US1290025A - Aeroplane control. - Google Patents

Description

H. M. RINEHART.

AEROPLANE CONTROL.

APPLlCATION FILED SEPT. I, my.

1,290,025, Pate nted Dec. 31, 1-918.

m my.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Howum m. RINEHART, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS. TO THE DAYTON METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

To all whom it'mag concern:

Be it known that I, HOWARD M. RIXE- HART, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Dayton, county of .l\lontgo1nery, and State of Ohio, have inplanes which will normally compensate for the tilting or tipping effect caused by the torque of the power plant or propeller em bodied in the aeroplane, so as to maintain the 1aeroplane in a substantially constant leve.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawing, wherein one embodiment of one form of the present invention is clearly illustrated.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a partly diagrammatic plan view of the aeroplane or airship embodying one form of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view .of the rudder of the aeroplane, shown in the position in which the rudder-is normally held by the control mechanism, when the engine and propeller are in operation.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are detail views of the control mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to Fig. 1, wherein a partly diagrammatic view of an aeroplane is shown, the numeral 20 designates the fuselage or body portion of the plane, while the numeral 21 designates one of the planes.

As is well understood, the fuselage carries the engine, which may be of any approved type, suitable for driving vehicles of this -'sort. This engine is directly connected with the propeller 24, which extends beyond the front end of the fuselage and tends to rotate under the operation of the Specification of Letters Patent.

AEROPLANE CONTROL.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed September 1, 1917. Serial N 0. 189,262.

engine, to provide propulsion for the aeroplane.

The numeral 26 designates the wings of the elevator which is actuated to control the lift of the machine in the usual manner. Between the wings 26 of the elevator, a rudder 28 is pivotally mounted as at 29, and in Fig. 1 this rudder is shown as being of the unbalanced type, while in Fig. 2, the rudder is shown as being of the balancedl type. This rudder tends to control the direction of horizontal flight, and by being shifted from side to side, the degree of any flight may be accurately controlled by the operator as is hereinafter described.

\Vhen the aeroplane is in flight and is without power, that is, the engine is either dead or is disconnected from the propeller, the position of the rudder, providing straight flight is desired, should be in a straight line with the center of the fuselage of the machine, as is indicated by dotted line AA (see Figs. 1 and 2). I

However, when the engine is in operation and is connected to the propeller to drive the same, a certain torque efl'ect is set up which tends to unbalance the plane and to cause a tilting or tipping of one side of the entire ship or plane. That is, the torque of the propeller and the engine will tend to cause the aeroplane to tilt in the opposite direction as the propeller is turning in, and this tendency to til-t or tip-can be normally overcome by ofi'setting the position of the rudder in such a manner as to cause the air pressure to strike against the body of the rudder and tend to straighten up or maintain the plane in a level position during a flight in a straight direction.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to normally maintain the rudder in such a deflected or shifted position that this torque of the propeller and the engine will be compensated for, and that at all times that the engine is in driving operation the plane will tend to maintain a balanced position without any effort on the part of the operator.

One manner of carrying out the abovementioned object of the invention is to provide a steering device 30 positioned adjacent to the driversseat (see Fig. 1). This steering device 30 carriesa pair of cables or cords and 26 respectively, which extend rearwardly through the fuselage or outside thereof, and are connected one to each side of the rudder 28.

By shortening up one of the cables or cords, that is by making the cords 26 shorter than the cord 25, it will be apparent from the following description of the steering device, that the rudder 28 will be normally maintained in a slightly shifted or deflected position, such position being shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. The degree of dis placement of the rudder fromits straight position can be determined by first ascertaining the degree of torque of the engine 1 propeller and then finding out how much deflection or displacement of the rudder is necessary to compensate for the determined amount of torque.

The steering device disclosed in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 forms the subjectmatter of a copending application of James M. H. Jacobs, Serial Number 189,244, filed September 1, i917, and may be briefly described as folows:

A base or standard 30 is preferably mounted on the floor of the fuselage adjacent to the operators seat and serves to carry the steering bar 31, pivotally secured to said standard or base 30 as at 32. An auxiliary steering bar 33 is also mounted on the base 30, and normally lies parallel with the bar 31. This auxiliary bar 33 is also pivotally secured to the base '30 as at 34.

A pedal 35 is pivotally secured to one'of the extreme ends of the steering bar 31, and the auxiliary bar 33, while another pedal 36 is pivotally secured to the opposite extreme ends of the steering bar 31 and auxiliary bar 33.

I As has been pointed out in the co-pending application referred to above, this construction of the steering device tends to maintain that portion of the plates against which the operators feet rest, parallel relative to their normal position, at all times, regardless of the shifting of the steering mechanism to change the course of the aeroplane. This construction tends to prevent the operators feet from slipping off of the steering bar and coming in contact with the cables or cords which are attached to the pedals.

In order to maintain the steering device in a predetermined normal position, and to automatically return this steering device to its normal position after it has been dis placed therefrom, a centralizing device is provided which comprises a pressure bar 38, which is carried by a plate 39, fixed to the steering bar 31. The free end of the pressure bar isbifurcated as at 40, and is adapted to fit around the rod 41, which is rigidly mounted upon the auxiliary bar 33v in the standards 42 and 43.

This bar'carries a pair of opposed resilient elements such as springs designated by the numerals 44 and,45 respectively. One of these springs is mounted on each side of the pressure bar, and is normally under tension between the abutments 46 and 47 and the standards 42 and 43 respectively.

The bifurcated portion of the pressure bar fits between the two abutments. These abutments, however, are held against further movement on the bar 41, toward each other, by means of a suitable shoulder or pin 48, (see Figs. 3 and 5).

The operation of the present invention may be described as follows: Supposing that the aeroplane is in flight and that the propeller is being driven by the engine in a clockwise direction," when looking in the direction of the arrow 1-1, a certain tor 1ue effect will be set up by the operation of the engine and the propeller, which will tend to tilt or tip the aeroplane in a countar-clockwise direction.

By offsetting the rudder as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pressure of air currents will tend to compensate for this tilting or tipping tendency, and will maintain the aeroplane in a lateral equilibrium. The two springs which are mounted upon the bar 41 are of approximately the same strength, and 95 each spring is under substantial tension. 1 The tension of the two springs, however, .is not the same but the tension is so unbalanced that the steering bar 31 is held in such position as to swing the rudder at a slight angle 100 to the line of flight, or longitudinal central axis, of the aeroplane. And the strength of these springs is sufficient to not only re turn the rudder to this predetermined position whenever the operator releases the steering mechanism, but is sufficient to maintain the rudder during flight in the desired predetermined position against the turning effect of the air pressure upon the rudder.

However, if the engine is stopped, or if it is disconnectedfrom the propeller, during flight, the operator exerts suflicient pressure on the pedal 35 to shift the rudder into alinement with the line AA of Fig. 1, inasmuch as the torque eflect of the propeller will of course be eliminated. In the above description it is understood that the aeroplane is flying in a straight direction.

As soon as the operator again connects the engine to the propeller and tends to drive the propeller thereby, he will release pressure against the pedal 35 and the steering device will immediately return to its normal posltlon and thus throw the rudder into its dlsplaced position, as is shown inFig. 1.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described constitutes a preferred form of embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coining within the scope of the claims which follow. 7

What I claim is as follows:

1. In an airplane, the combination with a propelling mechanism; of a rudder; a controlling mechanism ope able by the operator to shift the rudder to control .the direction of flight, said mechanism having provisions for automatically returning the rudder to and maintaining it in a predetermined normal position at such times as the operator during flight releases the same, said normal position being so predetermined as to compensate for the torque of the propelling mechanism, and thereby maintain a correct balance'of the airplane.

2. In an aeroplane, the combination with a propelling mechanism; of a rudder adapted to be normally positioned at a predetermined angle to the .line of flight of the aeroplane to counteract'the torque of the propelling mechanism a controlling mechanism operable to .shift the rudder tocontrol the direetion of flight, .aid mechanism comprising a plurality of resilient elements of sutlicient strength, and. adapted, to at all times return the rudder to the predetermined normal position, and maintain it in such position against the turning force of the air pressure thereon.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

= HOWARD M. RINEHAR'I.

Witnessem J. W. MoDoNAu), WALTER W. Rmmzn.

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