GB912299A - Improvements in or relating to parachutes - Google Patents

Abstract

912,299. Friction brakes. IRVING AIR CHUTE OF GREAT BRITAIN Ltd. April 2, 1959 [April 3, 1958; Oct. 14, 1958], Nos. 10890/58 and 32802/58. Class 103(1). [Also in Group XXXIII] The paying-out of a parachute canopy reefing line is braked, or not, in accordance with the deceleration applied by the parachute to the load. Fig. 4 shows part of a canopy 1 with shroud lines 2. A reefing line 13 is attached to the canopy at one end by a ring 14, runs through loops formed on the skirt of the canopy, passes through ring 14 and down the interior of a tubular shroud line 15, and has its other end wound on a drum 18 mounted in a housing 17 on the load 16. Drum 18 has a brake drum 19 at one end, engageable by a band brake 20 secured to a lever 22 pivoted at 23 to the housing and having at its free end a weight 24. The weight is slidable in a casing 25 slotted to allow free movement of lever 22, and is subjected to the action of a tension spring 26. During a descent, a drag force or deceleration applied to the load in excess of a selected value depending on the weight and spring, extends the spring, applying the brake 20 and stopping dis-reefing of the canopy. When the deceleration drops below the selected value, the spring contracts and releases the brake, allowing dis-reefing to continue. In Fig. 6, the shroud lines 2 or selected diametrically opposite pairs of shroud lines, are connected to a link 32 rigid with a flanged disc 33, a spring 34 acting between the disc and one end 35 of housing 17. The housing also has brackets 28 with slots 29 in which arms 30 with brake blocks 31 are mounted. The arms 30 are pivotally connected to link 32. If the drag exerted on the load by the shroud lines, or such shroud lines as are connected to link 31, is above a predetermined value, spring 34 is contracted, and brake blocks 31 are applied to the drum 27 on which reefing line 13 is wound. Alternatively, link 32 may have a brake shoe which can bear on a brake drum secured to a pulley round which the reefing line passes, the free end of the line lying in a compartment in the housing (see Fig. 8, not shown). As before, drag in excess of a selected value results in application of the brake. Fig. 3 shows a strop connected between the shroud lines and the load, and composed of several strips 55 secured firmly together at points 56, 57. The strips are divided into two parts 58, 59, separated by two plates 60 faced with friction surfaces 61 grooved to receive a reefing line 52 between them. Two springs 62 (one shown), urge plate 60 apart to free the reefing line. If the tension in the strop exceeds a selected value, the springs are contracted and the friction surfaces 61 engage the reefing line.