Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft – heavier-than-air – Helicopter or auto-rotating wing sustained – i.e. – gyroplanes
Patent
1989-02-09
1991-08-27
Brown, David H.
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft, heavier-than-air
Helicopter or auto-rotating wing sustained, i.e., gyroplanes
244 6, 244 1721, B64C 2702, B64C 516
Patent
active
050427474
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to aircraft supported by a rotor and a fixed auxiliary tail unit, particularly for autogyros.
Despite its advantages over the helicopter in so far as the simplicity of manufacture the cost price and operating safety are concerned, the autogyro has the drawback of requiring a take-off strip, however short it may be, whereas the helicopter takes off vertically.
To overcome this drawback, it has been proposed to use the rotor of the autogyro as a vertical tractive propeller. For this, the rotor is coupled to a motor which may be the same as that of the pusher propeller and, with the pitch of the blades practically zero, launched at high speed. When the rotor has reached the desired speed, the blades are switched to the coarse pitch, which causes take-off of the autogyro.
Unfortunately, at the time of take-off, the autogyro takes a nose-up position involving the equilibrium of the aircraft which may even go as far as overturning. Practically any "jump" of the autogyro during take-off is dangerous beyond five meters and, under these conditions, such a take-off cannot be considered as a true vertical take-off since it can only be practiced with an immediate suitable environment.
The object of the present invention is precisely to permit true vertical take-off so well beyond five meters, for autogyros whose support is provided by a rotor and an auxiliary tail unit fixed in flight.
According to the invention, the aircraft is provided with means making it possible for at least a part of its tail unit to take up an inclined position with respect to the normal flight position.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the part of the tail unit which may be inclined with respect to its normal flight position is mounted on a shaft which is substantially parallel to the plane of rotation of the rotor of the aircraft.
In one variant, the aircraft is provided with means for "disengaging" the part of the tail unit mounted on the shaft, so as to allow it to rotate freely about this shaft.
The means for implementing the invention may advantageously be formed of a linkage with bell-crank levers, one at least of which is provided with a device for locking the tail unit in the flight position.
These means may even provide automatic locking of the tail unit provided by the latter when it reaches its normal flight position.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be clear from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating one embodiment of the invention given by way of non limitative example.
FIG. 1 shows a top view of an autogyro.
FIG. 2 shows an elevational view of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a partial section on a large scale along arrows III--III of FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a view along arrows IV--IV of FIG. 3 but on a reduced scale.
FIG. 5 shows schematically the assembly for controlling the tail unit.
FIG. 6 shows on a larger scale a detail of FIG. 5.
FIGS. 7 and 8 show on a larger scale another detail of FIG. 5, FIG. 7 being a section through VII--VII of
FIG. 8 and FIG. 8 a section through VIII--VIII of FIG. 7.
In FIGS. 1 and 2, the autogyro comprises a body 1 supporting a pusher propeller 4, a rotor 2 mounted on a support 3, and two beams 5 and 6 themselves supporting a tail unit in three parts : an inner part 7 and two outer parts 8 and 9. The fixing of this tail unit on the beam is illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4.
The inner part 7 comprises over the whole of its width a tubular longitudinal member 10 which is supported at each of its ends, by a spindle 11 on which two bearings 12 and 13 are mounted spaced apart by a sleeve 14. These bearings and the spacer sleeve are held on spindle 11, on the one hand by a washer 15 held by a nut 16 screwed on the threaded end of the spindle and, on the other hand, by a ring 17 welded to the spindle 11 and screwed on beam 5. The longitudinal member 10 ends in an end piece 28, in which is screwed a threaded plug 27. A piece 29, sandwiched between end piece 28 and plug 27 carries a lever 30 equipped with a crank pin 36.
Fi
REFERENCES:
patent: 2424882 (1947-07-01), Gluhareff
patent: 2481502 (1949-09-01), Downing
patent: 2547255 (1951-04-01), Bruel
patent: 2630984 (1953-03-01), Ballauer
patent: 2630985 (1953-03-01), Sherry
patent: 2959373 (1960-11-01), Zuck
patent: 2979286 (1961-04-01), Stuart
patent: 3029048 (1962-04-01), Brooks et al.
patent: 3081052 (1963-03-01), Michel
patent: 3332643 (1967-07-01), Toner
patent: 3563496 (1971-02-01), Zuck
patent: 3576299 (1971-04-01), Hanson
patent: 4247061 (1981-01-01), Kuczynski et al.
Brown David H.
Drucker William A.
LandOfFree
Vertical take-off aircraft does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vertical take-off aircraft, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vertical take-off aircraft will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1409680