GB368121A - Improvements in or relating to propelling mechanism for air and water craft - Google Patents

Abstract

368,121. Propelling air and water craft. HANDLEY, J. M., Orrick, Missouri, U.S.A. April 17, 1931, No. 11478. [Classes 4 and 114.] Relates to aircraft or marine vessels of the type comprising laterally disposed propellers driven from a common power unit, the propeller shafts and the associated driving shafts being carried in casings which can be simultaneously turned to alter the plane of rotation of the propellers. As applied to an aeroplane, Fig. 1, having a fixed axis tractor propeller 2, propellers 4 disposed on either side of the fuselage 1 are driven from an engine having its crank shaft 5 disposed athwart the fuselage. The propeller hubs are mounted on shafts 44, Fig. 2, carried in taper roller bearings housed in a split casing 36. The inner halves of casing 36 are formed integrally with sleeves 11 journalled at their inner ends in bearings 7 carried by the fuselage and at their outer ends in bearings 24 carried by triangular stays comprising arms 26, 30, 31, Figs. 1 and 2, secured to the fuselage. The propeller shafts 44 are driven by bevel gears mounted on shafts 16 carried in bearings in the casings 11 and coupled to the crank shaft 5. A frame 48 fixed to the inner ends of the sleeves 11 is provided with a segmental worm wheel 52 with which engages a worm 54 carried by a shaft rotatable by the pilot for the purpose of tilting the propellers. An application to a submarine is shown in Fig. 10 in which three sets of side propellers 65 arranged as above are provided. In a modification the bevel gears on the propeller shafts 44 may be arranged at the ends remote from the hubs in which case the roller bearings may be dispensed with.