paid out from a container 1 from which the article to be dropped is also ejected, the container and the drop line being released from their connection with the aircraft when the load reaches the sea.

Although its principal application will be in irsea delivery, the invention is also applicable to air-land operations.

Broadly, the invention comprises apparatus for the air-to-surface delivery of an article and a drop line, comiprising a container for the article and the drop line, a atatic line for attachment to an aircraft, and releasable means connected between the static line and the drop line adapted to release the drop line from the static line following the descent of the article.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 illustrates a container in the form of a bag; Fig. 2 illustrates a stiffening assembly for the bag of Fig. 1; -3- Fig. 3 illustrates a releasable link; Fig. 4 illustrates the bag in its closed condition ready for use; Fig. 5 schematically illustrates disposition of the delivery system in use; Fig. 6 is a cross sectional side elevation view of a container for use in the apparatus of the present invention, according to a second embodiment thereof; and Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the inner case of the container of Fig. 6.

0 0 0 The illustrated container consists of a bag 10, of 00.

0 004sailcloth or other sufficiently strong flexible material, 0 0 00. 15 sewn into a cylindrical shape, and closed at the top 11.

04000: The bag is open at its lower end 12 and between that lower end and the top, opposed free edges 13 are provided with material of the kind known ui .der the trade mark Velcro.

6 SO Patches of this material are also provided on the lower 0, I "C 20 edge of the bag, at 14.

Within the bag, an additional piece 15 of the material from which the bag is constructed is attached to the inner wall, to serve as a stiffening patch in the region of the location of the drop line, which is placed within the bag and between tbe load and the bag wall, in L-4-41banks secured by elastic bands in the maianer of analogous devices such as parachutes. The drolp line, which in the case of air-sea operations will of course be a floating line, may be in the region of 250m long.

As shown in Fig. 2, in this emobodiment the bag is stiffened by splines 16 of glass reinforced plastics material, these splines extending from a cap 17 of the same material. The splnes 16 are fitted within pockets 18 sewn onto the outer surface of the bag to stiffen the -4body of the bag, while the cap 17 serves to maintain a convex shape at the top of the bag to improve the aerodynamic behaviour of the unit.

At the top of the bag the drop line is connected with th- bag, and with a releasable link device 19 shown in Fig. 3. This device comprises a steel fitting attached to the bag 10 by means of a steel ring 21 and a liie 22. The fitting has a pair of apertured flanges 23 between which a further ring 24 may be placed, this ring 24 being attached to a static line 25 anchored in the aircraft. The ring 25 is retained between the flanges 23 by a clip 26 which is attached to a loop (not shown) in the line 22, and the design is such that when the line 22 ooo.a 15 1. fully paid out as described below, the clip 26 will be pulled free, allowing the ring 25 to disengage and freeing 0000 o o 0 the bag and the drop line from their attachment to the 0 0 aO aircraft.

o 0 S 20 AS shown in Fig. 4, a funnel 27 is fixed on the oo static line 25 immediately above the bag. It has been found that this contributes to the aerodynamic stability of the bag as it is dropped from the aircraft and reduces the risk of the bag or the static line 25 fouling the 25 tailplane.

tC As also shown on Fig. 4, the lower, open end of the bag 10 is closed by gathering the bag and placing an elastic cord around the end. This closes the bag with sufficient security for normal transport and handling within the aircraft, but enables the bag to open readily c as described below.

The configuration of the apparatus after deployment is shown in Fig. 5. The aircraft 28 is flown at low altitude, preferably from about 30m to about 90m, on a path downwind passing over the target. The static line is fixed within the aircraft, and its length chosen such that when it extends, the bag will quickly pass sufficiently beyond the tail of the aircraft to a region of reduced dynamic flow where the bag, assisted by the stabilizing cone 27, will ride in a stable fashion so that the aircraft will be in no danger from the static line The aircraft 28 is preferably provided with a rearwardly facing seat adjacent the emergency exit door from which the equipment will be ejected, and an observer maintains a watch on the line and the bag, being ready to cut the static line in the event of a dangerous situation developing.

At the correct moment the equipment is dropped from 15 the aircraft, and the static line quickly extends. The falling of the bag is stopped with a severe jerk when the 0000 So o static line becomes fully extended, and the inertia of the 0 load, which may for example be a life raft weighing in the 0 region of 15 Kg., will force open the elastic tie at the 0000 S20 end of the bag and the Velcro closure 14. The load will 0600 0o o therefore continue its fall, and the floating line 29 will be paid out from the bag as the load falls.

The load will hit the. sea as illustrated in Fig. 0 o00 25 and any floating line remaining in the bag will quickly pay out, whereupon the clip 26 will be released, allowing a the bag and the drop line to fall away from the aircraft.

006 0000 Ideally, the path of the aircraft and the timing of 30 the drop will have placed the floating line close to the 0 00 0 0 0 target, and the raft or other load can quickly be gained 00 by the rescuees or recipients. A sea anchor 30 may be used to facilitate this.

In the alternative form of the load container illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7, the bag of the previous embodiment is replaced by a container Clomprising an outer case 31 of plastics material, and an inner case 32 also of -6plastics material, the cases being frusto-conical in shape. The inner case 32 is fixed within the outer case 31 by means of bolt 33. Prior to the assembly of thesp two components, however, the trailing drop line 29, ain in skeins held in place by heavy duty rubber band8, is placed around the outer surface of the inner ca~Ae, and connected to the upper end of the container and to the releasable link 19.

Preferably, a toroidal resilient spacer 34 is located between the upper end of the inner case 32 and the upper end of the outer caso- 31. A suitable spacer for this purpose has been found to be the inner tube of an aircraft nose wheel.

(C The load shown in Fig. 6 at 35 is placed within the inner case 32, and preferably frictionally retained within C the case 32 by toroidal spacers 36 which again may be I formed from inner tubes of appropriate diameter. The load is of course attached to the trailing or drop line 29.

The inner case 32 is closed by means of a lid 37 of plastics material, this lid being frictionally engaged within the end of the inner case. At the upper end of the outer case 31' a convex cover 38 is provided for Caerodynamic reasons, and the static line 25 passes through C *Cthe cover 38 which is provided with a central aperture for that purpose. The releasable link 19 may be located between the upper end of the outer case 31, and the cover CC( 38.

The operation of the equipment in, this embodiment is quite similar to the operation of equipment described in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4. Upon full extension of the static line, the load will eject C from the inner plate, removing the plastic lid as it flies Sthrough lower end of the inner case 32, and the floating -7line 29 will be paid out from between the inner and outer cases.

It will be appreciated that the invention may be put into practice in ways other than those described in the foregoing, and that changes can be made to the apparatus within the scope of the invention. For example, the releasable link device may take any suitable form, or may be replaced by a manually operated device or by a device which operates by the rupture of a component under tension in the drop line. While it is preferable that the container fall within the floating line, both to aid in the sighting and recovery of the floating line, this is not essential. Other changes are also possible, within the scope of the following claims.

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Claims (8)

1. Apparatus for the air-to-surface delivery of an article and a drop line, comprising a container housing an article to be delivered and a drop line attached thereto in a storage configuration, a static line having an end extending from said container, releaseable means connected between the static line and the drop line, said static line in use being attached to an aircraft for delivery of the article and drop line when said container is ejected from an airborne vehicle, said releaseable means in use releasing the drop line from the static line following descent of the article.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising sea anchor means connected with the article. 0 3. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein thle releasable means is connected between the static line and the container, the drop line being connected between the container and the article. S4. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein CS the drop line is of sufficient length to reach the surface prior to the release of the releasable means, from the aircraft when the air.aft is at a predetermined drop altitude. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the container is adapted releasably to hold the article and the drop line in such a way that upon the arrest by the static line of the fall of the container the article will eject from the container and the drop line will be paid out from the container. SG6. Apparatus according to any preceding claim further Wn- ^y 1 J -9- comprising a stabilizi.ng cone on the static line adjacent the container, the base of the cone facing the container.

7. Apparatus according to any preceding claim wherein the container is provided with means allowing its opening upon the a3 -,sting by the static line of the fall of the container from the aircraft.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein the container is approximately cylindrical, the static line being connected to one end of the container, the other end of the container being openable.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein the bag is openable along its length from said other end. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said other end of the container is gathered and tied by elastic tying means. S11. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein said container comprises an outer casing of substantially rigid material, an inner casing of substantially rigid material fixed when in use within the outer casing and dimensioned to leave a space between the inner and cuter casings, the drop line being placed in said space and the load be.a. placed within the innew casing.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the load is frictionally retained within the inner casing.

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the inner /<&Ll4 casing is closed by a cover frictionally engaged with said i casing.

14. Apparatus for the air-to-surface delivery article substantially as described herein with to Figs. 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings. Apparatus for the air-to-surface delivery article substantially as described herein with to Figs. 5 to 7 of the accompanying drawings. DATED this 2nd day of July 1990 LAURENCE CHARLES GRUZMAN Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: HALFORD CO. of an reference of an reference 0