US2476538A

US2476538A - Express container type cargo airplane

Info

Publication number: US2476538A
Application number: US588865A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harlan D Fowler
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1945-04-17
Filing date: 1945-04-17
Publication date: 1949-07-19
Anticipated expiration: 1966-07-19

Description

H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE July 19, 1949. Y

4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed A ril 17. 1945 INVENTOR. 1

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July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE Filed April 17, 1945 4 sheets sheet 2 I INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEY.

July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGQAIRPPANE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed April 17, 1945 w W 7 v w M w ....l u, T W, .v 5 2 M 7 E j 7 2 5 H v-1 M 0 a B 1 l Bi W 7 n A. l; m w w w a 4 m 6 n E M f M m N 5 u w 0 2 2 1 3 no 0 4 Q, w 5 ar H 3 5 4 1. w .1 w y a 1 J -5- 1 WW 1 0.1.1, w p w V INVENTOR. AQez/w QE ATTORNEY.

July 19, 1949. H. D. FOWLER v EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 17, 1945 w 101 a I Patented July 19, 4 3::

EXPRESS CONTAINER TYPE CARGO AIRPLANE Harlan D. Fowler, Whittier, Calif.- Application April 17, 1945, Serial No.- 588,865

7 Claims.

, This invention relates to a cargo airplane hav- 7 ing the following general characteristics: A balanced streamlined design fore and aft of the wing; removable cargo containers when in place end to end in tandem forming part of the fuselage streamlined contour, and these preferably all positioned forward of the wing; such containers being removable and replaceable in a lateral horizontal direction from either side, or vertically, as desired; centrally controlled means to lock the containers in position on the fuselage platform, and auxiliaryfmanual locking means individually operated for the several containers; landing gear supporting the fuselage close to the ground, enabling the ship to come close inside i or alongside a ramp, with the landing wheels under the ramp; apusher propeller, preferably reversible, so that the ship can be moved up inside or alongside a ramp, and the propeller blades be reversed to back the ship out; and the propeller being mounted high, whereby adequate clearanceis obtained for the propeller notwithstanding the fuselage is low to theground.

Additional features reside in a novel air cooling system for the motors, which may be mounted within the fuselage aft of the cargo container section, thus contributing to the accessibility of the containers, and which motors, by virtue of a forced draft cooling system, may be left idling when loading or unloading the plane.

' Another feature is the provision of a passage-- Way for controls in the belly region of the fuselage, with access holes below for maintenance accessibility thereto. 7

More specifically, a feature of importance is the provision of tracks on the bed or platform of the fuselage on which rollers or .casterson the cargo containers are movably supported.

A number of other novel features inherent in my concepts are disclosed as the description progresses, and many of the features indicated are susceptible of substitution b elements which are equivalent.

A broad object of my invention is to produce an express containertype cargo airplane which embodies improvements over myU. S. Patent No. 1,992,941, granted March 5, 1935, for Airplane construction, and also over various co-pending A applications.

cargo container type streamlined airplane with the container rollers, and

gines 2'5 mounted within motors mounted within the fuselage and cou'- pled with pusher type propellers located aft, the fuselage design affording suitable air cooling ducts for the motors, the fuselage having a long nose section for removable cargo containers, and convenient accessibility to such containers from either side, and a landing gear supporting the fuselage low to the ground and in sufficient proximity to an adjacent loading ramp or ramps so that containers may be rolled from the airplane to the ramp or vice versa.

These, and other objects of the invention will become further apparent from the more detailed description which follows.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view'of an airplane embodying my invention, in aloadling dock.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the airplane, with parts in section,

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section through the pilots compartment, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

' Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the cargo containers forming an element of the airplane.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side view, partly in section, showing the container locking elements, and taken generally along the line 5-5 of Figure '7.

' Figure 6 is a shown in'Figure 5.

Figure '7 is a vertical section through one side of the fuselage platform, showing the track for thelocking mechanisms, taken along the line 1-4 of Figure 5.

Figure'la is a fragmentary section taken on line la--|a of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontalsection through the engine compartment of the fuselage, and illustrating the air cooling ducts and carbureter intake ducts.

Figure 9 is a vertical section taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a cross section taken on the line |0Hl of Figure 9.

Figure 11 is an enlarged cross section of the platform. and belly region of the fuselage taken on the line I |-l I of Figure 2.

Figure 12 is a cross section taken on line I2-l2 of Figure 11. I

; The airplane 20 comprises a fuselage 2|, wing 22, tail control assembly 23, pusher type propellerz l mounted aft of the tail assembly, enthe' fuselage, and a tritop plan View of the assembly tion'of the dock be at the extreme of suchfuselage positions.

deck and to the side spars 60.

cycle type landing gear indicated as 26. The airplane is shown in a loading dock 21.

The airplane design is statically and aerodynamically balanced so that when the plane is on the ground the fuselage maintains the same attitude as in horizontal flight, and the landing gear is designed so that the fuselage platform carrying the cargo containers will be approximately in the same horizontal plane as the top 30 of the loading dock.

This dock may have an inclined ramp 3! leading to the level top 30. Also, the vertical support 32 nearest the loading edge 33 should be spaced away from such edge to provide room for the rear wheels 34 of the landing gearv upon the top. The other detailsof construction of the clock can be conventional. Preferably complementary clocks are employed, with a passage 35 therebetween substantially wide enough for entrance of the fuselage element of the airplane. The wing is above the dock, and the propeller is outside of it. Figure 1 illustrates the desired relationship between the plane and the loading dock when the plane is stationed for loading or unloading. By the use of thetwin dock arrangement shown in Figure 1, containers can be rolled off the fuselage platform at one side, and other containers rolled from the opposite side onto the fuselage platform, thus providing continuous systematic movements of the containers. The same arrangement provides ease of loadin and unloading bulk cargo at the rear doors, later described.

The landing gear 25 preferably comprises a small nose wheel or wheels 36, which may or may not be retractible.and/orsteerable, in addition to the large aft wheels 34. The latter are preferably carried by a retractible means 31, of any suitable design, intended to nest the wheels in the faired-position shown at 34 when the airplane is in flight. The details of the wheel mountings are not part of my invention, the important thing being to observe the requirements necessary to maintain the relationship between plane and ground, and plane and loading "dock illustrated and described. Inasmuch as the fuselage platform level may vary'10" -more or less between empty and loaded condition, due

to change in length-of shock absorber struts in the landing gear, it is desirable that the'elevaapproximate upp r The fuselage 2| includes a pilots compartment 40 in the nose 4|, a cargo container platform or bed 42 between the pilots compartment and the leading edge of the wing 22, a central engine compartment 43, a bulk cargo compartment 44, and interchangeable cargo containers 45.

The pilots compartment is accessible through a side door 50, and terminates at the rear in a bulkhead In the bulkhead is a door 52 Which is as large, or larger, than a door in. the immediately adjacent cargo container, later described, which doors are substantially coincident, so that.

the interior of the foremost container is accessible from the pilots compartment to load or unload packages while the container is in place.

The platform or bed 42 may comprise a longitudinally corrugated deck 53 riveted to flanges; 70

54a of transverse bulkhead members 54, which are "in turn riveted to side spars 60 and to the inner wall of a double skin 62 spaced by bottom stifi'eners 5!. Transverse tracks 56. are secured to the The tracks include fiat rail elements 51 separated by elevated dividing bars 58. Rollers of the containers hereinafter described are adapted to roll on the rails and to be guided and confined by the dividing bars 58. Each track accommodates the adjacent rollers of two proximately disposed containers. Thus, complementary spaced apart parallel rails of two track units are required for each container. The tracks extend laterally across the fuselage. The end structure 59 of each rack is suitably secured by bolts 63 to the frame structure of the fuselage including the side spars 60. The tracks preferably formed with arcuate depressions 64- at the four corner locations of each container space to locate the containers pending locking of-the same or removal thereof from the platform.

To provide for the sliding of a container from the dock to the fuselage, an auxiliary hinged track 56' is provided between the edge of the dock to the side of the fuselage platform so that as the level of the fuselage changes with the loading conditions, the tracks will always be in continuous contact to the loading dock. When fully loaded the deck of the fuselage platform is normally about 36 inches from the static ground line, and since the depth of the platform, is about 20 inches the clearance between the bottom of the fuselage and the said ground lineis 16 inches.

The end of the auxiliary track is formed with a knobular member 56" adapted to be engaged in a complementary recess 64' in the track 64 so that the two tracks remain associatedfor movement of containers on or off the plane.

Locking

devices

65 and 66 are in effect part of the general platform structure 42. Locking devices 55 are controlled simultaneously from a central. location, as for example, from the pilots compartment. The individual corner locks 66 are separately controlled. In order to understand the function of these locks, it is desirable to first describe the containers 45, which themselves form elements of the, airplane fuselage.

The containers are preferably all alike for interchangeability, preferably of proportions about 70 inches high, 42 inches long, and 7 2 incheswide, the latterdimension being the approximate width of the fuselage platform. The general structure is disclosed in detail, in my co-peuding application Serial No. 4691390, now Patent No. 2,442,459. Such previous disclosure did not, however, embody rollers.

Each container comprises a framework In at each end, such'framework beingon the outside so that skin H enclosing the ends may form a smooth interior as this arrangement also favors a smooth interior at the sides and top. A rigid bottom (not. here illustrated) is firmly inter related With the frame. Horizontal frame elements 12 support a horizontal interior flexible partition (not shown) which divides the container into upper and lower compartments. The upper compartment is accessible through a side door 13, and the lower compartment is accessible through end doors 14. The side door 13 may be op ned either while the container is on the airplane, or when it is off.

The lower corners of the frame structure are cut out as at 15 to provide recesses for rollers or casters 16 which are mounted on stub shafts T1 fixed to the frame or floor. These recesses are sufiiciently high to accommodate parts of the locking mechanism above the rollers. The rollers are preferably within theend and side extremitiesof the containers.

The overall locking system 65 comprises a locking jack 85 at each end of each track. Each jack comprises a screw threaded section 86 operating in a threaded bore 81 at the end of the track. The threaded section 86 is on a stem 88 squared at its lower end as at 89 to key with a crank 90 which is clamped as by bolt 9| to a control rod 92 leading to a central control station such as the pilots compartment, Mounted on the stem 88 is a T clamp 95 the vertical element of which has a bore 96 fitting over the stem between a head 91 and a shoulder 98. The cross "of the T clamp is adapted to engage the peripheral surface of container rollers for holdingthe containersdown on the tracks, or to be elevated for releasing the rollers.

[wrench (not shown) to raise or lower the plate. Optionally, a spring I06 may frictionally tension the pinion.

When the plate is in elevated position, it tangentially engages the rollers of the adjacent cargo containers, and prevents lateral movement of these containers outwardly. -When lowered, the rollers are freed to move out, providing the friction grip of the T clamps has been released.

Thus, for removing and replacing containers, the centrally controlled jacks 65 must be released, and then the individual plate locks 66 at the corners of containers selected for removal must be lowered on the side from which the containers are to be rolled. If a replacement container is to be rolled on from the opposite side, the plate locks at that side also must be lowered but the opposed plate locks should be raised to prevent the replacement container from rolling on through.

When all desired containers are in place, all plate locks are individually closed, and the centrally controlled jacks are clamped down, thus cooperatively securing the containers rigidly upon the deck. 1

As already noted, the bed of the fuselage forward of the wing, in the cargo container section, is corrugated and has approximately 14 feet open space in which to receive the containers. Aft ofthe wing, there is preferably the large compart- 'ment 44 with a flat plywood 'floor III, the compartment being accessible through a door II2 large enough to pass an extra cargo container 45. Bulk cargo, or an extra container, or both,

vmay be stowed in this compartment 44.

The large door H2 is preferably duplicated on the opposite side of the plane so that cargo containers or bulk cargo may be unloaded from one side and loaded in from the other side.

In the normal stationary ground attitude, the tail assembly 23 is elevated, and the pusher propeller 24 is mounted at the end of the tail assembly, so that the propeller has a material clearance above the ground. This propeller is preferably of a reversible type, such constructions being well known, so that the airplane may be backed under its own power out of a loading dock.

The engines 25 are located in the engine com- .partment .43, and propeller shafts I20 deliver power to the propeller 24, through a conventional gear box I2I. The high mounting of the engines and the overhead propeller shafts contribute several advantages to the airplane structure. Ample room is thus provided for the retractible landing gear, there is no obstruction in the rearbulk cargo compartment,and the high mounting of the propeller is facilitated. Moreover, either dual or single motors may be employed with this type of engine installation and power delivery with a single pusher propeller without altering the airplane design.

A tail skid I25, with a dolly wheel I26, depends from the tail assembly; This skid ordinarily does not touch the ground, but is primarily to afford protection to the propeller'if the tail should fall.

An important feature of the airplane is the design of the fuselage and its relation to the engines. The engines are mounted within the fore and aft extremities of the wing, contributing to the general balance of the ship. The upper section of the fuselage iselevated from the leading edge of .the wing rearwardly and a substantial distance above the upper contour of the forwardly located containers. The engines are supported on suitable framework I21, comprising the wing main spar I2'Ia, a companion beam [211), and longitudinal members I2'Ic, and may be readily installed or removed from above, upon removal of an engine cowling I28 which conforms to the fuselage patterns.

This cowling is formed with a central port I30, and spaced ports I3 I into which certain air ducts directly open. These include main air ducts I32 for cooling the engines, and subsidiary air ducts I33 for supplying air to the carburetors I34. The main air ducts I32 pass air to the engine radiators, such for example, as oil radiators I35 and prestone radiators I36, and thence continue to discharge ports I3'I'in the upper surface of the fuselage just aft of the engine cowling, the discharge being regulated by vanes I38. These vanes are vertical to the line of flight when opened, the vane shafts running fore and aft.

The nose section of the fuselage being of less height than the central section, affords unobstructed air intakes for the purposes described.

Auxiliary fans, or equivalent devices I40, may be located in the main air ducts, primarily to cause necessary cooling air ..=circulation when the engines are idling on the ground.

I provide a control duct I50 in the belly section, secured to the bulkheads 54 and the bottom skin 62 for housing the various control elements such as those for the power plants, propeller pitch, tail surfaces, ailerons and flaps, and landing gear This duct preferably extends from the pilots compartment to the propeller. It preferably has a top opening I5I, either continuous or broken, for passage of cables, etc. to controlled elements, and a plurality of access ports I52 in the bottom normally closed by plates 53 removably secured to the skin 52, as by spring locked Dzus fasteners well known in the art. In a plane of the approximate dimensions suggested in this description, the plates would preferably be about 8 or 10" square, and spaced about 7 feet apart.

By way of example, but not of limitation, an airplane embodying the principles of my invention may advantageously employ the following general proportions: overall length feet, wing span feet, height to top of tail surface 16 feet from static ground 'line'fwidth of fuselageii'n cargo section 6 feet, bellydepth (Figure-11) 20 nchesheight of containers 70 inches, heightof fuselage aft of container, section 107 inches, the container platform approximately 14 feet long,

ibelly supported about 16, inches above static ground line when fully loaded.

My construction is readilyfladaptable' to jet propulsion in placeof the engines and propeller illustrated. The air ducts .are conveniently situ- Jated for air intake for a ietengine, without disturbing the forward cargo-arrangement.

.Although I have herein shown and described my invention in what I have conceived to bethe most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures. may be made there- .fromwithin the scope of my invention, which is not to :be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent struc- 'tures.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new. and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

.1, An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage andwing combination in which the wing is located centrally of the fore and aft extremities of the fuselage, there being a propulsive section limited to a position aft of the wing, and anose section of material length limited to a position extending forwardfrom the wing and including a platform havingstructu-ral bracing therebelow adapted to support in end to end alignment a plurality of cargo containers and said platform being devoid of any fixed obstructions forward of the wing to interfere with authorized removal jlaterallyof cargo containers, tracks mounted latorally across said platform spaced apart the approximately length of aicontainer, a plurality of and on the platform for releasably locking the containers in position upon the platform.

2. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combination including a platform -adapted to support in end to end alignment a plurality of cargo containers, a plurality of cargo containers adapted to beshifted laterally and substantially horizontally onto or off of said platform without substantially elevating the containers above said platform, the: containers having 1 vrollers supporting themupon said platform, the containers being in end to end alignment and having a cross section'conforming externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of the fuselage, and cooperating means on the containers:

and on the platform for'releasably locking the containers in position upon said platform, said 'meansincluding a plurality of looking devices controllable by a common member and said locking devices being engageable with a peripheral .portion of said rollers, and supplementary locking devices individually controllable and being engageable with a different peripheral portion of Y said rollers.

3. An'a'irplane comprising a balanced fuselage, and wing combination including a platform adapted to support in end to end alignment a plurality of cargo containers, said platform being ,devoid of any fixedobstructions above the sides ref said platform to interfere-with authorized're-r externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of the fuselage and cooperating means on the containers and on the platform for releasably locking the containers in position upon the platform, said means including a plurality of locking devices controllable by a common member and said locking devices being engageable with a peripheral portionof said rollers, and supplementary locking devices individually controllable and being engageable with a different peripheral portion of said rollers.

4. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combination in which the wing is located centrally of the fore and aft extremities of the fuselage, therebein-g a tail section aft of the wing, and a nosesection of material length extending forward from the wing and including a platform and a plurality of cargo containers adapted to be supported in end to end alignment on said platform, the containers having a cross section conforming externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of the fuselage, cooperating means on said containers and on said platform for releasably locking the containers in position upon the platform, motive power means mounted within the fuselage centrally thereof, a pusher propeller at the extreme rear of said fuselage, and power transmitting means between said power means and said propeller, landing gear for supporting the fuselage when on the ground, the fuselage of said airplane in horizontal flight and in stationary ground attitude comprising a substantially level container section of narrow depth, saidcontainer section having structural bracing therefor on the underside, the upper portion of the fuselage adjacent to and aftof the wing "being elevated above the. top of said containers and incorporating air intakes having their entrances-at the forward end of said elevation.

5. An airplane of the-character described in claim 4 in which there is a frame structure within the central region: of the fuselage Ibut aft of the main spar of said wing, said motive power means being supported onv said frame structure closely adjacent the top of the fuselage and at the point of balance of the parts relative to the wing,

a cowling on saidfuselage above said motive power means and said motive power means being accessible for installation or removal through said plurality of cargo containers, a plurality of cargo containers adapted to beshifted laterally and substantially horizontally onto or off of said platform without-substantially elevating the containers above said platform, the containers having-rollers supporting them upon said platform,

the containers being in end to end alignment and having across-section con-forming externally to the contour pattern of the forepart of the fuselage, and cooperating means on the containers and on the platform for releasably locking the containers inposition upon said platform, said means including a plurality of locking devices controllable by a common member and said looking devices being engageable with said rollers at the upper side of the periphery for holding the rollers in downward position against the platform, and supplementary locking devices individually controllable and being engageable with said rollers at the outermost position horizontally of the periphery thereof thereby preventing lateral shift of the containers upon the platform.

7. An airplane comprising a balanced fuselage and wing combination and including a platform adapted to support a cargo container, said platform being devoid of any fixed obstructions above the sides of said platform to interfere with authorized removal laterally of a cargo container, a cargo container on said platform adapted to be shifted laterally and substantially horizontally onto or off of said platform without substantially elevating said container above said platform, and cooperating means on the container and on said platform for releasably locking the container in position upon said platform, said platform comprising a shallow belly structure and duct for engine and surface controls located within said belly structure and extending from a point for- 7 0 ward of said platform to a point adjacent the extreme end of the tail section.

' HARLAN D. FOWLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 341,154 Lindsley May 4, 1886 571,497 Powell Nov. 17, 1896 1,609,978 Wagner Dec. 7, 1926 1,744,824 Callison Jan. 28, 1930 1,797,713 Brogelli Mar. 24, 1931 1,86 ,076 Callison May 24, 1932 1,992,941 Fowler Mar. 5, 1935 2,334,124 Peterson Nov. 9, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 167,068 Great Britain May 9, 1921 516,013 Great Britain Dec. 20, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES Aviation, February 1947, pages 37-42.