US1270971A - Airship. - Google Patents

Description

G. E. RICHMOND.

AQRSHIP.

APPLCTN HLE .NE 6.1917. 1 ,270,971 Patented July 2, 19H5.

IZ] 4 SHEET EET l G. E. RICHMOND.

AIRSHIP.

APPLwAImN min JUNE 6,1911.

1 ,270,97 1 Patented July 2, 11115.

l4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 G. E. RICHMOND.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED )UNE 6.!91?. 1,270,971.

lu uc vv, (Toi WMI n moe d i ful Improvements in Ail-ships,

Gannon anion-nom), or AUSTIN, Texas.'-

AIBSHIP.

Toall 'whomtma concern.'

Be it known t at I,- Gnoaen E. RICH- Mono, a citizen of the United States, ing at Austin, in the county of 'Trzwis and State of Texas, have invented new and use following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to improvements in airships of thelighter-than-air typewwhere` moto in thel body or car of-athe craft is supported by one or more gaselds or aerostats, each Y constructed of -an outer inclosing casing or of rupture of provide an airship; w

' readily and conveniently lihandled and to.

moreperson's besides the pilot L1 support one or or aeronaut, andwhich may be caused to' envelop containing a multiplicity of small balloons or gasibags therein, so that in case `ne or more' of the bags and the escape of gas therefrom thel buoyancy of .the `remaining bags will remain unimpaired. Y 4

One object of thepresent invention is to "eh is adapted to 'be ascender descend in a straight path, hover Y rise from the-surface of a bo 4provide an airship Aso $5 effective manner.

over any given point, and alight upon and f y of water. A further object of the invention Vis to ranged on opposite' sidesof the longitudinal Vcenter thereof and centrally supporting a' car suspended therefrom, eachA of which `aerostats comprises an envelop adapted to serve as a parachute in the event of -danger andto protect the ,inclosed gas bags in an A further object ofthe invention is to provide an aerostat including an envelop adapted for the through, and small captive balloons arranged within the ,envelop and connected with'restraining cords so as to have a limited range of movement, whereby in the event of the penetration of the shell by a missile liability of damage to theinclosed balloonswillv be reduced to the minimum,

the balloons also bein kept'cool ,by the air circulating throught e envelopy to obviate liability of undue ex ansion thereof.

A still further ob]eot ofthe invention is to provide Aa means -for vautomatically quenching an` fire which may start tobrea out within t e aerostat, so as to diminish liability of the explosion thereof.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a ropelling system including a main engine or operating the driving prof' peller,

residof p which the. i

free circulation of air there- Patented July 2, y19:18.

application nica :une 8,1917. sei-iai No. vaise.

one or more lifting propellers, an electric circuit including a motor -and storage battery for. driving said lifting propel- 1ers, a generator on the main engine shaft for replenishing the batteries, and means whereby the generator may be I rlade to serve as a motordriven b tery in the event o A still further object of the invention is to providean airshi which is simple of construction and may be built and operated at a comparatively low cost. L

With these and ot 'er objects in Niew, the

invention consists o the features of cont struction, combination and 'arrangement of parts. hereinafter fully -described and \claimed, reference beingl had to the accompanying-drawin s in w ich z- Figure 1 isa embodying my invention. .y Fig.v2 is a side elevation of the sama Fig. 3 is a top plan view Fig. 4 is a vertical Itransverse thereof on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. t Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudine through -one of the aerostats. y

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section car near theto thereof. Y Fig. 7 is a' raginentary perspective view o f the envelop of one of the aeorstats. y

Fig. 8 is a detail view. of the ruddei's;` Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of the electric circuit andconnections. v

Referring now more particularly tothe drawings, l designates a car constructed of any suitable light and durable material, and which is adapted for transit through the air, as well as to readily light and float upon the surface of abody `of water. This c'ar is designed to house the pilot or aeronaut.. and an assistant or one or more passengers, thel fuel, provisions and other impediments. to be carried, and theengines and other inclosed working parts of the ship. The general shape or form of the car is that disclosed, but any other suitable shape or, form of car may be employed.

Dis osed at 4a suitable elevation'abo've the top o the Acar is a which thecar 1s connected by suitable suspending connections 3, and disposed upon opposite' sides of said frame structure -2 and currentl from the bat-ff' stoppage of the main y i 65 of the aiishipsection la the' l ront elevation of an airship 10sV frame structure 2 with have a relative shiftin fixed to and extending outwardly from the sides of the car.

These aerostats l are designed to have suliicient lifting capacity to approximately sustain the weight of the car and the load carried thereby,thus diminishing the amount of power required for ascension and r0- pulsion, and each aerostat is fish-shape or of other suitable stream-line form and comprises an outer casing or envelop 6 containing a massor multitude of gas bags 7,

The casing 6 of each aerostat is made of some strong but light and durable metal, and is formed of segmental sections 6', the meeting edges of which are provided with flanges 8, the fianges of adJacent sections being united b bolts or rivets 9. The upper", substantially ome-shaped half of each envelop is imperforate, while the lower semielliptical half of the envelop is perforate throughout for the admission of air, whereby in the event of the fall of the craft, from accident or other cause, air will enter the aerostat casings through the lower perfo-- rate portions thereof and bank or be compressed within the u per imperforate portions thereof, where y the aerostats are adapted to serve as parachutes to diminish the speed of descent and allow a safe landing to be made. At thefront of each aerostat is a central air intake opening 6, and .at the rear of each aerostat 1s an air outlet or discharge opening 6b, whereby in the forward travel of the shi air will be allowedv to pass longitudinally through the envelop, for circulation through and between the gas bags, 7, whereby said bags will be kept cool and prevented from becoming overheated and expanding to an undue extent. The open'- ings 6'* and 6" also serve as vents to permit of the escape of air from the envelop when performing the function of a arachute.

The gas bags 7 are made of ru ber or other suitable material, containin hydrogen or other buoyant gas',V each bag drieal Yor other suitableforni.V` fThe bags-are nested within the envelop and permitted to motion .to a determined degree, and totiis endare attached to the upper ends ofA conliirii'l'g or tethering cords 10, which are suitably fastened at their lower ends to the keel of the envelop. By this construction and arrangement of the gas bag, spaces are provided between the bags for the flow of cooling currents of air, while the usual factor of safety is obtained in confining the body of buoyantgas within a plurality of separate and individual bags insteadof within a single bag or receptacle. .Each bag is also backed by a resilient mass of other bags, so that in the event ofthe penetration of the envelop by a missile' any bags struck, unless solidly hit, will yield and Aallow the missile to pass through the envelop without perforating any bag, while in the eing of cylin-` event of the perforationof any particular bag its resilient or cushioning action will tend to prevent destruction of other bags, thus securing a greater range of safety. The (inscribed arrangement of thebags also rovides for the compression of the incloseti) air for aiparachutic action as reviously explained, us will be readily un erstood. For the purpose of providing for the extinguishnient of any fires which may start within the aci-estat, I provide at the top of. each aerostat a tank or other water receptacle 11 having a lling opening normally closed by a plu or other suitable closure 12. A pipe '13 ends from this tank downwardly to a Sprayer head 14 arranged within the upper portion of the 4aerostat, and which sprayer head is provided with suitably arranged nozzles, each closed by a closure device of any suitable construction which will be opened when the temperature within lthe en- -velop rises' above a normal predetermined temperature, so that in the event of the' starting of a fire the interior of the envelop ,will at once be Hooded with water from the tank. tinguislied before it can spread to any extent or canse an explosion, the water draining ont through the perforated bottom of the envelop to restore normal conditions within the aerostat upon the extinguishment of the ame.

The propelling mechanism of the craftv comprises a forward tractor or drivin ropeller 15 mounted upon a shaft 16 and rlven from a main engine 17 preferably 0f the in ternal combustion type, said engine being -supplied with gasolene or other fuel from a storage tank 18 containedP within the body 1. In addition to the opeller 15 one or By this means the fire will be exmore, preferably two, lifting propellers 19 are employed, said propellers being mounted upon vertlca shafts 2O adapted to be driven b friction gearing 21 from a transmission sliaft 22 suitably driven from an electric motor 23. The friction gearing may be of a well known ty e which may be manually thrown into andont of-aetion 'at will and the gears of which are relatively adjustable to vary their speed, so that the lifting .propel- 1ers may be thrown into and out of action as desired and their Speed of action governed to assist in sustaining the machine in flight,

or adapt it to rise to any desired elevation at the will of the pilot.- The motor 23 is supplied with cu'rrent from storage batteries 24, which are constahtly replenishedv with current in the travel of the machine from a' generator4 25 on' the shaft' 16', the feed Vconuctors between said batteries and generator being arranged so as'to be overned by a pole reversing switch 26, whic in one postion will connect the elements for the transmission of current generated by the generator to the batteries, which in another posi.

' tion will reverse the directidn of the current for. flow from the batteries to the field of the generator. Thus inthe .event of the stoppage or derangement of the main ymotor 17 current from the storage batteries may be supplied to the generator, which through its reversal of actionwill operate as an electric motor, thus driving the shaft 16 so thata continuity of flight may be maintained.

I The ship is designed to be steered and stabilized by means of a tail piece forming a laterally swinging vertical rudder 27 and vertically swinging horizontal rudder 28, Which'rudder's are coupled by` connections 27 and 28 to concentrically mounted control Wheels 29 and 30 arranged Within the car in suitable proximity to the pilots sea-t i 31, whereby said rudders may be conveniently operated for steering"A and stabilizing actions. Springs 31 are prpvided'for alltoinatically maintaining the rudders in normal position, and resisting deflection thereof from such position,so that when strong or adverse currents o air are encountered accidental adjustment of the rudders under the pressure thereof will be prevented or resisted until the pilot can regain control. The car is also designed to be equipped with a suitable seat for the pilots assistant, an

observer or a passengergsand may be furnished with suitable lookfout or observationports constructed -and'arranged in any suitable manner.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings, it Will be seen that my invention provides an air-ship of the character set forth which is simple of construction and designed to` carry out the objects of the invention in a reliable and e cient manner. It will, of course, be unf derstood that while the construction disclosed is preferred, changes falling within the scopevof the appended claims may be made Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

I claim v 1. In an airsliip, a driving propeller, a lifting propeller, a main motor for actuating the driving propeller, an electric motor for actuating the lifting propeller, a storage battery for supplying current to said electric motor, a generator driven inthe operation of the propeller by the main motor for furnishing current to replenish the battery, and means for reversing the flow of the current for supplying'eurrent from the battery to tor into a motor for driving the propeller in the event of the stoppage or derangemeiit i of the main motor. t

2; In an airship, an aerostatcomprising -an envelop having' an upper imperforat portion anda lower perforate port-ion, an a pluralityof separate and independent gas bags disposed in spacedrelation within the aerostat.

3, In an,airship, an aerostat comprising an envelop having an upper imperforate portion and a lower perforate portion, and. provided with fore-and-alft air inlet and airA discharge openings, and aplurality of separate and-independent balloons arranged in spaced relation within said envelop.

4. In an arship, an aerostat comprising ,an 'envelop having an upper` imperforate portion and a lower perforate portion and, provided Witli foreandaft air intake and discharge openings, a series of separate andv independent gas bags arrangedy Within said aerostat, and tethering cords connected with the respective balloons at their upper ends `the generator so as to convert said generaand with the bottom portion of the envelop at their lower ends and flexibly maintaining said gas bags in position.

5. In an aerostat, an envelop comprisin l arranged in massed` `formation Within Said,

envelop. l

6. 'In an aerostat, an envelop, gas bag within the envelop, a receptacle for an extinguishing fluid mounted upon the top of the envelop, and means controlled by the internal temperature of the envelo for supplying the extinguishing Huid to t e interior of said envelop.

In testimony whereof I ailix in si ature.

GEORGE ERIC M ND.

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