US984270A - Flying-machine. - Google Patents

Description

A. H. FRIEDEL. FLYING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED mums, 1909.

Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Elnuenfoa A. H. FRIEDEL. FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILLED JUNE 23, 1909.

Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. H. FRIEDBL. FLYING MAOHINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 23, 1909.

Patented Feb. 14, 1911.

3 BHEETSSKEET 3.

ALBERT'HUGO FRIEIDEL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

FLYING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters latent.

I "atcntcd Feb. 14, 1911.

Application filed June 23, 1909. Serial No. 503,866.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Annual HUGO Finn- DEL, citizen of the United States, residing at Baltimore, State of Mhryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flying Machines, of which the fol.- lowing is a specification.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvel'nents in flying machines of the heavier than air type, and the invention has for its primary object an aeroplane machine of this character which is so constructed and arranged that it may be easily controlled by the operator-{and which will be at the same time light anddurable and capable of extended-flights at slow .or high speed with a minimum of fuel expenditure for the driving motor or motors.

The invention also has for its object a system of end control by which the equilibrium of the machine may be easily and quickly restored at the will of the operator.

, Another objectof the invention is an improved front prow embodying a front rud- 'der pivotally connected to the prow at the froi'it end thereof and arranged to be moved so as to control the upwardly and dowry wardly inclined movements of the llying machine.

'Another object of the invention is an im proved steering apparatus or rudder at the rear of the machine capable of being easily manipulated to quickly alter-the course of the apparatus to the right or to the left.

Another object of the invention is an aeroplane which is capable of being flexed under the control of the operator to assist in maintaining or restoring the equilibrium of the machine, and assist m directing its flight if desired, and to'act 1n the nature 01 a brake which will automatically retard any downward movement of the machine, unless such downward movement is desired, and Wl'llCll will also during such downward movement right the machine so that no matter if the mechanism becomes otherwise unmanageable, safety in ali 'hting will be assured. And a further ob ect of the invention is an improved starting stand or support with which the aeroplane is equipped, the same assisting to a considerable extent in the initial rising no-wemnt of j the machine.

With these and other objects in. view as will. more fully appear as the. description proceeds the invention consists in certain constructions, arrangements and combinations of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim.

For a full understandingof the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and. accompanying drawings in which2- Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a flying machine embodying the principles and improvements of my invention;'

Fig. 2 is a front'elevation thereof partly in section; Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the equilibrium restoring side wings of which there are two located at the ends of the aeroplane; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the front rudder and a portion of the prow which supports the same; Fig. .6 is a similar view of the real-rudder detached; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of my flying machine, parts being omitted for the sake of clearness.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

The main body portion A of my improved rods or standards 6 which connect the front and rear rods of the upper plane with the corresponding rods of the lower plane. These standards or vertical rods 6 may be formed of any desired material suitable for the purpose and may be connected. in place inv any desired way and arranged at any desired intervals fromeach other, to secure the -desired rigidity without sacrificing lightness. 1

B designates the car which is pointed as shown and which may be fitted up in any desired way for aerial convenience, and which of course serves as a housing and support for the internal combustion engine or motor of any character designated (J i an intermediate cross. rod 12 connected at cal which is arranged to drive the propeller or p propellers 7,

the same being preferablytwo both vertically and horizontally. It is pref erably composed of twopairs of rods designated 8 and 9, upper and lower connected together at their front ends'as indicatedv at 10 and connected at their rear ends to the main body portion A, a front cross rod 11,

its outer ends to vertical braces 13, and an intermediate longitudinally extending rod 1a which preferably extends beyond the 'front cross rod 11 of the prow as indicated Thefront rudder E embodies a horizoir tally disposed plane 16 comprising two portions extending laterally in opposite directions from a longitudinally extending supporting shaft 17, and a substantially vertiplane 18 which is also secured to the shaft 17 and which embodies two portions, to wit, an upper portion and lower portion, the shaft being considered, the plane 18 bisecting the plane 16 as shown and the former being somewhat smaller in superficial area than the latter. The shaft 17 is pivotally connected at its rear end to the front end of the rod 15 as indicate'd at 19 to swing about a substantially horizontal axis and permit the frontrudder to be deflected either in an upward or downward direction, and to shift the rudder E, any

desired device may be employed such for instance as the cords 20 that are connected at sides of the their front ends to the upper and lower rear corners respectively. of the vertical plane 18, and that are connected at their rear ends to the arms of a handle lever 21 on opposite fulcrum thereof, said lever being pivotally connected to any desired portion of the main supporting framework A. I propose to construct the planes 16 and 18 of light and strong frames filled in or covered with silk or cloth and braced at their ends by wires 22. The plane 16 is preferably provided with a rearwardly facing recess v23 to provide a clearance for the front end of the prow and the vertical plane 18 is correspondingly recessed. as indicated at 24 for the same purpose.

For the sake of perspicuity, I deem it advisable to describe the operation of the different elements of my flying machine immediately following th ir description and arrangement of parts. Hence, in now describing the operation of the front rudder E it is to be-understood that to cause the machine to rise, it is only necessary for the operator to pull rearwardly upon the handle end of the lever 21, which will move the rudder so that its. relatively horizontal plane 16 tending both above and inseam will assume a forwardly inclined position which will cause the reslstance'of'the air in .the forward movement of themachine to strike the lower face ofsaid plane 16 and thereby effect an upward flight. Obviously, it is only necessary for the operator to pusli forwardly upon the upper end of the handle lever 21 to secure a downward flight. the true horizontal position of the plane 16, i it is manifest thata horizontal flight will 7 o be maintained, and it is also evident that the provision of the vertical planef18 increases the stability of the flying machine in operation and assists'in holding it true to its course against any undue oscillation .or gyration.

F designates the rear rudder. This embodies two rudder sections 25 right and left as best illustrated in Figs. 4 and 6, spaced from each other in a transverse direction and vertically disposed, and a substantially horizontal plane 26 which preferably projects out on both sides from the sections 25 as indicated at 27, the said sections 25 eX- below the plane 26 the required. distance. lhe rear sections 25' as well as the plane 26 are constructed of suitably strong frames covered with any suitable material, preferably silk or cloth and are preferably braced by cross wires 28 front and rear. The rear sections 25 are hinged at their front edges, to a stern section G and maybe operated in any desired way as by cords 30 passing forwardly to the hand lever 81.

The section Gr just mentioned embodies horizontal and longitudinally extending rods and obliquely extending rods 33 connected at their forward ends to the rear side of the main body portion A and any desired number of vertical braces 34. i From the preceding paragraph dealing with the rudder F, it is clear that in order tosteer the flying machine to the right or to the left, the requisite lever 31 is manipu 1 0 lated to swing the rudder sections 25 in the desired direction, and it is also evident that the horizontal plane 26 which is incorporated in the rudder F as a part thereof but which is a relatively stationary element, as- 1. sists in maintaining the stability of the air ship in flight as against any excessiveundulatory movements.

. It is well recognized that a most important feature of a flying machine of the heavier than air type and a desideratum which is the aim of every inventor of prominence in this field is a controlling system for qpickly restoring the equilibrium of the flying machine whenthe same come by a sudden gust, or by an accident to one ofthe propellers or from any cause. To effectually accomplish this result, I have provided a system of end control or side wings shown particularly in Figs. 2 3' and 130 has been over- 4, the same being designated H and each of these two side wings comprises two obliquely disposed planes 35 bisecting each other as shownand forming upwardly and downwardly facing trough-shaped deflectors 36 and 37; These planes are preferably con-' structed of wire frames covered with cloth or silk and are braced end to end by wires 38 or the like. The side wings H are so positioned relative to the aeroplane at the ends thereof that the-deflecting pockets 36 extend longitudinally, that is, forwardly and backwardly, andthey are pivotally mounted at the vertical middle of their front ends on shafts 39 that are secured to and extend laterally and outwardly from the front'cor; ner standards 6 of the main body portion or aeroplane A. To the rear ends of the re spective side sections H upper and lower cords or cables 40 are connected. The cables extend inwardly and cross. each other and are so connected to a handle lever -11 that when said lever is moved, one wing will be swung upwardly, and the other wing will be swung downwardly; hence it will be understood that in case the aeroplane should tilt to one side or the other, the operator will pron'iptly, by the manipulation of the lever 41 swing one of the side wings H downwardly and the other wing upwardly so that at that end of the aeroplane which is at that time lowermost the downwardly facing pocket 37 will be inclined forwardly against the wind, while the upwardly facing pocket 36 of the other wing" will decline forwardly against the wind, the resistance of the \VlIlCl-ill the forward movement of the flying machine consequently quickly bringing the aeroplane back to a stateof equilibrium. As both of these side wings are under the control of a single lever, the operators duties and responsibilities are correspondingly lessened.

As a support for the machine, particularly for use in steering, it is provided witha stand S which comprises a plurality of spaced legs 42 secured at their upper ends to the main body portion or aeroplane, and

' braced by cross rods 43 and diagonal braces 4% The front legs of the stand S are somewhat longer than the rear legs and are in.- clined as shown, whereby, the machine will be supported on the ground or other starting surface with its front end relatively higher than its rear end. As the motor C is started and the machine speeds up, the machine will tilt upon the lower ends of the frontlegs as fulcrum points the rear legs leaving the starting surface. and as soon as the motor has reached a sufficient speed, the entire machine will dip slightly for ward and thenrise, it being of course un derstood that by this time, the front rud' der E will be deflected upwardly.

As best seen in Fig. 7, the frames of the aeroplanes 1 and 2 include flexible and preferably metallic strips 45, said strips pref-' 'erably extending diagonally and intersecting each other at the ends of the machine as shown, and there being any desired number of longitudinally extending strips. The aeroplanes 1 and 2 are preferably formed with pointed bow sections 46, into which some of the longiludiinilly extending strips 45 extend at their forward ends so as to render the bow sections 46 capable of being flexed either upwardly or down 'ardly to assist in controlling the upward or downvard movement of the machine. In addition to the flexible bow sections l6, the aeroplanes may include flexible rear extensions 47 which are arranged in a plurality of sections as shown. In the present instance, although it is to bc uns'lcrstood that the invention is not limited to this number, I have provided three of these flexible rear sccl ions 47 for each aeroplane, namely a relatively largc'middle section and two smaller cnd sections. These flexible rear portions are also capable of being dcllectcd upwardly and downwardly and are arranged so that they may all be deflected u 'nvarilly, or "if desired, the middle section may be deflected oppositely to the cud sections. lly this means it is clear that. the aeroplanes may be flexed whenever desired, not only to as sist in directing the flight. of the machine, but the flexing of the machine may serve as a brake or retarding means to retard whenever necessary, or desired the down ward moven'lent of the machine, for inst nncc. if the machine should l'iecomc temporarily unmanageable and start to descend, it is clear that by flexing the aeroplane the downward movement may be retarded by the sections 47, and the machine brought under control before reaching the ground while at the same time the bow section 46 will serve to retard the iiiachine from its downward course and enable the entire apparatus to be again brought properly under control.

As above stated the aeroplanes are capable of being flexed at will by the operator. As one arrangement for this purpose, although it is to be understood that any desired mechanism may be used, reference is again to be had to Fig. 7 wherein it will be seen that the lower bow section 46 is formed at intervals with recesses or cut out portions 48'to provide the clearance for the prow in the movement of such bow section 46 and that the different portions between the cutout portions are connected to the upper bow section 46 as by vertically arranged connecting rods 49 so that as the upper bow section 46 is raised or lowered, the lower bow section ard 50 is extended forwardly and upwardly wardly,

' nection with the accompanying will automatically bring machine to the right or to from the front transversely extending bar of the main frame of the upper aeroplane 1, and a pulley 51 is journaled in the outer end of said standard. A rope or cable 52 is arranged to run over the pulley 51, said cable being connected to the upper bow section 4:6 as indicated at 53 and the two run-s of the cable being also connected to the opposite arms of a hand lever when the hand lever is moved in one direetion, the bow sections will be deflected upand when the hand lever is moved in the opposite direction, the bow sections will be swung in a downward direction. Practically the same arrangement'is. pro vided for the rear flexible extensions 47 of the aeroplanes, the upper sections whereof are connected to the corresponding lower sections by rods- 55, cables 56 being connected to said sections 47 and running over pulleys 57 to the opposite arms of handle levers 58. Obviously tions of the aeroplanes back to normal plane position, when permitted to do so. The levers 5 k and 58 are mounted in any desired way at the frontof the aeroplane as trated in Fig. 7 The levers 21 and 31 for the other controlling mechanismfof the machine or other parts of the apparatus are omitted in Fig. 7 for the sake of clearness.

From the foregoing description in condrawings, it .a light will be seen that I have provided and durable flying machine all the movements of which may be easily controlled by a single operator who can readily steerthe the left or cause it to ascend and who can also readily right themachine or restore it to a' state of equilibrium by the oppositely shifting movement of the side'wi gs H as well as by flex ing the aeroplanes themselves. I While I have shown the main supporting framework A of my improved flying machine as embodying upper and lower planes, tion is not limited to any number of aeroplanes so far as the controlling mechanisms are concerned and that various other changes may be made in the construction, arrangement and proportion of the parts without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

It is to be particularly noted that my improved flying machine embodiesa plurality of controlling mechanisms so arranged and combined that if some of them were to be disabled, the machine would still be manageable and capable of being kept entirely under control.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a flying machine the combination with a supporting framework embodyinga versely 54 whereby the flexible strips 45' the flexible po'r-- it is to be understood that my invenillusvided with end standards,

forwardly extending prow, of a front rudder embodying a shaft pivotally connected to said prow to swing about a horizontal axis, and a horizontally extending plane secured at its middle to said shaft and recessed at its rear-edge to clear. the prowf 2. In a flying machine, the combination with a main supporting framework embodying a main supporting prow, of a rudder comprising a shaft pivotally connected to said prow to swing about a horizontally extending plane connected 'at its middle to said prow and formed with a rear recess designed to clear said .prow, and a vertical plane secured to said shaft and also provided with a recess as described.

3. In a flying machine, an end controlling side wing consisting of two planes arranged obliquely and bisecting each other.

at. In a flying machine, an end controlling a horizontal axis,

side wing comprising two obliquely disposed planes bisecting each other, and a support on which said wing is arranged to swing about ahorizontal axis in a lateral plane.

5. In a flying machine, an end cont-rolling side wing hinged at one end to swing about a horizontal axis in a lateral plane relative to the flying upwardly and downwardly facing pockets. 6. In a flying machine, an end controlling side wing hinged at one end to swing about a horizontal axis in a lateral plane relative to the flying machine, upwardly and downwardly facing pockets elongated in the longitudinal direction of the flying-machine.

trolling wings embodying forwardly and rearwardly extending upper and lower pockets, said wings being arranged to swing about horizontal axis in tive to. the flying machine, and means for swinging the side sections in opposite di- 'rections.

8. In a flying machine opposite side controlling wings embodying forwardly .and rearwardly extending upper and lower pockets, said'wings being arranged toswing about horizontal axes in lateral plane rela simultaneously swinging the side win-gs in opposite directions.

9. In a flying machine, an aeroplane proshafts extending horizontally and in. an outward direction from the respective end wings comprising two obliquely disposed planes bisecting each other "and connected with said shafts respectively at their for ward ends to swing about horizontal axes, and means connected said wings for raising and lowering the same. i I

1.0. A. flying machine,.embody'ing a transelongated aeroplane,a prow secure said wing embodymg lateral plane relastandards, side machine, said wing embodying 7. In a flying machineopposite sidecon-f-i tive to the flying machine, andmeansfor J r to the rear ends of to and extending forwardly from said aeroand arranged to swing about vertical axes,

side wings hinged to the ends of the aeroplane and arranged to swing about horizontal axes in longitudinal planes relative to the flying machine as a whole, said end controlling wings embodyand end controlling ing upwardly and downwardly facing pockets.

In testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT HUGO FRIEDEL. \Vi tn esses W'. N. WoousoN,, WALTER A. lViLLIAMs.

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