US994897A - Aerodrome. - Google Patents

Description

D. A. ALBBIGHT.

AERODROME. APPLICATION FILED mums, 1910.

Patented June 13, 1911.

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witnesses D. A. ALBRIGHT.

ABRODROMEQ APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22, 1910.

Patented June 13, 1911;

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D. A. ALBRIGHT.

AERODROME. APPLICATION IILED JAN. 22, 1910.

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Patented June 13, 1911.

I DAVID A. ALIBRIGI-IT, OF GAINESVILIEE, FLORIDA.

AERODBOME.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1911.

Application filed January 22, 1910. Serial No. 539,442.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that 1, DAVID Amsnienr,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Gainesville, in the .county of Alachua and estate of'Florida, have invented a new and useful Aerodrome, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to aero dromes and the principal object thereof is to provide a combined aeroplane, helicopter and orthoptera, whereby all of the advantages of these types of devices may be combined in one machine. y

Another object is to provide an aerodrorne having a propeller which is shiftable relative to the body of the machine so as to drive the same either in a forward direction or to elevate and sustain the same.

vA still further object is to provide an elevating and sustainingwheel for use in connection with saidpropelling wheel, both of the wheels having blades which are shiftable with relation to the shaft of the wheels and whereby the said blades can be utilized as sustainlng planes to facilitate the soaring action of the machine.

Another object, is to provide a machine of this type utilizing a box-like body the up- 'per and lower portions of which constitute soaring planes, there being extensible sup: plemental planes movably connected to the sides of the body. 1

A still further object is to provide a machine having laterally extending wings provided with -mechanism whereby the same may be flapped to simulate the movement of the wings of a bird.

Another object is to provide a novel form of rudder.

With these and other objects in view the.

i invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts I hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preerred form of the invention has been shown. In said drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the complete machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine, the side wall of the body being removed so as to disclose the mechanism within the body. Fig. 3 is a rear.

elevation of the machine. Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of one of the elevating wheels. 'Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the wings and a portion of its actuating mechanism. Fig. 6 is an elevation of one of the guides used in connection with the wing operating mechanism. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of a'portion of the rudder operating mechanism. Fig. 8 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of the rudder bearing.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the bottom plane and 2 designates the top plane of the bodyof the machine, said planes being connected at their sides by s de walls The top plane is inclined upwardly toward itsfront endand both ends of the body are open.

A longitudinal series of openings 4 is formed in each side of the body and close to the bottom plane 1 thereof, there being an arm 5 pivotally mounted within each of these openings, all of the arms being movable in thesame horizontal plane. The arms extending beyond one side of the body are pivotally connected to a rod 6, said rod being parallel with the side of the body and being slidably mounted at each end within outstanding ears 7. Springs 8"are coiled about the end portions of each rod, both of these springs cooperating with the ears 7 so as to exert a constant pull upon the rod in one direction. One or more stops 9 are located upon the side of the body and serve to hold the arms 5 perpendicularly to the'side of the body, thesaid arms being held in this position by the springs controlling .them. The various arms at each side of the body constitute a frame work on which is stretched a plane 10 formed of a suitable fabric, said plane coiiperating with the top and bottom planes 1 and 2 for the purpose of facilitating chine.

One of the arms 5 of each'series is ex-i tended into the body of the machine and has a cable 11 secured to it and extending partly around a pulley 12. The cables extending inwardly from the twosides of the-machine are attached to an actuating lever 13, the

points of connection being at opposite sides of the fulcrum of the lever so that, when.

soaring action of the maof the adjoining pulleys 12. Said arms will thus be folded against the outer sides of the body of the machine and motion will be transmitted therefrom through the rods 6 to the other pivotally supported arms 5 and,

' pose of actuating the machine.

as a result, all of the arms will be folded against the sides of the body and the fab-, rics 1O constitutingthe planes will thus be held in compact folds close to the body. .It is of course to be understoodthat when the parts are thus folded'the springs 8 are under stress. The lever 13-may be provided with any suitable mechanism, such as-the ordinary pawl and segment, for the purpose of locking the parts. v

Parallel supports 14 connect thetop and bottom planes 1 and 2 at points between the sides of the body and those supports located at the front end of the body are connected by a rod 15 on which a gear 16 is designed to rotate, there being a sprocket Wheel 17 connected to and movable with the gear.

An enlargement 18 is formed at the center of the rod and a shaft 19 extends diametrically through this enlargement and is arranged to rotate therein, said shaft being perpendicular to the rod. A gear 20 is tsecured to the shaft 19 and'meshes with the gear 16 and it will be apparent, therefore, that when the gear 16 is rotated, motion will be transmitted therefrom through gear 20 to the shaft 19 irrespective of any swinging action of said shaft about the rod 15.

A ring 21 extends around the outer end of the shaft 19 and is connected thereto by mea'nsof radial spokes 22. A series of radially disposed rods 23 is carried by the ring 21, said rods being mounted forrotation within the ring and being provided at their inner ends with cranks 24 each of which is connected, by means of a rod 25, with a sleeve 26 designed to slide upon the shaft 19 and to rotate therewith. A propeller blade 27 is secured to each of the rods 23, said .rods extending along the longitudinal centers ofthe blades and the blades are so proportioned that when the rods are partly turned simultaneously in one direc tion all of the blades will assume positions in the same plane and with the adjoining longitudinal edges substantially in contact. The blades will therefore form a circular plane. By shifting the sleeve 26 so as to partly rotate the rods 23 in the opposite direction, the blades 27 will shifted so as to act as propellers for the pur- It is of course to be understood that the sleeve 26 may be operated in any preferred manner, the said sleeve being preferably formed with an annular groove 28 engaged by a ring 29. A rod 30 extends from this ring and longitudinally of the shaft 1.9, the inner end of said rod being pivotally connected to one arm of a bell crank lever 31 which is fulcrumcd upon an arm 32 extending from the enlargement 18. The other arm of the bell crank lever 31 sleeve 34 Whic-his loosely mounted on the tion either in front within one of the be simultaneously of the sha thereof, said is pivotally. connected to 'a rod 33- extending from a.

extends from the shaft, 15 and is pivotallyconnected to a rod 37 which is in turn so cured to an actuating lever 38. It will be seen therefore that by means of this lever and this connection, rotated so as, to bring the shaft 19 into .posiof the body of the machine or above said body and perpendicular to the bottom plane 1. When the shaft is in either of these positions the same can be .rotated by the mechanism heretofore described and the blades can also be shifted by the mechanism provided for that purpose.

A motor 39 is mounted within the body and motion is transmitted therefrom through a chain 40 to a sprocket 41 located on a transversely extending shaft 42; A sprocket 43 is loosely mounted on the shaft 42 near each side of the body and another sprocket 44 is secured its center, this last mentioned sprocket being designed to drive a chain 45 which passes over and engages the sprocket l7 heretofore referred to.

Brackets 46 are arranged on the supports 14 and constitute bearings for parallel longitudinally extending shaft-s 47, each of the rod 1 5 can be partly to said shaft adjacent these shafts being provided with gears 48.

Each gear mesheswith a gear 49 secured to one end of a short shaft which is journaled supports 14 and one of these shafts 50 is provided with a sprocket 51 arranged to receive motion through a chain 52 from one of the sprockets 43 heretofore referred to. It will therefore be seen that the two'sprockets 43 serve to drive the two shafts 47 through the mechanisms provided for saidpurpose and, by providing clutches 53 each or both of the sprockets43 can be con led to shaft 42 and either or both f ts 47 thus rotated by the motor.

A disk 54 is secured to the outer end'of each of the short shafts 50 and has a wrist pin 55 on which is mounteda dependingpitman 56. Each pitman is pivotally attached to the inner end of an arm 57 which extends through one side of the body'of the machine and has a wing 58 fastened to the outer end wing being preferably shaped to simulate thowmg of a bird. The arm 57 is so mounted within the wall of the body as to be capable of swinging either laterally or vertically but the arm is not designed to rotate. Parallel cars 59 extend upwardly from the arm at a point between the pitman 56 and the adjoining wall of the body and :1 link 60 is pivotally mounted between these cars and is provided at its upper end with a roller 61. This roller is designed to travel within a guide way made up of opposed ogee curved grooves 62 having their ends meeting'at acute angles, the upper end of the lower groove being'normally closed orwill beapparent that during the upward movement of the wrist pin and the pitman 56, a corresponding upward movement of the" arm '57 will be produced, the fulcrum of said "aim being within theopening in the wall of the body of themachine. The roller 61 will therefore beforced upwardly within the lower groove of the guide way and will push aside the switch tongue 63 in the path thereof until said tongue has been passed, whereupon the tongue will fall back to its normal position. Upon the completion of the upward movement of the roller and of the'wrist pin 55, the parts will begin to move downward and the tongue 63 will direct the roller 61 into the upper groove of the guide-way. The roller will travel along this groove until it strikes the lower. switch tongue 64.: This tongue will be shifted laterally until it is passed by the roller, whereupon it will return to its normal position. Upon the completion of the downwardmovement of the parts the roller'will be again returned by way of the lower groove ofthe guide way. Obviously this peculiar movement of the roller will cause the rod to rock with the arm 57 as a pivot and a combined up and down and back and" forth movement of the wing 58 'will thus be produced so that the tip or extremity of the wing will describe a substantially oval course. Each guide-way 62 is preferably formed within a block 66 secured to the side wall of the body of the machinein any preferred manner.

' A shaft 67 is journaledwithin the top of the body of the machine near the back of the center thereof and the lower end of this shaft is provided with a gear 68 which meshes with a gear 69 secured to a shaft 70 which is journaled in suitable brackets 71.

A; sprocket 7 2 is secured to the shaft 70 and ie-driven by a chain 73 receiving motion from a sprocket 74011 shaft- 42. A propeller wheel 75 is mounted on the upper end of the shafttt', this wheel being of the same construction as the one heretofore described -,and having pivoted blades which are shiftable by means of a rod 7 6 extending into the bod of the machine to a Joint where it caii LY l conveniently-grasped and actuated. by the operator. The .wheel 75, when opened,

serves to elevate the machine and, when closed, operates as a plane for facilitating the soaring action of said machine.

A center standard 7 is located vertically within the rear portion of the body and has asocket 78 in the middle portion thereof and in which is fitted a ball 79. A rod 80 extends through and is secured to this ball and is provided at its outer end with triangular blades 81 disposed at right angles to each other to form the rudder. The inner end of the rod 80 projects loosely into a slot 82 formed longitudinally within a lever 83. This lover extends transversely of the body and is pivotally mounted at one end as shown at 84, the other end of the lever being mounted Wlthli'l a guide 85 and being connected, by me us of a rod 86, to one arm of a bell crank lever 87. The other end of this lever is connected by a rod 88 with a bell crank lever 89 located near the forward end of the machine, there being a rod90 which connects the lever 89 with a suitable actuating lever 91. A rod 92 is loosely engaged by rod 80 close to the lever 83 andthis rod 92 is pivotally connected to a bell crank lever 93 located adjacent the pivot 84. A red 94 connects the lever 98 with an actuating lever 95 located near the'front end of the machine. It, will be apparent from the foregoing that by actuating the lever 91, the lever 83 can be swing in a vertical plane so as to tilt the rod 80 in a vertical plane. the ball 7 9 and socket 78 constituting the fulcrum of the said rod 80. It will also be seen that by manipulating the lever 95 the rod 80 can be shifted longitudinally of the slot 82 and thus swung laterally.

When the rudder is swung to the right or to the left it is desirable that the same be tilted. to a slight extent. This is to be done in order that the surfaces of the rudder may be maintained practically in the same relation to the'horizontal at all times during such lateral swinging movement and irrespective of the tilting of the body of the macl ine which occurs during the turning there or. peller may be effected, a rod 96 is preferably pivotally attached to rod 80 at a point between the blades Bland the socket 78; the lower end of the rbd 96 being slidably mounted within a guide eye 97 prpvided for that purpose. The rod 96 inclinesupwardl y and rearwardly from the guide eye and as it is only capable of swinging in a plane extending longitudinally of rod 80, it will be apparent that when the blades 81 are shifted to one side, the rods 96 will operate to tilt the same to a slight extent.

In using the machine the shaft 19 is first shifted into a vertical position by means of the lever 38 and the parts connected thereto and theblades 27 are then tilted. The blades In order that this tilting of the pro-.

of the wheels 75 "are also correspondingly tilted and the motor can then be started. The two wheels will berotated at a high speed by the motorv and will operate to lift the machine from the ground and, when a desired elevation has been attained, the shaft 19 can be swung downward without however stopping the rotation thereof. The wheels on saidsh'aft-will thus actto draw the machine forward ,and, by closing the wheel 75v the same will cotiperate with the blades 1 and 2 to sustain the machine during this forward flight. Additional sustaining surfaces can be presented to the air by releasing By throwing either or both of the clutches 53 into engagement with the sprockets 43, either or both sets of disks 50 can be rotated and the wings controlled by said disks will be fiapped in the manner heretofore set forth. It will thus be seen that the machine embodies all of the advantages of the aeroplane, helicopter, and orthoptera.

The steering of the machine is effected by means of the rudder and the mechanism controlling it, itbeing possible to swing the rudder in a vertical plane so as to direct the machine either upwardly or downwardly and to also swing said rudder in a horizontal plane to effect turning of the machine.

As shown particularly in Fig. 5, the pit- -n1en 56 canbe extended downwardly below the arms 57 and connected, as by ball and socket joints 98, with longitudinally extending coupling rods 99. These rods are connected to cranks 100 formed upon a rock shaft 101. This shaft extends transversely of the machineand has a lever 102 whereby it can be readily actuated and obviously, when the shaft 101 is rocked, the rods 97 will be shifted longitudinally in either a forward or av backward direction so as to cause all of the pitmen 50 to swing either forwardly or backwardly and thus swing the arms 57 horizontally. In this way all of the wings may be simultaneously shifted by the operator without interfering with the fiapping movement of the wings.

It is of course to be understood that va rious changes may be made in the construction and arrangement; of the parts without departing from the-spirit 01' sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as delined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is v 5 1. An aerodrome including a-body having upper-and lower planes, arms pivotally connected to the body and extended laterally there beyond, said arms being arranged in series, a fabric secured to each series of arms and constituting a supplemental plane, elastic means for holding the arms extended laterally beyond the body, and means mounted for swinging movement, a motor for oscillating the arms m vertical planes, a stationary guide device, 'mea'ns movable with the arms and' within the guide device for rocking the wings from side to side during the oscillation thereof, to move the tip of each wing in an endless path.v

3. An aerodrome including a body, arms mounted for swinging movement in the sides thereof, a motor, means actuated by the mo tor for oscillating the arms in vertical planes, wings upon the outer ends ofthe fil'gls, stationary guide members upon' the 0 ways communicating at their ends, an eley and having opposed curve guide-.

ment movable with each arm and within the adjoining guide-way, and switch devices within the guide way .for directing saidele- 'ments in the proper path during the oscillation of the arm. t

J1. An aerodrome including a body, nonrotatable 'arms projecting therebeyond, a wingcarried by the outer end of each arm, means for operating each arm in a vertical direction, cotiperating means upon each arm and upon the body for rocking the arm and wing during the oscillation thereof to move the tip of the wing in an'endless path, and

means for simultaneously shifting the wing horizontally independently of such movement.

5. In an aerodrome, the combination with a controlling wing and means for actuating the same, of a .wing guide including curved guide-ways communicating at their ends,

and switch devices in the end portions of the guide-ways, and means connected to and movable with the wing for traveling Within the guide-ways.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature 1n the presence of-two witnesses.

DAVID A. ALBRIGHT.

Witnesses: I I i A. S. ALBRIGHT,

FERDINAND BAYER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

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