US1310344A - Aeroplane - Google Patents

Description

H. A. JOHNSON.

AEROPLANE.

APLlCATlON FILED JULY 27.1911.

l ,31 0,344, Patented July 15, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. A. JOHNSON.

AEROPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27; 19H- I 1,310,344 Patented July 10, 1919.

a sHEETssHEET 2.

Witnesses H. A. JOHNSON. AEROPLANE.

. Y APPLICATION FILED JULY 27. l9l7 1,310,344 Patented July 10, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- HUTSON A. JOHNSON, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 15, rare.

Application filed July 27, 1917. Serial No. 183,109.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HU'rsoN A. JOHNSON, a British subject, and a citizen of the British Vest Indies, residing at Brooklyn, in

the county of Kings and State of New York,

have imented certain new and useful Improvements, in, Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aeroplanes.

The 'object of the invention, generally stated, is to eliminate, so far as is possible, all danger of an aeroplane turning turtle, and thus becomin unmanageable, with attendant fatal resu ts; or of the machine becoming incapable of progression and thus of control, by the failure, or so-called balking, of a motor or engine to work, casualties from the latter having heretofore been somewhat under the control of the operator, as by volplaning, the machine may be safely brought to the ground, as has been demonstrated in many instances, but this latter procedure is hazardous and not at all certain of safe-guarding human life.

A feature of the greatest importance in the art of aeroplane manipulation, aside from the certainty of the operation of its motor and the stability of the structure as a whole, to withstand the distorting and skewing influences of contrary wind currents, is that the propellers shall have sulficient power to overcome wind currents, dead air wells and air vortices that-would tend to negative the power of the propellers as ascensional or propelling forces, or of the wings or planes as buoyant supporters; and

'to assure the propulsion of the machine in a predetermined course, so long as a propelling force capable of combating and overcomin a contending agent shall be present. fiy this is meant that, for example, under-ordinary conditions, and with an aeroplane of the recognized construction, a distorting force that would result in the inevitable disabling or destruction of a inachine, may successfully be coinbated, and in such manner that instead of the machine falling to the earth, it will receive added altitude conditions. These have proven practically futile, as can easily be demonstrated by a review of air casualties since the advent of heavier-than-air machines.

Now if an aeroplane can be so constructed that its propuls1on can be assured under all but the most extraordinary conditions, and.

its stability as to resistance against inversion be practically insured, it will be seen that the two greatest factors militating against the aeroplane of today will have been elmin-ated. The objections noted are overcome in the present'invention.

, With the above and other objects in view, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists, generally stated, in an aeroplane, of any preferred type, embodying, in addition to any improvements as to structural arrangement of the frame and its component parts, a novel arrangement of propellers, and means whereby the latter may be always under the control of the operator, whereby in the event of failure of the main propeller-motor to work, auxiliary vmotors employed for driving supplemental propellers may be brought into action.

Generally stated, the invention resides in the employment of three propellers, three motors, and three clutches, the latter controlling the operation of the motors in such manner that any one or two of the motors g-may be rendered effective to the exclusion of another. The main or forward propeller is. driven by a motor which, through the intermediary of a supplemental shaft, gears, sprocket wheels and chains, drives two propellers arranged abaft, one to port and one to starboard, each of the latter propellers being coupled up with an independent clutch controlled "motor. Under ordinary conditions all three of the propellers 'are driven from the main or forward propeller motor, but in the event that the latter should balk, it may instantly be thrown out of driving connection with its shaft, and either or both of the aft motors be brought into operation, thereby insuring the continuous driving of the forward propeller. The supplemental drive shaft that is actuated initially from the main motor transmits motion directly to one of the aft propeller shafts, say the port, through the medium of a sprocket chain, and to the other aft propeller shaftthrough a gear wheel mounted on the supplemental drive shaft and meshing with a of two propellers driven from a single motor, that provision is made for the effective operation of three propellers, all of which are capable at all times of being positively driven, as the possibility of all three motors becoming disabled at one time is a contingency too remote to be considered. The employment of port and starboard propellers, driven in the manner stated, will have the effect of adding such propulsivepower to the machine as to render it capable to resist the deviating effects of air currents, and also of remaining in the air for a period only determined by its fuel supply. while the danger attending an encounter with an air hole is practically overcome.

Further and more specific details of construction will hereinafter be fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification. and in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of an aeroplane embodying the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a view in longitudinal section.

v Fig. 4 is a view in the nature of a diagrammatical sectional view, exhibiting the arrangement of mechanism for driving the aft propellers from the main propeller taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3 looking in the direction of the arrow..

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

Figs. 6 and 7 are detail views ofthe clutch mechanism for controlling the various motors.

Fig. 8 is a detailed view illustrating the clutch member used on the central shaft.

Referring to the drawings, A designates generally the body or cabin of the machine, B the wings, C the rudder, and D the ground wheels; and as these parts may beof the usual or any preferred construction, and do not specifically enter into the invention, further description is deemed unnecessary.

The novelty of the invention, as above pointed out, resides in the novel arrange-- ment of the propelling mechanism now to be described.

Arranged at the front of the body is the main propeller 1 which is carried by a shaft 2 mounted in suitable bearings 3 within the body. This shaft is driven by a motor 4,

of any preferred type that is splined on the shaft and rigidly secured to it and has combined with it a clutch member 5, the clutch used being any well known clutch employed to throw either or any of the motors into operation, with which is operatively connected a jointed lever, one member 6 of which is pivoted at 7 to a fixed part of the frame of the machine and carries at one end the usual yoke 8 that straddles the clutch member 5, the other end of the member 6 having pivoted to it one end of a second member 9, the other end of which is pivoted to an operating lever 10 carried by a fixed part of the frame and by which the clutch is shifted on the motor shaft, the latter being provided with three longitudinal channels (not shown) to be engaged by three lugs 8' carried by the clutch member. As the same, or'substantially the same arrangement of motion shifting mechanism is emploved in connection with the aft motors, a description of one will serwe for all. a

The shaft 2 has rigidly secured to it a sprocket wheel 11, and engaging this sprocket is a sprocket chain 13 that passes,

wheel around a sprocket wheel 14 carried by one end of a supplemental drix e shaft 15 mounted in bearings carried by hangers 16 depending from the frame of the body. The other end of the shaft 15 carries a sprocket wheel 17 forward of which is mounted a gear wheel 18 which latter meshes with a gear wheel 19 carried by a stub shaft 20 mounted in suitable bearings on the frame, the stub shaft also mounting a sprocket wheel 21, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. The sprocket wheel 17 is engaged by a sprocket chain 22 thatpasses around a sprocket wheel 23 carried by the port propeller shaft 24 while the sprocket wheel 21 is engaged by a sprocket chain 25 that passes around a sprocket wheel 26 carried by the starboard propeller shaft 27 By this arrangement it will be seen that by reason of the gears 18 and 19, when the shaft 15 is rotated from the motor 4, the shafts 24 and 27 will be driven in opposite directions, in the manner common to all two-pro-. peller machines. 4

Each of the shafts 24 and 27 carries at one end a motor 28 and 29 respectively, at its other end a propeller 30 and 31 respectively, and adjacent to the motor a clutch member 32 and 33 respectively, the latter engaging complemental clutch members 34 and 35 on the motors 28 and 29, the two clutch members operating in the same manner as that employed in connection with the forward motor.

In operation, and under normal condil tions, the clutch member 5 of theforward propeller shaft will be in engagement with the corresponding clutch member 36 of the motor, while those of the port and starboard propeller shafts will be disengaged, thus causing the main motor 4 to drive the series of propellers. Now should the motor 4 balk or become inoperative from any cause, it can be disconnected from its shaft by shifting the clutch member 5, and at the same time the motors of either or both of the shafts 24 and 27 can be engaged, thus to continue the driving of the forward propeller through the agency of the interposed arrangement of sprocket wheels and chains,

gears and shafts heretofore fully described.

It will be seen from the foregoing that provision is made to meet an motor contingency that might arise, so t at the maximum of safety in aerial navigation is obtained without greatly increasing the cost of production of the machine.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. An aeroplane embodying a forward propeller, a starboard and a port propeller, each propeller being mounted on a shaft, a motor fixed to each shaft, means for disconnecting each motor from its propeller, and

- transmission mechanism whereby any propeller may be actuated from any motor.

2. An aeroplane comprising forward, starboard and port propeller shafts, a motor fixed to each shaft and provided with a clutch, a sprocket wheel rigid with each shaft, a supplemental shaft disposed below and in parallelism with the forward propeller shaft, and carrying at its forward end a sprocket wheel and at its rear end a sprocket wheel and a gear, a sprocket chain connecting the sprocket wheel on the forward propeller shaft and the forward sprocket wheel on the supplemental shaft, a stub shaft carrying a sprocket wheel and gear meshing with the gear on the supplemental shaft and sprocket chains connecting the sprock board propeller shafts with the sprocket wheels on the rear of the supplemental shaft and on the stub shaft.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HUTSON A. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL B. RoAonFom), CLov1s M. DASH.

et wheels of the port and star-v

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