System for controlling and automatically stabilizing the rotational motion of a rotary wing aircraft
OwnerPaul E. Arltoninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a helicopter having a device for stabilizing yaw motion through the use of a tail rotor with a plurality of rotor blades extending radially from a hollow rotor shaft which is mounted for rotation about a transverse rotor axis. The tail rotor is provided with a device for varying the thrust by a pilot input to the blades of the tail rotor and through the use of a gyro rotor for automatic control of the tail rotor. The invention further comprises a three point mixing linkage that permits the control of the tail rotor through both the pilot inputs and the gyro rotor inputs.
Claims47
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation,
- thrust-varying means for permitting a pilot to remotely control the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means,
- gyro rotor means for automatically controlling the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means to oppose rotational motion of the rotary wing aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation during flight, the gyro rotor means being adapted to be mounted to an aircraft body to maintain a fixed position relative to the thrust-producing means, and
- means for independently connecting each of the gyro rotor means and thrust-varying means to the thrust-producing means so that each of the thrust-varying means and the gyro rotor means operates independently to vary the thrust force generated by the thrust-producing means and so that the gyro rotor remains in a fixed position relative to the thrust-producing means when the pilot operates the thrust-varying means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means.
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation,
- thrust-varying means for permitting a pilot to remotely control the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means, and
- gyro rotor means for automatically controlling the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means to oppose rotational motion of the rotary wing aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation during flight, the gyro rotor means being adapted to be mounted to an aircraft body to maintain a fixed position relative to the aircraft body, the gyro rotor means including first and second gyro arms and means for supporting the first and second gyro arms for rotational movement in a gyro rotor rotational plane about a gyro rotor rotation axis and for pivotable movement relative to said thrust-producing means about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to yaw motion encountered by the gyro arms during flight to vary the thrust force generated by said thrust-producing means, the supporting means being configured so that the gyro rotor pivot axis intersects the gyro rotor rotational plane.
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation and
- gyro rotor means for automatically controlling the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means to oppose rotational motion of the rotary wing aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation during flight, the gyro rotor means including first and second gyro arms, means for supporting the first and second gyro arms for rotational movement about a gyro rotor rotation axis and for pivotable movement relative to said thrust-producing means about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to yaw motion encountered by the first and second gyro arms during flight to vary the thrust force generated by said thrust-producing means, a gyro spindle spaced apart from the supporting means and adapted to be mounted to an aircraft body to pivot about a gyro spindle pivot axis that is spaced apart from the gyro rotor pivot axis in response to pivotable movement of the first and second gyro arms about the gyro rotor pivot axis, and linkage means for connecting the first and second gyro arms to the gyro spindle to transmit pivoting motion of the first and second gyro arms about the gyro rotor pivot axis to the gyro spindle to cause the gyro spindle to pivot about the gyro spindle pivot axis and to lie in spaced-apart relation to the supporting means.
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation,
- thrust-varying means for permitting a pilot to remotely control the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means,
- gyro rotor means for automatically controlling the thrust-producing means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means to oppose rotational motion of the rotary wing aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation during flight, and
- a three-point mixing linkage including a mixing member, output means for linking the mixing member to the thrust-producing means at an output point so that movement of the mixing member relative to the aircraft body causes the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means to vary, first input means for coupling the thrust-varying means to the mixing member at a thrust-varying means input point so that movement of the thrust-varying means by the pilot moves the output means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means, and second input means for coupling the gyro rotor means to the mixing member at a gyro rotor means input point so that movement of the gyro rotor means moves the output means to vary the magnitude of the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means, wherein movement of the thrust-varying means causes the mixing member to rotate about the gyro rotor means input point of said mixing member and displace the output point of the mixing member to vary the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means and movement of the gyro rotor means causes the mixing member to rotate about the thrust-varying means input point of the mixing member and displace the output point of the mixing member to vary the thrust force produced by the thrust-producing means.
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation and
- gyro rotor means for automatically varying the thrust force generated by said thrust-producing means, said gyro rotor means including first and second gyro arms, means for supporting the first and second gyro arms for pivotable movement relative to said thrust-producing means about a gyro pivot axis between a nominal orientation and a tilted orientation so that the gyro arms pivot about the gyro arm pivot axis from the nominal orientation toward the tilted orientation in response to yaw motion encountered by the gyro arms during flight to vary the thrust force generated by said thrust-producing means, and means for restoring gyro arms pivoted to a tilted orientation to their nominal orientation, the restoring means including a first weight connected to the first gyro arm, a second weight connected to the second gyro arm, and means for pivotally connecting the first gyro arm to the supporting means and the second gyro arm to the supporting means so that centrifugal forces acting on first and second gyro arms will orient first and second gyro arms in their nominal orientation.
A device for stabilizing yaw motion of a rotary wing aircraft including an aircraft body and a main rotor rotating relative to the aircraft body about an aircraft axis of rotation, the device comprising
- thrust-producing means for generating a thrust force along a thrust axis that is substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation,
- gyro rotor means for automatically varying the thrust force to oppose rotational motion of the rotary wing aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, the gyro rotor means including first and second gyro arms and means for supporting the first and second gyro arms for rotational movement about a gyro rotor axis of rotation and for pivotable movement relative to said thrust-producing means, and about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to yaw motion encountered by the gyro arms during flight to vary the thrust force generated by said thrust-producing means, and
- a scissor linkage including a first link and a second link appended to the first link and adapted to link to a power source, the first link being pivotably connected to the second link to one of extend and contract in response to pivoting of the first and second gyro arms about the gyro arms pivot axis.
A rotation control and stabilization system for a rotary wing aircraft having a power plant and an aircraft axis of rotation, the rotation control and stabilization system comprising
- thrust producing means spatially offset from the aircraft axis of rotation and capable of directing a thrust force along a thrust axis substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation;
- gyro rotor means driven by the power plant and mounted to rotate about a gyro rotor axis of rotation and pivot about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, said gyro rotor means being linked to the thrust producing means to vary the thrust of the thrust producing means;
- gyro spindle means mounted to pivot about a gyro spindle pivot axis, said gyro spindle means being responsive to pivoting of said gyro rotor means and said gyro spindle pivot axis being situated in fixed relation to the power plant;
- and
- gyro control means to transmit gyro control commands away from the gyro spindle means, said gyro control means being connected to the gyro spindle means at an output point spatially offset from the gyro rotor axis of rotation.
A rotation control and stabilization system for a rotary wing aircraft having a power plant and an aircraft axis of rotation, the rotation control and stabilization system comprising
- thrust producing means spatially offset from the aircraft axis of rotation and capable of directing a thrust force along a thrust axis substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation;
- gyro rotor means mounted to rotate about a gyro rotor axis of rotation and to pivot about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to angular motion of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, said gyro rotor means being linked to the thrust producing means to vary the thrust of the thrust producing means;
- gyro spindle means mounted to pivot about a gyro spindle pivot axis, said gyro spindle means being responsive to pivoting of said gyro rotor means and said gyro spindle pivot axis being situated in fixed relation to the power plant;
- gyro control means responsive to tilt of said gyro spindle means and connected to the gyro spindle means to transmit gyro control commands away from the gyro spindle means;
- pilot control means responsive to pilot control commands and linked to the thrust producing means to vary the thrust of the thrust producing means;
- and
- pivoting operation of the gyro rotor about the gyro rotor pivot axis is substantially independent of pilot control commands to vary the thrust of the thrust producing means.
A rotation control and stabilization system for a rotary wing aircraft having a power plant and an aircraft axis of rotation, the rotation control and stabilization system comprising
- thrust producing means spatially offset from the aircraft axis of rotation and capable of directing a thrust force along a thrust axis substantially perpendicular to the aircraft axis of rotation;
- gyro rotor means mounted to rotate about a gyro rotor axis of rotation in a gyro rotor plane of rotation and to pivot about a gyro rotor pivot axis in response to angular motion of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, said gyro rotor means being linked to the thrust producing means to vary the thrust of the thrust producing means;
- and
- gyro spindle means mounted to pivot about a gyro spindle pivot axis, said gyro spindle means being responsive to pivoting of said gyro rotor means and said gyro spindle pivot axis being situated in fixed relation to the power plant and proximately intersecting the gyro rotor axis of rotation;
- and
- gyro control means responsive to tilt of said gyro spindle means and connected to the gyro spindle means to transmit gyro control commands away from the gyro spindle means.
On a rotation control and stabilization system for a rotary wing aircraft having an aircraft axis of rotation and a gyroscopic mechanism mounted to pivot from a nominal orientation to a tilted orientation in response to rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, means for restoring the gyroscopic mechanism from the tilted orientation to the nominal orientation comprising weighted restoring means linked to the gyroscopic mechanism and capable of generating centrifugal restoring forces by action of the weighted restoring means rotating about a restoring-means axis of rotation, said centrifugal restoring forces being in a condition of equilibrium when the gyroscopic mechanism is in the nominal orientation and being out of equilibrium when the gyroscopic mechanism pivots to a tilted orientation, said weighted restoring means tending to move toward the condition of equilibrium thereby restoring the gyroscopic mechanism toward the nominal orientation.
On a rotation control and stabilization system for a rotary winged aircraft having a main rotor and a power plant for driving the main rotor, an aircraft axis of rotation, a pilot control system responsive to pilot control commands to operate a pilot control linkage, a rotation stabilization system driven by the power plant and responsive to rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation to operate a rotation stabilization linkage, and a rotation control system capable of affecting the rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation through operation of a rotation control linkage,
- a three-point mixing linkage having a first input point linked to the pilot control linkage and a second input point linked to the rotation stabilization linkage and an output point offset from both of the first input point and second input point and linked to the rotation control linkage so that operation of the pilot control linkage causes said three-point mixing arm to pivot about the second input point and displace the output point and the connected rotation control linkage thereby affecting the rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation, and operation of the rotation stabilization linkage causes said three-point mixing arm to pivot about the first input point and displace the output point and the connected rotation control linkage thereby affecting the rotation of the aircraft about the aircraft axis of rotation .
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.