US3527431A - Dispenser - Google Patents

Description

R. L. WRIGHT Sept. 8, 1970 DISPENSER 4 SheetsShee"t 1 Filed June 2, 1966 Fig. 2

INVENTOR ROBERT L. WRIGHT ATTORNEY R. L. WRIGHT Sept. 8, 19m

DISPENSER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 2, 1966 DISPENSER Filed June 2, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 8, 1970 R. L. WRIGHT 3,527,431

DISPENSER Filed June 2, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent M 3,527,431 DISPENSER Robert L. Wright, 127 Palomares Ave., Ventura, Calif. 93003 Filed June 2, 1966, Ser. No. 554,903 Int. Cl. B64d 1/16 US. Cl. 244136 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shallow elongated tray containing bundles of radar reflecting chaff is supported above the tail hook of a carrier based aircraft. Release of the hook opens the tray and deploys the chaff. The tray may be bolted to the tail hook, or may be expendable.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to dispensing means and more particularly to a chaff dispensing device for deploying chaff dipoles in relatively large numbers from small aircraft such as carrier-based planes.

Chaff, in the sense used in this application, is a type of confusion reflector consisting primarily of narrow metallic strips of various lengths which, when dropped from aircraft, create false signals on radar scopes. Its primary use is in electronic countermeasures and its effect, when dropped from aircraft, is either to confuse an enemy as to the location of aircraft or to deceive the enemy in relation to the number of opposing aircraft. Chaff also may serve as a radar screen to protect attacking aircraft from radar-directed anti-aircraft fire. A very dense cloud of chaff may be formed by dropping bundles containing the chaff from several aircraft, the cloud being placed between target areas and known or suspected gun emplacements thereby protecting aircraft during bombing runs. Current chaff dispensing techniques require a pod type of bundle dispenser which necessitates removal of a weapon or an external fuel container. Such removal reduces the range or striking power of the aircraft.

There is thus an established need for radar confusion reflector material dispensing means which will permit such material to be carried in sufficient quantities on light attack aircraft to provide protection against radar-directed gun and missile fire. The dispenser for such material must be compact so as to not seriously affect the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft yet also must be sufliciently large to carry an appreciable quantity of bundles of chaff. Further, the means must be easily carried and the bundles easily deployed preferably through the operation of existing appendages on aircraft.

Conventional chaff dispenser pods are bulky and heavy, among other disadvantages, and thus are not capable of filling the need for a dispenser for smaller aircraft. These dispensers require the addition of a significantly large pod to an aircraft which affect its speed and handling characteristics. A new chaff container therefore is required for installation on smaller aircraft. Such a container is provided by this invention.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to Patented Sept. 8, 1970 provide a chaff dispenser for small attack aircraft which will not interfere with the carrying; of weapons or external fuel tanks on such aircraft.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a chaff dispenser for small aircraft which is compact and simple in operation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a chaff dispenser which may be easily and inexpensively installed on the smaller aircraft with a minimum of or no modification of the craft.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a chaff dispenser which is especially adapted for use on aircraft having appendages such as the arresting hook of carrier-based aircraft to which the chaff dispenser may be attached.

A still further object of this invention is to provide apparatus for deploying material to be dispensed from a vehicle where such vehicle has at least one appendage of adequate size and strength to which-the apparatus may be attached and which is positionable during operation of the vehicle.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when consideration in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designate like parts throughout and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a prespective view of one embodiment of the chaff dispenser mounted on a carrier-based aircraft;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the portion of the aircraft fuselage at which a dispenser is positioned;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged isometric view showing the embodiment of FIG. 1 and its relation to the aircraft appendage;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged isometric view of another embodiment and its relation to the aircraft appendage;

FIG. 5a is a sectional view of one form of container for the chaff dispenser bundles wherein the bundles may be laid transverse to the container;

FIG. 5b is a sectional view of a. second form of container wherein the bundles may be laid longitudinally in the container;

FIG. 5c is a sectional view of an alternate container for chaff dispenser bundles;

FIG. 6a is a perspective view of an expendable embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6b is an inverted view of the embodiment of FIG. 6a;

FIG. 7a is a sectional view of one expendable embodiment;

FIG. 7b is a sectional view of a second expendable embodiment.

FIG. is a sectional view of a third expendable embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of non-expendable container mounted on the shank of the arresting book of a carrier-based aircraft;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an expendable container loaded with chaff dispenser bundles; and

FIG. 10 is a view of the embodiment of FIG. 9 showing the dispenser bundles covered by protective material.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a carrier-based aircraft 11 which is relatively small in size and has among other appendages a tail or arresting hook 12 normally used to stop the forward momentum of the aircraft when it lands on the deck of a carrier. The arresting hook may be lowered into the ready position for engaging a cable or other retaining device at any time during flight and thus provides a very desirable member for attachment of a chaff dispenser. Such a dispenser is shown at 13 and in this embodiment is positioned between the shank of the arresting hook and the underbody of the aircraft. Although the aircraft shown is a Douglas A4 Skyhawk, the invention is not limited to such craft and may be applied to virtually any aircraft having positionable appendages against which the chaff bundle dispenser may be secured or releasably held.

The aircraft shown herein is equipped with external stores stations which could accommodate the normal pod type chaff bundle dispenser, however, since this aircraft carries both weapons and auxiliary fuel tanks externally an additional external structure would be required in order to employ the conventional pod type of chaff bundle dispenser. Such a structure could seriously affect the aircraft aerodynamic characteristics. Other appendages on an aircraft also may receive the chaff bundle dispenser of the present invention, but on carrier-based aircraft the arresting hook shank provides so extremely desirable a deploying means that use of this appendage only is illustrated and discussed herein.

In the enlarged view of FIG. 2, the arresting hook 12, its shank 14 and chaff bundle dispenser 13 are shown partly in longitudinal section. The dispenser essentially is a shallow tray, see FIGS. 3 and 4, whose sides vary in height so as to conform substantially to the configuration f the underbody of the aircraft fuselage which is indicated at 15. For use on the type aircraft shown, the sides of the tray are substantially higher in the vicinity of hook 12 than at either the opposite end in the vicinity of housing 16 wherein pivot means, not shown, and means for lowering the hook, also not shown, are contained. A resilient pad such as is indicated at 17 may be provided to protect the chaff in the dispenser and more effectively seal the interior of dispenser tray 13 from the airstream during flight. A dispenser may be made substantially the length of shaft 14 so that a maximum number of chaff bundles may be stowed in dispenser tray 13. Securing means such as clamp assemblies 18 may be used to secure some of the embodiments of the tray to shank 14 although it will be appreciated that another form of tray may be held in place against the aircrafts underbody by shank 14 alone as will be discussed later.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show two embodiments of the dispenser tray in detail and in these figures each embodiment of the dispenser is essentially in the form of a shallow tray having curved corners at the forward end to reduce air resistance. Conventional chaff bundles or chaff dipoles such as those contained in conventional chaff bundles are stowed in the trays, the embodiment of FIG. 3 receiving these bundles flat and transversely disposed with respect to shank 14 while the embodiment of FIG. b receives the bundles flat but longitudinally disposed in relation to shank 14. In addition, loose dipoles may be packed in the tray to occupy all available space not taken by wrapped bundles of chaff. Tray 19 of FIG. 4 would necessarily carry a lesser number of bundles than would tray 13 of FIG. 3. Tray 13 is contoured to fit over shank 14 while tray 19. may be secured to the shank by clamp assemblies 18, as shown in greater detail in FIGS. 5a, 5b and 50. In order to conform to the fuselage of the aircraft, the sides of the trays generally are shorter in the intermediate portions than at the ends. At their forward ends the trays preferably have an upstanding end 20 and the end and sides meet in curved portions 21. The aft end 22 may be upstanding or angled as shown in FIG. 6b to allow the chaff bundles to slide out more freely when the arresting hook is lowered. If desired, the single tray shown may be replaced by two or more trays, not shown, positioned end to end along the shank of the arresting hook. Such division of stowage space may be preferred where shorter tray sections may be transported, loaded or installed more easily. Shorter sections also may be preferred in instances where controlled release may provide a more rapid or more extensive dispersal of chaff.

The tray embodiments discussed herein may be either reusable or expendable within the concept of the invention. Reusable trays preferably would be made of metal to withstand the air loads encountered when arresting hook 12 is lowered, and such metal trays may be lightened by perforations in the bottom surface thereof, not shown. FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c illustrate three embodiments of reusable trays, that of FIG. 5a corresponding to tray 13 in FIG. 2 while those of FIGS. 5b and 5c are dimensioned to receive fewer bundles of chaff which bundles may differ in size from those accommodated in tray 13. Each of the trays may have secured to it a bracket 25 which is cut away to receive a portion of shank 1 4. The brackets 25 accommodate yokes 26 which receive a complementary portion of shank 14 and on installation are secured to brackets 25 by suitable means such as bolts or aircraft screws 27. A liner or gasket 29 may be disposed around the upper periphery of the sides and ends of the trays in lieu of or in addition to resilient pad 17 to provide a seal against the underbody of the aircraft sufficient to protect the contents of the trays from the airstream. Such gaskets may be made of synthetic rubber or other suitable material.

FIGS. 3, 6a and 6b illustrate embodiments of expandable trays, FIG. 6a showing the upper side and interior of one embodiment while FIG. 6b presents a view of the bottom of this tray. Plastic or other lightweight, inexpensive yet solid, strong material may be used to make the expendable trays. In expendable tray 30 of FIGS. 6a and 6b the forward end 32 is considerably shorter in height than the after end 31 for reasons already discussed. The tray has a longitudinally extending ridge 33 which is made to conform to the outer surface of shank 14 and is reinforced at end 32 by plate 34 which engages the forward end of stop 35 at the aft end of shank 14, see FIGS. 9 and 10. Tray 30 is shown in cross section in FIG. 7a where it may be seen that chaff bundles 36 may be disposed transversely therein while additional bundles 37 may be disposed longitudinally along either side of ridge 33. FIGS. 7b and 70 show alternate configurations of expendable trays which ordinarily carry bundles 38 and 39 longitudinally disposed therealong. As in the expendable embodiments, liner 29 may be used to enclose the interior of the trays when positioned against the aircraft fuselage. These liners may be either supplemented by or replaced by resilient pad material, see FIG. 10. In the wider expendable trays each side may be stiffened by suitable means such as crease '40. In the non-expendable trays, FIGS. 5a, 5b and 5c, longitudinally extending strips 45 provide support for the bundles when stowed while transversely extending brackets 25 strengthen the chaff dispenser tray.

Operation of the chaff dispenser is better understood by referring to FIGS. 8-10. A non-expendable bundle dispenser is shown in FIG. 8 filled with chaff bundles and assembled on the shank of the arresting hook. All embodiments preferably are open at the top so as to provide both an advantage in weight and ease in operation. The trays may be further lightened by having holes, not shown, cut in the bottom surfaces thereof, such holes also admitting air from the airstream on lowering of the hook to more rapidly disperse the bundles. In FIG. 9 an expendable tray is shown loaded with loose chaff dipoles covered by strips 48 of suitable material to protect the loose chaff from wind and other environmental factors. FIG. 10 shows the tray of FIG. 9 covered by resilient material 17 in pad form, this material and strips 48 serving to hold the chaff in place during flight and to provide a seal against the underbody of the aircraft to exclude the entry of air from the airstream.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6a and 6b substantially 130 bundles of RR6 size chaff may be carried. The dipoles in these 130 bundles preferably are removed from their outer pasteboard wrappings and stowed in the tray as dipole sections. Such stowage permits more chaff to be carried and provides for more rapid dispensing of the chaff. Various sizes and types of chaff may be loaded in a similar manner, the total quantity carried being, of course, inversely proportional to the size of the chaff.

Where the tactical situation requires that chaff be dispersed, the arresting hook is cycled down into the slip stream whereupon the air of the slip stream aided by the force of gravity immediately empties the tray of its contents. Expendable trays are dispersed along with the chaff at the first cycling down of the arresting hook. Where loose dipoles are packed in the tray, either occupying the entire usable space therein or filling space not occupied by wrapped bundles of dipoles, a more rapid break-lock of a tracking radar occurs since the unwrapped dipoles open more quickly than do the dipoles in conventional pasteboard bundle wrappings.

Although the trays may be loaded with chaff just prior to takeoff, the invention provides for time saving in that the trays also may be loaded at the point of manufacture or at the point of distribution to the fleet thereby providing a pre-packaged tray for immediate use. In either the expendable or non-expendable embodiments, the tray is not a hazard or handicap to the aircraft during landing operations since, of course, the expendable tray is no longer present and the non-expendable tray is securely bolted to the shank of the hook along the upper side thereof out of way of the hook.

The trays are simply constructed and thus represent a minimum weight for their capacity. Any of the embodiments shown may be easily and cheaply constructed. Their cost is only a small fraction of the cost of existing pod type dispensers. The non-expendable type may be installed with ordinary hand tools and, of course, the expendable type needs no tools of any sort for its installation since it conforms to and is held in position by the arresting hook shank.

The type of embodiment, that is wide, intermediate or narrow, used depends upon the tactical situation to be expected. Where area saturation is desired, a number of aircraft equipped with the wide embodiments, that is those capable of carrying 130 bundles, may be desired. The chaff in each bundle may be cut for most effectiveness to different frequencies bands of the electromagnetic wave spectrum. Where breaking a radar track is necessary for a single attack pass only, the narrow embodiment having a capacity of 7 bundles may be preferred. Various planes in an attack force may be equipped with bundles of varying capacity to accommodate a wide variety of conditions. The dispensers also may be loaded with chaff cut for several frequency bands so as to disrupt several types of radar simultaneously. Most success is expected against radars of the search and tracking type having countercountermeasure capabilities of low sophistication. The dispensers should be of greatest value in actions where nonsophisticated radar is used by the enemy to direct fire. Patterns of various lengths of chaff or various frequency bands could be developed to disrupt and confuse the more sophisticated radars.

Each of the described embodiments carries sufficient confusion reflector material to present a false surface target large enough to appear to be the return from an aircraft carrier or cruiser. Alternatively, the present dispenser trays could be used to dispense propaganda leaflets or anti-personnel darts.

It will be recognized that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for dispensing material from an airborne vehicle having an appendage movable during flight from a position adjacent the vehicle surface to a position remote therefrom comprising:

an appendage mounted adjacent the surface of said vehicle;

means for moving said appendage from a position adjacent the side of the vehicle to a position at least partially remote therefrom;

a substantially flat elongate container having a principal opening for the ingress and. egress of material to be dispensed during flight, said container being so configured that it is closed by the adjacent surface of said vehicle side;

said container also being configured to cooperate with the shape of the appendage so that the appendage will hold the container adjacent the surface of the vehicle with the opening closed by said surface; and

means for actuating said appendage during flight from a position adjacent the wall of the vehicle to a position remote therefrom so that the container access opening is uncovered and the container contents are distributed.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said vehicle is a carrier-based aircraft and said appendage is the arresting hook of said aircraft.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said container is provided with longitudinally extending recess means for accommodating substantially the entire length of the shank of said arresting hook, said tray being expended when a radar reflecting chaff material therein is dispensed.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein said container is secured to the shank of said arresting hook, a radar refleeting chaff being dispensed from said tray upon cycling down of said arresting book.

5. The device of claim 1 and further including releasable means covering a chaff material disposed within said container so as to protect said chaff material from wind and other environmental disturbances.

6. The combination with (1) an aircraft including a fuselage having an under surface and an arresting hook designed to facilitate the landing of said aircraft upon a runway of limited extent, said arresting hook having an elongated shank means for externally pivotally mounting said hook on the under surface of the fuselage of said aircraft, and means for selectively angularly extending said hook to and retractable from a lowered position under the control of the aircraft pilot,

(2) a chaff dispenser in the form of a shallow tray the underside of which is formed with a recessed portion into which the elongated shank of said arresting hook is at least partially receivable, and an open upper side of said tray which is contoured to conform to the configuration of that portion of the fuselage of said aircraft adjacent to said arresting hook, and

(3) a load of chaff freely carried in said tray,

said tray, and the chaff load freely carried therein, being placed on the shank of said arresting hook prior to aircraft flight while said hook is in its extended position so that the shank of said hook is at least partially received within the recessed portion of said tray, said book then being pivotally actuated to its retracted position to bring said tray into engagement with the outer surface of said aircraft fuselage and thereby completely enclose the chaff load within said tray,

a subsequent pivotal actuation of said hook to its extended lowered position during aircraft flight permitting the chaff load freely carried in said tray to be dispensed therefrom.

7. The device of claim 6 and further including resilient means disposed along the edge of said upper side so as to isolate the interior of the tray during flight from the airstream pf said aircraft.

References Cited UNITED Aviation Week, Exclusive Report on Countermeasures,

STATES PATENTS Waldmp 44 10 by K1288, Philip 1., pp. 50, 51, NOV. 18, 1957. 222 ROBERT F. STAHL, Primary Examiner Gantschnigg 89-1.5

Panquette. 10 US. Cl. X.R.

Myers 39 1,5 244-110; 343-18

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