US1295649A - Aeroplane. - Google Patents

Description

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AERQPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.20, 191?. l I 1,295,649. Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

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I AEROPL'ANE. '-APPLlcATloN FILED MAR.20.19\1.

Patented Feb.25,1919.

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INVENTOR ATTORNEYS VVmi maoilAUTiC'sY J. F. WEBB, Sn. AEROPLANE.'

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 20.1917.

Patented Feb.25,1919.

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42744. AERONAUS W J. F. WEBB, SR.

AERQPLANE. APPLICATION FiLED MAMZO, 1917.

'Patented Feb.25,1919.

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l g i 244. AhliUNAU l lUb JEAN F. WEBB, SR., OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application led March 20, 1917. Serial No. 156,161.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JEAN F. WEBB, Sr., residing at New York, in the county of- New York and State of New York, have invented ward one of 45, independent of the use of the ordinary ailerons,7 and then be held securely locked at the angle needed until the height to which it is desired to rise is attained.

Another object is to enable an ordinary triplane to have a far greater weight-carrying or sustaining power than is possible with the present form of iiXed, rigid planes; for by pivoting or hinging the central plane as shown, it can be set and locked at such a lifting and sustaining angle that the pressure upward of the air in striking it will give it an enormous increase in lifting and sustaining power.

Another object is to provide the small, swift triplanes, (pursuit type) that are used by the Army as air speed scouts, with a safe means of slowing down their high speed when in midair, without the danger of dropping downward from the force of gravity; and of enabling them to alight slowly and safely by tilting the central plane when viiight is ended. Military aeroplanes constructed in this manner will also prove most effective in climbing upward into the air at a very rapid rate, to rise above dirigibles of the Zeppelin type, to attack them in the most effective way-from above.

Another object is to provide a scouting hydroplane for warships, or other naval uses, whose central plane can be set and locked at a sharp rising angle before starting the engine, and thus force it to rise directly upward from the deck of a ship, or from the surface of the water, without the necessity of a long run; and which can be so controlled by the pivoted plane, that it can be slowed down so gradually as to alight safely without jar or shock on the deck of the ship, when returning from a scouting aight.

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hydroplanes to slow down their speed in mid-air, when hunting for submerged submarines, by setting the pivoted plane at such an angle that the lifting and sustaining power of the machine is just sufficient at slow speed to overcome gravity; they can then proceed slowly enough to accurately spot a submerged submarine under them, and, if desired, to drop bombs upon it.

The invention also has for its object to provide a means for connecting the tilting sustaining planes with the rear horizontal rudders so that as the sustaining planes are tilted the rudders will be harmoniously actuated to add their eifort to that of the tilted plane in rising or landing.

The invention also resides in those novel details of construction, combination and arrangement, all of which will be first fully described, then be specically pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating one form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged top plan view and part sect-ion taken beneath the upper plane and showing the intermediate tiltable plane.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view and part section showing the rack and pinion structure.

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a detail view illustrating diagrammatically the manner of connecting the tilting frame with the horizontal rudder.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of a modification of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic side elevation of the plane structure shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic elevation of a further modification showing a plurality of tilting planes forming in connection with the rigid planes a quadplane structure.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view illustrating the application of the hydroairplane.

In the drawings, in which like letters and numerals of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, l represents the fuselage which is mounted in the usual way to be sustained by the upper and lower fixed planes 2-2 that are spaced apart by vertical strut-s 3 and diagonal braces 4, the braces 4 serving to sustain the trunnion bearings 5 for the tiltable midplanes 6. The construction of the parts 1, 2 and' 3 may be as in the present practice and per se constitute no part of my invention.

In applying my invention to aeroplanes, the midplane 6 is provided with a suitable light rectangular framework 7 which sustains the usual plane structure and to which frame 7 the arcuate racks lO are secured by suitable light tubular bracings 8 and 9 (see Fig. 4), the racks 10 having a relatively rigid connection with the planes 6 through their connection with the frame 7 of such planes.

11 designates a shaft which runs the length of the planes and is journaled in suitable bracketbearing supports 12 that are secured to the vertical struts 3. On the shaft 11 are a number of rack pinions 13 having flanges 14 to cooperate with the rack segments 10, the number of rack pinions 13 being equal to the number of racks 10. The shaft 11 is also provided with a worm gear 15 with which a worm 16 on a control shaft 17 meshes, the shaft 17 being under control 4of the operator so that by turning the shaft 17, the operator may incline the planes 6 for rising or landing purposes, as may be desired.

In order that the movements of the horizontal rudder may be coordinated with the movements of the planes 6, the rudder 19 may be provided with a tiller 2O that is connected by wires 21 with a similar tiller 18 se cured to the frame of the planes 6 and the tiller wires 21 may be run in any desired way from the front to the back of the machine, either outside as shown in the drawings, or over suitable guide pulleys through the fuselage as desired, as the particular way in which the wires 21 are run from the plane 6 to the rudder 19 is not material and will depend upon the requirements of good design as may be found convenient in practice.

Instead of having the entire midplane arranged to tilt the midplane may be made in sections, certain sections 22 being rigid while the other sections 6 are tiltable. This arrangement is indicated in Fig. 7, by reference to which it will be noticed that the rigid planes 22 are located at the ends and the tilting planes are located adjacent to the fuselage, although a reversal of these parts may be found desirable in practice, and I do not wish to be understood as being limited in this respect.

Again, instead of having two racks, one at each end of the planes 6, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, for instance, a single rack may be employed, as shown in Fig. 7, particularly where the length of the plane 6 is relatively short.

My invention may be also applied to struc` tures in which two or more intermediate planes are employed, see for instance, Fig. 9, by reference to which it will be seen that there are provided two intermediate planes 6 6, these planes being connected together by rods or wires 23 so as to move in unison. It will also be observed that in my construction, by reason of the rack and pinion construction andthe worm and worm gear connections the tilting planes may be held locked, as it were, to any position to which they are adjusted by the operator.

In operation, the invention is especially advantageous in obtaining quick rising or dipping effects, according as the plane is tilted upwardly or downwardly with rela tion to the direction of fiight and it is also of great advantage in landing, as by throwing the tilting planes upwardly, as the machine nears the ground, the flight may be checked and at the same time by thus increasing the angle of the tilting plane, with relation to the line of flight, a greater lifting effect is obtained at the moment of landing so as to engage the ground with less force and less danger of nosingl the machine into the ground than would be the case were all of the planes stationary.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought the complete construction, operation and advantages of my invention will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

IVhat I claim is:

1. An aeroplane having at least three sustaining planes extending to substantially equal planing distances at each side of the fuselage, two of which are fixed and rigid, means for pivotally mounting an intermediate plane so that the same may be rotated on its central transverse axis, and means under the control of the aviator for tilting said intermediate plane to change the angle of inclination at will.

2. A triplane aeroplane, comprising in combination with the upper and lower fixed planes, of an intermediate oscillatable plane consisting of two half-plane structures, one located at each side of the fuselage, means for mount-ing said oscillatable plane as a unit so that it will be susceptible of inclination, and means for inclining said plane as a unit with relation to the line of Hight.

3. In an aeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planes, the combination with a middle plane composed of a plurality of plane-sections disposed in equal numbers on each side of the fuselage, and means for mounting said middle plane whereby said plane sections may be inclined as a unit with relation to the`line of flight, means under control of the aviator for effecting the inclination of said middle plane, and auxiliary fixed middle planes located laterally with respect to the tiltable middle plane.

4. In an aeroplane, the combination with upper and lower fixed sustaining planes, of

liti-h HEUNHU l IL a middle plane formed of distinct sets of sections atleast one of said sections being rigid and at least one of said sections-being mounted to turn on a horizontal transverse axis whereby the same may be inclined with relation to the line of fiight, there being at least two sets of sections, one located at each side of the fuselage and means for simultaneously inclining the movable elements of said sections as a unit.

5. An aeroplane having a fixed sustaining plane structure, combined with an auxiliary sustaining plane structure disposed parallel to the fixed sustaining plane structure, said auxiliary plane structure including a planesection located one at each side of the fuselage, means for sustaining said plane elements pivotally along their central transverse axis, and means for inclining said plane sections a unit on their pivots.

G. An aeroplane having a xed sustaining plane structure, combined with an auxiliary sustaining plane structure parallel to the fixed sustaining plane structure, said auxiliary plane structure including a plane-section located one at each side of the fuselage, means for sustaining said plane elements pivotally along their central transverse axis, means for inclining said plane sections as a unit on their pivots, and means for locking said plane-sections in their various adjusted positions.

7 In a hydroaeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planes combined with intermediate sustaining plane-units located in equal number on each side of the fuselage and means for mounting said intermediate plane units whereby the same may be inclined as one to change the angle of inclination with relation to the line of flight, and means under control of the aviator for effecting the action of said inclinable plane, said means including provision lfor locking said planes to any position to which they may be adjusted by the operator.

8. In a hydroaeroplane having upper and lower fixed sustaining planes and water alighting gear, the combination with intermediate sustaining planes formed in sections, there being an equal number of sections at each side of the fuselage, means for mounting said sections on their central transverse axes whereby the same may be inclined to change the angle of inclination with relation to the line of flight, and means for simultaneously inclining the said intermediate planes as a unit.

9. In an aeroplane structure, the combination with the upper and lower sustaining planes, the fuselage and the horizontal tail rudder; of an intermediate sustaining plane structure consisting of at least two` units, one at each side of the fuselage, said intermediate sustaining plane structures being pivotally mounted on their transverse axes, connections between said horizontal rudder and said intermediate planes whereby as said intermediate planes are tilted said horizontal rudder will be operated, and means controlled by the aviator for simultaneously tilting said intermediate planes as a unit and thereby also operating the rudder, said means including worm gear rack devices having provision for locking the intermediate plane members in any position.

JEAN F. WEBB, SR.

Copies o1.' this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

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