GB2182125A - Store adaptor - Google Patents

Abstract

An adaptor 7 for a store 1, such as a bomb or drop tank, to be carried externally on an aircraft store-carrier 2, comprises a body portion 10 which can be screwed to the store, having wing-like members 15 the extremities 16 of which contact the store and a shaped region between them which lies clear of the store when the adaptor is screwed to it. The adaptor has an ejection ram contact region 13 centrally positioned on the body but to one side of a bore for the mounting screw, and includes rebates (14) on a face of the adaptor remote from the region 13 for cooperation with anchorage ribs 5, 6 forming part of the carrier 2. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Store adaptor This invention relates to adaptors to be attached to a store, that is to say, a bomb, a drop tank, or similarly elongate generally circular-sectioned device, which requires to be carried externally of an aircraft on specifically designed store-carrying means, the adaptors being provided to allow existing stores to be carried by existing store-carrying means.

Hitherto, it has been found that some stores, although allegedly designed and produced to a given standard andtherefore shouldfitthe existing adaptors provided, have been produced by different processes and/or have been produced inaccurately and have thus proved unsuitable to mate with the existing adaptors.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a store adaptor suitable for accommodating even badly finished and/or out oftolerances stores.

According to one aspect of the invention an adaptor arranged to be carried on the surface of a gener ally circularly sectioned store comprises a body portion apertured to accept a screw anchoring the adaptor a store by being screwed into a preformed screw-threaded recess in the store, twin downwardly and outwardly extending wing-like members having inwardly directed store engagement regions shaped to provide generally live contact with spaced, opposed store surface portions remote from and to each side of the screw-threaded recess, that surface region of the adaptor between the store-engagement regions and facing the store when the adaptor is mounted thereon, being shaped to lie clear ofthe store surface.

Preferably an ejection ram contact region is positioned centrally on the adaptor but spaced from the screw aperture. Preferably, on the far side ofthe screw aperture from the ram contact region are located and equally spaced laterally therefrom are provided radially inwardly directed reaction screws which can be adjusted to contact spaced surface regions ofthe store.

Naturally, on face region of the adaptor body re mote from the ram contact region are provided re bates for known anchorage nibs being part ofthe store-carrying means.

A preferred embodiment of an adaptoraccording to the invention is described with reference to the ac companying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammaticsideviewof a generally cylindrical store e.g. Mk 82 bomb mounted exter nally upon an aircraft with the aid oftwin adaptors, Figure2 is an isometric view of a single adaptor from one angle, and, Figure 3 is an isometric view of the adaptor from another angle.

Stores with which the present invention is con cerned are builtto a standard known as MlL-A-8591.

This requires that defined surface areas of the store shall be available when mounted on an aircraft for crutching,that is to say to be contacted by laterally spaced bearing surfaces which provide stabilisation against sway and for ejection ram contact. However, many stores (in particularthe Mk 82 bomb produced by many companies in great numbers during the Vietnam conflict and still readily available) have rough or undulating surfaces in at leastthe crutching regions and are thus not capable of being accurately and rigidly mounted on existing store carrying means even with existing adaptors.

The present invention provides an adaptor which enables such stores to be accurately and rigidly mounted on existing store-carriers. Additionally, the presently described adaptors allow the mounting of double curvative stores (i.e. those aerodynamically profiled) additionally to those having mounting regions of cylindrical form. The former include such stores as the K 80 low drag bomb. Furthermore these adaptors allow the mounting of stores such as the My 20 Rockeye cluster bomb which has arming wire conduits bolted to its surface which must not be trapped between adaptor and store.

In the drawings, a store 1 is carried on an aircraft by means of a downwardly depending elongate store-carrier 2 of known design (for example that referenced MACE) including longitudinally spaced ejector rams 3 and 4 acting vertically down as drawn and anchorage nibs 5 and 6which extend and retract in a fore-and-aft direction to engage nib rebates, to be discussed later.

Two adaptors 7 are mounted on the store at longitudinally spaced intervals in back-to-back relationship. Each adaptor 7 has a flattopped, generally rectangular body portion lOwithacountersunk aperture 11 formed vertically and centrallytherethrough, through which a headed attachment bolt (not shown) extends to screw into a threaded aperture formed in the store to which the adaptor 7 is to be attached. Since, as previously mentioned, there are two adaptors 7 fitted to each store, the store has two spaced threaded apertures formed on it.

The head of the attachment bolt lies flush within thecountersinkwhentheadaptorisfullyandcorrectly attached to the store.

To the rear of the body portion 10 lies a platform 12 which itself is locally and centrallycutawayto provide a contact area 13foran ejection ram 3or4dep- ending on which position the adaptor 7 is mounted.

To the front of the body portion are formed twin nib rebates 14 equally spaced to each side ofthe attachment bolt aperture 11. These are positioned to be longitudinally engaged by existing anchorage nibs 5 or 6 again depending on which position the adaptor7 is mounted.

Byway of explanation, when adaptors 7 are mounted upon a store as shown in Figure 1 by means of their attachment bolts and the store and adaptor assembly is offered up to the store carrier 2 to adopt the position of Figure 1, the anchorage nibs 5 and 6 are moved longitudinally, that is to say expanded to engage the nib rebates 14 of the twin adaptors 7 (which face one another) and thus lockthe store onto the store-carrier. On store release, the nibs Sand 6 are retracted from the rebates and in rapid sequence the ejector rams 3 and 4 are actuated to urgethe store (plus its adaptors) away from the store carrier.

To reverttothe description of each adaptor7,the body portion 10 is provided with laterally and down wardly extending wing-like members 15 which ter minate in inwardly directed storeengagementre- gions 16 of part circular shape in cross section to provide generally live contact with spaced opposed surface regions of a store. Thus a crutching effect is provided for a mounted store. The length of re- gions 16 is less than that of the adaptor itself, the forward edge 17 of each wing-like member extending diagonally from its associated region 16 up to a forward edge ofthe base ofthe body region.Extended lug regions 18 protrude forward of the edge 17 from each wing-like member to each provide a screwed aperture 19 through which reaction screws 20 adjustably extend to contact the store body. These reaction screws are adjusted to contact the store body so that loads are transferred through them during store ejection.

Those surfaces ofthe adaptorfacing an attached store, namely the inner or lowerface 21 of the body portion 10 and the inner or lowerface 22 of each wing-like member 15are shaped to lie well clearof the store surface when the adaptor is mounted upon a store. Thus the only regions of the adaptor body and wing-like members actually contacting the store are those referenced 16.

Asuggested method of attaching both adaptors 7 to a store is asfollows: 1. Loosely locate a first adaptor7 in its desired loc- ation on the store by passing an adaptor bolt through theaperture11 andengagingtwoorthreethreadsof the bolt in the threaded recess in the store, 2. Similarly locating the second adaptor 7 in its desired location, 3. Adjusting the twin reaction bolts 20 on each adaptor 7 to bring the top surfaces of the body portions 10 level. A straight edge can be conveniently used to aid such levelling.

4. Tighten the adaptor bolt of each adaptor and lock.

5. Slacken offthe reaction bolts 20 by say 1/3 turn.

Claims (5)

1. An adaptor arranged to becarriedonthesurface of a generally circularly sectioned store includes a body portion aperturedto accept a screw anchoring the adaptor to a store by being screwed into a preformed screw-threaded recess in the store, twin downwardly and outwardly extending wing-like members having inwardly directed store engage ment regions shapedto provide generally live con- tact witch spaced, opposed store surface portions remote from and to each sideofthescrewthreaded recess, that surface region ofthe adaptor between the store-engagement regions and facing the store when the adaptor is mounted thereon, being shaped to lie clear of the store surface.

2. Anadaptorasclaimedinclaiml andfurther including an ejection ram contact region positioned substantially centrallythereon but spaced from the screw aperture.

3. An adaptorasclaimedinclaim2furtherin- cluding radially inwardly directed reaction screws located on the far side ofthe screw aperture from the ram contact region said reaction screws being adjustable to contact spaced surface regions of the store.

4. An adaptor as claimed in any of the preceding claims and further including rebates on a face region ofthe adaptor body remote from the ram contact region for co-operation with anchorage nibs forming part of a store-carrying means.

5. An adaptor substantially as herein before described and with reference to Figures 1,2 and 3 ofthe accompanying drawings.