US934717A - Flying-machine. - Google Patents

Description

@E WHT G. DORE/IAN,

ELYIHG BMCHUIEt PPLIQATIUM frm-"1D DB0. 21, 1908.

mama sept. 21, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

glu/:venian @wi tu @osea DE WTT C. DORMAN FLYING MACHINE. APPLmAToN FILED DBO, 21, 190e.

. DE .WITT C. DORMAN, F MINOT', NORTH DAKOTA.

FLYING-MACHINE.

'specification of Letters Patent.

lPatented Sept. 2t. 1909.

' Application led December 21, 1908. Serial No. 468,593

-ing a novel arrangement of lifting fans arranged to revolve on horizontal axes and so mounted as to be capable of feathering, so that lon the downward stroke the flat vfaces of the Afan blades will operate to. force the machine upward While on the upwardv portion of the stroke the blades will be presented edgewise fortravel through the air.

A 'further object of the invention is to` arrange the fans in pairs, the fans of each pair being arranged to rotate in oppositer directions, respectively, so that the lifting force will be equalized and'any tendency to lateral movement Willbe corrected.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a novel form of steering mechanism in Which a combined steering and propellingwheel orfan is arranged at one end of the machine and is mounted in a pivoted support so connected to a steering Wheel as to permitmovement in either direction t'or the purpose of directing the course of' travel of the machine. l l

With these and other objects in View, as will more :fully hereinafter appear, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings. and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being'l understood that various changes in the form, proportions. size and minor details of the structure may be made Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the ad'- vantagcs of thei-nvention.

In the accompanying drawings z-Figure 1 is a side elevation of a iiying machine constructed in accordance with the invention, a portion of the mechanism being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine. Figs. 34 and t'are detail views of the mounting ofthe lifting fan blades. Fig. 5 isa longitudinal section illustrating the constructidn. and mzountii'ig of the steering device.- Fig. 6 is a view showing the driving mechanism for one' of the groups of lift' ing propellers, and Fig. 7 is a View illnstrat-ing the mechanism shown in Fig. il but on a. larger scale.

Similar numerals of-referonre are employed to indicate corresl'ionding parts throughout. the several figures of the. drawings.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, a flying machine embodying the invention comprises in part a suitable frame. from the upper portion of which extend radialliv dis A posed bearing sleeves .thcrebeing preferably four of such bearings extend ing from the fra i ne at equidistant points. lonrnaled in each of these bearing sleeves is a tubular shaft T, and extending through each of the tubular shafts is a shaft 8. The outer end of each shaft is supported in a bearing of the construction more specifically'cescrihed hereinafter. and which is located-at a point about mid-way of the. end. of one' side of a rect-angular frame tl that is clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. A gear wheel 10 -is fixed on the inner end of each tubular shaft 7 and a gear wheel 11 is fixed on the inner end of each shaft S. These gears intermesh, respectively. with annular racks 12 and 13, the former being carried hy a wheel 12 that is arranged in a plane above? the shafts 7 and 8, while the rack 13 is carried by a ring 13 that is disposed in a plane below the gears ll. Itfwill be umlerstoiid that upon rotation of the rings, the .shafts T and 8 will he rotated in opposite directions. Supported by suitable hangers 15 from lla-e upper frame is a platform .16. upon which is mounted a motor 17 which may be in the form of an internal combustion'engine. The main shaft 18 of the motor carries a bevel gear 19 intermeshing with a gear at the lower end of a vertical counter-shaft 30. At the upper end of the shaft 20 isa pair of pinions 21 which-are in mesh with annular racks` 22 formed on the inner edges of the rings 12 and 13', it being understood that power from the engine is transmitted by Way of the shaft 20 to the rings andfrom thence. through the racks 12 and 13 'to the gears of the shafts T and 8. ln order to permit ready `starting of the motor,- and to permit. operation of the fans in case of stoppage of the motor, the shaft 18 carries a sprocket wheel Q3 thatl is connected to a sprocket Wheel 21- on tht` crank shaft 25 by means of a link belt 26. The crank shaft 25 is journaled in a suitable bearing 27 arranged at th'e lower portion of a. f 'ame 2S which carries a suitable seat or Y struction has coaster brakes may be emp oyed in the conneet-ion between the main shaft of the engine and the pedal crank shaft, but this mechanf ism being of well known and .ordinary connot been illustrated in the drawings. o

Secured from the shafts 7 and 8, respectively, ai-' e fan hubs 30 and 31, and to these are pivoted the inner ends 0f thestems of fan blades 32, saidblades being formed of any suitable'material. It is Yintended that the'blades carried by the two hubs shall rotate in opposition and that when a flat face of one blade of one of the hubs is presented toward the surface of the ground, the blade upon the other hub passing the first mentioned blade will be feathered or turned edgewise, this being clearly illustrated-in F ig. 1 of the drawing. In order that the blades may be properly feathered as above described, a pair of cams' 33 and 34 are employed in connection with each pair of fans. The zinner cam 34 is provided with two cam i faces 36, while the' outer cam 33 has a single cam face 36. This outer cam member 33 is rigidly secured to the rectangular frame 9, while the inner cam member 3'4 is supported by brace rods 35 which are secured at one end to the frame 9 and at the opposite end to the cam,'these rods beingso bent as to pass betweenthe two fans without danger of contact-with the fan blades.

vstationary cams, and as the arms approach the larger portions of said cams the blades 'will be turned, so as topres'enttheir edges to the surface of thev ground, the'blades being held in this position'during approximately halfa revolution, or that portion of the revolution on the-up-.stroke or ascending `side of the fan, but after passing beyond the vertical plane ofthe shaft axis, the blades will beturned so as to present their flat faces to the surface of the ground, and 'during this down stroke, or on the descending side of the fan, the blades becme effective for lifting purposes, and as the blades are evenly d1stributed around.v the entire frame and are of exactly the same area, and travel at uniform points, andthe machine will rise in a vertical ane. l

portion 41 which may be integral with or secured to the adjacent tubular bearing 6, and veach of the bracketsis formed adjacent its point of connection with the hanger with bracket-40 also includes a portion 45 which extends from the body portion 41 inwardly,

above the ring 12 and has journaled at its inner extremity a roller 46, which travels between the body portion of said ring, and an overhanging frame 47formed thereon.

A pair of rollers 48 are journa-led on the portions 45-of this bracket and these rollers receive between them the outerI ends of the .ring 12, so that the lattcrwill be held from displacement, but may rotate freely for the purpose of transmitting movement yto the tubular shafts 7.

In order to provide means for steering the machine, one of the shafts 87 preferably that one at the front ofthe machine, is tubu` lar in form, as shown in Fig. 5.

bevel gears 49 and shafts 58 to a hand wheel -57 that is disposed immediately in front of the seat or saddle and whichv may be turned for the purpose of directing the course of the machine, as hereinafter described.

Extending through the hollow-shaft- 49 is a shaft 50, the inner'end of which' is connected in any suitable manner to the countenshaft 20, the two shafts being shown in the present instance as provided with belt pulleys connected by a suitable driving belt- 51. The shaft 50 is formed of two sections con` nected by a flexible portion 52 andthe outer section lissupported in a small frame 53 that 'is pivoted to the outer end of a bracket 54 carried'by a fixed portion of the frame, the pivotal connection between vthe shaft sup` porting frame andbracket being inthe verso that the latter willbe held from Extending through this tubular shaft is' a hollow shaft l y49,.the inner end of which is connected by tical plane of the flexible section 52 of the porting frame 53, to one side or the other, the

fan maybe utilized in directing thecourse' of the vesselto the right or left as desired.

The outer portion of the tubular shaft 49 is provided with right and left hand screw threads as indicated at 60, 61, and these engage the openings formed in a pair of slidable blocks 62, 63 mounted in suitable guiders Secured to or formed integral with each will be seen that by turning the shaft 49 in one direction or the other, the two blocks 62 and by thus changinof and 63 may be turned toward or from each other, and this vmovement will be imparted through the rod -65 to the frame 53, thereby turning the latter either to the right or'left the angle of the fan, the course of the macthine will be controlled.

In addition to the fans 57, an auxiliary l propelling fan 69 may be employed at the rear end of the machine said fan being .10 mounted on a suitable shaft 70 geared or otherwise connected to the motor, as shown.

What is claimed is zl. In a flying machine, a frame, horizontally disposed shafts radiating from the frame, fan blades carried by the shafts,

means for feathering the blades, gears carried by the shafts, and annular racks intermeshing with all of the gears. I .2. In a flying machine, a frame, radially disposed shafts carried by the frame, fan

blades mounted on the shafts, gears carried by the shafts, a platform' supported by the frame, a pair of spaced rings arranged above and below the gears, annular racks carried 2 by said rings and intermeshing with the gears, and means upon the platform for ro tating such rings.

3. In a flying machine, a frame, horizontally disposed radial shafts supported thereby, gears at the inner ends of the shafts, a

- pair of-rings arranged above and below said gears, annular racks carried by the rings and intermeshing with the gears to effect rotative movement of the shafts in different directions, a platform supported by the frame, a motor on said platform, and a gearing connection between said motor and the rings. A

4. In machine of the class described, an

40 outer rectangular frame, an inner frame in-v cluding a plurality of spaced brackets, tubular bearing sleeves supported by the brackets, cams supported by the outen rectangular frame, auxiliary brace rods extending from the rectangular frame to the innermost of the cams, a hollow shaft extending through each of the bearings, a fan hub on said hl l- -low shaft, feathering blades carried bythe hub and arranged to engage one of the cams, an inner shaft extending through the hollow shaft, a -hub carried by the inner shaft, feathering blades carried by the inner hub and arranged to engage the outermost cam,

gears on both shafts, a pair of upper andy lower rings supported by the brackets, antifriction rollers carried by the brackets and with which the rings engage, annular racks carried by the rings and intermeshing with the gears, and means for rotating said rings.

5. In a flying machine, having lifting fans, horizontally disposed concentric shafts supporting said lifting fans, a steering shaft extending through the innermost of the fan shafts, a driving shaft extending through shaft, a hollowl steering shaft surrounding,

the propeller shaft, the steeringshaft being provided with right and left hand threads, slide blocks having threaded openings to receive said threads, and connections between the slide blocks and the bracket.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto ailixed my slgnature in the presence of two witnesses. y

DE WITT C. DoRMAN.

Witnesses:

lRonnnr H. BROAD,

E. E. HANYEN.

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