Patent GB-285376-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in means for releasing and discharging loads from aircraft
IPC: B64D1/02
Filed: 1928-02-13
Abstract: 285,376. Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau Ges. Feb. 14, 1927, [Convention date]. Addition to 273,325. Dropping bombs and other articles from a height.-Relates to apparatus having a mechanical device for releasing loads from aircraft, and an electrical device for selecting which load or loads shall be released by the mechanical device, as described and claimed in the parent Specification. The present invention consists of a number of improvements of the details of construction of such apparatus. In the form shown in Figs. 5 and 7, each bomb 4 is held up by a hook 5 pivoted at 3 and locked by a catch 7, which is itself locked by an abutment 29 on a longitudinal member 13 slidably mounted in a channelled casing 1, In the locked position, Fig. 5, the hook 5 bears against a contact 10 and lights a red lamp 11 on an indicating board 12. Near each hook, a bell-crank lever 24 is pivoted on the slide 13, and one arm A of this acts as an armature between two electromagnets 25, 26. When a switch 32 is closed, the corresponding electromagnet 25 attracts the arm A of the bell-crank lever 24, causing the other arm of the lever to fall to the level of the catch 7. Simultaneously, a green lamp 33 is lighted on the indicating board. If now, the slide 13 is moved towards the right of Fig. 5, the abutment 29 leaves the catch 7, and this is deflected by the bell-crank 24 and releases the hook 5, allowing the bomb to drop. The corresponding red lamp 11 is at the same time put out. If after one or more switches 32 have been operated to arm one or more of the bomb-release devices, it is desired to disarm these devises, a switch 40 is operated, which closes the circuit of the electromagnets 26, causing the bell-cranks 24 to return to the safe position. A separate switch 40 may, if desired, be provided for each electromagnet 26. The indicating board has, in addition to the lamps and switches already mentioned, a main switch 34 for the battery supplying the electric current, and a lamp 37, an ammeter 38, and a voltmeter 39, to indicate whether the battery is switched on or off, the current taken therefrom, and its voltage. The slide 13 is operated through cables 16 by a lever handle 18 provided with a spring-plunger catch 20 co-operating with a notched sector 23 for locking the handle in its extreme positions. The bell cranks 24 ma.y be stepped away from their respective bomb releasing catches 7 by distances of varying lengths x, 2x, 3x, so that the bombs may be released in succession by one movement of the slide 13. For further security, a projection 30 on the abutment 29 engages beneath a pin 31 on the hook 5 when the slide 13 is in the safe position, thereby positively locking the hook. In modifications of this arrangement, a slide is mounted along the side of the casing 1 to operate the bell cranks 24 mechanically if the electric devices fail; an electric heating coil is provided inside the casing to keep it warm and the slot through which the hook 5 projects is made watertight by means of rubber or leather strips, or the hook is forked and situated wholly outside the casing 1, its spindle passing watertight into the casing and being there provided with an arm engaged by the catch 7 and the locking member 29. In another modification, Fig. 8, the arming is performed by an electromagnet 52, which attracts an armature 51, allowing a lever 57 pivoted on a slide 48 to fall to the position indicated by chain lines. A pull of the slide 48 to the left then causes the deflection of the catch 47 and the release of the hook 42, the end of which, in this arrangement, fits into the forked end of a projection 44 on the casing 41. The return of the parts to the safe position is performed by an extra movement of the slide 48 to the right. This causes the lever 57 to ride over and be lifted by the hook 42 until it is snapped again by the shoulder 55 of the armature 51 under the influence of a spring 53. A screw stop 54 limits the swing of the armature. Two such devices may be arranged in parallel or in series, and may be disposed in the fuselage of a land machine as shown in Fig. 1, or underneath a seaplane as shown in Fig. 4. The indicating board and operating handle may be duplicated, for example one for the observer and one for the pilot, as shown at 12 and 77, Fig. 1.