US556621A - Tinho - Google Patents

Description

(No Model 3 Shts-Sheet 1.

M. V. GOUTINHO.

IAEROSTAT.

Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

WITNESSES.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

M. V. OOU TINHO. AEROSTAT.

Patented-Ma n; 1896.

INVENTOH W/TNESSES:

(No Model.)-

' 3 Sheets-Sheet M. V. COUTINHO.

AEROSTAT.

Patented Mar. 17,1896.

INVENTOH A TTOHNEYS UNITED STATES-- PATENT OFFICE,

MANOEL VIANNA OOUTINHO, OF PARA, BRAZIL.

AERO STAT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 556,621, dated March 17, 1896. Application filed October 5,1894. Serial No. 624,969. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MANOEL VIANNA (Jou- TINHO, a citizen of Brazil, residing at Para, Brazil, have invented a new and Improved Aerostat, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in aerostats or air-ships; and the object of my invention is to produce an apparatus of this kind which may be successfully navigated in the air and which may be readily steered and also easily manipulated so as to give any desired deflection from the horizontal; and a further object of my invention is to produce a very substantial and compact vessel which may be safely operated and which has side propellers arranged to assist in forcing the ship either upward, downward, forward or backward or to steer it to port or starboard.

To these ends my invention consists of certain features of construction and combina tions of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation on the line 1 l of Fig. 2 of my improved aerostat. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 and shows the shape of the car and the driving mechanism for it. Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the car. Fig. 4 is a detail end view of the rudder, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the entire apparatus.

The aerostat is provided with a balloon 10, which when filled with gas is capable of supporting the weight of the whole apparatus. The balloon is of elongated form and is thickest at the middle, so that its reduced ends facilitate progress in a forward or rearward direction. The balloon furthermore is pointed or tapered upward and downward at its center, as shown, for the purpose of facilitating its upward and downward movement. Thus the balloon may be said to consist of two elongated bodies united at their bases, the latter being approximately horizontal. The balloon is provided with a longitudinal side flange 11, which is projected forward at the bow, as shown at 12, so as to serve as a sort of aeroplane, and at the rear end of the balloon is journaled, as shown at 13, a rudder 14, which is crescent-shaped and is strengthened by a 5 5 cross-brace 15, which is also journaled on the essentially-horizontal pivot-shaft 16 of the rudder. The rudder is provided with side arms 17 projecting from opposite sides, and

to these are secured cords 18 which extend down to the car 20 beneath, and by manipulating these cords the rudder may be oscillated and made to steer the balloon in a spiral manner.

The car 20 comprises a frame 19, which is 6 5 of a general diamond shape, so that it may pass readily through the air, and a suitable netting to cover the frame. The car may, however, be made of any suitable material, and it is suspended from the balloon by cords 7o 21 which are attached to the car and also to the balloon at the center and ends of the latter.

In the center of the balloon 10 is a conical sleeve 22, from which is suspended a chain 23, and to this are secured the upper ends of the halyards 24, which extend downward to rings 25 at the bow and stern of the car, and the halyards carry sails 26 which run on them in the ordinary way, the sails being at their inner ends fastened to rings 27, as shown in Fig. 1; but it will be understood that the sails maybe rigged in the ordinary way without affectin g the principle of the invention. These sails are adapted to be spread when the wind favors to assist in propelling the aerostat.

The car supports a transverse shaft 28 which is j ournaled in suitablebearin gs and projects outward from opposite sides of the car, this shaft being connected by beveled gears 29 and 30 with the driving-shaft 31 which extends o longitudinally of the car turning in suitable bearings, and it projects from the stern and carries a propeller 32. The driving-shaft 31 is the armature-shaft of an electric motor which serves to drive the machine; but any other suitable motor may be substituted for it. \Vhere an electric motor is used, primary or storage batteries are employed to drive it, and these may be disposed in any convenient way in the car, or the car may be made with a hollow bottom to provide for storing the battery.

0n the end portions of the counter-shaft 28 are swinging brackets 31 which extend at right angles to the shaft, and these brackets carry shafts which connect with the shaft 28 bybeveled pinions 3G and 37, and the shafts 35 carry at their outer ends propellers 38. The brackets 3-1, together with the shafts which they carry, are adapted to rotate on the shaft 28, so as to bring the propellers 38 to any desired angle in relation to the car, and to enable the brackets and side propellers to be conveniently adjusted the brackets are provided with worm-wheels 39, which gear to worm-shaf ts 40 which are arranged vertically in brackets 41 on the sides of the car, the said worm-shafts being provided with hand-wheels 42, and by turning these shafts the brackets may be adjusted so as to hold them at the desired angle.

The air-sack of the balloon 10 is connected by an inflating-tube 43, which is controlled by a valve ll, with a gas-receptacle 45 on the under side of the car, and by opening the valve the supply of gas in the balloon may be replenished.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the aerostat is self-sustaining and that it is adapted to be propelled forward by means of the sails and by the propeller 32, while the side propellers 3S hang in a vertical position from the shaft 28 and, rotating, the said propellers have a tendency to lift the aerostat vertically in the air. By moving the brackcts 3a and shafts 35 into a position parallel the propellers 38 may be with the shaft utilized to assist in driving the aerostat forward, or by turning the propellers 38 into a position above the shaft they may assist in drawing down the aerostat, and by throwing one forward and the other backward they may be used in steering the machine to port or starboard, as the case may be.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. An aerostat comprising a balloon having the longitudinal side flange projected forward around the bow and serving as an aeroplane, the upper and lowerbody portions, each having its edge conforming to the contour of the side flanges and secured thereto and forming substantially two conical sections, the sleeve extended vertically in the central portion of the balloon,and a flexible connection in said sleeve to engage halyards, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the balloon and the car suspended therefrom, of a sleeve arranged in the center of the balloon, a chain suspended from the upper end of the sleeve, and halyards extending from the lower end of the chain to the bow and stern of the car, said halyards being adapted to carry sails, sub stantially as described.

MANOEL VIANNA COUTINIIO.

Vitnesses O. SEDGWICK, A. M. MoLIUX.

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