US2014557A - Airplane mail pickup - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 17, 1935. I 1 CLAMP|TT 7 2,014,557

AIRPLANE MAIL PI CKUP Filed July 1, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIIIIIIIH g. 4 ACZo/wegs.

Sept. 17, 1935. E. CLAMPITT Q 2,014,557

AIRPLANE MAIL PICKUP Filed July 1, 1955' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Inventor, [/me/ C/am, 9/511 Attorneys.

Patented Sept. 17, 1935 UNITED STATES- AIRPLANE MAIL PICKUP Elmer Clampitt, Indianapolis, Ind., assignor of one-third to Harry R. Champ, Indianapolis,

Ind.

Application July 1, 1935, Serial No. 29,202

10 Claims.

This invention relates to means for picking up articles from the ground by flying airplanes. One particular use of the invention is that in picking up sacks of mail at various stations or airports without requiring the airplane to land and take off so that considerable time may be saved in the schedule of the mail carrying plane between terminals.

An important object of my invention is to provide an apparatus to be carried by the plane which willv permit the picking up of the stationary article'by the plane without imparting a severe shock thereto. A further important object is to provide a device which will permit engagement with the article to be picked up without immediately starting that article into motion corresponding to that of the plane but will automatically compensate for the inertia of the article and then pull the article in toward the plane as the plane accomplishing the above indicated objects, in

cluding a mast for carrying the article to be picked up having certain advantages, namely that of permitting easy and quick mounting of the article thereon and for cooperating with the plane mechanism so as to insure pick up of the 7, article.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein one particular form of my invention is illustrated, Fig. 1 being a side elevation of the structure embodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a side elevation of a plane carrying my invention;

Fig. 3, a top plane view of the ground tower;

Fig. 4, a front elevation of the tower;

Fig. 5, a detail on an enlarged scale in left hand side elevation of the plane carried mechanism;

Fig. 6, a top plan view of the plane carried mechanism; g

Fig. 7, a vertical longitudinal section on the line in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8, a detail on'a stillfurther enlarged scale in right hand elevation of the plane carried mechanism, and

Fig. 9, a rear. elevation thereof.

Like character of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring first to Figs. 3 and 4 illustrating the ground tower, I provide a base In centrally of which is carried a post II to extend vertically 5 therefrom for a considerable distance. The post H is revolubly carried within a standard l2 and a lever I3 is fixed to the post I I to have a downturned leg M, Fig. 1, which may drop into any one of a plurality of holes I5 placed about the base l0. By lifting the.lever l3, the leg II is withdrawn from the hole l5 and by pulling the lever 03 around, the post ll may be correspondingly revolved and secured in any desired position by dropping the lever l3 to carry the leg I4 into the selected hole l5. t

On the top end of the post H is carried a bow l8, here shown as being substantially circular with the upper portion cut away. The bow is centrally carried to extend above the top end of the post II and has a shield l'l secured across its lower portion to cover over from one side the lower portion of the bow and the upper end of the post II. The shield i1 is preferably curved around at its lower end, Fig. 1, to provide a smooth roundan extended axis of the post II as indicated in Fig. 4 so that the center of the bow l6 may be indicated by the intersection of the light beams to guide the aviator at night.

From the upper ends of the bow I6, I turn rearwardly and outwardly in each case a wing or guard l9 to have the wings diverging one from the other and be inclined downwardlysomewhat from the horizontal. These wings or guards l8 are preferably elastic in nature to some extent or at least will spring some at their junctions with the 40 upper ends of the bow IS...

The article to be picked up, here indicated as a mail bag 20, is provided with a looped carrier 2| in the nature of a cord or cable. I At each upper end of the how "i is a forwardly directed pin 22 over which pin the cord 2| is'hung. Each side of the looped cord 2| is spread to pass around forwardly turned arms 23, one on each side extending from the bow IS. The bag 20 is thus supported merely by its downward pull on these pins. The sack 20 is carried up and placed in the hanging position by an operator who climbs the ladder 24 carried by the post I I, the upper end of the ladder having an extension 25 which maybe pushed upwardly to permit engagement with the cord 2| on the upper pins 22 and side pins 23 and then be pulled down out of the way.

The cooperating mechanism carried by the plane 23 is mounted preferably on the floor 21 of the plane. A drum-23, Fig. '7, having side plates 23 and 33 is revolubly mounted on an axle 3| between supporting plates 32 and 33. A spring 34 is secured by one end to the axle 3| and by the .other end to the drum 28, the spring 34 being confined entirely within the drum. A cable 35 is wound around the drum on its outer side. By means of a crank 33 secured to an outer projecting end of the axle 3|, the spring 34 may be wound up to give the desired pull on the drum 23. The cable 35 is so wound around the drum 23 as to pull off rearwardly from the under side of the drum and pass over a roller or bar 31 mounted between the plates 32 and 33.

From the rear end of the plates 32 and 33 is suspended a lever system to hang from the under side of the floor 21 in a rockable manner. An arm 33 is fixed to a bar 33 to have a leg 43 hinged thereto by one end. The arm 38 is preferably provided with a flexible portion 4| in the nature of a fiat steel spring so as to permit a yielding motion of the arm 33 laterally of the plane. The bar 33 is revolubly carried between projecting brackets extending from the plates 32 and 33 and a lever 42 is fixed by one end to the bar 33 as a means of rocking the bar. The other end of the lever 42 is interconnected with an operating lever 43 by means of a link 44 so that by swinging the lever 43, the arm 33 may be swung correspondingly.

RockabLv mounted on the bar 33 is a lever 45 from the outer end of which pivotally hangs a link 43 to have its lower end pivotally engaging with the leg or foot 43 at a distance removed from the hinged connection of the leg 43 with the arm 33. From the hub of the lever 45 on the bar 33, extends another lever 41 angularly therefrom in the nature of a bell crank. From the outer end of this lever 41 extends a link 43 forwardly to the lower end of a control lever.

43, both levers 43 and 33 herein shown as being mounted on the same axle 33.

Normally the arm 33, link 43 and leg 43 are carried in the position as indicated by the dash lines in Figs. 1 and 8 wherein those members are brought around up against the under side of the fioor 21 to extend rearwardly thereunder.

A trap door 3| is provided in the floor 21 and bysuitable manipulation of the levers 43 and 43, the outer end of the leg 43 is presented through the opening normally closed by the door 3| as indicated by the dot-dash lines in Fig. 8. When the outer end of the leg 43 is thus presented, a hook 32 on the end of the cable 35 is attached to this end of the leg by means of a conical plug 33, preferably made of rubber to give an elastic grip, and is pressed into the endof the leg. The leg 43 is preferably made to have a U-section, Fig. 5, and the plug 53 is pressed between the side members of the leg 43 at its outer end as indicated in Fig. 5. The levers 43 and 43 are then suitably manipulated so as to first allow the leg 43 to swing around downwardly with its attached hook 52 and then have the arms 33 and 45 swing slightly rearwardly, all to the solid line positions as indicated in Fig. 8, wherein a length of the cable 33 rests within the leg 43 extending upwardly from the plug 53. Preferably, although not necessarily so, the cable 35 passes between fingers 54 and 55 carried on the rear side of the link 43 near its hinged connection with the lever 45, the cable being free to be carried rearwardly from between the fingers. The link 43 is preferably provided with a fiexible link 53 corresponding to the link 4| of the arm 33 so that both the link and the arm may yield slightly laterally of the plane.

The cable 35 is provided with a knot 51 as a means of preventing the spring 34 from pulling on the cable 35 tending to pull-it back around the drum 23, the knot '51 being caught on the rear side of a bar 53 by lifting the cable 35 upwardly thereunder and into a V-notch 53, Fig.

9. Thus the spring 34 may have an initial tension on the cable 35 from the bar 53 but the outer end beyond the notch 51 hangs freely downwardly and behind the members above indicated to have the hook 52 supported by the outer end of the leg 43. It is to be observed that the open end of the hook 52 is turned in the forward direction of the plane.

Now with the book 52 presented by the leg 43 in the extended position under the floor 21, the plane 23 is brought over the bow l3 to have the hook 52 brought up on as near a center line between the guards l3 as is possible and at an elevation which will cause the hook 52 to engage the upper horizontally disposed length of the cord 2|, the hook 52 being permissibly allowed to come below that line since the rear 111- clination of the leg 43 will cause the cord 2| to relatively slide down into engagement with the hook 52 as the plane proceeds forwardly thereover. Any forward pull on the cord 2| will, of course, cause it to become disengaged from the pins 22 and 23 without any substantial resistance.

Immediately the hook 52 engages the cord 2| and thereby dislodges it from its support by the bow IS, the weight of the bag 23 is then carried by the hook and in turn by the cable 35. This applied weight will cause the cable 35 to be pulled downwardly to slide the knot 51 down from engagement against the rear side of the bar 53 and thus permit the spring 34 to exert its pull on the cable 35. Since there is an evident amount of inertia in the bag. 23, the first result is that the cable 35 is actually pulled rearwardly to unwind from the drum 23 as the plane proceeds forwardly, thereby winding up the spring 34 and gradually decelerating the relative rear travel of the sack 23 until such a balance is reached that the bag 23 and the plane 23 move forwardly at the same speeds. When this balance is reached, the spring 34 is of that strength that 55 it willthen begin gradually to revolve the drum 28 in the opposite direction to wind the cable 35 therearound until the bag 23 is presented at the opening covered ordinarily by the door 5|.

If the tension of the spring is not sufiicient to so accomplish this result, the axle 3| may be revolved by means of the crank 33 to apply additional tension to the spring and thereby complete the operation of bringing the mail bag up within the plane. The length of thecable 35 may range over a considerable length such as from 100 to 300 feet, depending upon several factors, such as the speed of the plane, height of the post II, and the usual weight of the sack The mail sack will not come back against the plane with increasing velocity but rather the speed of the returning sack will be somewhat slowed down by reason of the outer portion of vthe spring 34 coming into contact with the in- This may further be regulated by means of the lever 36 being set such that the spring 34 will be sufiiciently'unwound by the time the sack comes within a few feet of the plane as to just balance the weight of the sack and then further return is accomplished by returning -the crank 36 as above indicated.

When the sack reaches that position, it may be grasped by the operator and the cable disengaged whereupon the levers 43 and 49 may then be manipulated from 'within the plane to carry the leg on around and up against the floor 21 to its normal inoperative-position. Of course any lateral deviation from the desired course of the plane 26 in approaching the bow l6, may be compensated to some extent by'the leg 40 striking one or the other of the guards l9 so as to guide the hook 52'on up to the upper side of the cord 2l carried therebetween at their forward ends, the leg 40 being permitted tobe carried laterally somewhat by the guard I9 asthe case may be through the flexible portions H and 56 in the arm 38 and the link 46.

While I have herein shown and described my invention in the form as now best known to me, it is obvious that structural changes may be made without departing froifilahe spirit of the invention and I, therefore, do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations as'may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim: 1.' In an airplane article pickup system, a drum carried by the plane, spring means resisting unwinding of the drum, a cable wound about the drum, a foot carried by the airplane to swing downwardly therefrom, a hook on the cable adapted to be carried by the foot at its lower end, and a ground member having an opening across its upper end, an article carrying cord releasably extended across .the opening, said hook being hooked under said cord upon flight of the airplane, the inertia of said article initially causing said cable to unwind from said drum and wind said spring, said spring overcoming said inertia pull and then unwinding to wind up the cable and draw the article against wind resistance to the airplane.

2. In an airplane article pickup system, a drum carried by the plane, spring means resisting unwinding of the drum, a cable wound about the drum, a foot carried by the airplane .to swing downwardly therefrom,- a hook on the cable adapted to be carried by the foot at its lower end, and a ground member having an opening across its upper end, an article carrying cord releasably extended across the opening, said hook being hooked under said cord upon flight of the airplane, the inertia of said article initially causing said cable to unwind from said drum and wind said spring, said spring overcoming said inertia pull and then unwinding to wind up the cable and draw the article against wind resistance to.

the airplane, said cable being initially carried to have a substantial part thereof wound on said drum, with the spring substantially unwound.

3., In an airplane article pickup system, a drum carried by the plane, spring means resisting unwinding of the drum, a cable woundabout the drum, a leg carried by the airplane to swing downwardly therefrom, a hook on the cable adapted to be carried by the leg at its lower end, and a ground member having an opening across its upper end, an article carrying cord releasably extended across the opening, said hook being hooked under said cord upon flight of the airplane, the

inertia of said article initially causing said cable to unwind from said drum and wind said spring, said spring overcoming said inertia pull and then unwinding to wind up the cable and draw the article against wind resistance to the airplane, 3 5

said cable being initially carried to have a substantial part thereof wound on said drum, with the spring substantially unwound, and means releasably holding the outer end of the cable extending to said leg end to be without initial pull 10 from said spring, said means being rendered inoperative upon pull on said hook.

4. In an airplane article pickup system, a drum carried by the plane, spring means resisting unwinding of the drum, a cable wound about the 15 drum, a foot carried by the airplane to swing downwardly therefrom, a hook on the cable adapted to be carried by the foot at its lower end, and a ground member having an opening across its upper end, an article carrying cord releasably 20 extended across the opening, said hook being hooked under said cord upon flight of the airplane,

. the inertia of said article initially causing said cable to unwind from said drum and wind said spring, said spring overcoming said inertia pull 25 and then unwinding to wind up the cable and draw the article against wind resistance to the airplane, and means for varying the degree of rewinding of the cable.

5. In an airplane article pickup mechanism, a 30 revoluble drum carried by the airplane, a cable wound about the drum, a spring normally tending to turn the drum to wind up said cable, a leg swingably carried by the airplane, a hookon said cable and means releasably attaching the hook 35 to said leg, said cable initially being substantially entirely wound on the drum with the spring substantially unwound.

6. In an airplane article pickup mechanism, a

wound about the drum, a spring normally tending to turn the drum to wind up said cable, a leg swingably carried by the airplane, a hook on said cable and means releasably attaching the hook to said leg, said cable initially being substantially ,5 entirely wound on the drum with the spring substantially unwound, a knot on the cable determining its wound position, and a notched mem-" ber' above the pathof the unwinding cable whereby said cable may be lifted into the notch of the 5 member to have said knot strike thereagainst and limit winding of the cable, said cable being pulled from said notch by pull of an article engaged by said hook.

'7, In an airplane article pickup mechanism, a 55 cable carried by the airplane, an article engaging member flxed to the cable, an arm rockably carried to swing downwardly from the airplane, a foot hinged to the arm tmhang therefrom, a link hinged to the foot at a distance from its hinge o connection with said arm, a lever engaging the upperend of said link, and an operating lever interconnected with the upper end of said am, said link engaging lever serving toswing said .foot on said arm and said operating lever serv- 5 ried to swing downwardly from the airplane, a foot hinged to the arm to hang therefrom, a link hinged to the foot at a distance from its hinge connection with said arm, a lever engaging the upper end of said link, and an operating lever interconnected with the upper end of said arm, said link engaging lever serving to swing said foot on said arm andsaid operating lever serving to swing both the arm and foot in unison whereby the arm and foot may be swung in extended relation back under the airplane, or the foot folded up to have its lower end presented adjacent the upper end of the arm, and means releasably interconnecting said article engaging member with said foot lower end, said arm and said link having portions thereof flexible laterally of the airplane.

9. In an airplane article pickup system, means carried by the airplane to engage an article, and ground means for presenting the article comprising a post, an upturned bow on the upper ends of the post, a looped cord for carrying an article,

and a pin at each upturned end of said bow across which pins said loop .is hung to depend therefrom, and a guide arm extending rearwardly from each of said bow ends and diverging one from the other, and a transverse shield across the lower portion ofsaid bow in front of which said article may hang from said cord.

10. In an airplane article pickup system, means carried by the airplane to engage an article, and ground means for presenting the article comprising a post, an upturned bow on the upper end of the post, a looped cord for carrying an article, and a pin at each upturned end of said how across which pins said loop is hung to depend therefrom,

and a guide arm extending rearwardly from each 15

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