Positive locking mechanism for rotating helicopter mount
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
InventorMichael Colonnello
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus for rotating and locking a first longitudinal member with respect to a second longitudinal member. One end of the first longitudinal member includes a locking mechanism having a generally arcuate outer surface with a plurality of deep and shallow notches formed therein. The notches correspond to different positions of rotation of the first and second members. One end of the second longitudinal member includes a yoke rotatably connected to the locking mechanism with a pivot pin. A locking plunger in the second longitudinal member engages the notches in the locking mechanism and is translatable between fully locked and fully unlocked positions. In the fully locked position, the first and second members are not rotatable with respect to each other.
Claims11
An apparatus for rotating and locking a first longitudinal member with respect to a second longitudinal member, the apparatus comprising:
- the first longitudinal member with a central axis and, on one end, a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism including a through hole with a central axis that defines a pivot axis of the apparatus, the pivot axis being orthogonal to the central axis of the first longitudinal member, the locking mechanism having a generally arcuate outer surface with a plurality of notches formed therein, the plurality of notches including deep notches and shallow notches;
- the second longitudinal member with a yoke on one end, the yoke including through holes;
- a pivot pin disposed in the through hole in the locking mechanism and the through holes in the yoke to rotatably fix the first longitudinal member to the second longitudinal member;
- a locking plunger disposed in the second longitudinal member and translatable between a fully locked position and a fully unlocked position, the locking plunger being biased toward the locking mechanism and including a projection that (a) engages a first deep notch on the locking mechanism in the fully locked position, (b) engages a shallow notch on the locking mechanism in a force-dampening position, and (c) does not engage the locking mechanism in the fully unlocked position;
- an operating pin inserted through the second longitudinal member and the locking plunger for translating the locking plunger between the fully locked and the fully unlocked positions, the operating pin including a central shaft and a collar disposed around the central shaft, the collar being biased toward the second longitudinal member;
- and
- an operating pin opening formed in the second longitudinal member for receiving the operating pin, the opening including fully locked, transition, and fully unlocked portions wherein the fully locked and fully unlocked portions are large enough to receive the collar of the operating pin, and the transition portion is large enough to receive the central shaft of the operating pin but not large enough to receive the collar of the operating pin.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.