US2009344A - Wing float - Google Patents

Description

E. J. W. RAGSDALE WING FLOAT Jul 23, 1935.

Filed May 12, 1952 3 I 9 I 1- HIIHM, w 4 2 Z 8 mm 4 2 H 6 vxv L. \l I F- ib mu. 6 F- 7. 3

K m m N I V Patented July '23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE neri J. mm gzm 1a., asllgnorto Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pal, a corporation of Pennsyl- Vania and particular thereof.

Application May 12, 193:, Serial No. 610,780 12 Claims. (a. zu-z) My invention, relates to flying-boat structures ly to floats for supporting the wings The objects of my invention include the provision of a wing float which shall be constructed substantially entirely of metal, that shall be strong and of light weight and that shall have its parts particularly constructed to facilitatespot welding. Other objects include the provision of a float that shall offer substantially a minimum resistance to wind and water, that shall be water-tight and rust-proof and that shall have other advantages incident thereto.

Flying boats have heretofore, been constructed wings for the water, but such floats, to the best of my knowledge, have been constructed of materials subject to rust and disintegration, with the result that they became uncertain and dangerous in character, unlessfrequently inspected, and entailed the 'troubleand expense of renewal, be sides having other objections. v

In practicingmy invention, I provide a float of hollow-shell character having an outer sheathing of extremely thin-gauge stainless steel and an internal frame, preferably also of stainless steel, particularly adapted to mount the float on a wing and to reinforce the float against forward and downward impact forces, and other features, as will hereinafter appear.

This structure is permanent solar as rusting, rotting and other effects of time, wear and weath- 81 are 0011681118 disposed laterally outwardly on the supporting the same, while resting ond, and is a substantial advance in Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlargeddetailed view of a portion of the device shown in the upper right hand corner of Fig. 2, showing also,

a portion. of a wing to which the device is attached, and

. Figured is an structure.

The device comprises, in general, a top well i, a bottom wall 2, side walls longitudinal side and bottom exterior view of the assembled 3, laterally-spaced stringers l and 5 respectively, transverse frame members 8, central longitudinal bottom beams I and 8, a forward upright support 9 and amain supportincluding a pair of front beams 80 and a pair of rear beams.

means for the relatively extensive thin sheets 3.

The side walls 3 are preferably constructed of continuous sheet form, from the rear, along one side, slightly curved about the bow i2 and along the other side to a rear edge I, where the ends of the sides are spot welded together in flat sideby-side relation. Top and bottom edge stringers II and II, respectively, of L-section, follow the contour of the meeting edges of the top and side walls for which they constitute angle braces be-' tween the sides 4 and portionscf the top and 10 bottom walls projecting outwardly beyond the sides. I

The top and bottom wall members i and 2 substantially conform in perimetral contour to the horizontal-plane contour of'the stream-line sides: the bottom wall 2 curving forwardly and upwardly from a position between its mid and aft sections, and the parts i, 2, 3, ll, l5 and It being spot welded to each other. Also, the top .wall I conforms to the bottom contour of the 2 wing on which it is mounted to provide a symmetrical closed structure and to ensure against interference, or localized stresses, between the float and the wing. I

The side stringers 4, of channel section, are 5 spot welded to the sides, in bottom engagement therewith and in free floating relation thereon, thatis, they are not attached to any other part of the float, and they serve solely as, stiffening Under normal service conditions when the flyboat, on which the float is mounted, descends to. the water, it does so at a forward-anddownward angle, in view of which, the. elements a to II, inclusive, are arranged to resist the impact forces resulting therefrom. That is, the

frame is arranged to have its major bracing efshapes, rather than have these parts conformto 6Q i the curved contour of the bottom wall, the beams l and I are disposed substantially alongchords of the bottnm-wall curve and are connected to the bottom'wall, between the ends of the beams "I and l, by the transverse frames 6, gussets V-shape as viewed in between the longitudinal center and the transverse beams, and gussets l9, between the transverse beams and the longitudinal bottom strin ers. f

The gussets l1 and I9 are each of thin sheet metal bent to channel-shape having tapering sides providing spot-welding side-wall areasat the deeper end of the channel and a spot-welding bottom-wall area at the shallow end of the channel; the gussets l'l being of varying dimensions to adjustably fit the straight beams I and 8 to the curve of the bottom 2.

The transverse frames or beams 6, of channel or box section, are supported, from above, only at the centers thereof, by the beams 1 and 8 from which the beams 9, Ill and II project upwardly to positions at the intersections of the top and side walls of the float; the beams 9, I0 and H being also of channel or box section. The arrangement of the beams l0 and H provides an angle brace of substantially V-shape in transverse contour as viewed in Fig. 2, and of inverse Fig. 1, providing substantial transverse and longitudinal support above and below, respectively.

There are two of the front upright beams 9 also, arranged in V-relation in a vertical transverse plane of the float.

Plate gussets 20 of substantially V-shape are spot welded to the lower-end transverse sides of the beams of each pair of beams in and II and plate gussets 22 are spot welded to the outer sides of the beams l0 and H and to the inner sides of the channel-section beams l and 8.

Adjacent to the cover I, the beams l0 meet the beams II to which they are secured by gussets 24 each having portions spot welded in flatside engagement with the side wall 3 and with the transverse sides of the beams l0 and II. Exterior gussets 26 are each of substantially channel section and have a bottom wall 21 connected to the beams i0 and H and spot welded to the gussets 24, through the walls 3 and the gussets 2%. The gussets 26 each have a closed-end wall 28 for attachment to a main supporting frame or rear spar 30 of a flying boat Wmg 32, and sides sloping from the closed end 28 toward the opposite end of the gusset which is open. The forward upright support 9 is similarly secured and braced at its upper and lower ends, and adapted for attachment to the front spar.

The structure is remarkable in the simplicity of its outer surface, having no rods, bars or other small parts but being constituted substantiallyentirely of expansive smooth contoured stream line and impact surfaces. By eliminating up; right braces for the side walls and substituting therefore the floating braces l, the number of parts and the weight are substantially reduced, without the sacrifice of necessary strength.

The arrangement of the beams 1 and 8 whereby, although they are standard straight beams, they support the curved bottom 2, the center sup port for the longitudinal center bottom beams, the inverse V-structure of the frame, the arrangement of parts whereby they are connected almost exclusively by spot welding, the employment of stainless steel, and other features, render the device particularly durable, proof against deterioration, effective in operation and an improvement generally in the art to which it relates.

While I have shown and described a particular form of my invention, changes may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and tudinally curved scope thereof, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing, and a float including outer side and bottom-wall sheathings, a frame including a beam intercepting the side-wall sheathing adjacent to the top edge thereof, and securing means including a gusset secured to the beam through the sheathing and to a wing spar.

2. In combination, in a flying boat,.a wing, and a float having a top wall sheathing conforming to, and closely fitting, the under side of the wing, a side wall sheathing of stream-line contour, a frame having a portion adjacent to the intersection of said top and side walls, and a gusset connected to the wing spar and to said frame portion through said side-wall sheathing.

3. A flying-boat wing float comprising side sheathing extending continuously from an aft edge, forward on one side, about the bow and aft on the other side to provide another edge in side-by-side relation to said first edge.

4. A flying boat wing float including sheathing comprising a. transversely flat top sheet, a longibut transversely flat bottom sheet, and side sheathing connecting the top and bottom sheets, extending continuously from a vertical aft edge forward on one side, about the bow and aft on the other side to provide another edge in side by side relation to the flrst edge.

5. A flying boat wing float comprising a sheathing constituting a longitudinally-curved transversely flat bottom wall, an inner support including rigid transverse bottom beams spaced fore and aft, and means supporting said beams only at the centers including a rigid bottom element extending along a chord of the curve, and thin sheet side walls disposed in freely suspended position between the top and bottom of the float on said inner support.

6. In combination, wing structure including inner supporting means, and a hollow-body float including a rigid inner support of V-section viewed aft secured atits upper ends to said wing supporting means, a rigid horizontal cross brace at the bottom of said section, and thin sheet side walls secured to said section and to said brace in freely suspended relation therebetween.

7. A flying-boat wing float comprising a= angularly related substantially V-proflles inverted relative to each other, the V-frames terminating at the bottom on the central portion of the bottom frame members and at the top along the sides of the float in the regions of joinder to a wing.

5. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing, and a float including a sheathing having a transversely flat bottom wall and side walls freely suspended between top and bottom edge margins thereof, a frame embodying a central bottom beam and upwardly extending beams between said bottom beam and the sides of the float disposed longitudinally in substantially V-relation having their upper ends secured to a wing spar therealong.

9. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing including a spar, and a float including a frame embodying beams depending from the wing spar at spaced positions therealong and diagonally join- '40 in a flying boat, a hollow ing the wing spar with a longitudinal bottom center beam, said beam ending short by a substantial distance from one end of the float, and transverse frames on the center beam supporting the bottom wall of the float.

10. A wing float comprising a frame including a longitudinal center bottom beam, a fore support of transverse v-shape, and an aft support of longitudinal inverse V-sliape and transverse v-shape, each of said supports bracing the center beam to a point on the float for connection with a wing spar.

11. A flying boat wing float comprising a sheathing including freely suspended side andtransversely flat bottom walls, and a frame including transverse members on the bottom wall,

a longitudinal central member secured to said transverse members, the remainder of the frame having a frame connection to the transverse members only through said central member and extending to points of connection with a wing spar.

12. A flying boat 'wing float comprising a sheathing including freely suspended upwardly converging side and transversely flat bottom walls, and aframe ending short of an end of the float by a substantial distance and including 1ongitudinal bottom stringers, transverse beams on the stringers, a longitudinal center beam on said transverse beams, and members extending upwardly from the center beam to points of connection to a wing spar and constituting the only frame bracing for the frame parts the'rebelow.

- EARL J. W. RAGSDALE.

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