US1573100A - Means for guiding aeroplanes on the ground - Google Patents

Description

L. B. SPERRY MEANS FOR GUIDING AEROPLANES ON THE GROUND Feb. 16,1926.. 1,573,100

vFiled June 8, 1922 `329131 l Homo/13 7W .Parental Fea-1e, 192s. y

UNIT-ED STATES PATENT oFFlcE.

LAWRENCE B. SPERRY, F FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK; THE BANK 0F AMERICA, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y., AND WINIFRED ALLEN SPERRY, OF HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK, EXECUTORS OF SAID LAWRENCEB. SPERRY, DECEASED. I

MEANS ECB GUIDING- AEROPLANES 0N THE GROUND.

Application filed .Tune 8, 1922. Serial No. 566,702.

To all 'whom zt may concern: v

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE B. SPERRY, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Farmingdale, L. I., in the county of Nassau and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Guiding Aeroplanes ou 'the Ground, of which the following is a specification.

particularly to means for controlling an aeroplane on the ground, especially when landing. i When an aeroplane is in flight and, of course moving rapidly, itsd direction of travel is controlled by the manipulation of plane surfaces which are acted upon by the strong relative movement of theair. When landing, however, after the craft has reached the ground and its speed becomes greatly rei duced, the control planes become ineffective for steering. This, however, is not ordinarily of great importance, as it is customary when landing to head the craft directly intothe wind. This aids in bringing the craft to a quick stop and also obviates the necessity of steering it toward the end of its movements as there are practically no forces tending to divert the craft from a straight course and as the landing eld is large enough to permit the craft to wander.

A very different problem is presented, however, when landing is to bev effected in a restricted place, as for instance, Aon a street or other narrow piece of smooth ground. Under such'conditions, the aviator is` re'- stricted in the direction in which he mayliead his machine and cannot choose his landing direction in accordance with thc-l direction of the wind. Consequently, if the wind is blowing at an angle to the aircraft when a landing is made, there is no way of keeping the craft on its narrow path after it'has sloweddown to the point where the steering plane or rudder becomes ineffective, and the craft is free to travel or to be blown whereit will.

The main object of theA present invention 5 may be steered when on the ground, irre- This' invention relates to aeroplanes, and,

is to provide means whereby an aeroplane the craft when the length of the landing I space is also restricted.

vReferring to the drawings wherein I have shown what I now consider to be the preferred form of my invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective diagrammatic view of the control elements of an areoplane.

Fig. 2 is a side view of an aeroplane wheel with means for'braking the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the wheels with a modified means for actuating the brakes thereof.

Fig. 4 is a detail of one form of another form of brake actuating or steering means.

In the drawings the aeroplane fuselage is indicated in dotted lines 1 in Fig. 3, having the usual cockpit 2, within which is the aviators seat 3. Secured to the fuselage in the usual manner, notshown here, are the supports 4 which carry the axle 5 which in turn carries the aeroplane wheels 6, 7.

In Fig. 1 the fuselage as well as the sus taining planes are omitted so that the .control elements may be more clearly portrayed. The usual ailerons are shown at 8, 9; the elevating control planes or hori- Zontal rudders at 10, 11, and the vertical or 'steering rudder at 12. Said steering rudder may be mounted on an upright post 13. The lower end of this post may constitute the usual tail skid4| and in this instance is shown as provided with a wheel 14. Near the forward end of the aircraft I have shown a control stick 15 pivotallyvattached at 16 to a bar 17. Said bar may in turn be mounted in bearings 18, 19, for rotation about its longitudinal axis but restricted against axial movement. Cords or wires 20, 21 may be connected at 22 to the stick 15- above4 its pivotal point 16 and to the lower ends of cross levers 23, 24 of elevating planes 10, 11, while wires 25, 26 are connected at 27 to the stick 15 below its pivotal point and to the upper ends of said levers 23, 24.` Thus, a forward thrust of the-upper end of the control stick will tilt the rear part of planes 10, 11 downwardly to cause the aircraft to descend, while a rearward thrust of said stick will effect thel opposite results.

The bar r17 is shown as having an upwardly projecting lever arm 2S having attached to its upper end wires 29, 30 reach ing in opposite directions around pulley wheels 31, 32 to the upper ends of cross levers 33, 34, fixedly connected to ailerons 8, 9'. The lower ends of said cross levers may be interconnected by a wire 35 passing around pulley wheels 36, 37. Thus movement of the control stick 15 to the right or left to turn bar 17 about its aXis will eEec't actuation of the ailerons through wires 29, 30, 35 to tilt said ailerons in opposite directions one way or the other to control the transverse position of the aircraft.

The control of tlievertical rudder 12 may be effected by means of a pedal 38 pivotally attached at 39 to a fixed portion 40 of the craft and connecteeinen.v opposite sides 'of its pivotal axis by'wire's`41,`42, to the opposite ends of a cross klever 43 secured to the post 13.

The wheels 6, 7 are shown as provided with brakes 44, 45, which as shown in Fig. 2

may comprise a drum 46 integral with the wheel; a brake band 47 upon said drum; a bracket 48 rigidly connected`v with respect to the aircraft as by being liXedly attached to the axle 5; said brake band being attached at one end to a pin 49`integral with bracket 48, and at the other end 51 to a bell crank lever 50 pivoted at 52 to bracket 48. The levers 56' of the two brakes 44, 45, may be connected byv wires 53, 54, passing over pulley wheels 55, 56, to the control stick at 22. The wires 53, 54 may be loose as shown, if desired, so that normal movements of control ystick 15 to actuate lthe control planes may be effected with little or no pull upon said wires, but any further movement of the stick will pullupon one or both of the wires 53, `54, actuating lever 50 to draw the brake band tight upon the brake drum.

The operation is as follows:

When in flight, the aviator will steer the craft with his feet by actuation of pedal 38.

. To cause the craft to ascend or descend, he

will tilt the stick backward lor forward to tilt the horizontal rudders 10, 11 upwardly or downwardly. To control the transverse position of the craft, as in stabilizing against side air currents or in banking, the stick is tilted to one side or the other to rotate bar 17 and actuate wires 29, 30 connected to the ailerons 8 9. 'When running along the ground at a slow speed, when the rudder 12 is. ineffective to steer the craft, as for instance, when starting up for a flight, it will be seen thatactuation of pedal 38 will effect the same result on the round as in the air inasmuch as the rear s 'd or wheel 14 will be turned. When landing, steering may be done in the same manner, but may also be done by thrusting the control stick 15 to `one side or the other to apply brake 44 or 45 to retard the wheel on the side to which` it is desired to turn. To apply both brakes equally to bring the craft amano to a quick stop, the stick may be thrust either forward or backward to pull equally upon both wires 53 and 54, while brakino and steering maybe effected simultaneous y by thrusting the stick backward or `forward to apply both brakes and at the Sametime moving the stick to one side or the other to apply with greater force the brake on the side to which the craft is tobe steered.

One advantage of steering by differentially braking the landing wheels, is, then,`

as we have seen, that the craft may also be brought to a stop more rapidly. Another advantage is that by this method steering may be commenced the moment the front wheels touch the ground and when the rear wheel 14 is still in the air. such times the craft is usually traveling at such speed that the rudder 12 is still effective for steering and both methods may be employed. Also, after the rear wheel 14 touches the ground, steering may be' effected by the turning of said wheel and by the differential braking of the front wheels.

Thus, the action of an aeroplane upon land- -12 and skid wheel 14 may include resilient sections 61, 62. The wires 53, 54 for actuatin@ the brakes are shown as passing from the pulley wheels 5'5, 56 to the parts 57, 58 of the pedal. Steering in the air will be effected by pressure on one side or the other of the pedal in the usual manner. On the ground the same action will produce the same result. In other words, when in the air, the aviator presses upon the part 57 of the pedal to execute a turn to the right. On the Ground, pressure upon part 57 brakes wheel 6 and causes the craft to turn to the right. In order to Vapply both brakes at the same time, the aviator may press upon both parts 57, 58 of the pedal. In this instance,

he will of course press with suiiicient force Of course, at

The brake wires 53, 54 are also connected to the pedal and pass over pulley wheels 63 carried by the lever 15 pivoted at 16. Said lever may be specially provided for braking purposes, or it may constitute the control stick as in Fig. 1. Normally, actuation of pedal 38 affects only the steering rudder, but

when it is desired to apply the brakes, the

aviator will pull back upon the lever 15 to draw the wires 53, 54 tight. This will apply the brakes with equal pressure. By pulling the lever back and pressing on one side of the pedal, the brakes may be applied differentially for simultaneous braking and steering. B. pressing one side of wthe pedal forward, an pulling back upon the lever to draw only one of wires 53, 54 tight but one oflthe brakes may be applied for steering, on y.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus, which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having herein described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. In combination with an aer plane having forward landing wheels an?? a pivotally mounted trail wheel, of separ e brakes on said forward wheels, and a common means for differentially applying said brakes and turning said trail wheel whereby the aeroplane may be steered on the ground by the cooperative action of the trail wheel and differential application of the brakes.

2. In combination with an aeroplane, control surfaces therefor, means for actuating said surfaces, Wheels for said aeroplane, brakes for said wheels, and means connecting said brakes to said actuating means, said brakes bein adapted to be actuated by movement of said actuating means beyond a predetermined degree.

3. In combination with an aeroplane, control surfaces therefor, means for actuating said surfaces, wheelsfor said aeroplane, brakes for said wheels, normally inactive control connections between said brakes and said actuating means, and means whereby said connections are rendered operative after a predetermined degree of actuation of said actuating means.

4. In combination with an aeroplane having a steering rudder and landing wheels, of means for actuating said rudder, brakes for said wheels, normally inactive control connections between said brakes and said rudder-actuating means, and means whereby said connections are rendered operative at wil 5. In combination with an aeroplane having forward landing wheels, a steering rudder and a trail wheel turnable with said rudder, of separate` brakes on said forward wheels, and a common means for differentially applying said brakes and turning said rudder and trail wheel whereby the airplane may be steered when landmg` 011Y the ground by the cooperative action of the rudder, trail wheel and diHerential application of the brakes..

6. In combination, an aeroplane having elevation control means, transverse positioning means, wheels, brakes for said Wheels, and a single operating member for actuating said first two means and said brakes.

7. In combination, an aeroplane having elevation control rudders, transverse positioning rudders, wheels, brakes for each of said wheels, and a single operating member for differentially actuating said rudders and said brakes.

8. In combination, an aeroplane having elevation control rudders', transverse positioning rudders, wheels, brakes for said wheels, an operating member operable in a plurality of planes, means whereby operation of said member in one plane actuates said first-named rudders, and means whereby operation of said member in another plane actuates said second named rudders and said brakes.

9. In combination, an aeroplane having elevation control rudders, transverse positioning rudders, wheels, brakes for said wheels, an operating member operable in a plurality of planes, means whereby operation of said member in one plane actuates said first-named rudders, means whereby operation of said member in, another plane actuates said second-named rudders, and means whereby operation of said nmember in .said other plane beyondma predetermined degree actuates said brakes.

In testimonywhereof I yhave aiixed my signature.

LAWRENCE B. SPERRY.

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