US1599496A

US1599496A - Airship

Info

Publication number: US1599496A
Application number: US40305A
Authority: US
Inventors: Sheppard Walter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1925-06-29
Filing date: 1925-06-29
Publication date: 1926-09-14
Anticipated expiration: 1943-09-14

Description

Sept. 14, 1 26. 1,599,496

W. SHEPPARD AIRS HIP Filed June 29, 19251 4 Sheets-$hee 1 INVENTOR WT 6/15/ 124 e0 ATTORNEYS Sept. 14, 1926.

w. SHEPPARD AIRSHIP Filed June 29, 1925 4 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR WSHEPPABD ATTORNEYS Sept. 14,1926. 1,599,496

w. SHEPPARD AIHSHIP Filed June 29, 1925 v 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

INVENTOR WSHEPPARD ATTORNEYS W. SHEPPARD.

AIRSHIP File d'June 29, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 5% I T 1 9 5 52 Z9 5 4 J4 01: [:1 a? T- Z? fl Z J/ 55 Z5 15 ,3 Jay 5 INVENTOR 5: WISHEPPABD BY 7 d ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 14, 1926.

UNITED. STATES 1,599,496 PATENT OFFICE. f

warrnalsnnrrann, or. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

unsmr.

Application med June 29, v1925. Serial No. 40,305.

ing the airship in a set course during flight 10- and for generally stabilizing the ship dur-' ing its travel in the air. A'further object of my invention to provide an airship "of the type described in which novel means is employed for steering the course of a shi which the mechanism or doing so is entirely disposed within the body of the; ship. A further ob'ect of my invention is to provide an airs ip of the lighter-thah-air type in which I employ novel means .ior propellin the ship t rough the air.

A furt er object of my invention is to provide an airship of the type described which is capable of withstanding severe high winds without damage thereto, and which is thoroughl efiicient in operation.

Other objects an advantages will appear in the following specification andthe novel features of the invention will be particularl pointed out in the appended claim..

M y invention, is illustrated in the accom panying drawings forming part of thls'application, in whlch Figure 1v is a side elevation of an embodiment of my invention, portions thereof being broken away,

F1gure 2 is a front elevation of my improved airship,

Fi re 3'is a sectional view of the airship as il ustrated in Fi re 1,

Figure 4 is an en arged view of a part of the airship as shown 1n Figure 3 and- Figure 5 is a sectional view along the line 55 of Figure 4.

In carrying out my invention I make use of a gas-tight body member 1. The body member 1 has a gradually tapered prow Y portion 2 and a gradually tapered stern portion 3, the prow and the stern being of substantially the same contour.

Means for rendering the body member 1 substantially rigid is provided in a multi plicity of tie rods 4 which are-distributed throu bout the entire internal portion of the a1rship. The body member 1 is covin the airand in I cred withthin metal sheeting, and sealed tight at the. seams so that li hter-than-air gas, such as helium, may be is osed within the body in direct contact wit the outer sheeting 5.

The sheeting 5 is secured to metal, I-

beams 6 which are in turn secured to the tie rods 4 (see Figure 4).

A metal gas-tight tube or tunnel 7 is projected through the entire body, member 1 from prow to stern, and its outer edges are formed contiguous with and secured to'the sheeting 5 (see Figure 4). This tunnel 7 is square in cross section, as shown in Figure 2 and is substantially as wide as one half of the radius of a section through the body member. A 1

An engine 8 is mountecfwith its crank shaft on the longitudinal axis of the air ship and of the tunnel 7 whiohhas its axis 1 in common with the axis'of the body member, by means of suspension rods 9, and a puller'type of propeller 10 is mounted upon the front of the crank shaft adjacent to the forwardmouth of the tunnel 7. An engme 11, similar to the engine 8, is mounted at the. stern portion of the tunnel 7 b means of suspension rods 12 and has a pus er type of propeller mounted at the rearward end of the crank shaft adjacent to the stern mouth of'the tunnel. Two other engines 14, identical to the engines 8 and 9, are

mounted at equally spaced distances from one another intermediate the length of the tunnel 7, and each has a pusher type of pro eller 16 at the rearward end of its crank type of propeller '19 at the rearward ortion of its crank shaft for'assisting in t e propulsion of theship through the air.

With reference to Figure 1 it will be noted thatother engines having pusher types of propellers 20 are disposed within A 0 gondolas 21 suspended from-the body memher 1 at points adjacent to the keelportion of the body member on either side of the forward and stern portions of the body type of propeller 22.

member. There is also an engine at the stern portion of the keel having a pusher All of the man housings 18 and the gondolas. 21 have passageways 23 connecting therewith and with an interior common passageway 24in the interior of the body memher 1 by means of which mechanics and operators may ascend from the keel or cargo dolas 21.

portion 25 of the airship to the various man housings 18and may descend to the gon-v In descending to the gondolas from the keel it is necessary'to g0 through longitudinal passages (not shown) communicating with the passage 24 to'the passage 23 associated with the gondolas. This longitudinal passagestructure in lighter-them air ships is .wellknown in the. art and needs no further illustration; One of the most important arrangements of passages employed in my ship is the vertical staircase 26', entirely housed toexclude gases, which extends from the keel portion 25 to the tunnel 7, by means of which passengers may ascend to the tunnel 7 of theship should the airshi become disabled and fall upon a' body 0 water.

I shall not describe in detail the arrange- 'ment of the cabins Within the keel ortion 25, since this again is a matter whic is en'- tirely within the discretion of the architect who designs the ship, and depends rimarily upon the purpose or which the s ip is intended. Itis enough to say, however, that all of the heavy cargo should be disposed in the keel portion25 to' further maintain the ship in an upright position. Referring now to Figures 4-a'nd 5 1t will be noted that I have provided a particularly novel means for steering the course through the air. In

the ordinary type of lighter-than-air ship the means for steering the course of the ship is disposed exteriorly of the ship at the stern ortion and projects beyond the outer shell. 11 my improved construction I make use of both elevator and lateral lane or rudder.

The elevator consists in a su stantially hori-- zontal member 27 which extends from one side of the tunnel to the opposite side and is 'hingedl mounted at the mid-point of the tunnel y means'of a horizontally disposed rod 28. Means for actuatin the elevator 27 so as to raise or lower, the e evator to eflect an upward or downwardmovement of the prow of the ship is rovided in wires or cables 29 and'30 whic are secured at their outermost ends to the outer portion of the elevator 27 at 31. The opiposite ends of these cables, 29 and 30 exten over shiv'es 32 and down through a tube the upper end of which is shown at 33 to the foremost portion of the keel located. 1

Referring now to Figure 5 which is a sectional view through the mechanism illustrated in Figure 4. taken in a horizontal plane, it will be noted that I have provided a lateral plane or rudder 34 which is disposed between theengine 8 and the rod 28 upon Which the elevator 27 is .mounted. This 25, where the pilot cabin is rudder 34 extends from the top of the.

tunnel 7 tothe bottom of the tunnel and is hingedly mounted upon a vertical 'rod 35 forming its axis, which is secured at'its top and bottom to the adjacent walls of the tunnel. I

. Means for actuating the rudder 34 to the left and to the right is provided in lead wires or

cables

36 and 37 which are secured at their outermost ends at 38 to the outer end of the rudder 34 and which have their opposite ends extending over shives'39 and extending-down through tubes, the up er ends of which are shown at40, to the orward portion of the keel 26, where the pilot cabin is disposed.

From the foregoing descri tion of the various parts of-the device te operation thereof may be readily understood. Let us assume that the ship described is in the airand in the course of flight.- During normal flight all of the engines and propellers described are in operation. It will be noted that all but the propeller 10 are propellers urge the chip in a forward direction. is

associated with the tunnel so that the same air will be projected from the tunnel at the stern of the ship with sufiicient veloci to force is greatly augmentedby the presence of thepropellers 19 and the

propellers

20 and 22.

Let us assume that the ilot desires to cause the ship to ascend to a igher altitude This is done by. actuatin the mechanism within the pilot house to raw the cable 30 downwardly so as to lower the outer end of the elevator 27 Air passing throu h the forward portion of the tunnel will str' .6 the elevator so as to cause the forward portion of the ship to be lifted'slowl thereby causing the ship tonose upward y and rise to a higher altitude. 'When the proper altitude has been reached theelevator is returned to its normal position so that the ship may rest on an even keel. In a similar manner it it is desiredto cause the ship to descend, the

cable 29 is drawn so as to lift the outer end of the elevator 27, and thus cause the prow of the ship to nose downwardly.

Lateral movement of the airship in flight is caused by actuation of the rudder 34, which is operated by drawing the

cables

36 or 37 by such well known mechanism as is employ'edin actuating a marine rudder, whichin its usual form is a pilot wheel having a drum, about which the opposite ends of the cables are wound in opposite directions, and it is disposed in the pilot cabin. In the event that the engines within the man housings 18 or the 'gondolas 21 should require attention during flight an operator or mechanic mayhave ready access thereto by ascending the passage 24 and moving through the passage 23 to the particular man housing or gondola to which it is desired to reach. In. descending to thegondolas, it is necessary, as stated before, to move through a horizontal passage which communicates with the passage 24.

Let us assume that for some unforseen reason the ship has become disabled'in flight and that it must alight upon a body of water. Inasmuch as the keel 25 is. disposed at the lower part of the ship, and would fall beneath the level of the body of water, some protection must be afforded to the.passenlike are brought to them from the cabins or from external sources.

I claim: 4 v

A lighter than air airship comprising a gas-containing body having a passage of uniform diameter throughout extending therethrough from the prow to the stern of the body, means for propelling the airship disposed in said passage, a rudder pivotally mounted at its forward edge and being disposed entirely within the passage and adjacent to the prow of the airship, and an elevator pivotally mounted at its forward edge and being disposed entirely within the passage and directly in backof the rudder, whereby a movement of said rudder or elevator will cause the air passing through the passage to act upon the prow of the airship for causing the airship to change its course in flight, either up and down, or from side to side.

WALTER SHEPPARD.