US2567682A - Carbon pile gyro pick-off - Google Patents

Description

Septl 11,1951 G. P. SILBERSTEIN CARBQN PILE GYRO PICK-OFF Filed July 25, 1946 L vv GEORGE s/L 55H5 Tl/v Fig. 4.

Patented Sept. 11, 1951 CARBON PILE GYRO PICK-.OFF

George P. Silberstein, Rochester, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to the United States of America. as represented by the kSecretary of the Navy Application July 25, 1946, Serial No. 686,180

Claims.

This invention relates to car-bon pile gyro pickoffs.

In obtaining useful information from gyros arranged in a craft, many diiculties are encountered in providing movable gimbals and commutating pick-oils. The proposed invention provides means for the elimination of these diiculies.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a carbon pile gyro pick-off.

Another object -oi this invention is to provide a carbon pile gyro pick-off in which the precession forces of a constrained gyro are utilized.

Another object oi this invention is to provide a carbon pile gyro pick-off and associated circuits for controlling a moving craft.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a carbon pile gyro pick-off and associated circuits to indicate the amount of deviation of a craft from a preselected stabilization axis.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and drawings wherein corresponding numbers denote-identical parts and in which Fig. 1 is a schematic elevation View of the proposed invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the electrical equivalent of the proposed invention;

Fig. 3 is an equivalent schematic diagram of the proposed invention in typical Wheatstone bridge arrangement; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View of Fig. 1 below line 4 4 showing a modification adapted for gun laying.

As shown in Fig. 1 there is. provided a gyroscope frame consisting of a vertical inner ring 5 and an outer horizontal ring 6, rigidly secured together at their intersection, and xedly supported thereat by carbon piles Il and I6 through means of rigid elements I5 and I4, respectively. Inner ring 5 pivotally supports horizontally positioned gyro rotor I in a conventional manner. Said supporting carbon piles prevent rotation of the gyro output arm in either direction, and s0 constructed and arranged as to receive the force of precession as the entire frame is tilted. Outer ring 6 is also pivotally supported by diametrically disposed pivots I0, 90 from the carbon piles, the pivot bearings being supported by the craft to be controlled.

For pitch control the device is mounted in a craft so that the axis of pivots I0 is aligned with or parallel to the longitudinal axis of said craft; for roll control the device is to be mounted in a craft so that the axis of pivots I0 is aligned with orparallel to the lateral axis of said craft; and for yaw control'the `device is to be mounted in a craft so that the axis of pivots I6 is aligned with or parallel to the vnormal axis of said craft, In each case the carbon piles are mounted so as to receive the force of precession as the entire frame is tilted through its association with the craft. As described, the equal resistance carbon pile regulators I6 and Il, being rigidly supported at their lower ends, receive the precession forces on their upper ends via members I4 and I5 respectively. An electrical ground is provided for the upper terminal of the carbon `pile regulator I'I and a similar electrical ground provided ior carbon pile regulator it through the gimbals 5 and 6 to a1- ready :established ground points. The lower ends of the equal resistance carbon pile regulator `are electrically connected to the potentiometers 2U and 2l, the junctions betweenthe regulators and the potentiometers being provided with terminals 2v2 and 23 to receive a galvanometer or similar current-indicating devices. The lower ends of the resistors 26 and 2l are connected to a battery 25, the return side of which isgrounded.

The equivalent electrical circuit of the drawing of Fig. l is shownschematically in Fig. 2. The equal resista-nce carbon pile regulators I6 and Il are replaced by the variable resistors I6 and I1 and the circuit completed in accordance with Fig. 1. By a slight rearrangement, Fig. 2 is converted to an equivalent circuit of Fig. 3 which is a basic Wheatstone bridge circuit. The terminals 22 and 23 provided within A-A in Figs. 1 and 2 have been replaced with a galvanometer 26 in Fig. 3.

Since the two equal resistance carbon pile regulators are mounted so as to prevent rotation of the gyro in either direction, the precession of the spinning gyro as the system of Fig. 1 is rotated is translated into pressure applied to one or the other of the carbon pile regulators I6 or I'I, depending on the direction of rotation of the system and of the spinning rotor l. Thus variable pressures on the carbon pile regulators are translated into inversely variable electrical resistances because of the inherent properties of the carbon piles. Hence any precession force created by a rotation of the system can be detected by the difference in potential at the output terminals 22 and 23. This difference potential may be utilized either to voperate a zero-center galvanometer or other current instrument 26 of Fig. 3 or may be utilized to operate a control system affecting angular control of the craft or device containing this system and thereby control its attitude gyroscopically.

A definite pressure should be applied to both carbon piles when there are no precession forces present. Thus the carbon piles themselves will provide zero-restoring torque Without the use of an external accessory spring. Potentiometers 20 and 2l are provided for adjusting for equilibrium conditions for zero-precession.

By the introduction of variable series and shunt resistors into the circuit of Fig. 1 as shown by Fig. 4, superelevation, drift, range, rate, and Wind correction can be introduced into the system for use in gun laying. The customary procedure is to provide the superelevation, drift, and Wind correction by series resistors such as resistors 50 and 5I shown in series with the potentiometers 40 and 4| of the preferred embodiment and range and range rate by shunting resistors such as resistors 52 and 53 shown in parallel with potentiometers 4U and 4I. Electrical damping can be introduced in the carbon pile system by mechanically linking variable damping resistors to the shunt resistors 52 and 53.

What is claimed is:

1. A carbon pile gyroscope pick-olf comprising a gyroscope having an inner ring, a gyro rotor rotatably mounted therein, an outer ring rigidly connected to said inner ring at the intersections thereof, a pair of carbon piles each mounted at one end thereof on the craft to be controlled, each of said carbon piles secured at the other ends to said outer ring at points 90 degrees each way from said intersections, and an electrical circuit including said carbon piles for measuring pressure on said carbon piles due to precession forces of said rotor and rings.

2. A carbon pile gyroscope pick-off comprising a gyroscope rotor rotatable in a relatively immovable gimbal ring, a pair of carbon piles each secured at one end to the craft to be controlled and at the other end to opposite sides of said gimbal ring, and electrical circuits including said carbon piles for measuring the pressure due to the limited movement of said gimbal ring due to precession of said gyro rotor.

3. A gyroscope pick-off comprising a rotatable gyro rotor mounted in gimbal rings, mounting means securing said gimbal rings to the craft to 4 be controlled, said mounting means including electrical pressure responsive means and an adjustable electrical circuit for measuring the pressure on said mounting means due to forces of precession of said rotor as transmitted by said gimbal rings to the relatively immovable pressure responsive means.

4. A gyroscope pick-ofi" as set forth in claim 3 in which said electrical pressure responsive means is a pair of carbon piles responsive to minute movements of one end thereof relative to the other end.

5. A gyroscope pick-0E for use with a gyroscope having a rotor mounted in an inner gimbal ring and pivotal supports on an outer gimbal ring for mounting on an aircraft, a pair of initially loaded carbon pile rheostats each mounted at one of its ends on the aircraft and secured at the other end one to each of the two intersections of the inner and outer gimbal rings, an electrical circuit including said carbon pile rheostats for measuring the forces due to precession of the rotor as transmitted by said gimbal rings to the carbon pile rheostats, and means in said circuit for adjusting the current flow in said circuit due to the initial loading of the carbon pile rheostats.

GEORGE P. SILBERSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED The follovving references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,053,183 Crane Sept. 1, 1936 2,137,974 Fischel Nov. 22'; 1938 2,248,301 Krause July 8, 1941 2,324,336 Thompson July 13, 1943 2,367,465 Kunzer Jan. 16, 1945 2,389,775 Hanna et al Mar, 27, 1945 2,479,122 Konet Aug. 16, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 600,784 Germany July 31, 1934

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