US1834417A - Heavier than air airship - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 1, 1931. E. W. PASLAK ET AL HEAVIER-THAN-AIR AIRSHIP Filed Sept. 29, +930 3 Sheets-Sheet l ud w \L mm 1 1 MMIII N mw W11 N Q ,N f@ A, w Z www. 1 l h www @l @l ww s@ h.

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HEAVIER-THAN-AIR AIRSHIP Filed sept. 29, 1930 s sheets-Sheet' 5 abkommen Patented Dec. 1,1931 l i I l Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE EMIL W. PASLAX AN D 'VINE L. MULLENDORE, 0F DENVER, COLORADO; SAID MULLENDORE ASSIGNOR OF ONE-SIXTH T SAID PASLAK HEAVIER THAN AIB AIBSHIP Application led September 29,'1930. Serial No.A 485,076.

This invention relates to improvements in Fig. 7 is a view .showing a modified form airships of the heavier than air type and has of elevating propeller; reference more particularly to an airship that F1g. 8- 1s a view partly 1n sectlon showlng is especially well adapted for use over water a portion. of the framework and 5 and which is so designed and constructed Fig. 91s a. v1ew taken on l1ne 9 9, Fig. 8. 55

that it can readily depart from and land on This airship is formed from metal or other the surface of the water and which can also suitable material and is provided with a float on the water for an indenite length frame consisting of a.- number of hollow pipes of time, even when the water is quite rough which have' been designated by reference 1o and which is therefore especially well adapted numeral 1. Since this invention is. not di- 6o for transoceanic travel. rectedf-to the specic frame construction, the

It is an object of this invention to produce several parts of the frame will not be idenan airship of the type referred to that shall tlfied by numerals, but only such portions of be provided with a novelform of .elevatlng the frame as requirespecial mention in order propellers which exert a substantially verto 'properly explaln the invention. The 6ll tical lift and by means of which it is possible frame 1s covered by means of sheets 2 of to rise substantially vertically and also to duraluminum or other light tough material. descend vertically and to remain suspended The fuselage is made watertight and has a without movement relative to the surface of bottom 3 and upwardly extending sides'4 and the ground. A 5. The top of the sides4 and 5 extend out- 70 Another object of this invention is to prowardly. as indicated by reference numeral 6 duce an airship of the type referred to which so as to form a recess or compartment 7 on shall be provided with a pneumatic means each side of .the fuselage. Located a short for assisting in elevating and propelling the distance above the bottom 3 is a deck v8 that ship in addition to the elevatingand the trac-l forms with the bottom a compartment 9 that l5 tion propellers. is watertight and which can be used for the The above and other objects that may be.- storage of water or for the storage of other come apparent as this description proceeds material which then serves as ballast. The are attained by .means of a construction and deck 8 forms the floor of the engine room an arrangement of parts which will now be ,within which are .located the several engines 80 described in detail and for this purpose refand the air compressor used in connection erence will be had to the accompanying drawwith this airship. More particular reference ings in which the preferred embodiment of will be made tothe engines and` to the niethe invention has been illustrated and in ehanical equipment as the description prowhich: l ceedsl Located above the engine room is 85 Fig. 1 is a section taken 0n line 1 1, Fig. a deck 10 that forms the main deck of the 1 2. and shows the Jfuselage in side elevation, airship and which lies in the Samaplane as while the wing and some of the compartthe horizontal' plate 6 and therefore the ments are shown in section; plates'10 and 6 form in effect a single deck` 40 Fig.2isasection taken. online 2 2, Fig.1; as shown in Fig. 2. The deck 8 rests on 90 Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3, Fig. 2'; transversely extending frame members 11 Fig. 4 is a section on line 4 4. Fig. 3, and that project outwardly to the sides 0f the shows the means for controlling the elevating fuselage and have their endsl secu'red to the rudder; 1' vertical frame members 12 whose upper ends Fig. 5 is atop view of the air-ship, portions connect with the horizontal frame members 95 being broken away to better show the con'- 13, as shown in Fig. 2. The frame members struction; 13 extend transversely beyond the vertical Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6 6, Fig. members 12 and diagonal frame-members 14 l, and shows a portion of the means for conf extend from the outer ends of frame memtrolling the horizontal steering devices; bers 11 to the outer ends of frame members 13, thereby producing triangular openings Within whichare located ioats 15. The inner vertical walls of these floats are spaced from the walls of the fuselage so as toform with the latter the recesses or compartments 7 within which are located the elevating propellers 16. When the oatsare in position, recesses 7 are closed on the two sides and the top and are open at the bottom. The ends of the frames surrounding the recesses 7 are connected by diagonal frame members 17 that are provided with bearings 18 at their points of intersection and in these bearings the axles 19 of the elevating propellers are journalled. The elevating propellers are formed by elongated blades that extend equal distances on opposite sides of the axis of rotation. The rear ends of axles 19'are provided with bevel gears 20 and a shaft 21 extends transversely of the airship and is provided with bevel gears 22 that mesh with the gears 20 in the manner shown quite clearly in Fig. 3. An internal combustion engine 23 is provided for rotating the elevating propellers and the drive shaft of this engine has a bevel gear 24 that cooperates with a bevel gear 25 on shaft. 21. When the engine is running, the two elevating propellers will be rotated simultaneously and at equal speeds and in the direction indicated byarrows in Fig. 2, from which it will be seen that the `propellers rotate in opposite directions, and

that the blades travel downwardly on the sides adjacent the vertical walls of the fuselage. The action of these propellers is such that when they are turning at a high speed, a strong blast of air will be produced which passes downwardly along -the walls of the fuselage and the reaction thus produced serves to lift the airship from the water or 'from the ground. Plates 26 are provided at the front ends of the recessesl 7 vadjacent the fuselage and serve to form with the walls 4 and 5 an angle that directs the air currents from nozzles 27 which will be hereinafter referred to. In Fig. 7 We have shown a slightly modlfied form of elevating propeller in which the blades are helicaland which, therefore, in addition to producing a lifting force also tends to move the ship forwardly. When the ship is resting on the surface of the water, the elevating propellers serve to move the ship forwardly like an ordinary screw propeller, so that the ship can travel on the water at a high rate of speed. In takingof from the surface of the water, it is, of course, not Iessential that the ship shall rise vertically, as there is usually plenty of room to take off and to lan ln addition to the elevating propellers, the ship is provided with two or more traction propellers 28 that are located one on each side of the fuselage as shown in Fig. 3. Where three propellers are used, the other propeller may be located at the prow 29 of the ship, or at any other suitable place. For the pTirpose of operating the traction propellers, an internal combustion engine 30 has been shown. The front end of the` drive shaft of this engine is journalled in a bearing 31 secured to the frame members 32 in the same manner in which the drive shaft of engine 23is journalled. Engines 23 and 30 are both provided with transmission housings 33 in which transmission gears for the change of speed are l0- cated. .These gears are shlfted in the usual way by means of levers 34. Power may be transmitted from engine 30 to the traction propellers by any suitable means, but in the drawingssprocket chains 35 have been shown. These sprocket chains connect sprocket wheels located on the drive shaft of the engineY and on the propeller shafts 36. The propellers are journalled in bearings 37 supported by the frame members 38. In rising from the water, the traction propellers are depended on t0 give the ship the necessary forward speed and when the elevating propellers are made in accordance with Fig. 7, they also move the ship forwardly and with the combined action of the two sets of propellers the ship soon attains the speed necessary to rise from the water surface. Secured to the top of the ship and extending transversely thereof, is a wing 39 which is of the usual construction, and which serves to maintain the ship suspended when in motion.

The fuselage extends rearwardly and tapers to a point 40 and is provided at its rear end with an elevating rudder 41. By referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the elevating rudder is secured to a rearwardly extending arm 42 that is pivoted to a horizontal axis 43. The arm extends forwardly of the pivot pin as shown at 44. Slidably secured to the front end of part 44 is a sleeve 45. Springs 4G are secured to the top and bottom of the sleeve 45 and are so tensioned that they normally hold the rudder in neutral position. Extending from the top to the bottom of the fuselageV are two or more bars 47 between which is pivotally mounted a bell crank lever. This lever has arms 48 and 49 and is pivoted so as to move about the axis of pin 50. The rear end of arm 48 is pivotally connected to the front end of sleeve 45 by means of a pin 51, and the free end of arm 49 has secured to it a connecting rod 52 that extends forwardly and is pivotally connected at 53 to the lower end of a control lever 54. This lever is pivoted at 55 and cooperates With a quadrant 56 that is provided with teeth and the lever is also provided with means for engaging the teeth so that it will be held in any desired adjusted position. Although a connecting rod 52 has been shown, this is merely illustrative, as it is possible to substitute for the bell crank lever a T-shaped lever and to use two steel cables instead of the cgpnecting rod if this should be found desira e.

For the purpose of determining the Vhorizontal direction of flight and turning towards the right or the left, the ends of the wing have been provided with plates 57 that are pivoted so that they. can rotate about axes 58 and which are normally held in the position shown in Fig. 1 by means of springs 59. The rods 58 that form the axes about which the plates 57 rotates extend toward the center of the airship and terminate in cranksGO. The inner ends of rods 58 are journalled in bearings 61. Connected with the ends of cranks openings in guide member 63 and have their free ends provided with inwardly extending hooks 64, as shown in Fig. 6. A control lever 65 is pivoted at 66 and has its upper end extending into the space between the two links 62. The lower end of lever 65 terminates in front of the pilot so that it can be readily grasped by him :when necessary.v Lever 65 can be moved so as to engage either one of the links'62 and when the lower end of this lever is moved rearwardly, the plate secured to the rod 58 with which the upper end of this lever is connected will be turned downwardly into the dotted line position shownin Fig. 2. When plate 57 is in the downward- 'ly extending position, it produces a 'large amount of friction .or resistance which acts as a drag on the end of the wing and causes the ship to turn in the direction of the plate n that is in operative position;, 'lhe extent of the inclination of plate 57 determines the amount of resistance that it exerts and this in turn determines the radius of the arc about' which the ship turns. When a very sharp turn is to be made, plate 57 is moved downwardly into a position at right angles to the direction of flight, in which position it exerts its greatest force.

Mention has already been made of the fact that the frame is made of tubes which serve as .reservoirs for air storage. The several members of the frame are interconnected so that the entire frame has an intercommunieating chamber and this chamber is made airtight and since the frame members are quite large in diameter and have a large combinedlength, the air storage space has a large volume or capacity. Referring now to Fig. 3, it will be seen that there has been provided an internal combustion engine 67 that is coupled to an air compressor 68. This air compressor is connected with the interior of the frame members by means of a pipe G9 that 60 are links 62 that extend through they ships of'ordinary construction.

outside of .the frame members with which they are connected and kwill finally leave through the openings in pipe 72. By passing the exhaust gas in the manner suggested,the air within the frame members will beheated .w and this in turn will heat the interior of the," ship so as to maintain a comfortable tempera-rt ture at all times. l

At the front of the ship, nozzles 73 are provided and controlled by valves74. When u these valves are open, a blast of air will strike the front of plate 26 andv exert a retarding force. Other nozzles such as those indicated by reference numeral 27 extend downwardly in the angle between plates"26 and 'the sides s@ of the fuselage and when valves 75 are open, a' strong blast of air is directed,Y downwardly which produces a lifting force, as already been mentioned.

rlhe space directly above deck 1 can be 35 utilized for the convenience of the passengers and also for the pilot who is preferably seated ina compartment at the front and has within easy reach all the different control levers. The dierent instruments and controls have not been shown because such details wouldunduly complicate thedrawings. On each side of the deck 10 vertical walls ,or partitions 76 are provided which form outer compartments like .those indicated by reference numerals 77 95 which form the state rooms for thepassengers. Each state room is provided with a berth 78. The outer walls may have large transparent glass portions 79 and this glass may be made from non-sl1atter glass, so as to minimize the 10b ldangers of injury in case of accident.

Fromr the above description, it will be seen that the airship'that forms'the subject matter of this invention is so constructed that it will lioat on the surface of water due to the fact 1m, that the fuselage is watertight and due to the further fact that the floats 15 have been pro-V vided on opposite sides of the fuselage. l

- Particular attention is called to the compartments or recesses 7 and to the elevating 11'`4 propellers located Within these recesses, as this is believed to be a novel construction and results in a device that .can ascend vertically and by providing the airship with the ordinary wheels for landing and taking oli' fron 11il the ground, it is possible by means of this construction to depart from and land on 'the top of a building or in an open space much too small for either landing or departinr of airy vWlie're the 121 airship is designed for use over water only, the elevating propellers can be constructed as shown in Flg. 7 in which ease they serve to give longitudinal movement to the ship and to assist the traction propellers in obtaining the speed necessary to make the ship rise from -Y the water.

ln case of serious damage to the apparatus, the ship can be floated with safety, dueto the great stability given it by the ioats 15. It is also possible in case of extreme necessity to remove the wing in which case the remaining part of the airship would be able to weather very rough seas, but as this feature has not A been claimed it has not been illustratedand described in detail.

IThe fact that the frame members are hol llow and can be used as storage containers for compressed air makes it possible to provide air starters for the gasoline engines and also if necessary to provide air motors that will operate the propellers for a short time in case of emergencies.

Having described the invention what we claim as new is:

1. An airship of the heavier than air type, comprising an elongated fuselage adapted to serve as a float, the sides of the 'fuselage extending upwardly and then outwardly whereby a longitudinal recess is formed on each side, an elongated lifting propeller located in each recess and mounted for rotation about an axis parallel to the fuselage, each propeller having a blade extending along its entire length and also extending equal distances on opposite sides ofthe axis of rotation, means for simultaneously rotating the lifting propellers in opposite directions, a traction propeller mounted for rotation about a longitudinally extending axis, means for rotating the traction propeller, and an elongated float located on the outside of each lifting propeller.

2. An airship of the heavier than ai!` type comprising an elongated fuselage adapted to form a float, the sides of the fuselage being substantially vertical and parallel and terminating in outwardly extending walls that form with the sides longitudinal recesses, an elongated lifting propeller located in each recess and mounted for rotation about an axis extending in the direction of the length of the recess, each propeller comprising a blade extending substantially the entire length of the recess and which extends equal distances on opposite sides of the axis of rotation,

partment, saidpropellers extending substantially the entire length of the compartments,

tures.

EMIL W. PASLAK. VXNE L. MULLENDORE.

means for rotating the propellers in opposite A directions at equal speeds, a traction propeller secured to the front end of the fuselage, said traction propeller being rotatable about an axis extending longitudinally of the fuselage, means for turning the traction propeller, a wing extending transversely of the fuselage above the latter, and an elongated float located on the outside of each lifting propeller.

3. An airship of the heavier than air type comprising a central, elongated fuselage adapted to serve as a float, an elongated float located on each side of the fuselage and spaced from the latter, a wall connecting the 'l upper portion of the floats with the fuselage whereby elongated compartments are formed between the fuselage and the floats, an elongated lifting propeller loeated in each com-

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