Patent GB-186884-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to aeronautical machines
IPC: B64C33/02
Filed: 1921-11-10
Abstract: 186,884. Loguin, A. J. Oct. 1, 1921, [Convention date]. Aeroplanes; ornithopters.-A flying machine is supported by flexible flapping wings the axis of oscillation of which can be tilted in the same or opposite directions on the two sides of the machine. Means may also be provided for varying the amplitude of motion of the wings and for setting them in a definite position for gliding. Cars and cabins; lighting; tanks, arrangement of; land wheels and skids.-The car is of streamlined form having its front part covered with transparent celluloid or bakelite, and has windows 6 and a door 7. The hull is of pressed cardboard or vulcanized fibre secured to a framework of steel tubing. The walls are lined with heat-insulating material, and the windows are double panelled to prevent frosting. A floor 8 covers a compartment 9 for fuel and water. A headlight 5 is provided. The hull is mounted on two wheels 2 and a back skid 3. Planes, construction of.-Each wing is formed with a series of tapering tubes 58 - - - 63, Fig. 14, made of fabric lined with rubber and secured over nipples on a casting at the root of the wing, the nipples and casting being drilled to enable the tubes to be inflated with air or gas to give them the necessary stiffness. The tubes are convex towards the leading edge of the wing and are stayed by cords 64 - - - 70, the cord 64 being secured to an eyebolt on the casting. A fabric covering is stitched over the framework while the tubes 58-63 are temporarily supported by cores of wood or metal. The wings increase in flexibility from the leading to the trailing edges. Planes, arrangement of; propelling; steering and balancing.-The wings' are driven by a transverse shaft above the fuselage connected by a chain and sprocket gearing to an engine in the car. Fig. 9 shows a section through one end of the transverse shaft 40 in the apparatus having means for varying the amplitude of motion of the wings and for fixing them in a definite position for gliding. The casting 42 at the root of the wing is trunnioned about an axis at right angles to and intersecting that of the shaft 40 between .arms 41 on a member which can be turned around the shaft bearing. The shaft 40 has a trunnion 44 coplanar with the wing trunnions. which is mounted in a disc 45 adapted to rotate in a ring pivoted within the casting 42 about trunnions at right-angles to the trunnion 44, the intersection of the axis of these trunnions with that of the trunnion 44 being on the axis of the shaft 40. The end of the shaft 40 is slotted to take a T-piece 47 connected by a link 49 to an eyebolt 48 in the disc 45. The T-piece 47 is connected by an axial shank 46 to a two part member 50, which is adapted to be moved in another slot in the shaft 40 by means of a lever 56 acting on a pin 55 on a member 53 surrounding the member 50. Rotation of the shaft 40 results in an oscillation of the wing about its trunnions, and the amplitude of oscillation is controlled by varying the inclination of the disc 45 bv means of the lever 56. The flexibility of the wings ensures a thrust parallel to the axis of oscillation on both strokes. When the disc 45 is set at right angles to the shaft 40, the wing is fixed in its mid position to act as a plane and is not affected by continued rotation of the shaft 40. The axis of oscillation of each wing may be turned, irrespective of whether the wing is flapping or fixed, by turning the member carrying the arms 41 by means of the mechanism shown in Figs. 16 and 18 so as to bring the wing into any of the positions 15, 17, 18, Fig. 1. For this purpose, arms 74, 75 on the trunnion-carrying members are connected by cords 76, 78 to sheaves 77, 79 on tranverse shafts provided with gear-wheels 80, 81 meshing with a wheel 82 mounted on the lower end of a vertical tubular shaft 83, which passes through a standard 84 pivoted about the common axis of the transverse shafts. The upper end of the shaft 83 has a gear wheel 85 meshing with a wheel 86 formed integrally with a handle-member 87, so that lateral tilting movements of the handle about the axis of the wheel 86 result in equal and opposite angular displacements of the wings on the two sides of the machine. Fore-and-aft swinging movements of the standard 84 effect equal angular displacements of the two wings in the same direction, and at the same time an elevator 20, Fig. 1, also may be moved. The handles are carried by a shaft 88 journaled in the member 87, the shaft 88 being connected through a flexible section 89 to a shaft 90 running through the tubular shaft 83, the shaft 90 being connected by a flexible section 91 to a shalt 92 connected to a rudder 19, Fig. 1. A rack 100 may be provided to fix the standard 84, and consequently the mean plane of the wings, in a definite position. A modification is described in which the transverse driving-shaft has fixed angular crank pins passing the axis of the wing trunnions and connected to the wing castings by members pivoted thereto about axes perpendicular to the main trunnions, ball bearings being provided for the main shaft and crank pins. In this case the amplitude of vibration of the wings is not variable.