US1296640A - Sighting apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

G. ESTOPPEY. smmms APPARATUS.

APPLICATIQN FILED DEC. 15, I911.

1 Patented Mar. 11,1919.

' lowing specification and the accompanyingtables.

UNITED STATES" PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGES ESTOPPEY,

me, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A

OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 MUSA, ESTOPPEY & CO.

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SIGHTING- APPARATUS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGES ESTOPPEY, a citizen of Switzerland, residing at Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, ful Improvements in Sighting Apparatus, fully described and represented in the foldrawings, forming a part of the same.

My invention relates to sighting apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for determining by observation the point in the travel of an aeroplane or like moving body at which an object, such as a bomb must be released in order to strike va stationary target, such as a building of the enemy. It is well known in accordance with the laws of motion that when an object, such as a bomb, is released from a moving body, such as an aeroplane, it assumes an initial speed in the direction of movement of the aeroplane or other moving body equal to the speed of the latter; so that if an aeroplane is moving hor1zontally at a given speed there will be a tendency for the released bomb to continue to move horizontally at the same speed. The aviator in order to hit the target is lease the bomb before the aeroplane'is directly above the target. Certain devices these devices are generally inconvenient'to operate, the best known devices requiring the reading of scales and the consultation of It is the aim of the present invention to, provide apparatus free from the objections in the devices heretofore known and operable to determine automatically theproper position of the aeroplane with respect to the target for the release of a bomb the same to strike the target rethe altitude and speed of the aeroplane. Other objects of my invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

A clear understanding of the invention to cause gardless of.

i can Best be had by reference to the accompanying drawings showing sighting apparatus embodying the invention in the form have invented certain new and use-- accordingly obliged to reline of vision 12 passes through the axesof the pivots 5.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t 11, 1919,

Application filed December 15, 1917. Serial No. 207,380.

now considered best and illustrating the operation of the said apparatus. In said drawings Figure 1 is a section of the apparatus taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, the sighting member being shown in dotted lines in various positions occupied thereby in the operation of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 isa front view of the apparatus viewing the same from the left of Fig. 1, partsof the apparatus being broken away;

' Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 4-.4 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 5 is adiagram explaining the operais carried. To the part 1, as shown, a ring 2 is pivoted, as by pivot screws 3, the axes of which are arranged in a line passing diametrically through the ring 2 fore and aft of the aeroplane. Within this ringa frame fl is suspended, as by transverse pivots. 5 secured within alined bearings 6, 7 in-the frame 4 and having their axes in a horizontal line passing diametrically of the ring 2 at right angles to the axes of the pivots 3. -The frame 4 extends above the p'1 vots -5, being provided at its upper end with a horizontal guide '8, the lower part of the frame 4. being substantially U-shaped and forming with the weight 9 a pendulum whereby the guide 8. and the axes of the pivots 5 are maintained horizontalregardless of the movements ofthe aeroplane and the'framedevicel forming a part thereof from horizontal position. 'Rotatably mounted upon the spaced inner extremities of the pivots 5 is a sighting member 11 which, as shown, is in the form of a needle having a lower sight 12 and an upper sight 13, the sights 12 and 13 being so arranged that the from the sight 13 to the sight Means are desirably provided to facilitate the manual turning of the sighting member on one of the pivots and adapted to have the sighting member 11 detachably con? nected thereto, as by means of a set screw 15 carried by the said member, the worm wheel 14 being driven by a worm 16 carried by a frame member 17 projecting downwardly from the ring 2'. For convenience of operation by the aviator, the means for rotating the worm 16 are desirably carried by the frame of the aeroplane, In the construction shown, a crank 18 mounted in a supported bearing 19 carried by the frame 1 is connected, as by a flexible cable 20 with the worm 16.

For determining the position at which the sighting member 11 should be set about the axis of pivots 5 for sightingthe target at the moment when the bomb is to' be released from the aeroplane, the said member is connected with a slide 22 movable horizontally in ways in a slide 23 which moves horizontally in ways in the guide 8. In order to permit the member 11 to move about its pivot and the slide 22 to move horizontally, the said member and slide are connected by means permitting a relative movement between the same parallelto the line of vision along the sighting member. As shown, a pin 24 projects laterally from the slide 22 and moves in a longitudinal slot 25 in the sighting member 1 1, the axis of the pin being deslrably in the horizontal plane passing through the longitudinal center line of the guide 8. Means such as the set screw 26 is provided to detachably fix the slide 22 in position with respect to the slide 23, and means such as the set screw 27 is providedto detachably fix the slide 23 in' position with respect to the guide 8. Ad ustable means such as the screw 28 supported in a bearing carried by the guide 8 and extending longitudinally of the said uide is provided to engage t e forward en of the slide 22 to limit the forward movement of the lat- I ter, the screw'28 being ordinarily'adjusted to stop forward'movement of the sighting member when its line of vision is vertical.

As shown, the forward end of the slide 23 is cut away. in the center to permit the forward portion of said slide to ass beyond the bearing for the screw 28. o l1m1t the rearward movement of the slide22 with re,-

spect to the slide 23, the slide 23 is provided at the rear end ofthe ways in which the slide 22 is supported with a transverse wall. 31 which the rear of the slide 22 is adapted to engage. Adjustable means such as the screw 30 may beprovided for limiting the rearward movement of the slide 23 in the guide 8. I

In order to assistthe operator in following the sighting member withhis eyes, I

provide an eye shield and head rest 32 which, as. shown, is carried by arms 33 pivoted to the frame 1, as at 34, for movement about an axis which is coincident with the axes of the pivots 5 when the aeroplane is in a horizontal position, the shield 32 being accordingly adapted to move forwardly and rearwar ly with the sighting member. The lateral movements of the sighting member v11 about the pivots 3, 3 are normally slight durin the use of the apparatus and there is accor ingly no necessity of mountingthe shield 32 for lateral movement. The shield 32 and the arms 33 carryingthe same may be held in position in any suitable way, there being most desirably sufficient friction between the arms 33 and the. frame 1 to hold the said arms and shield 32 in position, but

to permit movement of the said shield and arms by the head of the operator as it rests upon the said shield. I

In operation, the apparatus is first arranged with the slide 23 m engagement with the inner end o'fthe screw 30 and with the slide 22 engagingthe wall 31 in the slide 23,

the slide 23 being fixed to the guide 8 by the .set screw 27 and the sighting member 11 being fixed to the worm wheel 14 by the set screw 15. The line of vision of the sighting member .then makes its maximum angle 1) with the vertical, as shown in dotted lines at The aviator then proaches the target, most desirably in the irection of the wind either with or against the same. In

approaching the target, the aeroplane is maintained at a substantially constant. 'heighta'bove the ground and for the short distance during which the. device is operated maintains -a substantially constant speed. By reference to a barometer which is desirably graduated to give the time required for a body to drop from any given height to the ground, the aviator determines the time required for the bomb to drop from the aeroplane to the ground. Knowing this time, he continues to approach the target sighting along member 11, with the latter in the rearmost position, as stated, until the target appears in the .line of vision along the sighting member.

Then with the set screw 26 released, the operator rotates the crank 18 to move the sighting member 11'.

about its axis, so as to maintaln the target in the line of vision along the sighting member. When the crank 18-"has been rotated for a period-of time corresponding to the time re uired' for the bomb to drop to the ground mm a height equal to that at which the aeroplane is traveling, the rotation thereof is stopped and the screw 26 set to fix the slide 22 in position with. res'pect to the slide 23. The operator may be advised of the elapse of the time interval referred to in any suitable way, most desirably by a time piece which is provided with an operating member readily accessible to the operator for starting the time piece and with means whereby the time piece may be set to give an audible or other signal at the end of the time interval. The line of vision of the sighting member is now in the position indicated by dotted lines at bb, the said line making an angle '1' with the vertical. The set screw 27 and also desirably the set screw 15 are now released and the slide 23'with the slide 22 secured thereto is moved forwardly until the forward end of the slide 22 engages the inner end of the-stop 28. In this position the line of vision along the sighting member 11 will generally be vertical, as shown at 0-0, Fig. 1. The slide 23 is then fixed in position with respect to the guide 8 by the set screw 27, the set screw 26 being released and the slide 22 moves rearwardly until it engages the stop wall 31, when the set screw 26 may again be fastened to secure the sighting member in position. 7

The position now occupied by the sighting member is shown in solid lines in Fig. 1, the angle made by the line of vision along the member 11 with the vertical being indicated by the letter 0. With the sighting member in this position, the aviator continues to approach the target continuing to sight along the member 11 until the target comes in view and is located in the line of vision along the said member. He then immediately releases the bomb or bombs, which travel downwardly and forwardly on a curved trajectory (EA Fig. 5) to the target. The total time operations need not exceed 20 to 30 seconds.

The theory upon which the apparatus operates will be clear by reference to the diagram shown in Fig. 5.

Let A represent a target. AB, the ground line. CD, the horizontal path of the aeroplane.

E, he point at which the bomb must be released from the aeroplane to strike the target A. F, the position in its path occupied by the aeroplane after it has traveled from the point C for a length of time equal to that required by an object to fall to the ground from the height indicated by the line CD. AD, avertical line through the point A. CB, a vertical line through the point C. FG, a vertical line through the point F.

It must now be shown that 0=angle DAE taken for all of thesepath of the axis of the pin 24 and the horizontal plane through the axes of the pivots 5.

Then

I tan o= (1) But -l=distanc moved by axis of pin 24 during the shifting of the line of vision from a-a to b-b,

Assuming the aeroplane to be traveling horizontally at a constant speed From and (4), v

, is an 0 AD m DAE or 0 angle DAE which was to be proved.

'Whereby it appears that the sighting member in its final position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 is properly located to cause the targetto appear in the line of vision along the sighting member at the moment at which the bomb must be released from the aeroplane to fall upon the target.

The time required for the bomb to drop from the aeroplane to the ground may be given by the barometer as corrected for the resistance of the air to the falling bomb; If the time as given is the theoretical time without taking into account the retardin effect of the air upon the falling bomb, af lowance may be made for this effect by adjustment of the screw 28, so as to cause the slide 22 to'engage the same before the line of vision of the sighting member has reached the vertical. This will increase the angle 0 so as to cause the aviator to release the bomb earlier, as required. The amount of adjustment of the screw 28 necessary for any given height at which the aviator desires to travel may be easily remembered by the aviator.

While I have shown the form of the invention which I now consider best, numerous modifications may be made in the structure target from a moving travel at different heights shown without departing from the spirit of my invention. 1

What I claim is: 1. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination of sighting means comprisinga member pivoted for movement to change the direction of the line of vision with respect to the vertical, and means comprising a movable stop coacting with said member and operable to determine the position of said member for sighting a stationary target from a moving body adapted to travel at different heights and speeds at the moment when an object should be released from said from said body to fall upon said target, said meanscomprising a movable device adapted to be adjusted by preliminary observation of the target by the said sighting member.

3..In a device of the class described, the combination of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis to change the direction of the lineof vision thereof with respect tot-he vertical, means for positioning-said sighting member with its line of vision vertical or at difi'erent angles to the vertical, said means comprising a member movable transversely with respect to the vertical, and meansconnected with said sighting member and adapted to be connected to said movable member at diflerent points transversely of the vertical.

4. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis, to change the direction of the line of vision thereof with respect to the vertical, means for limiting the movement of said member to position the same with its line of vision vertical, and means adjustable by preliminary observation by said sighting member of a stationary target from a moving body adapted to travel at different heights and speeds for limiting the movement of said sighting member to position the same for sighting said target from the said body at the moment when an object should be released from said body to fall upon said target.

5. In apparatus of the class described, the

combination of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horlzontal axis, to

change the direction of the line oflvision thereof .with respect to the vertical, adjustable means for limiting the movement of said member to position the same with its line of vision approximately vertical, and

the said body at the moment when an object.

should be released from said body to fall upon said target.

6. The combination of a sighting member movable about a horizontal axis, with a guide at an angle'to the vertical, a member movable longitudinally-of said guide, means movable relatively to the said movable member for moving said sighting member about said axis, means for limiting themovement of said movable means in one direction to position said sighting member with its line of vision vertical, and means for limiting the movement of. said movable means relatively to said movable member in the opposite direction.

7. In apparatus of the class describedtthe combination of a sighting memberpivoted for movement abouta horizontal axis, a

horizontal guide having its center line spaced 'from said axis, a slide therein, means for holding the said slide in position in said guide, a second slide carried by Said firstnamed slide and movable horizontally with respect thereto, said second slide being connected to said sighting member, means for holding said second slide in position relatively to said first-named slide, and means for limiting the movement of said second slide to position said sighting member with its line of vision vertical, said first-named slide being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through said horizontal axis.

8. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis, a horizontal guide having its center line spaced from said axis, a slide therein, means for holding the said slide in position in said guide, a second slide carried by said firstnamed slidevand movable horizontally with respect thereto, said second nected to said sighting member to permit relative movement between said second slide and said sighting member in the direction of the line of vision of said sight-ingmember, means for holding said second slide in position relatively to said first-named slide, and means for limiting the movement of said second slide to position said sighting member .with its line of vision vertical, said firstnamed slide being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through said horizontal axis.

9. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a sighting member pivoted slide being con for movement about a horizontal axis, a horizontal guide having its center line spaced from said axis, avslide therein, means for holding the said slide in position in said guide, a second slidecarried by said first-. named slide and movable horizontally with respect thereto, said second slide being connected to said sighting member, means for holding tively to said first-named'slide, and adjustable means for limitingthe movement of said second slide to position said sighting member with its line of vision approximately vertical, said first-named slide "being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second. slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through said horizontalaxis.

10. In apparatus of the'classdescribed the I combination of means comprisingia member pivoted for movement to change the direction of the line of vision with respect to the vertical, means comprising a movable stop coacting with said member and operable to determine the position oftsaid mem-, her for sighting a stationary target from a moving body adapted to travel at diflerent heights and speeds at the moment when an object should be released from said body to fall upon said target, and an eye shield mounted for movement concentrically with said pivoted member to permit the operator to follow the line of vision of said sighting member in the movements of the latter.

11. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support movable to difi'erent positions with respect to the horizontal, a pivoted sighting member, a guide having its center line spaced from the axis of said sighting member, means for supporting said guide and sighting member from said support adapted to maintain said guide and the axis of said sighting member horizontal, a slide in said guide, means for holding the said slide in position in said guide, a second slide carried by said first-named slide and movable horizontally with respect thereto, said second slide being connected to said sighting member, means for holding said second slide in position relatively to said firstnamed slide, and means for limiting the movement of said second slide to position said sighting member with its line of vision vertical, said first-named slide being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through the axis of said sighting member.

'12. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support movable to difierent positions with respect to the horizontal, a pivoted sighting member, a guide having its center line spaced from the axis of said sighting member, means for supporting said guide and sighting'member. from said supsaid second slide in position rela guide,

to position said sighting port adapted to maintain said guide and the axis of said sighting member horizontal, said means comprising a pendulum and a universal joint between said guide and sighting member and said support, a slide in said guide, means for holding the said slide in position in said guide, a second slide carried by said first-named slide and movable horizontally with respect thereto, said second slide being connected to said sighting member, means for holding said second slide in position relatively to said first-named slide, and means for limiting the movement of said second slide to position said sighting member with its line of vision vertical, said firstnamed slide being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through the axis of said sighting member.

13. In a device of the class described, the combination of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis, means for turning said sighting member about said axis, means for positioning said sighting member at different angles to the vertical, said means comprising a member movabletransversely with respect to the vertical, and means coacting with said sighting member and adapted to be connected to said movable member at different points transversely of the vertical.

14. In a device of the class described, the

to the vertical, said means comprising a member movable transversely with respect to the vertical, and means coacting with said sighting member and adapted to be connect ed to said movable member at different points transversely of the vertical. 15. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a support movable to difl'erent positions with respect to the horizontal, a pivoted sighting member, a guide having its center line spaced from the pivotal axis of said sighting member, means for supporting said guide and sighting member from said support adapted to maintain said guide and the pivotal axis of said sighting member horizontal, a slide in said guide, means for holding the said slide in position in said a second slide carried by said firstslide and movable horizontally with being connected to said sighting member, means for holding said second slide in position relatively to said first-named slide, means for limiting the movement of said second slide member with its line of vision vertical, said first-named slide named respect thereto, said second slide make with the vertical an angle,

being provided with means for limiting the movement of said second slide relatively thereto in a direction away from a vertical plane through the horizontal axis of said sighting member, means for turning said sighting member about said axis, and means for rendering said turning means operative or inoperative.

of which is equal to the quotient obtained -when the distance traveled by the bod in the time required by an object to fall rom said body to the ground is divided by the distance of the body from the ground.

17. In apparatus of the class described for use upon a body in motion, the combination of a sighting member, and means coacting with said member and operable to automatically locate the same to cause the line of vision thereof to make with the vertical an angle, the tangent of which is equal to the quotient obtained when the distance traveled by the body in the time required by an object to fall from said body to the ground is 1 divided by the distance of the body from the ground, said means comprising a movable stop device adapted to be adjusted by preliminary observation by said sighting mem- V ber of a stationary target'at the beginning and end of an interval of time equal to ,that

v stated above.

18. In apparatus of the class described for use upon a body in motion, the combination of sighting means comprising a member pivoted for movement to change the direction of the line of vision with respect to the vertical,

means coacting with said niember and operable to determine t' 9 position of the same to cause the line of vision thereof to make with the vertical an angle, the tangent of which is equal to the quotient obtained when the distance traveled by the body in the time reqfiiired by an object to fall from said body to t e ground is divided by the distance of the body from the ground, and means for varying said angle to compensate for the resistance of the air upon the falling object.

' 19. In a device of the class described, the

combination, of a sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis to change the direction of the line of vision thereof with the vertical, and means coacting with said memberfor determining theposition thereof for sighting a target from a moving body to determine when an object should be released from said body to fall upon said target, said means comprising a guide and a member movable longitudinally .thereof and connected with said sighting member. Y

20. In a device of the class described, the combination of a'sighting member pivoted for movement about a horizontal axis to change the direction of the line of vision thereof with thevertical, and means coacting with said member for determining'the position thereof for sighting a target from a moving body to determine when an object should be released from said body to fall upon said target, said means comprising a guide and a member a plurality of slides .movable longitudinally thereof and connected with said sighting member.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' GEORGES ESTOPPEY. t Witnesses:

Jnssm E. STALKER,

J. UNGER.

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