Improvements in Apparatus for Aerial Navigation.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1895-Accepted, 11th May, 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Aerial Navigation.
I, ESTANISLAO CABALLERO DE LOS OLIVOS, Gentleman a citizen of the
Republic of Mexico, at present residing at 34 West 15th Street in the City of
New York, in the County and State of New York United States of America, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates to that class of aerial vessels that are provided with
The object of my
aeroplanes and sustaining screws rotating about vertical axes.
invention is to provide an aerial vessel of the above indicate.1 class in which the
aeroplane is utilized to impart to the vessel a movement ių auy direction, while the
sustaining screws are independent of the aeroplane and serve to control the ascent
or descent of the vessel.
The invention consists of certain features of construction and combinations of
parts that will be hereinafter described and claimed.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is an elevation of the apparatus, partly in section; and
Figure 2 is a broken plan thereof, with the balloon removed.
Like letters indicate like parts in both views.
The improved aerial vessel comprises a basket A carrying the machine or
engine (not shown) and the drive shaft B for operating the sustaining screws C.
The latter are secured upon shafts D journaled in a framework E secured to the
basket A. The frame may be provided with rings F adjacent to the sustaining
screws C. To the frame E is pivoted, by means of trunnions G, an elongated
ring H surrounding the sustaining screws C and their enclosing rings F. To the
ring His pivoted, preferably at right angles to the line connecting the trunnions G,
It will be
the aeroplane J, supported through the medium of the trunnions K.
understood that this way of attaching the aeroplane forms a universal joint and
permits of adjusting the inclination of the aeroplane relatively to the plane of the
sustaining screws, in any direction desired. I prefer to employ a circular aeroplane
to insure a uniform action to whatever side the aeroplane may be inclined. The
position of the aeroplane may be adjusted and maintained by means of ropes L or
equivalent devices. The aeroplane is provided with an aperture J1 to permit of its
being inclined without colliding with the framework or the sustaining screws.
order to facilitate the rising of the vessel, and to reduce the jar upou landing, the
basket A is, provided with rollers or castors N whose shafts are spring pressed so
as to be capable of yielding vertically.
In
It will be understood that the sustaining screws C are intended to raise the
vessel and control its ascent and descent. If it should not be considered feasible
or advisable to provide a machine capable of raising the entire weight of the
vessel and its occupants, a balloon M will be connected with the framework E to
assist in sustaining the vessel, so that a less powerful engine will suffice for the
successful operation of the screws C. According to the rotary speed of the
Baid screws, the vessel will either ascend, or descend or remain at a constant.
altitude.
As long as the aeroplane is in a horizontal position, the ascending or descending
If however,
movement of the vessel will be in an essentially vertical direction.
the aeroplane is set at an inclination to the (horizontal) plane of the sustaining

page_text: screws, the re-action of the air striking the said inclined surface will cause a
forward movement of the vessel in the direction of the highest point of the
aeroplane if the vessel is ascending, and in the opposite direction if the vessel is
moving downward. The direction of the forward movement therefore may be
changed or reversed without altering the speed of the engine or the position of the
sustaining screws, by a suitable adjustment of the aeroplane.
I desire it to be understood that the aeroplane is independent of the sustaining
screws C, that is the adjustment of the aeroplane does not involve an adjustment
of the screws, but the acroplane is adjusted relatively to the said screws.
Considerable power would be required to adjust the plane of the sustaining screws,
owing to the well-known tendency of rotating bodies to preserve their axes of
rotation, and it is thought that an attempt to adjust or incline the rotating screws,
in case they were constructed to move in unison with the aeroplane, would in all
probability result in inclining the basket, while the aeroplane and the screws thereoh
would remain essentially horizontal. According to my invention, however, the
plane of rotation of the sustaining screws is not changed, and this arrangement
obviously is an improvement over the construction I have alluded to above.
Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my
invention as defined in the appended claims. Instead of two sustaining screws I
may employ only one, or any other number of them, the shape of the aperture in
the aeroplane being changed accordingly. The mode of suspension of the aeroplane
may likewise be altered, and different constructions of universal joints may be
employed in lieu of the one illustrated by the drawings. I may even dispense with
a universal joint, and pivot the aeroplane directly to the frame, the steering of the
vessel being in that case effected by means of a rudder of any approved construction.
In any event, the aeroplane is adjusted independently of the supporting screw or
The latter may be set in motion by the muscular power of an operator or
Bcrews.
operators.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,―—
1. The combination with the framework and the sustaining screw journaled
therein, of an aeroplane movably connected to the frame to permit of inclining said
aeroplane relatively to the sustaining screw, substantially as described.
2. The combination with the framework and the sustaining screw journaled
therein, of an aeroplane movably connected to the frame and provided with an
aperture through which passes the screw when the aeroplane is inclined relatively
thereto, substantially as described.
3. The combination, with the framework and the sustaining screw journaled
therein, of an aeroplane pivoted to the frame to permit of inclining said aeroplane
relatively to the sustaining screw, substantially as described.
4. The combination, with the framework and the sustaining screw journaled
therein, of an aeroplane connected to the frame by means of a universal joint,
whereby the aeroplane can be inclined in any direction relatively to the sustaining
screw, said aeroplane being provided with an aperture for the sustaining screw,
substantially as described.
5. A car for aerial vessels, provided with spring pressed castors, substantially as
described.
6. The general construction and arrangement of parts constituting my improved
aerial vessel, substantially as shown and described.
Dated this 9th day of April 1895.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.