US1415754A - Aeroplane attachment - Google Patents

Description

P. s." woous, AEROPLANE AITACHMENT. APPLI'CA'HON FILED FEB- 27. 1920.

1,41 5,754. Patented May 9, 1921 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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P. S. WOODS.

AEROPLANE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-27,1920.

1,415,754, Patented May 9,1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Snucmfof UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHINEAS S. WOODS, 0F SMITHVILLE, MISSOURI.

anaormnn ATTacnmENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9,1922.

Application filed February 27, 1920. Serial No. 361,753.

To all it may concern:

accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to aeronautics and particularly to means for controlling the landing movement of an aeroplane. v

Heavier than air machines are generally landed while traveling at considerable speed, or at least at a speed sufiicient to sustain the machine in theair as it moves toward the landing stage. The result is that the machine comes in contact with the ground violently enough to not infrequently cause damage to the machine, the speed at which the machine travels at the final landing movement being such that considerable space is required to elfect the landing. My invention contemplates the provision of means whereby the forward speed of the aeroplane may be retarded and the mechanism is also adapted t0.b8 constructed so a that the retarded action will be effective in providin additional sustaining resistance to the a1r so that the machine may settle down upon the landing stage at a relatively low speed and with practically no violence.

In the drawings,

Fig. I is a view partly in elevation and partly in section of an aeroplane constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. II is an elevational view of the mast and an edge view of the retarding and sustaining wheel, the mounting for the wheel being shown in section. v

Fig. III is a horizontal, sectional view through one of the bearings for the centrifugally operated retarder wing support.

Fig. IV is a cross sectional view through the bearin or mounting for the support on the line I -IV of Fig. II'I.

a full, clear, and exact description of the Fig. V is a longitudinal sectional view through the hub on the upper end of the mast, and

Fig. VI is a fragmentary view of one of the fabric supporting stays.

Referring now to the. drawings by numerals of reference:

1 designates an aeroplane of approved construction provided with an engine or motor 2 whereby the usual tractor propeller 3 may be driven.

Mountedabove the floor of the fuselage 4 of the aeroplane is a concavo-convex base plate 5, supported upon the standards 6- in any well known manner, and said plate is provided with a plurality of openings or perforations 7, any one of which may be engaged by the bolt 8, slidable in the slot 9 of the mast 10. The bolt is provided with a collar 11 against which one end of a spring 12 bears, the other end of the spring hearing against the end of the mast and said bolt may be withdrawn from any one of the openings 7 through the medium of the handle or bolt retraotor 13. The mast is shown as being provided with a ball-shaped collar 14 intermediate its ends, which may engage a socket 15 supported at the top of the fuselage whereby the mastmay be swung about the pivot formed by the members-14.- and 15.

It will be further apparent that the mast extends above the rigid plane 16 of usual construction and supported upon the fuselage in the -usual way. 1

At least for a portion of its upper end,

the mast 10 is preferably hollow. as at 17,

to receive the flexible shaft 18, driven from the motor and extending into the hub 19 and secured thereto at 19, whereby the hub wil. rotate about" the anti-friction bearings 20, as clearly shown in Fig. V. The hub may be of any approved construction and may carry a skeleton wheel consisting of the intersecting spokes 21 and 22 fast to the hub are retarding and sustaining blades which normally lie in substantially the plane of wheel .but which are adapted, when the wheel rotates, to assume positions at angles thereto, as will be presently explained.

The retarding and sustaining blades, may be of any number suitableffior the purpose but I contemplate the provision of four, arranged at angles of about 90, and the spokes port hearings on the blocks 28 in which are longitudinally mounted retarding and sustaining blade supports 29, extending into the recesses of the blocks 28. The members 29 are provided with collars 31, between which and the inner ends of the recesses 30are springs '32, normally tending to hold the retarders and blades in retracted positions.- When, however, the wheel is rotated, the centrifugal force will be suflicient to overcome the retractive tendency of the springs 32 and'cause the blades 33 on the ends of the members 29 to move out with I them, as shown in Fig. III.

- der all conditions.

The devices 29 are provided with oppositely disposed .lu'gs or projections 34, ex-

tending transversely from the member 29 and riding in spiral slots 35 and 36. The spiral slots are so disposed that when the blades are in their retractedpositions, they will be substantially in the plane of the wheel, but when they are moved by centrifugal force, the riding movement of the pr0 ect10ns 34 1n the spiral slots will cause the shaft or support29 to rotate at an angle of about 45 in the direction of the movement of the plane, thereby presenting the upwardly inclined faces 37 to retard the forward movement of the plane and at the same time act as a sustaining force or element to allow 'the plane; to settle down without any perceptible jar. The rotation of the wheel'will have the effect of a gyroscopic action and it is desirable to maintain the wheel in a horizontal plane un- Therefore, I have providedmeans for swinging the mast out of the perpendicular with respect to the fuselage of the aeroplane but to maintain it in a true perpendicular line irrespective of the position of the aeroplane body and to this end I have provided a manually operated adjusting means consisting of the sprockets 38 and 39, suitably mounted within the fuselage, the sprocket 39 being driven by a gear 40 to which movement may be communicated by a worm 41 driven by the crank 42.

The mast is provided'with collars 43 and 44 to which sprocket chains are secured. The'chains are designated 45 and 46 and pass around the sprocket 38and 39 respectively. The sprocket 38 is an idler but it is adapted to' equalize the pressure on one side of the shaft. The sprocket 39, however,

the

21 and 22 atthese points may supis an active sprocket, being driven through the medium of the crank 40 and worm 41. Therefore, when the crank 42 is turned, the mast may be tilted on its pivot connection formed by the members 14 and-'15, it being understood, of course, that during the tilt-' ing movement, the bolt 8. will be withdrawn from engagement with one of the holes 7.

So long as the machine is operating normally, that is, during the flying operation, the wheel will be stationary and may serve as an additional plane, but whenever it is desired to descend, the flexible shaft 18 will be rendered eifective by clutching the same in with the motor, whereupon the wheel will begin to rotate and as it does, the centrifugal force will cause the retarding or sustaining wings or vanes 33 to engage radially of the wheel, turning at a slight angle, as indicated, and serving as a retarding and sustaining force.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described, a mast, a rotatable member carried by said mast, and retarding and sustaining members carried by the rotatable member normally in a plane parallel with the plane of: the'rotatable member, said sustaining members having radial and rotative movement into operative position due to centrifugal force generated by the rotatable member.

2. In a device of the class described, a stationary mast, a rotatable wheel on said mast, normally in operative spring retracted retarding and sustaining vanes carried by the wheel, said retarding and sustaining .vanes being movable radially and rotatably into operative position under centrifugal force generated by the rotatable motion of the wheel.

3. In a device of the class described, a stationary mast, a rotatable wheel on said mast, bearing members carried by the wheel,

spiral guideways in said bearing members,

longitudinally'movable vane supports in the bearing members, lugs on the supports, engaging the spiral guideways, and vanes carried on the ends of the supports.

4. In a device of the class described, a stationary mast, a rotatable wheel on said mast, bearing members carried by the wheel, spiral guideways in said bearing members, longitudinally movable vane supports in the bearing members, lugs on the supports, engaging the spiral guideways, vanes carried on the ends of the supports, and springs for normally retracting the supports. 1

5. In a device of the class described, a pivoted mast, a wheel on the mast,- bearing members on the wheel having spiral grooves, a longitudinally movable shaft mounted in the bearing members and havin means for engaging the spiralgrooves, an I vanes car- CJI IlQll on the ends of the longitudinally movable shaft.

6. In (-ombination with an aeroplane having supporting wings and a propeller at right angles to said wings, of a rotatable wheel mounted above said Wings and at right angles to thepropeller and having

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