USRE15550E

USRE15550E - Driving mechanism for airships

Info

Publication number: USRE15550E
Authority: US
Publication date: 1923-02-27

Description

P. G. ZIMMERMANN DRIVING MECHANISM FOR AIRSHIPS Originalfiled Sept. 15, 1910 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEY 1 Fig.2;

INVENTOR Pay] 6. Z rh me/070v:

Feb. 27, 1923.

Re. 15,550 P. G. ZIMMERMANN DRIVING MECHANISM FOR AIRSHIPS Original Filed Sept. 13

, 1910 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTOR Pa (1/ 6. Zi/77/77/777d r711 ATTORNEY Reissued Feb. 27, 1923.

a as 15,550

' UNITED srarssrA'reuT OF rAUL (3. maximum, or narrow, NEW JERSEY, assmu'oa 'ro nuns v. mn'rm, or ELYBIA, omo.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR AIRSHIPSF I Original 110. 1,089,029, dated March 3, 1914, Serial No. 581,813, filed September 13, 1910. Application for reissue filed December, 1921. Serial No. 622,431.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL G. ZIMMERMANN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Keyport, county of Monmouth, and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful more particularly to the driving mechanism thereof. a

The invention appertains especially to safet driving mechanism for aeroplanes, or heavier-than-air machines employing supporting planes.

An aeroplane necessarily subject to total disability of its driving mechanism in event of a breakdown of-the motor, in which event the aviators sole chance of effecting a safe alighting is his skill and ability in controlling the machine so as to accomplish a gliding descent.

The object of my invention is to obviate the danger of total disability of the driving mechanism of the aeroplane by providing two or more distinct motors and combining them with the propelling means in such manner that they jointly drive the same propelling means and the stoppage of either motor automatically disconnects this motor from the propelling means while the remaining motor or motors remain connected therewith, the motor so disconnected being automatically connected again to the propelling means when the motor is started or speeds up. It is of the greatest importance that any of the motors on stopping shall be automatically and immediately disconnected from the propelling means, otherwise this dead motor would be driven by the other motor or motors through the propelling means, and since the compression employed in aeroplane motors is usually high. the dead-motor would act as a powerful brake tending to stop the remaining motors. Furthermore, the automatic disconnecting and reconnecting of the driven by a single motor is peller drive common thereto, and for connecting either engine with the drive in such.

manner that it may be started by the other engine already running.

With these ends in view the invention consists in the parts, improvements. and combinations'hereinafter described with reference to-certain specific illustrative embodiments and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings showing these illustrative embodiments: Figure l is a plan view indicating the preferred arrangement of two propellers and twomotors in an aeroplane 1n accordance with my invention, the upper supporting plane being omitted;

Figure 2 is a similar view showing two motors and one propeller;

Figure 3 is a plan View of the motors of Figure 1 and the driving connections;

Figure-4- is a rear view corresponding to Figure 1; 2

Figures 5 and 6 are face views of the driving and driven members or disks; and Figure 7 is a side view, broken away, of the driving and driven members, showing the arrangement of the driving and cranking dogs and ratchets in the preferred construction.

Inasmuch as this invention relates to the driving mechanism of aeroplanes and is not concerned with the various problems of support and guiding, no attempt is made in the accompanying drawings to illustrate in detail the structural features of an operative aeroplane, such as the supporting of the planes, the bracing and the like. It will be obvious that the supporting, guiding, elevating and stabilizing planes and various features of bracing and supporting may be constructed in accordance with any accepted or preferred practice.

The aeroplane indicated in the accompanying drawings is of the biplane type, but the invention may be embodied in aeroplanes or heavier-than-air machines of any type.

Thereference numerals

2, 2, indicate supporting planes, 3 a forward elevating plane, and 4 a rear plane.

In accordance with this invention the propelling means may consist of one propeller, as shown-in Figure 2, or oftwo propellers, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, or of a greater number of propellers, in any of which cases between the sup orting planes and adjacent the rear edges t ereof, ut. the motors may be otherwise located if desired. The two propellers 11, 11, are of any suitable form for aerial propulsion and may be variously located, but are preferably disposed, as shown, at some distance at opposite sides of the pair of motors and inrear and adjacent the rear edges of the supporting planes. The

shafts

12, 12, of these propellers may be supported and journaled in any suitable manner from the supporting structure of the planes. In accordance with the invention a driving connections are provided between between the driving members the motors and the propellers so that the propellers are driven jointly by and means are provided for automatically disconnecting and reconnecting the motors individually. The said means may be widely varied. In the particular construction illustrated, automatically uncoupling and recoupling one-way driving connections are provided for the several motors. In the construction illustrated each of these connections comprises a driving member, or disk 13 and a driven member or disk 14:. The

- driving member 13 is shown as provided on one face with a'suitable number of dogs 15, and the opposed face of thedriven member is shown as provided with a co-operating ratchet 16. The dogs are held constantly in engagement with the ratchet by suitable means, such as sprin 30. Each driving member 13 is connec to the corresponding motor, and the driven members 14 are connected to the propellers. In the best construction of this form of the invention, the driving and driven

members

13 and 14 are mounted on the crank shafts .17 of the mo tors, the driving member being fixed on the shaft and the driven member being loose thereon. Thrust bearings 18 are provided and the engine frames or any other suitable support, and other thrust bearings 19 are formed between the drivin and driven members. The driving mem rs may be held on the shafts by any suitable collars or the like 20. While the driven members might be connected directly to the propellers, in accord-; ance with this particular construction illusractice hey are preferably 10- the motors,

trated, a driving element is interposed between the driven members 14 and the proellers, and in accordance with this preerred form of the invention this driving element is common to both propellers, so that breakage ofthis element will cause both the propellers to stop and not one only. Where two propellers are employed an there is a possibility of one stopping and the other continuing to revolve a serious accident may occur. This drivingelement is illustrated as a sprocket chain 21, which passes over sprocket wheels 22-formed on or rigid with the driven members 14 and sprocket wheels 23 fixed on the propeller shafts. Thus, this chain constitutes a connection between the propellers so that they must revolve together if at all, a connection between the driven members and thepropellers, and a connection between the-driven members. It will be obviousthat a belt drive may be substituted for the chain drive. This chain may be crossed'in the manner shown, so as to secure proper purchase upon the sprockets and to cause the propellers to revolve inopposite directions. Inorder to prevent difiiculty from the interference of the crossing 'strandsofthe chain, the said strands or courses may travel in individual tubes, not shown, in accordance with the accepted ractice for crossed sprocket chains in air-s ip drives. I may and preferably do .provide means for manually disengaging the dogs 15 from the ratchets16.' The particular embodiment of such means illustrated upon the drawings consists of a floating ring 33, for each set of dogs 15, which'ring actuated by a hand lever 35 or the like and pushes a set of pins 34 received in apertures in the disk 13 contact with the dogs and move them out of en agement with the ratchet.

n the form of the invention shown in Figure 2, the ropelling means consists of a single prope ler 11 located with its axis in'the vertical plane of the longitudinal center line of the machine. The construction is substantially similar to that already described, except that the driven members 14 are shown as connected with the propeller shaft by separate'sprocket chains 24, 24.

A feature of the invention which I prefer to employ in both forms of construction illustrated consists in manual means for coupling the driven members 14 with their driving members 13, so as to enable the motors to be cranked by turning the driven members. by manual operation of the propeller and also to. enable one motor to be cranked by the other. The said means. may be widely varied. Any suitable kind of clutch connection may be employed. In the particular construction illustrated the driving member 13 is provided with a ratchet 25, the faces of. which are reversed to those of the ratchet 16, and the driven member is provided with a suitable number of dogs 26. These dogs and is adapted to bear against the rear ends of pins or plungers 31 workin in apertures in the driven me her and a apted to contact at their forward ends with the dogs. Suitable levers 32 or other devices are 'provided for pressing the rings against the pins vand causing the latter to force the dogs 26 the cranking ratchets.

In operation, the propeller or propellers are driven b the motors jointly through the pawl an ratchet drive connections, or any other suitable one-way, automatically disengaging and re-engaging driving connections. In event of one of the motors stopping, the corres ending driven member is free to rotate in ependently of its driving member since the ratchet 16 merely clicks over the dogs. This clickin may be stopped by throwing the correspon ing lever 35 so as to disengage the dogs 15 from the ratchet. Relative rotation between the driven and-driving member will also occur for very brief intervals in case the other motor speeds up or the speed of the first motor drops off. In such event, the driving member again drives its driven member as soon as the corresponding motor has caught up. The driving members automatically connect with their driven members to drive the latter, whenever the motors are started. To crank, one set of dogs 26 may be engaged with their ratchet 25 by operating the corresponding lever 32, after which the corresponding motor may be turned over by manually rotating the propeller. Now by engaging the other set of dogs 26 with their ratchet by throwing the other lever 32, the other engine may be cranked by the first. One engine may be cranked by the other at any time. Either or both engines may be disconnected manually from the propellers by means of the levers 35. It will, of course, be obvious that the driving ratchet might into engagement with I be located on the driving member and the drivino dogs on the driven member, and that a simi ar reversal of the cranking dogs and ratchet might be efi'ected. The two ratchets, as well as the dogs, are preferably of hardbe formed of separate pieces from their

disks

13 and 14, being let into or secured to these disks in any suitable manner. The driving members 13 may 5 and preferably do constitute fiy-wheels/ While I have shown two specific illustraing each .engine from tive embodiments of my invention, it will be understood that many other embodiments are ossible, and that numerous chan es in details, arrangements, form, sizes an portions may be made without departing from the invention.

It will be obvious that spur gear, gear, or any other suitable or well-known drive may be utilized in connection with theinvention.

Having thus claim:

1. Drivin prising a p described my invention, I

mechanism for air-ships,'comurahty of similar motors, propelling means connected with the motors so as to be driven thereby jointly, one-way connections between the motors and the propelling means whereby the latter may be driven by one of the motors in event of stoppin of the remainder, and manually-operate means for connecting1 the propelling means a with the motors so t at the motors may be cranked by turning the propellers.

2. Driving mechanism for air-ships, cOmprising the combination of 'a plurality of similar motors, a driving and a driven member pertaining one-way drivin connections between said members, prope ing means, means connecting'said propelling means with the driven members and connectin the driven members with each other, ant? manually operated means for connecting either driven member with its driving member so that the corresponding motor may be cranked by the other.

3. In an aeroplane propeller drive, the combination with the propeller blades,of two engines, a single endless driving connection between said propeller blades and en ines arranged to be driven by either one or 0th of the engines simultaneously, means to disconnect each engine from the said propeller blades and manual means for connecting each engine with the said propeller blades so that each engine can be started by turning -the said propeller blades.

4. In an aeroplane propeller drive, the combination with the propeller blades, of two engines, a single endless driving connection between the engines and the propeller blades, means to disconnect each engine from the said driving connection and from the said propeller blades, and means for startthe motion of the other.

5. Driving mechanism for airships comprising the combination of a plurality of similar motors, a plurality of propeller blades, a plurality of driven members including a single endless drivin connection intermediate each motor and t e said propeller blades, between each connection, ing to prevent manual engaging mechanism the said driving connection actthe separate and uneven proto each motor and automatic motor and the said driving bevel l vthe motion of another.,

driving of the said ropeller blades, and meansfor starting eac of the motors from 6.*In an aeroplane propeller drive, the combination with the propeller blades, of two similar engines, driving connections between the engines and propeller blades, which connections are at all times adapted to be driven by either one or both of the engines, the engines being individually jdisconnectible, and means for 'startingeac "engine from the 'motion of the other.

7. In an aeroplane propeller drive, the combination with the propeller means of two engines, driv ing connections constituting a common drive between the engines and propeller means which connections are at al times ada ted to'be driven by-either one or both of t e engines, means for conmeeting and disconnectin each of the englnes in respect to driving the propeller means, and manually operated means for the engines with said connecting either of So that said engine driving connections me. be started by the motion of the other.

igned at Keyport, in the county of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, this 12th day of December,- 1921 PAUL G. ZIMMERMANN.