US1290481A

US1290481A - Airplane.

Info

Publication number: US1290481A
Application number: US21983818A
Authority: US
Inventors: Anthony Aster
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1918-03-01
Filing date: 1918-03-01
Publication date: 1919-01-07
Anticipated expiration: 1936-01-07

Description

A. ASTER.

AIRPLANE.

APPLICATION man MAH. l. :918.

Patented J an. 7, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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AIRPLANE.

APPLlcATloN FILED MAn.1,.w1e.

Patented Jan. 7, 1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

witwassen A. ASTER.

MRPLANE.

APPLICATIONTILED MAR 1| ISIH. 1,290,481

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3L GMM/v1 m Patented Jan. '7, 1919.

A. ASTER.

l AIRPLANE. I

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 1. |918.

1 ,1290,48. Patented Jan. 7,1919.4

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ANTHONY ASTER, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

AI'EPLANE.

Specicatfon of Letters Patent.

YPatented J an. 7, 1919.

Application led March 1, 1918. Serial No. 219,838.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY ASTER, a citizen of the United States, residingat Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, ,have invented new and useful Improvements `in Airplanes, of which.

the following is a specification.

This invention relates to airplanes and the construction hereinafter descrlbed is particularly designed for use in the building and controllingoflarge flying machines adapted for transport purposes and for covering long distances. One of the principal objects of the present invention is to arrange the suplifting power for a machine of large size,y

porting planes in such manner that an increased number of planesniay be employed in one machine thereby givmg the required which must necessarily be equipped with a plurality of en 'nes and propellers..

A further ob]ect of the inventlon 1s to providev a boat body or nacelle of streamline formation capable of carrying a large number of passengers or freight and capable of rising in flight from land or water and landing either upon the ground or water.

One of the principal objects of the present j invention is to provide novel fore and aft balancing means, the same means belng utilized for increasing the angle `of incidence of both the fore and aft grou sof planes to 'enable the velocity of the mac 'ne to be controlled for the purpose of effecting safe landings. y v

Another object of the invention is to pro-` vide means .for independently varying the angle of incidence of thefore and aft groups of supporting planes in order that the fore dependently controlling the fore and aft sets of supporting planes.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical section on an enlarged scale showing a portion of the controlling means for varying the angle of incldenee of the fore and aft groups of planes.

In lcarrying out this invention, I employ a long narrow boat body or nacelle of streaml1ne formation, the same being provided at a suitable point in the bottom thereof with an angle or step 2 to facilitate rising from the water, the rear portion of the body in rearvof the step 2 slanting upwardly as indicated at A3. The deck 4 of the body l is formed with a number of port holes 5 which will be glazed and which will form observation openings or windows as well as en trances ,and exits. By locating the port holes 5 in the deck 4, the interior of the hull w1ll be brilliantly illuminated. The boat body 1 will be of such dimensions that it .may contain a large number of passengers or a considerable quantity of freight. Supporting wheels 6 will be mounted under the boat body 1 to enable a landing to be made upon the ground and also to enable the ma- A chine to rise in Hight from the ground.

Located above the boat body 1' and in y spaced relation thereto is a fuselage or up'- per body 7 in the forward portion of which `1s housed an engine 8 having its shaft 9 extending forwardly through the nose of the fuselage, said shaft having. a tractor screw or propeller 10 secured thereon. The fuselage 'I which, like the body 1, is of streamline formation, also contains one or more fuel tanks 11 which are thus housed within the fuselage.

A forward' group of planes 12 are connected to the body 1 and the nacelle 7 three of such planes being shown, vand in rear of the planes 12 an aft or'rear group of planes .13 is arranged. In the preferred embodiment of this part of the-invention, I employ three or more planes 12 in the forward group and two or more planes in the aft group, there being one plane less in the rear group than in the forward group. This is done in order to prevent interference ofthe air currents acting on the front planes andthe rear planes. In other'words the rear planes are in staggered or alternate arrangement with pivotally at the points with said struts and having an overhang in front thereof. In rear of the struts 14, the trailing portions of the planes are connected by vertical rods 16 of special construction as will hereinafter appear. The rear planes 13 are in like manner pivotally connected at 17 to their posts or struts 18 and the rear portions or edges of the planes are connected by a vertical rod 19 of special formation. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the rod 16 is threaded as shown at 20 and is engaged by a nut 21 threaded thereon and capable of being turned by means of a hand wheel 22 which is connectedto the nut 21 by means of spokes 23. The nut 21 is held against vertical movement by means of an annular keeper 24 secured to a bar 25 of the machine frame. It will now be observed that by turning the wheel 22 andthe nut 21, the rod 16 may bemoved upwardly or downwardly thereby correspondingly elevating or depressing the trailing edges of the front planes-12 and changing the angle of incidence thereof. In like manner the shaft 19 is threaded and is engaged by a nut 26 formed integrally with a sprocket wheel 27. Running around the sprocket wheel 27 is a sprocket chain 28 which extends forwardly and passes around a sprocket wheel 29 on a sleeve 30 having fastened thereto a hand wheel 31 by turning which, the nut 26 may be turned for raising and lowering the threaded rod 19. This has the effect of cor respondingly elevating and depressing the leading edges of the rear planes 13. The shaft 16 is slidable freely through the sleeve 30 so that the adjustment of the angle of incidence of the front planes may be effected independently of the adjustment lof the angle of incidence of the rear planes. This provides for controlling the fore and aft stability of the machine. In making a landing, the speed of the machine may be materially reduced to the point of safety by increasing .the angle of incidence by both the front and rear groups of planes.

In addition tothe front engine 8 and its propeller 10, I. provide two engines 32 which are arranged 1n rear of the front planes 12 and supported by a suitable frame or brackets 33 at opposite sides of the fuselage 7 and equi-distantly therefrom. Each ofthe engines 32 has its shaft 34 extending in a forward direction and a propeller 35 mounted gines or two or only one thereof may be operated at a time.

At the rear end of the fuselage 7, I mount a vertical rudder 36 having a cross head or arms 37 extending at right angles thereto. Operating connections or cables 38 arefsecured at their rear ends to the opposite eX- tremities of thecross bar 37 and stays 39 are extendedfrom said cross bar tothe trailing edge'of the vertical rudder 37. The connections 38 extend forwardly and are attached to the opposite ends of a lever 40. The lever 40 is mounted on a vertical shaft 41 which extends downwardly into the na.

celle 7 and it has fast thereon a steering bar 42 under the control of the aviator. The nacelle 7 and the boat body 1 are connected by upright struts or posts 43 between which are inserted crossed stay wires or connections 44 similar to the ordinary king trussing now used in aeroplane construction. One or more of the forward planes 12 will be provided with ailerons or lateral balancing planes 43 in connection with suitable controlling means convenient to theoperator. Lateral balancing floats or pontoons 44 will be placed under the bottom plane 12 in order to provide for the proper balancing of the `machine while resting on the surface of the water or proceeding at a speed less than the planing speed.

Fro'm the foregoing descr1ption taken in ings, it will now be seen that I have provided an airplane structure which/is especially adapted for large machines intended to carry considerable weight either in passengers or freight. The operator and all other occupants or passengers are housed within a vstreamline body having awhydrolane surface which will enable it to rise rom the water and to'land thereon. The construction .also provides for reducing the head resistance. of the complete structure, enabling the machine to be propelled at great velocity. Additional engines and propellers may be mounted on the machine if occasion demands and additional supporting planes may beA provided in accordance with the -we1ght of the machine and the size thereof.

I claim 1. `In an airplane, the combination of` a.

posts securing said planes to the boat body and fuselage and having said planes pivotally connected thereto between the leading andztrailing edges of the planes, a substantlallyvertlcal rod connecting the planes of each group at one side of theposts thereof,

connection withthe accompanying draw-v each of said rods being threaded, and manually controlled means embodying nuts having a threaded engagement with said rods for moving said rods upwardly and down- WaQrdy tochange the "angle of incidence.

anairplane, the. combination of aboat body of streamline formation, a fuselage of streamline formation located above and inA spaced relation to the boat body, front and rear groups of supportinglplanes pivotally mounted 1n relation to t body and fuselage, a threaded rod connected with the trailin edges of the planes of the front group, a t readed rod connected with the trailing edges of the planes of the group in rear of the front planes, hand controlled means on the first named rod for moving the latter' upwardly and downwardly to chan e the angle of incidence of the planes of vte front group, a nut threaded on the second rod for moving the latter upwardly and downwardly to change the angle of incldence of the planes of the second group, and hand e boat f controlled means on said first named rod for operating said nut, whereby the angle of incidence of the front and rear oul s of planes may be varied independent y o each other.- A

3'. In an airplane, thecombination of a boat body of streamline formation, a superimposed fuselage of streamline formation in spaced relation to said boat b ody, means rigidly connecting said body and fuselage, front. and rear groups of support planes connected with said body and fuse age, an engine housed within said fuselage, a tractor propeller driven thereby and arranged in advance of `the front group vof planes, engines arranged in rear of the front group of planes -and at opposite sides of and-equidistantl from the fusela e, and propellers driven y the last name enginesand arranged behind the trailing edges of Athe planes of the front group.

*In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

- ANTHONY ASTER.