US1004559A - Aeroplane. - Google Patents

Description

0.H,DUN0AN.

AEROPLANE. 7 APPLICATION FILED Aug. 23, 1 10. 1,004,559, Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

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WITNESSES.-

INVENTOH (rwlas/E. [7117mm Br 7? g G. H. DUNCAN.

, AEROPLANE. v t APPLIUATiON 21min AUG. 23, 1910. I 1,004,559 Patented 0ct.3,1911.

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it I: l N If 31 WITNESSES: INVENTOR A TTORNEYS' 0. EL. DUNG AN.

AEROPLANE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 2a, 1910.

' HI :m WITNESSES; 611 l/VVE/VTQR 10 a CVzmias/iflzwcm ATTORNEYS CHARLES ILDUNCAN, on 'NEW YORK, N. Y.

AEROPLAN E.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1911.

Application filed August 23, 1910. Serial No. 578,50}. I i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. DUNCAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borouglrof Man- :hat'ta'n, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Aeroplane, of which the following is a full, clear, and enact description.

This invention relates to certain-improvements in aeroplanes, and more particularly to an improved means for automatically maintaining the equilibrium of the machine in variable winds.

Certain features of my present invention constitute improvements over'the machine disclosed in my prior application, Serial 'No. 544,388, filed February 17, 1910.

One important feature of my present invention is the' controlling of ailerons by thetilting of the main plane, so that the ailerons will automatically operate to right the machine when its equilibrium has been disturbed by a sudden gust of wind. I

A further important feature'involves the relative adjusting of the load, main plane or planes, and the propeller, $01 as to vary the center of gravity and'the point of thrust in accordance with the weight of the load or Rct'erenceis to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar "characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures, and in which---"- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordancewith my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a slightly modified form in which the planes are each formed of separatesections; Fig. 4 isa top plan view of a portion of .the construction illustrated in Fig. 3; F ig. 5 is a View of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 3, but/on a larger scale; Fig. 6 is a perspective view-offthe.

connecting means between the'plane and the central rodor-Inast; and Fig. 7 is a. central detail on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2. p

The specific construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, is designed somewhat along the same general lines as the aeroplane illus trated in my previous application above referred to; that is, there 1s employed a main plane 10 and an upper plane 11, both of winch are connected ,to a vertical mast or rod in such a way that both. may tilt, and the two planes are connected i that they tilt in opposite directions. One of the planes is caused to rock upon a spider present-mg a curved surface, and the load is suspended from the lower end of the mast or red, so that it acts substantially as a pendu- -lum. In my present form, the planes instead of being circular, arc rectangular, and

instead of having a universal movement in respect to the mast, in a lateral'plane. I H

As illustrated, themain plane 10 is connected to two forwardly and rearwardlyextending rods 13, 13,,which act as braces, and these rods are connected to a spider 14:, which is free to slide vertically n the mast, as is shown particularly inFig'. The rods 13 serve as forward andrear reinforcements and prevent the front androar edges of the planes from raising o'r lowering. but they also actas an axis about which the planes may tilt laterally. For reinforcing and bracing the plane and te-prevent relative HUNG-- 'n'ient of one portion in respect to another,

the plane adjacent 'its jcenter portion anay have depending: arms 1F comieeted to.a"rin 16, which latter may he connected to the edges of the plane by tie bars orfgirv ropes 1.7.

Mounted above the plane is aspider having outwardly-extending side arms .18. and outu-ardly-eittending and 'upwardl \'-curred armsl9, which are connected to the arms 1 at their outer ends. f'lhe arms 19 constitute rockers upon which thelna'in plane 10 they are free to tilt only may tilt. The spider and plane have relative movement, lengthwise of the mast. and both are held against rotation in vrespect thereto. As shown, thespider is rigid upon the mast and the plane at its center may slide down the mast. ,N'suitable spring 20 normallytends to hold the center portion of the plane up agai'nst thef curved arms 1.9, 'so as to be tangent to the latter To facilitate the rocking'of the plane on the spider arms 19, the spider ll nayjhave a rectangular frame 21, provided with out- ,vardly.-cxtending' reinforcing members which are in, the fornrof inverted Tiroiis. The rocker arms 19 maybe in the form of vent any engage with the inverted channels, iron fitting in the channel, as indicated particularly in Fig. 7.: To additionally prerotation of'the plane in. respect to the spider, the plane may carry guide rods 23 at its outer end, which may slide through sockets or spider arms, and the spider arms may carry springs 24., which side flanges of the T-irons, Fig. 7, so as to normally in the position indicated in as illustrated in hold the two Fig. 2. As the plane tilts in either direction, the T-iron rocks along on the curved spider arm, and the ivot-al center moves outwardly and upwardly, while .the center of the plane moves downwardly. The springs 24 cushion this movement, and tend to return the parts to their normal position.

The spider l4 extends outwardly in opposite directions -from the mast, soas to control the lateral tilting of the plane. The spider acts to prevent the forward or rearward tilting. The upper arms 18 of the spider extend outwardly beyond the ends of the main plane 10, so. as to constitute spindles or axles 25 for auxiliary planes constituting ailerons 26. These ailerons are free to tilt forwardly or rearwardly, and

, are so connected to the main plane as to be a way as to counteract tilting, I provide automatically operated by the tilting of the latter. As shown, the main plane is provided with upwardly-extending rods 27, at each'side edge, which rods at their upper ends areconnected to,the adjacent ecl e of the ailerons. Therods are at one si e of the center of movement of the ailerons, so that when one side edge of the" main plane moves downwardly, it will pull down the: rear edge of the aileron. This will raise the front edge of the aileron, andthe forward movement of the machine will tend to lift the machine at that edge. At the same time, the raising of the opposite edge of the main plane will raise the rear edge of its adjacent aileron, which will tend to depress the machine at that edge and restore equilibrium. Thus, the lateral tilting of the main plane operates the ailerons in such the said tilting.

As a further means for counteracting the an upper plane '28 connected to a spider 29 in such a way that it may tilt laterally in the same manner as does the main plane 10. The spider 29 is held up by a spring 30,- and the two planes are connected together by diagonally-disposed tie rods or guide rods 31, acting to cause one plane to'tilt in the op osite direction to the other. When one e ge of the main plane 10 is raised, the' guys or stays 31 will pull down the opposite edge of the upper plane, so as tobring the two planes at an angle to each other and counteract, the tilting of the main planes to normal position. 'The controlling the mainleg of the T- ried in a basket or lower :endf-of the of th Fig. 1, but may be spread out downwardly,

plane and return both of one plane by the other is substantially the same as illustrated in my previous applica tion above referred to, except that in the present instance, the from tilting in other than a lateral direction.

The passengers,

mast or rod 12. Within this car is a suitable member, not shown, for operating the propeller 32.

aviator, or load, is carcar'3l supported at the planes are prevented no Important feature of my invention 3 involves the 'varyin of the relative positions of the supporting plane, the car and the ropell'er, so as to vary thecenter of gravity, and the center of thrust. *iAs illustrated, a shaft 33 operated by the engine, extends vertically adjacent the mast, and the propeller shajft is supported in a bearing 34 extending substantially at right angles to the shaft. Abevcl gear is keyed to the shaft 33 and free to move vertically thereon and intermeshing with a bevel gear on the propeller shaft. to the mast and has outwardly-extending arms, within which is mounted a vertically movable screw 36, oneend of the latter being connected to the sleeve 34. By rotating the screw 36, the sleeve 34, constituting the bearing of the propeller shaft, may be raised or lowered in respect to the car and the supporting plane. The bevel gear on the shaft 33 is so mounted that it travels with the propeller shaft, and remains. in en gagemcnt with the bevel gear on the latter. Opposite to the propeller is any suitable form of rudder or guiding means 37, controlled in any suitable manner by any appropriate form of mechanism, for instance, a lever 38. This part of the device constitutes no essential portion of my invention.

Below the car, I mount a keel 39, formed A bracket 35 is secured of a plurality of pivoted sections adapted to move relatively to each other-in the same manner as the parts of a fan. The'several sections of the keel 39 are normally raised to a position closely adjacent the under side e car, as is illustrated in solid lines in as indicated in dotted lines. The sections are connected by a rod 41 to the spider 40, so that as the spider is forced downwardly by the tilting-of the plane 10, the sections of the keel Wlll be spread out and come into operation. Thus, when a sudden gust of wind strikes the plane and tends to tilt ,itlaterally,

so as to resist the swinging or lateral tilting of the car 32.

For additionally preventing the lateral drifting or skidding of 'the machine while turning a sharp'curve, I preferably employ members normally disposed in a horizontal lateral resistance, but

plane, so as to ofierno movable toward a vertical position whenever the keel automatically comes into operative position,

erably between the main plane and the up-.

per plane. The two leaves of each pair are hinged together, and their pivots 45 are mounted horizontally and parallel to each other and extend in the general direction of movement of the machine. The two pivots are held rigid in respect .to each other by one or more transverse braces 46 and they are supported by suitable rods 47 extending up fromthe main spider. The two leaves of each pair are connected to two separate levels 48, 48, and these are connectedby links to a vertical rod 4C9. By pressing upwardly on the rod, the links serve to spread the arms 44 apart and thus separate the leaves, for instance to the position indicated in dotted lines at the right-hand side'of Fig. 2. This forms a laterally facing pocket to catch the air as? the machine drifts laterally. There is a separate rod for each pair of leaves, so that the two leaves of either pair may be spread apart, and these two rods preferably extend down to a position adjacent the car, where they may be manually operated. If desired, they may be connected to the keel 39, so as to be automatically opened upon the opening of the latter. The upper ends of the rods may be connected together by a transversebrace made'up of separate links 50, and a collar 51 slidahle on the mast. I

In the specific form illustrated in Figs. 3, 4 andb, I embody a few changes in the mechanical construction of the parts, and particularly, 1 form both the upper and lower planes of separate relatively-movable sections. The lower or. mainplane is illustrated as being formed of two sections 10 and 10, each pivotally connected to an intermediate section 10. Instead of mount ing the plane to move vertically I form the spider of two separate sections, each having an upper horizontal arm 18". and a lower curved arm 19. The main mast or rod 12 of the machine has two separate parallel sections 12 and 12, upon which the two sections of the spider are independently movable vertlcally. *Two separate springs 20 and 20 normally press the two spider sections down against the corresponding plane sections' The two spider sections carry the two ailerons 26 and 26 in exactlythe same manner as in the form first described. .The two ailerons are controlled in their movement by corres onding rods 27* and 27", which tilt the ai erons to restore the equilitr riurn of the machine when the edges of the balancing plane are forced downwardly or upwardly.

The mast 12, at its upper end above the two sections 12" and 12 is provided with outwardly-extending branches 1% and 12*, upon which are pivotally mounted two separate planes 11 and 11". These two planes 11 and 11 are normally'in alinementwith each other, but are free to tilt independently. Each of the upper planes is connected to its corresponding section of the lower plane by a. brace or guy rope 31 so that when the outer edge of one plane moves upwardly, the

outer edge of the corresponding section of the main plane will move downwardly, and

vice versa. This permits the counterbalancing action to take place at one side of the machine independently of any action at the opposite side of the machine. 1

In Fig. 5 l have illustrated a slightly diflerent mounting of the spider, in which the main mast 12 has an outwardly-extending bracket 42, having an upwardly-extending post 43 at its outer end, upon which the spider section 18 may move vertically.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A flying machine, having a main plane, a spider upon'which said plane may rock, and an aileron carried by said spider.

,2. A flying machine, havin 'a main plane, a spider upon which said plane may rock, and an ai'leron-carried'by said spider and controlled by the rocking of said main plane.

A flying machine, havin a main plane,

asnider upon which said p ane may rock I to vary the elevation of a portion of the plane in respect to the remainder of the machine, and a balancing plane carried by said spider.

4. A flying machine, having amain plane, a transverse 'y-extending track curving upwardly at its outer ends and upon which said P y nd springs carried by said-"" track for controlling the rocking movement. 5. A flying machine, having a plane mounted totilt latera1ly,'a laterally tiltable auxiliary plane connected thereto to tilt simultaneously in the, opposite direction, and a balancing plane controlled by the movement of one of said first-mentioned planes' .6. A flying machine, having a plane, a

curved guide upon which said plane may rock, and a series of springs coming into. operation. successively, for resisting said rocking movement.

7. A flying machine, having a main plane formed of a plurality of independentlymovable sections, an upper plane formed of av plurality of independently-movable sections, and connections betweenthe sections of one plane and'the corresponding sections of: the other plane, for insuring their simultsneous mpvement in opposite directions.

A. flying machine, having a mam plane tiltable infrespect to the remainder' of the. machine, and avkeel movable into:operative position upon the tilting of said plane.

7 Copies of this 'patentmay be obtained for apart to ofler a lateral resistance to 'andmovable to 'form a pocket facing laterally to prevent the lateral driftingv of the machine when roundingla curve.

11. A flying machine said planes, said leavesbeing hinged toget-her and normally disposed adjacent each other. and means for spreading said leaves ofthe machine.

12. flying machine having means for resisting the ateral movement of the machine, said' means comprising two leavespivoted together and adap .to be sepaaving a main plane, a superposed plane, a pair of leaves between skidding rated "to form an air pocketfaci'ng laterally in the direction in whichthe machine tends to skid.

13. A flying machine having a supporting plane, an extensible keel at the lower portion of the machine for aflordingresistance to the lateral movement of said lower portion and a memberm'ovable to present 'allater ally facing pocket adjacent the upper portion of the machine to resist the lateral movement of said upper portion.-

14. A flying machine havin a main plane,"

a. spider upon which said p ane may rock,

an aileron carried by said spider, the edgeof said plane being movable toward and from said aileron and operative connections between said plane and said aileron for tiltlliig the latter upon the rocking of the main P w I a t In testimony whereof I have signed. my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribin witnesses.

' I HARLES H. DUNCAN. Witnesses:

CLAIR FAIRBANK, PHILIP D. ROLLHAUS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D.

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