GB2248808A - Variable inertia non-reactive drive unit and an aircraft propelled thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit comprises free bodied frame 1 with primary motors 2 and 3 fixed thereto located at or close to opposite ends of frame 1 driving shafts 5 and 6 with axes orthogonal to main plane of inertia of the frame and ancilliary units assembly, both ends of each shaft being fixed to secondary motors 7, 8, 9 and 10 respectively, said secondary motors driving inertial weights 11, 12 ,13 and 14 via secondary shafts to rotate about axes parallel to the main plane of inertia of said assembly, said primary and secondary motors at any one end being activated resulting in rotation of said assembly about an axis approximately parallel to said primary motor shafts and between the operating primary motor and centre of gravity of said assembly and by alternate activation of end motor clusters resulting in net lateral motion of said assembly. In Fig 2 the drive unit is applied to an aerospace vehicle. An S-shaped wing 17 contains the drive unit with its power source 4, and is caused to rotate by the drive unit. A command module 20 with wings, tail, and landing gear is towed behind the rotating wing 17. <IMAGE>

Description

VARIABLE INERTIA NON-REACTIVE DRIVE UNIT This invention relates to a variable inertia non-reactive drive unit.

Since the first successful flight of man, the dream of travelling to the stars has been steadily progressing to reality. Recently through the obvious deterioration of the earth's own environment, the rapidly impending overcrowding situation currently developing on earth combined with the recently obtained knowledge that there is no more hospitable place that man can turn to in our own solar system has increased the urgency for man to find a practical solution to interstellar travel for the sake of his long term survival.

Although development of aircraft has reached a relatively fine art and rockets are becoming increasingly efficient, even with the advent of devices that make use of the oxygen in our atmosphere for fuel replenishment at high altitude, the biggest problem that reactive type rockets cannot hope to overcome is the necessity to carry with them into space a voluminous fuel supply for any lengthy journey they might be required to undertake.

Alternative means of propulsion such as use of light and heat from the sun itself may be practical in the future, but only within a limited distance of the sun. The use of super lasers to propel vehicles into deep space is also a remote possibility at present, as is controlled nuclear fusion.

According to the present invention, there is provided a variable inertia non-reactive drive unit comprising a rigid frame with primary motors driving shafts located at or close to opposite ends of the frame, being approximately equidistant from the frame centre and mutually parallel, said shafts being orthogonal to the plane through the centre of gravity of the frame and ancilliary units assembly and its major inertial axis, each of said motor driven shafts extending for an equal short distance on either side of said frame assembly major inertial plane and supporting secondary motor and shaft assemblies at each primary shaft end, each secondary motor being fixed relative to its adjacent primary shaft, so that its (secondary) shaft is aligned orthogonally to the primary shaft axis and parallel to the major inertial plane of the frame assembly, at the end of each secondary motor driven shaft there being affixed a mass symmetrical about said shaft and of magnitude sufficiently great to impart a significant acceleration to the whole frame assembly when the motors are operated in the necessary sequence.

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Sheet 1/3 Figure 1 shows a three dimensional view of a basic variable inertia non-reactive drive unit; Sheet 1/3 Figure 2 shows a plan view of an aerospace craft utilizing a variable inertia drive unit; Sheet 2/3 Figures 3(a-c) show a schematic representation of the operational sequence of a variable inertia drive unit; Sheet 3/3 Figure 4 shows a three dimensional view of a remote control model of a variable inertia drive unit; Sheet 3/3 Figure 5 shows a plan view of a variable inertia drive space vehicle with additional features.

Referring to Sheet 1/3 Figure 1, the variable inertia non-reactive drive unit comprises a rigid frame 1 which would most suitably be of aluminium alloy or similar material being light and strong enough to support the forces exerted by the motors and being of generally flat rectangular shape with primary drive motors 2 and 3 mounted at or close to its ends and situated along the major axis of inertia of the frame and equidistant from its centre of gravity, said motors possibly being powered by internal combustion engines, but more suitably by electricity, the power source 4 being mounted on the frame centrally or alternatively as two sources symmetrically about the centre, the motors driving primary shafts 5 and 6 with axes orthogonal to the major plane of inertia of frame 1, the shafts being free to rotate about their axes within frame 1, but being fixed longitudinally relative to frame 1 and extending for equal distances on either side of the frame, at both ends of each shaft there being fixed one secondary motor 7, 8, 9 or 10 which might also be of internal combustion engine type, but more suitably electrically powered with power sources mounted adjacent, so that the weight distributions at the ends of each primary shaft would be fairly evenly balanced, each secondary motor driving secondary shafts which rotate about their axes in planes parallel to the major plane of inertia of frame 1 and in turn drive weights 11, 12, 13 and 14 which are fixed at the secondary shaft ends, being symmetrical about each shaft axis and made of some heavy material such as iron, typically in the shape of a disc.An alternative arrangement could be envisaged whereby the secondary motors 7, 8, 9 and 10 and power sources themselves replace the weights having their shaft ends fixed rigidly to the primary shafts and being driven to rotate about their own shafts. The power sources for the secondary motors may alternatively be located on the frame 1, but having necessary power transfer contacts between the source and secondary motors. The secondary motors are generally required to drive their loads at much greater rotational speed than the primary motors, as the inertia developed by the rotating weights will greatly influence the effectiveness of the drive unit. During operation, secondary motors 7 and 8 are interlinked, being mutually aligned and actuating simultaneously, as are secondary motors 9 and 10.Each of these secondary motor pairs is also linked to operate simultaneously with their supporting primary motor, but while the direction of rotation of the inertial weights in either end cluster should be in opposite directions, the direction of rotation of the primary motors may be varied to provide different effects.

Referring to Sheet 2/3 Figure 3, the operational sequence is shown in which Figure 3(a) shows the position of the major axis of inertia of the frame assembly for example in the north - south plane (shown as N-S on the figure) with longitude X-X whereupon the first (northward) primary motor 2 is started simultaneously with secondary motor pair 7 and 8, the primary motor rotating its shaft in a clockwise direction as shown by the single arrow, resulting in a couple which tends to make frame 1 and all its ancilliary units including motors, shafts, weights, etc.

hereinafter referred to as the frame assembly, move in an anticlockwise direction about an axis A located between its centre of gravity C and the motor 2, as shown by the double arrow.

As these motors continue to rotate, a point will be reached where the frame has arrived at the position shown in Figure 3(b) with primary motor 2 southward and the centre of gravity C of the frame assembly now on longitude X'-X', slightly to the east of its former location. At this point, motors 2, 7 and 8 are shut off and motors 3, 9 and 10 are started with motor 3 driving its primary shaft in a clockwise direction which results in continued anticlockwise rotation of the frame assembly about an axis B located between centre of gravity C and the motor 3, which by the time the position shown in Figure 3(c) is reached has resulted in further motion of the frame assembly in an easterly direction to longitude X"-X". By reversing the direction of rotation of the primary motors, the frame assembly can be made to traverse in a westerly direction and by timely switching of the motors, any desired direction in the plane of the frame can be achieved. It is necessary to include secondary motors and weights at both ends of the primary shaft solely to balance the rotational forces induced by each motor, which would otherwise have a net couple effective in the opposite direction on the frame assembly.

Referring to Sheet 1/3 Figure 2, such a variable inertia non-reaction propulsion system as described above can be installed in an aerospace craft as shown with its frame 1, power sources 4 and motor assemblies with rotating weights, etc. 15 and 16. In order to take advantage of the rotation of frame 1 about its changing axis of rotation to provide lift from the atmosphere, a double "S" envelope shaped wing 17 which is antisymmetrically designed as shown in the plan view ecloses the frame 1, power source 4 and motor assemblies 15 and 16.Due to the irregular rotation of the frame, the wing 17 is designed to fly as a partial rotor leading first with one convex edge 18 and then with the other 19, and so on alternately, the cross section through the wing at a point close to the motor assemblies being similar to that of a conventional aircraft wing near its root and the wing being balanced around the motor assemblies evenly to minimize bending forces on the frame, etc.As the propulsion unit and wing 17 will rotate rapidly, it will not be possible for aircrew and passengers to be housed within its structure, so that separate command module 20 of aerodynamic profile will need to be towed behind the wing at some distance by rigid or flexible tie 21, the command module being fitted with wings, tail plane and landing gear to facilitate take off and stability in flight, the tie 21 being attached by ball joint 22 to the perimeter of inverted saucer shaped disc 23 which is mounted at the centre of and below wing 17 and is free to rotate about its mounting axis, some landing gear also being incorporated in the bottom of said saucer shaped disc.

At take off, the command module would normally be anchored at its rear end, while a ground based blower would pump air rapidly upwards below disc 23 lifting it and wing 17 above the ground, the wing then being made to rotate by use of the variable inertia drive unit until sufficient lift would be obtained to allow release of the anchor. During landing a hooking arrangement similar to that used on aircraft carriers could be used.

Referring to Sheet 3/3 Figure 4, a model of the variable inertia drive unit designed for remote control is shown, in which two power sources 4 are required, being battery packs which power both primary and secondary motors 2, 3, 7 and 9 which are electrically powered direct current type. The arrangement differs from that of Figure 1, as it shows the invertion of motors 2 and 3 so that they rotate about their drive shafts which are fixed at their lower ends close to the ends of the frame 1, enabling the common use of one battery pack and radio receiver for each pair of primary and secondary motors, said motors being fixed together by flanges 8 and 10. The battery packs also power the radio frequency receivers 24 and 25 and servos 26 and 27, which in turn switch on the motors according to the commands received at the antennae 28 and 29.It should be noted that frame 1 should preferably be of plastic or other non-electrically conductive material and that suitable screening should be provided to protect the receivers and antennae from strong electrical fields generated by the motors and power packs.

As motors 2 and 3 need not drive their shafts at great speed, they should have lower gearing than motors 7 and 9 which drive the weights. The model drive unit described above may conveniently be mounted on an expanded polystyrene float with a plan shape of the wing 17 shown in Figure 2 and operated on water.

Referring to Sheet 3/3 Figure 5, apart from the features required for atmospheric flight as shown in Figure 2, a variable inertia drive vehicle operating in space might require features such as a nuclear power source 4, centrally located, but with adequate screening and remote from the command module, this type of source being necessary to provide long term energy in substantial quantity. In order to allow drive to be effective in any direction, reorientation of the plane of frame 1 may be achieved by motorised rotation of symmetrically located discs 30 and 31 with shaft axes on the long axis of inertia X-X of the frame and wing assembly. In order to compensate for rotational imbalance in the major plane of inertia of the frame 1 and wing 17, a further motorised disc 32 may be installed at the centre of the wing with its shaft axis orthogonal to the major plane of inertia of the frame and wing assembly.

Generally, to avoid excessive heat build up, all rotational devices should be installed in friction free bearings. Use of regenerative motors for all disc drives would also be advantageous to minimize and stabilize power demand. Due to the more or less continuous acceleration likely to occur during prolonged space travel, it would be preferable to instal rotatable floors 33 and 34 within the command module 20 to allow at least a partial semblance of gravity to be maintained.

Claims (9)

1 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit comprising a free bodied frame with primary rotational motors located at or close to opposite ends of the frame driving shafts with axes orthogonal to the main plane of inertia of the frame and ancilliary units assembly, to the ends or both ends of each primary motor drive shaft being fixed secondary rotational motors which drive inertial weights to rotate about axes parallel to the main plane of inertia of said frame and ancilliary units assembly, with primary and secondary motors at any one end being activated to promote rotation of the frame and ancilliary units assembly about an axis approximately parallel to said primary motor shafts and between the operating primary motor and the centre of gravity of the frame and ancilliary units assembly, resulting in the lateral displacement of the frame and ancilliary units assembly from its initial spacial location.

2 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claim 1 above wherein continuous or intermittent uni-directional non-rotational movement of the frame and ancilliary units assembly is achieved by alternate activation of the primary and secondary motor driven inertial weight assemblies at each end of the frame for cyclic operation during which the frame and ancilliary units assembly rotates through up to 180 degrees from its original position in each cycle about axes approximately parallel to said primary motor drive shafts.

3 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claims 1 or 2 above wherein steering of the frame and ancilliary units assembly in the main plane of inertia of the frame is achieved by varying the switching time of the primary and secondary motor drive assemblies at each end of the frame.

4 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claims 1, 2 or 3 above wherein an antisymmetrical wing of double "S" envelope shape is installed around the outside of the drive frame and ancilliary units assembly to provide aerodynamic lift due to its combined rotation and forward movement resulting from the variable inertial drive.

5 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claims 1 to 4 above wherein a command module of aerodynamic design with wings, tail and landing gear is towed via a tie from a freely rotating inverted saucer shaped disc situated approximately at the centre of the antisymmetrical wing, the module being used for housing controls, aircrew, passengers or goods.

6 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claim 5 above wherein take off of the wing and frame is assisted by blowing air upward from the ground under the saucer shaped disc.

7 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claims 1 to 3 above, but with primary motor shafts fixed to the frame at or close to each end of the frame and with secondary motors attached to the primary motors to drive weights about axes parallel to the main plane of inertia of the frame and ancilliary units assembly, thus allowing use of one power pack for each end motor assembly.

8 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit as claimed in Claims 1 to 7 above wherein motor powered rotating discs are fitted to the frame to act as rotary motion stabilizers or to assist in steering of the frame and ancilliary units assembly and acting in planes parallel to or orthogonal to the main inertial plane of said assembly.

9 A variable inertia non-reactive drive unit substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.