Improvements in or relating to Air Ships.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 25th July, 1898-Accepted, 11th Feb., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Air Ships.
I, MAX LOCHNER, of Kantstrasse 160, Charlottenburg, in the Empire of Ger-
many, Engineer and Writer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:
=
This invention relates to air ships and has for its object to provide devices
whereby the steering of such apparatus will be facilitated. To this end I employ
wings of a particularly novel construction, as hereinafter described and claimed.
Many attempts have been made to steer balloons by the use of various devices
such as rudders, sails, paddle wheels and screw propellers. The results, how-
ever, have not been satisfactory and this attribute mainly to the fact that
inventors have not sufficiently taken into account the material difference between
a body moving in a medium such as air and a body moving in water. Since
a balloon follows the motion of air without any appreciable resistance, it is
obvious that the wind will act on a sail just as on the balloon itself and this
means, therefore, cannot have any useful effect. Rudders and propellers are
well adapted for use in a liquid medium which is practically incompressible,
but when used in the air they are of very low efficiency, since the air, owing
to its elasticity cannot oppose the necessary resistance. This lack of resistance
is one of the greatest difficulties to be overcome in the propulsion and direction
of air ships.
The invention is supportéd by observations, made on a parachute.
When we consider a parachute which is let down with a weight from a great
height, we see how the parachute at first falls rapidly, but very soon it is puffed
up and the air is compressed in its hollow. The pressure becomes eventually
so strong, that the pull of the weight does not suffice to maintain the equilibrium.
The parachute in consequence of the increased air pressure in its hollow tilts
to the side and an escape of a certain quantity of the compressed air is effected.
Such a parachute will therefor always rock violently to and fro when falling.
This inconvenience can be avoided in the well known manner by providing a
valve on the top in the parachute, which allows the air to continuously escape
and prevents the pressure becoming too great.
The rocking of the parachute is a result of the escape of air. As soon as the
air accumulated in the hollow of the parachute escapes at one side, the parachute
receives a violent movement to the opposite direction. The observations regard-
ing these pressures and movements are utilized in the present invention which
has for its object mainly to provide devices by which the resistance of the air,
or in other words, its density, will be increased and this I obtain by collecting
the air in concaved bodies or wings, the escape of air from such bodies being
prevented as far as possible. These bodies or wings are arranged to present
their concaved surfaces forwardly so as to compress the air or accumulate it,
and it will be obvious that if said compressed air escapes in a predetermined
direc ion it will by reaction have a propelling effect in the opposite direction.

page_text: репстрат та
by so arranging said concaved surfaces that the air will be discharged therefrom
in a substantially horizontal direction; or by so arranging said concaved surfaces
that the air will escape practically downward therefrom, an upthrust is obtained
which will contribute to support the balloon or air ship.
The above is obtained by arranging the framing of the propeller not in the
middle but on the front or impulsion side whilst the hinder part or escape side
is formed of yielding sail material, which as soon as the pressure of the air is
sufficiently great allows the air to escape.
When two such propellor wings appear the most practical the same are
arranged opposite one another on a rotary shaft, also the outer side is stiffened
by the framing, in order to prevent waste of air by the action of centrifugal
force. As the central passage of the air is prevented by the driving axle and
also by the effect of the centrifugal force, and as the framing acts both outwards
and forwards as a barrier, the air can only escape by the yielding hinder part
of the propeller...
In the construction of the carrying screen shown in Figs. 3 and 4, I make use
of the principle of the parachute.
However whilst the parachute collects and compresses the air especially by
means of its downward movement vertical to its surface, the carrying screen of
the air ship must for the same purpose utilize the forward movement produced
by the propeller. The supporting surface must collect the air quantities encoun-
tered.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings accompanying this
specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding
parts in all the views.
Fig. 1 illustrates in end view and side view a propeller constructed according
to my invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line A B of Fig. 1. Fig. 3
is a perspective view of a supporting surface constructed according to this inven
tion. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the said surface, partly in section. Fig. 5
represents a complete air ship provided with these improvements, and Figs. 6
and 7 are a side elevation and an end elevation respectively of a modification.
As illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the screw propeller consists of a horizontal
shaft a, which may be actuated by a motor m see Figs. 5 and 6, and carries two
diametrically opposed wings or blades b which are concaved forwardly as shown
and may consist of canvas or the like, secured to a rigid frame c. By referring
to Fig. 2, it will be understood that when the propeller rotates as indicated by
the arrow, the forward motion of the air ship will cause a quantity of air to
be caught and retained in the hollow of the wing or blade and said air will
obviously be compressed or of higher density than the surrounding air.
As soon
as the compression reaches a predetermined degree the air will escape from the
pockets of the propeller blades along the elastic inner edge thereof d, said edge
yielding when the pressure is sufficiently high. This escape of the air relieves
the pressure on the back of the wing or blade, and by reaction there is produced
a propelling effect in the opposite direction. This propelling effect or force as
experiments have shown, is in direct ratio to the compression or density of air
obtained in the pocket and to the quantity of escaping air. The tension or
compression of the air increases with the intensity of the motion of the blades,
that is with the motive force of the current of air striking the blades, the quantity
of escaping air increases with the extent of the receiving surface of the blade.
It will be understood that the propeller may be made with a greater number
of wings than shown, but in case more than two wings are employed, they will
be arranged in different planes of rotation so that they will act more efficiently,
each pair of propeller blades acting on a different body of air.
In order to utilize the principle of my invention for an increase of the ascen-
sional power of the air ship. I provide a supporting surface so located as to be
struck by the current of air created by the forward movement of the ship and

page_text: to discharge said air after compression in a mainly downward direction. It will
be obvious that such supporting surfaces could not well be arranged vertically,
since then they would act as a brake and detract too much from the efficiency
of the propelling device. For this reason the supporting surface e, see Figs. 3,
4, and 5, is preferably arranged at a slight incline only, resembling the form of
a bird's wing when soaring, or substantially that of one half of a parachute.
The open edge of said supporting surface which is stiffened by a hoop for like
article, is located forwardly while the body of said surface consists of canvas
or like flexible material and is secured to the main structure of the air ship by
means of ropes g, by the adjustment of which the form and position of the
As shown in Fig. 5,
supporting surface may be altered within certain limits.
the supporting surface e is a separate part from the balloon proper h. In Figs.
and 7 I have shown a modification in which the balloon itself is so formed as
to present an inclined supporting surface e¹ having the hoop f¹ and the fastening
and adjusting ropes g¹, this construction being identical in function with that
shown in the other views of the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An improved air ship in which a propeller having flat hollow wings b of
sail canvas or the like is adapted to be rotated with the full broad side (not
obliquely or at an angle of the wings against the air said propeller having its
front edges stiffened in an unyielding manner by means of a frame c, and its
rearward surfaces yielding for the purpose of forcing the air collected in the
hollow of the wing surfaces during their movement to escape in a determined
direction after the pressure of the contained air has surpassed for a certain
amount the normal air pressure and giving thereby back pressure to the propellers
causing impulsion towards its stiffened side.
2. An improved air ship having an arrangement for supporting the same
comprising a supporting surface e having a yielding back surface and working
with its stiffened sharp front edge f (not obliquely or flatly) against the air said
surface being substantially in the form of half a parachute, directed with the
cross section edge (forward), for the purpose of pocketing and compressing the
air caught by the broad unyielding stiffened front side f during its further move-
ment backwards and for obtaining a great upward impulsion of the supporting
surface by means of the downward escape of the compressed air, causing a back
pressure on the yielding rearward part of the supporting surface.
3. A form of construction of the arrangement for air ships as in Claims 1 and 2
wherein the under part of the balloon cover h is formed in such a manner that it
has the form substantially of a parachute with the hollow directed obliquely
forwards so as to come under the influence of the air current, produced by the
forward movement of the ship and operating thus as a supporting surface.
Dated this 25th day of July 1898.
HERBERT HADDAN & Co.,
Agents to Applicant.