US596231A - James richardson - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. RICHARDSON.

4 FLYING MACHINE. No. 596,231

Patented Dec. .28, 1897.

' INVENTOR TTORNEY WlTNESSES: ffl MJ. 6%

Nrrs STATES i ATEN'I rrrc JAMES RICHARDSON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND FRANK E. HEATH,

OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 596,231, dated December 28, 1897.

Application filed October 3 1 8 9 6.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES RICHARDSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying Machinery,

- of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact description.

This invention relates to flying-machines, the primary object being to provide means for maintaining the equilibrium of such machines when in the air. It is well known that such a device is a great desideratum in the science of aerial navigation and that the lack of an efficient device for performing this function has been one of the greatest obstaclesin the way of successful flight. The great difficulty in preserving equilibrium is due mainly to the variability of air-currents in direction and force. If an element can be introduced in the machine that will resist a change in its level or plane to such an extent as to maintain equilibrium or to allow time for making the necessary shifting of ballast, such an element will constitute what may be regarded as the missing link in flying machinery. The resistance which a rotating body offers to any change in the plane of its rotation is best illustrated in the fly-wheel,in which the weight is chiefly in the rim. For this reason I make a fly-wheel, with means for rotating it, the fundamental element in the flying-machine, and I believe that such a rotating fly-wheel offers the best, if not the only, purely mechan-' ical means at present attainable for maintaining automatically the equilibrium of a flyingmachine.

Although up to the present time purely mechanical flight from a practical standpoint has not been accomplished, it is evident from the result of recent experiments of prominent scientists in this art that flight by purely mechanical means will very soon be achieved.

It is the object of my invention to provide a means for maintaining automatically the equilibrium of a flying-machine of any character; but in order to combine my invention with what is at present understood to be an operative flying-machine I have herein described it in connection with that class of flyin g-machines which utilize a gas-field; but in- Serial No. 607,747. (No model.)

asmuch as the invention per se has nothing whatever to do with the lifting, propelling, or steering apparatus of the machine, but is merely a means for maintaining the equilibrium of any machine capable ofsustaining itself in the air, it is obvious that my invention is not limited to amachinethat comprehends a gas-field, but will be applicable to a purely mechanical flying-machine whenever such is produced.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the flying-machine equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a plan of the bottom of the machine with the car removed.

Referring to the drawings by letter, A represents a combined storage-tank and frame. It is a tubular structure in the form of a ring and adapted to receive air or gas under pressure, to be utilized as a power for propelling and steering the machine. This frame supports beneath it a basket or car B for passengers or freight, to which it is connected by suitable braces and supports 12. To the top of the frame is rigidly attached a closed balloon 0, preferably of the shape shown and adapted to receive a gas lighter than the atmosphere. In the middle of the frame A is placed a short vertical shaft a, upon which is rigidly fixed a wheel a, having a heavy rim and constructed like an ordinary balance-wheel. c is a small air or gas engine which is supposed to receive its power from rotated by an air or gas engine d, supplied with power from tank A.

At 6 is a steering-propeller which by rotating it in one or the other direction will throw the end of the machine to the right or left.

The balance-wheel a is the feature constituting my invention. This when in rotation resists any force that tends to swerve, tilt, or otherwise throw out of balance the machine, and therefore furnishes a means for maintaining equilibrium. The wheel should be of comparatively large diameter and may be set in a vertical plane or at an angle. It is to be driven constantly during flight.

Two or more balance-wheels may be used and advantage taken of the aggregate influence.

I have shown the fly-wheel as driven by an independent engine 0, and it is essential for practical work that it should be so driven,

or at all events by power independently applied. The fly-wheel should not be on the same shaft with a propeller, and the construction should be such that the fly-wheel may be kept in motion while the ship is poised in air.

JAMES RICHARDSON.

\Vitnesses:

FRANK S. OBER, WM. A. RosENBAUM.

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