Abstract:
Survival apparatus for an aircraft or the like. The survival apparatus includes a survival canister 12 in which survival gear is stowed. The canister assembly is buoyant and water tight. It is stowed prior to use in a cylindrical member 16 which is closed at one end. A maintaining structure 74 is provided to normally maintain the canister assembly 12 within the cylindrical member 16. A handle assembly 90 is provided to provide for the manual withdrawal of the assembly 12 from the cylindrical member 16, the handle assembly also engaging the maintaining structure and causing it to release the canister assembly upon application of force in one direction. A condition responsive gas discharge apparatus 14 is disposed in the closed end of the cylindrical member 16 and, in the event of an accident, it can forceably eject the canister assembly from the cylindrical member.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates generally to survival apparatus, and more particularly to survival apparatus including a buoyant canister assembly containing survival equipment, which canister assembly is stowed in a cylindrical member, and which can be removed from the cylindrical member either manually or through the operation of a gas discharge apparatus which includes condition responsive means capable, in response to an accident, of causing the canister assembly to be ejected from the cylindrical member. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     If a helicopter makes a crash landing in water, it tends to become inverted and the crew only has an extremely short time period within which to escape from the helicopter. While the helicopter carries a considerable amount of survival equipment, typically there is not sufficient time for the crew to take the survival equipment with them as they escape from the craft. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a survival apparatus for a craft which automatically ejects a canister assembly from the craft in the event of an accident, the canister assembly being loaded with survival gear. 
     More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a buoyant canister assembly containing survival equipment, which canister assembly can be manually withdrawn from a cylindrical member, such as a missile tube, or, in the event of a crash landing in water, which will be forceably ejected from the cylindrical member. 
     Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a survival apparatus including a survival canister assembly which is normally stowed within a cylindrical member such as a missile tube, maintaining means which will normally maintain the canister assembly within the cylindrical member, manually engageable means which are capable of engaging the canister assembly and releasing the maintaining means to permit the manual withdrawal of the canister assembly from the missile tube, and a gas discharge apparatus including condition responsive means capable of causing the survival canister assembly to be ejected from the cylindrical member in response to a crash landing in water. 
     The above objects and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred form of this invention is illustrated. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a side view, partially in section, showing the survival apparatus of the present invention, which apparatus includes a survival canister assembly disposed within a missile tube closed at one end, and a gas discharge apparatus disposed in a closed end of the missile tube. 
     FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing the survival canister assembly in greater detail. 
     FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along the line 3--3 in FIG. 2 illustrating a spider which is used to maintain the canister assembly within the missile tube. 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged detail view of a portion of the gas discharge apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1, this view being partially in section. 
     FIG. 5 is a section taken generally along the line 5--5 in FIG. 4. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring first to FIG. 1, for the convenience of the reader the structure shown to the left will be referred to as the front and the structure to the right will be referred to as the rear. The survival apparatus of the present invention is indicated generally at 10. It includes a survival canister assembly indicated generally at 12, and a gas discharge assembly indicated generally at 14, both of which are mounted within a cylindrical member 16, which in the illustrated embodiment is a missile tube of the type typically found on armed forces attack helicopters. While the missile tube is normally open at both the front and rear ends, as can be seen from FIG. 1, in accordance with this invention, it is closed at the rear end by a conical member 18. The conical member 18 is provided with a centrally located threaded aperture 20 into which the rear end of the gas discharge apparatus 14 is threaded. In addition, the conical member is also provided with a suitable aperture which receives a sensor plug assembly indicated generally at 22, which aperture is sealed when the sensor plug assembly is assembled therein. The conical member is additionally provided with a cylindrical portion 24 which is adapted to be telescopically received within one end of the cylindrical member 16, and a radially outwardly extending flange portion 26 which is provided with an annular groove on one face, the annular groove receiving an O-ring 28 which is adapted to abut against the rear end of the missile tube 16. The conical member 18 is in turn secured to the rear end of the missile tube by a clamp assembly 30. The clamp assembly 30 consists of two semi-circular members each having a generally U-shaped cross section as illustrated in FIG. 1, which members are hinged together at one end (not illustrated) and which can be drawn tightly about a tapered boss 32 at the rear end of the missile tube and corresponding structure in the flange portion 26 of the conical member 18 by a conventional screw assembly. When the conical member 18 and gas discharge apparatus 14 are secured to the rear end of the tube, the rear end of the tube is effectively closed against the passage of fluid. 
     An extension 34, which has a cylindrical internal bore of the same internal diameter as the tube 16 is secured to the front end of the missile tube in the same manner that the conical member 18 is secured to the rear end of the tube. Thus, the extension 34 has a tapered flange portion 36 and the front end of the missile tube 16 also has a corresponding tapered flange or boss 38. The rear end of the extension 34 is provided with an annular groove which receives an O-ring 40 which is adapted to abut against the front end of the missile tube 16 when the parts are secured together by a clamp assembly 42 of the same general design as the clamp assembly 30. The inner surface of the cylindrical extension 34 is additionally provided with a radially outwardly extending annular cut out portion 44 which is utilized to receive a portion of the maintaining means which maintains the survival canister assembly 12 within the missile tube 16. 
     The survival canister assembly 12 is best shown in FIG. 2 and includes a canister tube 46 of cylindrical cross section, the front end of the tube being closed by a front end cap 48 which has an outside diameter approximately the same as the outside diameter of the tube 46. A rear portion of the end cap 48 is suitably sealed by an epoxy cement 49 or the like to the very front portion of the canister tube 46. An O-ring 50 is disposed within an annular groove on the exterior surface of the front end cap 48 and bears against the inner cylindrical wall of extension 34. The front end cap 48 is additionally provided with a centrally located hub portion 51 having a suitable threaded bore 52 for reasons which will be brought out below. 
     Suitable survival gear is stowed within the canister tube 46 and is maintained in place by a rear cap assembly indicated generally at 53. The end cap assembly includes an end cap 54 and a concentric piston 55, the parts being held together by a bolt 56 and a threaded knob 58 which is threaded onto the end of the bolt 56. The bolt 56 is adhesively secured within a centrally located aperture in the end cap 54. The piston is provided with an annular groove 60 which receives a packing ring 62 which bears against the inside cylinder wall of the missile tube 16 as best shown in FIG. 1. In order to maintain the parts assembled in a closed and sealed configuration, an O-ring 64 (FIG. 2) is disposed between adjacent peripheral flanged portions of the end cap 54 and piston 55 and when the knob 58 is screwed down onto the end face of the piston 55 (which is provided with a further O-ring 66), the O-ring 64 will be forced radially outwardly against the inner surface of the tube 46 to maintain the end cap 54 within the rear end of the tube 46. When the tube 46 is loaded with suitable survival gear and sealed by the front end cap 48 and the rear end cap assembly 53, the assembly will be water tight. In addition, the water tight assembly and included survival gear is designed to be buoyant. 
     To remove the end cap 54 and piston 55 it is only necessary to unscrew the knob 58 a couple of turns at which point the loading on the O-ring 64 will be released sufficiently to permit the parts to be withdrawn from the rear end of the canister tube 46. A screw 68 and washer 70 are secured to the bolt 56 and are disposed within an aperture 72 in the knob 58 and merely serve to retain the knob 58 in place if it is unscrewed. After the end cap assembly 53 is removed, the survival gear may be withdrawn from the tube 46. 
     As previously noted, the cylindrical extension 34 at the front end of the missile tube 16 is provided with an annular cutout 44 which receives a portion of a maintaining means, which is indicated generally at 74, and which is carried by the front end of the survival canister assembly. The maintaining means includes a spider 76 (FIGS. 2 and 3) which has end portions 77 disposed within the annular cutout 44. The spider, which is made of nylon or a similar material, is disposed between a retaining plate 78 and the front end cap 48. The maintaining means 74 includes a threaded stem 88, which is screwed into bore 52. Disposed about the threaded stem 88 are manual engaging means, indicated generally at 90, which both engage the survival canister assembly 12 (FIG. 1) and also are capable of releasing the maintaining means 74. The manual engaging means include a tube 92 provided with suitable retaining rings 94, 96 and 98. A handle 100 is disposed between the retaining rings 94, 96. The retaining ring 98 abuts against the front end of the retaining plate 78. The rear end of the tube 92 is in turn secured to a flanged element 102, the flanged element bearing against a rear central portion of the spider 76. Disposed about the threaded stem 88 is a compression spring 104, the front end of the compression spring bearing against the head portion 105 of the stem, the stem adjacent the head portion in turn being provided with an annular groove which receives O-ring 106. 
     To manually release the survival canister assembly 12 (FIG. 1) from the missile tube 16 (FIG. 1), it is only necessary to pull on the handle 100 which will cause the flanged element 102 to bear against the spider 76, bowing it to the left as viewed in FIG. 2 until the end portions 77 are pulled out of the annular cutout 44 at which time the whole canister assembly 12 can be pulled from the missile tube. 
     In some situations the occupants of a helicopter do not have time to retrieve survival equipment from the helicopter in the event of a crash into water in which case it is desirable that the survival canister be automatically ejected. To this end, the gas discharge apparatus 14 is provided between the conical member 18 and the piston 55 which, in operation, will sufficiently pressurize the closed rear end of the missile tube and the piston to cause the end portions 77 of the spider to shear thereby permitting the survival canister assembly 12 to be forceably ejected from the missile tube. 
     The gas discharge apparatus 14 includes a pair of compressed gas cylinders 108 (FIG. 4) which are mounted in a bottle mounting member 110. The bottle mounting member in addition receives a primer 112 (FIG. 5) and a pair of closure piercing pistons 114, one for each cylinder, the pistons being disposed within bores 115. Mounted on the bottle mounting member is an electronics package 116 (FIG. 1) which includes a pair of batteries 118 and electronics (not shown) which may be of the same type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,440, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. A lead wire 120 extends from the electronics package 116 to the sensor plug assembly 22. The sensor plug assembly includes a sensor 122 disposed within an apertured protective closure 124. When the assembly shown in FIG. 1 is placed in water a circuit is completed between the sensor 122 and the rear end face 126 of the bottle mounting member 110. To this end it should be noted that the mounting member or body 110 is made of an electrically conductive material such as aluminum and additionally that the end face 126 is not coated or anodized. The end face 126 is disposed at the rear end of a cylindrical threaded portion 128 (FIG. 4) which is screwed into the threaded aperture 20 of the conical member 18. A ground contact pin 130 (FIG. 5) is carried by the body and is in electrical contact with the electronics in the electronics package 116. Similarly, the primer 112 is also provided with an electrical contact 132 which is in turn in electrical contact with the electronics in the electronics package 116 (FIG. 1). When an electrical circuit is completed, the primer 112 will be ignited causing the closure piercing pistons to be driven into a pierceable closure 134 adjacent the threaded end of each of the compressed gas cylinders 108. Thus, each of the bottles is screwed into a threaded port 136 in the body 110, the bottle being held in gas tight relationship therein by virtue of an O-ring 138. The body includes, in addition to the plurality of cylindrical bores 115 which extend away from the ports 136, primer receiving bore 140 which receives primer 112. Each piston includes a grooved piercing pin portion 144 and a groove which receives an O-ring 146. Each piston 114 is normally biased away from the pierceable closure by a compression spring 148, the forward end of which bears against a portion of a retainer plug 150 disposed within an enlarged portion of the cylindrical bore 115. The body is also provided with a plurality of gas passageways 152 which extend away from the primer receiving bore to the cylindrical bores at a location remote from said ports. The gas passageways may be formed by drilling through the body from a side 154 of the body 110 and may then be closed by tapping the passageway between the bore 115 and the side 154 and inserting a set screw 156 therein. The electronics package is secured to one side of the body 110 by suitable fasteners 160 (only two of which are shown), the fasteners being in turn received within apertures 162. 
     In operation, the canister tube is loaded with suitable survival equipment and then the rear end is closed by the end cap assembly 53. The assembly is then inserted into a missile tube. 
     If it is desired to manually remove the survival canister assembly 12 from the missile tube after insertion, it is only necessary to pull on the handle 100 which will cause the spider end portions 77 to be withdrawn from the annular cutout 44 in the cylindrical extension 34 then permitting the entire removal of the canister assembly. In the event that the helicopter carrying the survival apparatus of this invention should land in water, a circuit will be completed between the sensor 122 and the rear end face 126 of the bottle mounting member 110 causing electronics to fire the primer in a manner which is more completely explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,440. When this happens, gas will be discharged by the primer through the passageways 152 forcing the closure piercing pistons into the pierceable closures 134 of the compressed gas cylinders 108. This will permit gas to be discharged from the cylinders which will in turn exit through the discharge passageways 164, there being two such passageways disposed to either side of the grooved piercing pin portion 144 of each piston. Gas will now flow into the chamber defined by the piston 55, rear end portion of missile tube 16 and conical member 18 until the pressure builds up sufficiently to cause the spider end portions 77 to shear, the survival canister assembly 12 then being forcibly ejected from the missile tube. Once ejected, the assembly 12 will float to the top of the water. It is now only necessary for the crew to unscrew the knob 58 sufficiently to withdraw the end cap assembly 53 from the tube 46 thereby gaining access to the survival equipment disposed within the canister tube 46. 
     While a preferred structure in which the principles of the present invention have been incorporated is shown and described above, it is to be understood that widely differing means may be employed in the broader aspects of this invention. For example, when used over land, a different sensing apparatus may be utilized which can be either a heat sensitive sensor or an accelerometer that would sense the sudden impact of a helicopter upon the ground. Other variations will occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, this invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variation which fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.