US1541957A - Shock absorber - Google Patents

Description

H. G. HOOPER SHOCK ABSORBER June 16, 1925. 1,541,957

Filed May '7. 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 16, 1925. 1,541,957

Y H. G. HooPER l SHOCK ABSORBER Filed May 7. 1919` 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 16, 1925.

UNITED STATES HARRIS G. HOOPER, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

SHOCK ABSORBER.

Application filed May 7, 1919. Serial No. 295,444.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Hamas G. IIoornn, a. citizen et the United States, residing in the city and county ol San Francisco, State ot California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock Absorbers, whereof the following is a specification.

This invention relates to shock absorbers applicable to machines designed particularly for navigatingl the air and t'or the purpose ci this application I shall confine myself to a-eroplanes. This invention is intended more especially to take up the shock of landing.

To this end I provide rigid brackets or struts rigidly attached to the frame of the aeroplane. These brackets carry guides, in which the shaft is supported and moves, which shaft carries the carriage wheels of the aeroplane. Above the shaft are springs, preferably in the form of air springs, comprising cylinders and pistons movingl therein, whereby the shaft is cushioned against the shock of landing.

I provide also a variety of other instrumentalities which will be described further on.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings I have illustrated so much of a machine as is necessary to an understanding of the invention.

yFigure 1 is a front elevation 4showing'the Wheels, the brackets and air cylinders and contiguous parts.

Figure 2 is a side elevation taken from the line a, a, of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevated 'View showing a side elevation of part of a bracket, with the guides yand the traveling cross-head therein, and showing in section the cylinder and' piston.

Figure 4 is a view from the line b, b,

- of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a perspective View of one ot the-,traveling cross-heads.

In the drawings ;*1 represents the body of the aeroplane. Depending from this body brackets 2, which with the body 1 and the various tie members 3, form a rigid frame beneath the machine.

The brackets, it will be observed, each comprise two slanting legs, 2, 2, giving the device a triangular form of great stiliness and lightnessn At the lower angle of each bracket, is a casting or forging 4, having extending upward and backward therefrom the guides 5,.at thetop of which are the cylinders (3. Vithin each cylinder is a piston 7, connected by a pitman 8 to a Sliding cross-head 9., which is guided in its movement by the guides 5. The shaft of the machine, 10, is supported in thel cross-head 9, and has, at its outboard ends, the carriage wheels ot' ,the aeroplane, 11. The two cylinders 6 may be connected by a pipe 12, having check valves 13, and a branch 14, through which latter the cylinders may be charged with air under pressure. The under side of the piston 7 is provided with an annular flange 15, which enters an annular cup 1G, formed in the lower-end of the cylinder or the top ot' the guide. The cup 16 is supplied with oil or other fluid from a cup 17.

In operation, when the aeroplane comes to earth, th'e wheels striking the ground are relieved from shock as follows: The crossheads 9 are pushed upward by the wheel shaft 10, moving and guided by the guides 5, and that movement is resisted by the air in the cylinders 6, acting as a spring. The air pressure in the cylinders is adjusted as to tension by compressing more or less air therein. The air pressure in the cylinders is maintained during Hight by the flange 15, the cup 16 and the oil contained therein forming a seal.

In case one wheel 11 strikes the ground, or landing stage, before the other,`I accommodate the resulting Obliquity of the shaft by a slight play of the various joints between the pitman and its connections, as seen at 18 and 19, in Figure 3, and between the crosshead and its guides, as seen at 20 in Figure 4.

' Having thus described my invention, and an embodiment oflt, 1n the full, clear and exact terms required by law` and'knowing that it comprises novel, useful and valuable improvements i'n the art to which it pert-alns, I here state that I do not wish to be limited tothe precise construction and arrangement of the several parts, as herein vset forth, as the same. -may be variously modifie-d by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit of the invention.

IVhat' I claim and desire to secure by Let-v ters Patent of the United States, is the following, to wit:-

1. In combination with the frame of an Y aeroplane, a hanging bracket bolted at one end to said frame, gmdes secured at one end to the free end of said bracket, a metalhc cylinder-secured at one end to said frame and at its opposite end to said guides, a slidable cross-head mounted within said guides, a piston in said cylinder, a pitman pivotally engaging at one end said piston and at its other end said cross-head and a wheel shaft yieldingly supported in saidl cross-head.

2. In combination with the frame of an aeroplane, having brackets secured tosaid frame, a casting secured to the lower angle of said bracket, guides integrally formed upon said casting and extending upwardly therefrom, a cylinder mounted upon said guides and secured to said frame, a crosshead slidably mounted within said guides, a piston in said cylinder, a pitman pivotally secured at one end to said piston` and at its opposite end to said cross-head and a wheel shaft yieldingly supported in said crosshead.

3. In'combination with a frame of an aeroplane, a rod bent to form a depending bracket;y the free ends of said rod being bolted to said frame, guides integrally secured at one end to said bracket and extending upwardly therefrom, a cylinder secured at one end to said frame and at'its other `end to said guides, a piston in said cylinder,

an air cylinder mounted on said guides, a

liquid seal consisting of an annular cup provided With liquid, interposed between the meeting edges of said supporting guides and the air cylinder. l

5. An aeroplane having rigid brackets, supporting guides extending therefrom provided with an annular threaded ring, and an air cylinder engaging said threaded ring and supported thereby, a liquid cup interposed betweensaid annular threaded ring and air cylinder adapted to form a seal joint therebetween. v

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing I have hereto set my hand this 28th day of April, 1919, in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRIS G. HOOPER.

Witnesses:

W. L. BATES, .y FLORENCE L. WoLrE.

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