RU2388654C1 - Kite with control handles and variable-curvature wing - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: transport.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to paraplanes. Proposed kite comprises canopy, canopy shroud lines, control strips connected with the latter and control handles and load-bearing strips connected with handles and canopy shroud lines. Proposed kite comprises additional load-bearing strip on every control handle. Load-bearings strips and control strips are interconnected via two rollers and connected to canopy shroud lines. Additional load-bearing strip is connected via roller and additional strips with canopy shroud lines.

EFFECT: increased thrust at weak wind.

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Description

Application area

The invention relates to paragliders, and more particularly to kites with control sticks, and can be used in light and strong winds.

State of the art

Kites are like a smaller paraglider (soft wing), controlled by a system of two or four flight slings with a length of 10 to 50 meters. The longer the lines, the greater the thrust of the wing, but more difficult to control and the risk of tangling the lines increases.

The kite consists of a dome (wing), dome lines, power lines, control lines, controls (handles, bar) and a release system.

Frame (balloon) kite. The wing is made of one layer of fabric. To give the wing an aerodynamic shape and the possibility of raising the kite from the water, inflatable balloons were sewn to the wing: one central on the front (leading) edge and several at an angle to the rear edge. On traditional kites of this design there are no dome lines and control lines are attached directly to the ends of the wing. On bow-kites there is an A-row of dome lines, which allows more efficient use of the area of the kite.

Parafoil is a small paraglider. The wing consists of two layers of fabric, defining the longitudinal shape of the kite, and internal ribs forming the transverse shape of the wing. Ribs can be straight and oblique (on more expensive kites). Oblique ribs can reduce the number of dome lines and, accordingly, the kite's resistance in flight. To fill the wing with air, the front edge of the kite has air intakes - special openings that can be open, covered with a net or equipped with valves. For the best air distribution inside the wing, holes are made in the ribs. Loops are attached to the ribs, for which dome slings are attached. Typically, dome slings are arranged in rows, starting from the leading edge, A, B, C and D rows are considered. As a rule, power slings are attached to the A, B and C rows, and control lines to the D row. On the edges of the dome (ears) on some kites there are special drain valves to remove foreign objects (water, debris, sand, snow, etc. )

Dome slings, as a rule, are configured by the manufacturer and largely determine the shape of the wing. Some manufacturers allow intervention in dome adjustments in order to change the angle of attack, twist the ears, etc. Power lines and control lines are attached at one end to the dome lines and at the other end to the controls (handles, strap). As a rule, power slings and control slings are made of polyethylene. Depending on the purpose, the thickness of the slings varies: slings with a strength of 80 to 300 kg at break are used. The length of the lines varies from 40 to 20 meters (the smaller the area of the kite, the shorter the control lines). Loops are made at the ends of the slings, with the help of which the control line is connected to the dome lines and controls. These connections occur by tightening the stranglehold loop of the control lines on the knots that end the dome lines and control leashes.

Controls include pens or bar.

Most often, racing kites or kites for elementary training, kites for beginners are supplied with pens. Leads from a cord 5-6 mm thick are attached to the curved handles. Power slings are attached to the upper leashes. To the bottom - control slings that are attached to the rear edge of the kite. The upper ends of the handles are connected by a special rope end, which is used to connect to the trapezoid roller. The control bar is most often supplied with freeride kites, since the device of the bar allows the use of several kite traction control systems. Power slings connected above the bar go to its middle and, passing through the hole in the bar, are attached to the chicken-loop system. This system allows you to attach the bar to the hook of the trapezoid and prevent the kite from being unintentionally disconnected from the pilot. In addition, between the chicken-loop system and the power lines there is a quick release system that allows you to very quickly disconnect the kite from the pilot in case of a dangerous situation. Above the bar on the power slings there is a system for adjusting the angle of attack of the kite - a trimmer. The essence of this adjustment is to change the angle of attack of the wing to the incoming air flow. When the trimmer is released, the kite’s thrust increases, but the kite’s flight performance deteriorates. When the trimmer is tightened, the kite’s thrust drops, but it flies much better. Using the trimmer, you can adjust the kite traction on the go. In addition to this adjustment, there is one more that can instantly change the thrust of a kite. This system, “the bar to oneself and from oneself,” acts similarly to the trimmer, but is more efficient. This system is good for practicing gusts of wind and when jumping. The straps have different lengths: the smaller the area of the kite, the shorter the strap.

Kites with handles have a small wind range, because they do not have the ability to reduce the angle of attack of the wing and its traction with increasing wind. A kite of suitable area is used for each wind power.

Kites with straps have a wide wind range, because they have the ability to reduce the angle of attack of the wing with increasing wind, but they do not have the ability to increase the curvature of the wing profile to the optimum value in light winds.

The safety system also includes a leash, which is attached to the control feet at one end and the pilot’s equipment at the other. In case of activation of the security system on the chicken-loop, the kite remains attached to the pilot only through a lish. But if the situation is completely bad, then the pilot can unhook the leash from himself.

The prior art solution is known [1]. The device is a balloon kite with a strap. The lengths of the lines change when you move the bar. Management is performed by changing the angle of installation of the profile. This solution allows you to change the angle of attack to change traction. The disadvantage is the low thrust of the kite in light winds due to the small curvature of the profile.

The prior art solution is known [2]. The device is a balloon kite with a strap. The lengths of the lines change when you move the bar. Management is carried out by changing the angle of the profile. This solution allows you to change the angle of attack to change traction. The disadvantage is the low thrust of the kite in light winds due to the small curvature of the profile.

The closest analogue is the Ozone IMP Quattro kite [3]. It is a kite with handles. The length of the slings of the dome is fixed and connected to the power slings, which are connected to the handles. The control is carried out by deflecting the trailing edge of the profile with control lines and tilting the wing around the longitudinal axis by moving one handle in the direction of the wing and the other in the direction from the wing.

The kite contains a power sheet, which transfers traction to the athlete's suspension system through a roller block located between the handles. The control system has three degrees of freedom: rotation of the right handle, rotation of the left handle and the movement of one handle in the direction of the wing, and the other in the direction of the wing. When moving the left handle towards the wing, and the right in the direction from the wing, the central part of the wing rotates around the longitudinal axis and the lateral component of the wing lift forces the kite to turn toward the right handle. When turning the right knob, the trailing edge of the right half wing deviates. At the same time, the lifting force and drag force significantly increase on the right wing. The lateral component of the lifting force and the drag force of the right wing force the kite to turn towards the right handle. When you turn the right handle and simultaneously move it in the direction from the wing, the control actions are summed up and the kite energetically turns towards the right handle. When turning both knobs, the entire trailing edge of the kite deviates. The thrust of the kite can be increased to a maximum, but at the same time the aerodynamic quality drops noticeably (the drag force increases).

With different courses to the wind and different wind strengths, the requirements for the characteristics of the kite are also different.

When moving to a maneuver (against the wind), a badewind course (course angle of 45 degrees from the direction of the wind) needs the highest possible aerodynamic quality and the presence of sufficient traction (excess traction is as harmful as a disadvantage). In this course, the rear edge of the kite should be released to increase aerodynamic quality, taxiing is carried out by moving the handles to the wing, from the wing.

When driving the backstage (downwind) (course angle ~ 135 degrees from the wind direction), the maximum possible thrust is needed, the aerodynamic quality is not so important. In this course, the rear edge of the kite should be tightened to increase traction. The thrust of a kite increases if you drive it left and right along a sinusoid (pumping). When pumping, the pennant wind of the kite increases, and accordingly the thrust.

Handles allow you to make such a kite many other maneuvers needed in the race.

Three degrees of freedom in kite management allow the athlete to effectively adapt the kite to changing conditions. These advantages allowed kites with handles to dominate races for a long time, despite a significant drawback - a narrow wind range. Thus, the prototype provides greater traction in light winds by deflecting the trailing edge and controlling the wing tilt. The disadvantage is the small wind range (it is impossible to reduce traction in strong winds), because the angle of installation of the profile does not change (the length of the lines is fixed).

Effect: provides a mode of operation that combines the advantages of well-known prototypes - high thrust in light winds and a large wind range (the ability to work in both light and strong winds).

The implementation of the invention

The claimed technical result is achieved due to the fact (see FIG. 1, where the kite’s design is shown) that the kite with handles as a control means, containing a dome (wing) (13), dome slings (12), control slings (3) connected with dome slings (12) and handles (11), containing power slings attached to handles (11) and dome slings (12), characterized in that it contains an additional power sling on each control handle (11), which together with other power slings and control slings (3) are connected from each p control tabs (11) through at least two rollers (4, 8) with each other and with dome slings (12), and an additional power sling through the roller (4) is connected via additional slings (5) to all dome slings (12) except slings (14) leading to the edge of the wing.

The scheme of the kite in different positions of the curvature of the wing is shown in Fig.2. Switching between modes (light wind / strong wind) is carried out using power lines (1) and (2). When switching to low thrust during strong winds (low curvature of the profile), the sling (2) is selected (moves towards the athlete) to a certain fixed value (all the way), and the sling (1) is simultaneously issued (moves from the athlete). Switching discrete, two-level. There are no intermediate provisions. In the regime of strong traction in low winds (large curvature of the profile), the rollers (4) and slings (5) are loaded, the rollers (6) are unloaded (wavy slings in the drawing have slack). The lengths of the dome lines (12) are fixed by the lines (5), the control is carried out by deflecting the trailing edge of the control line (3) due to the slack of the line (7). In the regime of strong traction in light wind (Figure 2 (b)), the power circuit of the kite is completely similar to the power circuit of a classic kite with handles (prototype [3]).

The relative movement of the power lines (1, 2) is carried out by moving the lines in the rings (9, 10) and the rollers (4, 8). The relative position of the power lines (1, 2) is fixed by the friction force in the rings (9, 10) or with the help of additional devices.

In the low-thrust mode with a strong wind (Figure 2 (c, d)) the rollers (4) are not loaded, the slings (5) have slack, the rollers (6) are loaded. The length of the lines (12) is determined by the position of the rollers (6), control is carried out by changing the angle of attack of the profile by the control line (3) and rollers (6). In the low-thrust mode with a strong wind, the power circuit of the kite (Figure 2 (c, d)) is completely similar to the power circuit of a classic kite with a bar (prototype [1, 2]). The claimed solution differs from the prototype [3] by the presence of an “arrestor”: rollers (4), (8), slings (5) and an additional power line to control the “arrester” (arrester is a device for fixing the sensitive element of various devices in the inoperative position), as well as the presence of blocks (6) and the corresponding slings. In the prototype [3] there is only one power sling, in the claimed solution: slings (1), (2). It differs from its analogues [1, 2] by the presence of an “arrestor”: rollers (4), (8), slings (5) and an additional power line to control the “arrester”.

As a result, when choosing the slings (2) and issuing the slings (1), the curvature of the profile decreases (see Figure 2 (c, d)), which allows to reduce traction and increase stability in strong winds. When issuing slings (2) and selecting slings (1), the curvature of the profile of the dome (wing) (13) increases for the purpose of increasing traction under normal (Figure 2 (a)) and light wind (Figure 2 (b)). An additional degree of freedom in the kite management system allows the user to expand his wind range.

Figure 2 shows examples of changes in the curvature and angle of attack of the wing profile at different wind forces, where a and b are the optimal positions of the kite wing profile in normal and light wind, respectively; c and d are the optimal positions of the profile of the wing of a kite with a strong and gale, respectively. Figure 2 shows a large degree of freedom in controlling the curvature and angle of attack of the wing profile in comparison with the prototypes, which are either limited by the provisions (a, b) or positions (c, d). Thus, the degree of freedom in the kite control system of the claimed device is incomparably higher in comparison with prototypes.

In solutions [1, 2] in kites with straps, the curvature of the wing profile can only change together with a change in the angle of attack according to a fixed law. This law and profile curvature are usually optimized for strong winds, so in weak winds these kites are ineffective. In the claimed solution, due to the introduction of rollers and an additional power line, the system switches to the mode of weak wind. In this mode, the settings of the dome slings 12 (optimal curvature and profile angle of attack) are set and fixed that are optimal for light wind. In addition, the arrester takes the load from the dome lines and partially unloads the control lines. It is also possible to effectively deflect the trailing edge (flap) to increase traction.

Information sources

1. Patent FR 2887223.

2. Patent FR 2873093.

3. http://www.flyozone.com/landkites/en/products/fix-bridle-line-kites/imp-quattro/

Claims (1)

Kite with handles as a means of control, containing a dome (wing), dome slings, control slings connected to dome slings and handles, containing power slings attached to handles and dome slings, characterized in that it contains an additional power sling on each control handle , which, together with other power slings and control lines, are connected from each control handle via at least two rollers to each other and to the dome lines, and an additional power line through the roller is connected by additional lines with all dome slings, except lines, leading to the edge of the wing.

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