US1011354A - Self-balancing aeroplane. - Google Patents

Description

C. T. LITCHPIELD & R. D. McKAY.

SELF BALANCING ABROPLANE. APPLIGATION FILED MAY 15, 1911.

Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

SELF BALANCING AEBOPLANE.

APPLIUATION FILED MA-Y15, 1911. I 1,01 1,354, I Patented Dec.12,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

7 To all whom it may concern:

cnmns '1. LIToHFIELD, or

SELF-BALANCING. AERQPLANE.

Be it known that we, CHARLES T. Lrrcrr- FIELD, of Rosalia, in the county of VVhitman and State of Washington, and.RALPH D. MCKAY, of Tacoma, in the county of Pierce and State -of Washington, citizens of the United States, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Self-Balane' 1ng Aeroplanes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

- The object of this invention is to provide anla rship of the aeroplane, biplane type, whichwill for all 7 practical purposes be self-balancing.

The main body of the apparatus comprises a'biplane with a-substantially central backbone, in which the propeller is mounted in an adjustable manner at the front of the body," and vertical'and horizontal rudders arearranged at'the end of the backbone, and horizontal balancing planes arranged at 0p positeen ds' of the body and connected with an automatically operating adjusting mechanism connected with the main body or backbone in'such way that there may be a rela tive movement of the adjusting mechanism.

as the body tilts sidewise in order to adjust the balancing planes correspondingly. V

The invention consists of these'featu'res and others collateral thereto in the control of the movements or flight of the machine.

I In the accompanyingdrawings, illustrating the invention, in the several figures of which a like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is 'a top plan View. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the adjusting mechanism detached and with the body level, and Fig. 3 is f a'similar view of said mechanism with the "body tilted. Fig. 4: is a front elevation.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation. Fig. 6 is a side elevation. Fig. 7 is a plan view on a larger scale, of one form of propeller adjusting mechanism, and Fig. 8 is a side elevation thereof. 3 a

tion, comprising posts 3 and stringers l, and suitablecovering, with suitable stays 5 ;and

"the backb'oneor tail likewise may consist of i suitable posts 6, stringers 7, and stays 8. 'i The mainframe or body carries any su1t-" able motor 9, having a shaft 10 provided with a--,-,sprocket wheel 11, connected by a ftransmissiondevioe 12 with a sprocket wheel 13 o1i- 'thepropeller shaft 14;, and said' 'pro- B L ANI) RALPH n. rrcmyjj ASHINGTON, c

Specification of Letters Patent,

Application filed May 15, 1911. Ser l), 627,275; I

Patented e peller shaft has a i the.

in which is mounted the yoke. a

stub shaft 17 on whichthe propellep ls js directly mounted, and this st ubyshaf nected by a universal joint tilted to any desired angle; ;'I he tilting mechanism may comprise .a toothedesegment 20 meshing with a worm--21. om the; shaft 22 reaching back through the mainframe, and provided with a hand-wheel 2&1Within convenient reach of the. aatiator flllhe invention, however, is not-limited.-,to. any'of these details, and they may; b.e.-;a,ltered at pleasure. g

At the ends of the main frame remounted the horizontal planes -24, hereinreferred to as the balancing planes, otherwise ailerons or warping wings or. devices, and

these balancingplanes aret connecte'qlgaby; aa-zi cord or other suitable mediuingwith the,ends of the adjusting 11'18Cha11lSl11,:1S0; thatwthebalancing planes are tiltedin accordance; with the relative inclination ofithe'. mainbodyand the adjusting mechanism. j

The mechanism forv adjusting the balancing planes in accordance with the tilt of the aeroplane, comprises a rigidgfra nefl, fixed to the bottom of the main body; and having 1 pivoted in it two pendulums 26 of like con struction, and these pendulums:l1a;ve .-a;.loose connection with a rod 27"WlllQlldSflQIkIlQClQEd at opposite ends to the endlesscord ,which in turn is connectedto the balanciIig-PhtneS at opposite 'ends of the body! .AspringQQS); is arranged upon the rOdQZ-Zbetiveen the pendulums,'and the pendulumsgare heldsubstantially parallel. againstcthe, .th1ju ofthe spring by means of fixed-'ibuttons fi on the rod. Each pendulum is-supplied j'with quadrant, sector or bellfcranklever 3.1 and these quadrant levers are connected by-links with a portionof the rigid?frart-re; Each quadrant lever has a latch-33 jextending up- The planes 1 and 2" of the main body may be of any usual or approved construc-- wardly through a guide ::3 l-- 2 u1d supplied; with a contact face 35,1 01? cooperation. with the respective buttonsw as i the -body-tilts sidewise. -As shown in Fig.";-2,--thezlatches are out of contact withthe buttonsewhen the machine is on a level,and whenthe machinet is tilted, the pendulum on thedownwardly inclined side will swing out-and .its'i quadrant lever will be actuatedrsoasitothrowthe.

.li it. 1,. .1 s 14 in such way that tl1epropeller;, may be latch into contact with theadjacentbutton and thereby draw upon that'side.ofithegend less cord 28, so as to effect an adjustment of the balancing planes. The companion pendulum is unaffected and remains in its original position. 1

The adjusting mechanism may be put any where under the body, in the-center, or with one of the pendulums on each side of the .center, and each pendulum is limited in its action, swinging only through a short are of a circle, or in'other words, through one half of the arc of the circle traversed by the two. This provision. is made in order to overcome'the oscillation of the pendulums when the machine comes to a level.

It will be understood that the latches normally tend to engage the buttons when the aeroplane tilts, the latch on the downwardly inclined side receiving a vertical motion through the action of the link and quadrant and rising into position behind the button and thereby imparting motion to the balancing planes through the endless connecting cord 28, as already indicated. It will be observed that the endless connecting cord will receive motion from one pendulum only at a. time.

As clearly indicated in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, the adjusting mechanism is normally inactive when the aeroplane is level. ,As the machine comes to a level after tilting, the

latch is thereby thrown out of contact with the button and the pendulum comes to a rest at a definite point, and cannot swing about the center. A pair of pendulums is necessary in order to obtain a cessation. of movement of the balancing planeswhen none is required. A pair of pendulums also avoids the constant oscillation that a single pendulum would have, and, consequently, avoids the continual adjustment of the balancing lanes that would be incident to the use of a single pendulum.

It will be observed that each pendulum operates in one direction y to effect movement of thebalancing planes operating cord.

The operation has been described with respect to the right hand pendulum, but what has been said of that applies equally to the left hand pendulum when the machine is tilted downwardlyin that direction.

By the term rod as applied to the device 27 and the term cord as applied to the device 28, we do not intend to limit our invention to any particular material for forming the endless or other connection between the balancing planes 24 and the pendulums, and we use the term endless merely as a convenient designation to indicate that these parts are so connected that both planes are operated simultaneously and complementally by the respective pendulums as they respectively swing under the inclination of the machine.

36 is a vertical rudder placed at the end of the backbone or tail, and connected by cords 37 with the foot-lever 38 within convenient reach of the aviator. The tail also has a pair of horizontal rudders 39 mounted to work together and connected by a cord or other medium 40 which e ktends to a lever 41 mounted on the main frafme within reach of the aviator.

If desired, a fixed wheel 42 may be mounted beneath the backbone and fixed wlieels 43 may be mounted beneath the body for supportin the machine when it is upon the groum and for starting and landing purposes.

The propeller maybe tilted backward or forward relatively to the main body in order,

the curtains, the unrolling" being effected by cords connected therewitl :nd brought into convenient reach of the a. .ator;

In starting the machine firom the ground, the propeller may be tilte, point upward, and the horizontal rudders 39 may be given a similar tilt, and then the machine run a short distance on the ground.

It will be noted that in the operation, the

main frame, are simultaneously tilted in opposite directions and the effect of this actio is to keep the machine balanced.

What we claim'is':

1. A self-balancing aeroplane, having a main body, horizontal balancing planes arranged at the extremities of the main body, a pair of pendulums, and means to connect the balancing planes and the pendulums, so that said balancing planes will be adjusted in accordance with the motions of the main body, and means to compel the pendulums to swing away from the center of motion in one direction and restrain them from passing such center in the opposite direction.

2. In an aeroplane, the combination ofa main body, balancing planes at its opposite ends, and an automatically operated adjusting mechanism for said balancing planes, conslstlng of an endless cord connectlng said endless operating cord connecting them, in

nary spring curtain roller, acting to roll up balancing planes 24 at opposite ends of the aeroplane is tilted toward one or the other.'

4. In an aeroplane, the combination with a body having balancing planes at its ends, .an endless operating cord, a pair of pendulums connected at one end with said operating cord loosely, and means carried by said pendulums to independently connect said pendulums rigidly with the operating cord as the aeroplane is tilted toward the said pendulum,

5. In-an aeroplane, the combination with a body having balancing planes at its ends, an endless operating cord, a pair of pendulums connected at one end with said operating cord loosely and yieldingly, and means carried by said pendulums to independently connect said pendulums rigidly with the operating cord as the aeroplane is tilted toward the said pendulum.

6. In an aeroplane, the combination of a body having balancing planes at opposite ends, and an endless operating cord connecting said balancing planes, of independently pivoted pendulums connected with the endless operating cord loosely, a carrier in which said pendulums are suspended from the body of the aeroplane, a latch mounted upon each pendulum, a sector lever pivoted in each pendulum and carrying the latch,

and a link for connecting the sector lever with the pendulum carrier, the construction and arrangement being such that only that pendulum moves which is next to the downwardly inclined side of the aeroplanerelative to its center of motion, while the other pendulum remains quiet and 'unafiected.

7. In an aeroplane, the combination of a body having balancing planes at opposite ends, and an endless operating cord connecting the said balancing planes, of independently pivoted pendulums connected with the endless operating cord loosely, a carrier in which said pendulums are suspended from the body of the aeroplane, buttons on the endless operating cord outside of the pendulums, a latch mounted upon-each pendulum, a sector lever pivoted in each pendulum and carrying the latch, and a link for connecting the sector lever with the pendulum carrier, the construction and arrangement being such that only that pendulum moves which is next to the downwardly inclined side relatively to the center of motion of the aeroplane, while the other pendulum remains quiet and unaffected, the latch of the swinging pendulum engaging the button on the endless operating cord and serving to shift the cord and both balancingplanes thereby to restore and maintain the proper level of the aeroplane.

8. In a self balancing aeroplane, means for propelling it, an automatically operating duplex pendulum arranged beneath the aeroplane, and balancing planes arranged at opposite ends of the body and connected with the duplex pendulum so as to partake of the oscillations of the aeroplane, and means to compel the pendulum to swing away from its center of motion and restrain it from swinging beyond such center in the opposite direction.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands.

,CHARLES T. LITCHFIELD.

RALPH D. MoKAY. Witnesses as to Charles T. Litchfield:

T. R. HAUBLER, A. S. KING.

Witnesses as to Ralph D. McKay:

E. F. MAREK, H. B. Rrrz.

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