Patent GB-284292-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in aircraft with adjustable supporting and steering system
IPC: B64C13/24
Filed: 1928-01-26
Abstract: 284,292. Theis, K. Jan. 27, 1927, [Convention date]. Steering, balancing, and regulating altitude. -The shape, size and position of the supporting surface of an aircraft are varied collectively or individually by a power transmission device actuated by variations in the power of the driving motor or of the propeller thrust. The rate and amount of adjustment depend also upon the airspeed and are subject also to an overriding control by the pilot. Fig. I shows diagrammatically a supporting surface variable from a maximum lift position 33 to a maximum speed position 34 by connections to pistons in cylinders 23, 24 supplied with fluid through a throttling valve 19. Pressure fluid is supplied to the valve by two pumps 45, 46 driven respectively by the main engine 5 and an auxiliary engine 56 a valve 49 preventing backflow should either of the pumps fail. The valve 19 directs fluid to the cylinders 23, 24 or to a return pipe 61 in accordance with the position of a lever 18 connected through linkage 17, 16, 10 to the slid. ing boss of the driving propeller 7 which thrusts against a spring 6. An intermediate point of the lever 16 is connected to a pressure plate 11 exposed to the air stream. The lever 15 is also connected through a. lost motion device 41 to the pilot's elevator control lever 37. The supporting surface is connected by a linkage 36, 62 to the stabilizing plane 64 so as to preserve the longitudinal stability of the aircraft as the lifting surface varies. A connection is also made to a sliding collar 72 which is connected to levers 70' on the propeller blades to vary their pitch. To compensate for variations in the weight carried, the connections to the pilot's control and to the automatic control are provided with means for varying their effective length. Fig. II, shows adjustment means controlled by the output of the driving motor 100 which is connected through an electromagnetic coupling 104, 106 to a device for transforming torque into proportionate linear thrust. This device comprises a quick-pitched screw 134 adapted to move a nut 133 against a spring 136 and displace a lever 137 which is connected to the supporting surface. The degree of coupling is varied by a resistance 120 in the electric circuit controlled by the air speed responsive device 126 and by a connection 140 to the pilot's elevator control. If desired, an auxiliary engine controlled by the output of the main engine or by the propeller thrust may actuate the adjusting means. The Specification as open to inspection under Sect. 91 (3) (a) comprises also the following subject-matter. Fig. I (Cancelled) shows diagrammatically a main plane F, pivoted at Z1 and having the engine and propeller mounted directly thereon. The moment of thrust of the propeller is balanced against that of an adjustable spring E, and the rate of adjustment is governed by a dashpot D having a byepass controlled by a pressure plate S in the air stream, the effect of which is to prevent sudden movements at high or low airspeeds. The stabilizing plane F2 is connected by the linkage shown to the main plane. The elevator R is operated by a lever H which through a lost motion connection S1 is capable of acting on the main plane at Z5. Modifications are described in which the propelling unit is separately mounted and connected to the plane by a link, the whole unit or the propeller only being capable of longitudinal movement as a result of variations in propeller thrust. Instead of being pivoted, the main plane may be mounted in oppositely inclined guides so as to have a, combined tilting and translatory movement. Fig. IV (Cancelled) shows an engine mounted on a plane F3 pivoted at Z10, and its shaft W1 drives a torque converter T1, which transmits a torque through a shaft W2 reducing gear T2 and shaft W3 to a device for exerting a thrust, proportional to the torque, against a fixed abutment on the aircraft. The remaining connections are as shown in Fig. I (Cancelled) except that the pilot's control acts upon the torque converter. The torque converter may comprise a speed responsive governor exerting a variable pressure on a disc clutch, or effecting differential braking upon the planet carriers of an epicyclic gear. A speed responsive device driven by the main engine may control a torque converter driven by a separate engine, or variations in thrust may act jointly upon a torque converter and upon a separate engine for driving the torque converter. This subject-matter does not appear in the Specification as accepted.