Abstract:
A barrel-type internal combustion engine (10) has a plurality of axially-parallel cylinders (14) containing reciprocatory pistons (18), arranged in a circular pattern around a drive shaft (16) with their axes parallel to the drive shaft axis. The drive shaft is supported in a cylinder block (12) in a cantilevered manner by sleeve bearings (22, 24). A wobble spider (20) is rotatably supported on an offset portion (17) at one end of the drive shaft (16) by further sleeve bearings (25, 26). A first roller bearing (28) is positioned between the offset portion (17) of the drive shaft (16) and the wobble spider (20), and another roller bearing (30) is positioned at the opposite end of the drive shaft (16) acting in opposition to the first roller (28) between the drive shaft (16) and the cylinder block (12) to support thrust loads.
Abstract:
A barrel-type internal combustion engine (10) has a plurality of axially-parallel cylinders (14) containing reciprocatory pistons (18), arranged in a circular pattern around a drive shaft (16) with their axes parallel to the drive shaft axis. The drive shaft is supported in a cylinder block (12) in a cantilevered manner by sleeve bearings (22, 24). A wobble spider (20) is rotatably supported on an offset portion (17) at one end of the drive shaft (16) by further sleeve bearings (25, 26). A first roller bearing (28) is positioned between the offset portion (17) of the drive shaft (16) and the wobble spider (20), and another roller bearing (30) is positioned at the opposite end of the drive shaft (16) acting in opposition to the first roller (28) between the drive shaft (16) and the cylinder block (12) to support thrust loads.
Abstract:
A variable pitch propeller has blades (36), the position of which, at relatively low pitch angles is controlled by a beta valve through a lever (23) and a feedback collar (25), the position of the collar being controlled by a plurality of beta feedback rods (55). There is one rod (55) for each blade of the propeller, and the movement of the rods (55) is controlled by a blade yoke (50) which has arms (52) partially encircling the rods (55). A lost motion connection in the form of a sleeve (60) is carried on each of the rods (55) and is movable against a retraction spring (62) by the arms (52). A movable stop mechanism (75) engages the feedback rods (55) at a particular low blade angle position and temporarily interrupts the movement of the feedback rods (55) while the sleeves (60) move to a seated position against the retraction spring (62), and thereafter the movement of the rods (55) is again picked up, accompanied by movement of the stop mechanism (75) against a spring (80). The lost motion connection represented by the sleeve (60) permits movement of the blades under control of the beta feedback valve without accompanying movement of the feedback rod which causes a shifting of the blades to a still lower pitch position, thereafter followed by reclosing of the feedback valve with continued movement of the rods (55).
Abstract:
A fuel injection type aircraft fuel system for piston aircraft engines includes gravity flow fuel tanks (18, 19) in the aircraft, a pressurized fuel metering unit (14) on the aircraft engine (12), a fuel line (26, 38, 40, 42) connecting the metering unit to the fuel tanks, and an engine driven pump (16) in said fuel line positioned in the engine compartment (13). A vapor separator (60) is provided in said fuel line between the engine driven pump (16) and the fuel metering unit (14). A first vapor vent line (44) connects the vapor separator (60) to the fuel tanks (18, 19). A fuel reservoir (28) is provided in said fuel line between the fuel tanks and the engine driven pump. A submerged auxiliary pump (30) is located in said reservoir (28) to charge the system; an auxiliary pump bypass valve (34) is connected in parallel to said auxiliary pump; and a second vapor vent line (46) is connected between the reservoir (28) and the fuel tanks (18, 19).
Abstract:
A two piece connecting rod assembly (30) for an axial cylinder-type internal combustion engine includes a pair of opposed, side-by-side connecting rods (32, 34). Each connecting rod has a bearing sleeve (36, 37) at each end for pivotal engagement with respective universal joint trunnions (54, 49) connected to a piston (20) and spider (16) respectively. The two rods (32, 34) are connected to each other at their centers with their bearing sleeves (36, 37) spaced apart in concentric relation through a pair of raised bosses (40, 38) having mating surfaces (44, 42), and a bolt (46) for retention of the two rods (32, 34) as a unified structure.
Abstract:
The invention relates to a detonation indication system for an internal combustion piston engine of an aircraft, which senses detonation by means of a sensor comprising a piezoelectric force transducer (12) installed under a the spark plug of each cylinder of the engine. The transducer produces an on-going combustion pressure-induced charge signal which is converted into a voltage signal by a charge converter (14). A comparator gating circuit (16) removes, from the voltage signal, signal components, associated with intake and exhaust strokes, which occur below a predetermined combustion pressure. A high-pass frequency filter (18) then removes signal components associated with low frequency changes in combustion pressure. The output from the filter (18) is applied to an RMS-to-direct current converter (20) which converts the output into a direct current voltage proportional to the RMS value of the filter output. The output from the converter (20) is applied to peak and hold circuitry (22) which holds the peak value of the converter output corresponding to the most severe detonation event which occurs during an adjustable reset time period. A digital display (24) is provided which receives signals from the circuit (22) corresponding to the peak values occurring during successive reset periods and provides a numerical read-out indicative of the severity of the associated detonation events.
Abstract:
A gyroscopic device of the type having a short-circuited rotor winding or conductor (10) so shaped so as to produce axial and radial flux components when rotated in the earth's magnetic field is coupled to a coaxial sensing coil (15) coaxial which gyroscopically stabilized thereby, signals induced in the sensing coil due to the axial flux component of the rotor is used to derive magnetic heading information and there is provided at least one further coil (41) on the supporting body and inductively linked to the sensing coil and rotor such that when the sensing coil is gyroscopically stabilized by the rotor, the coil supported on the supporting body in relation to the gyroscopically stabilized sensing coil is such that any changes in angular orientation of the supporting body relative to the gyroscopically stabilized sensing coil introduces changes in the signal voltages induced in the coils. The further coil on the supporting body may be excited with one or more excitation signals of a frequency different than the angular speed of the rotor (10) and constituted by pairs of orthogonally related coils on all three axes namely, the roll (41, 42), pitch (43, 44) and yaw (45, 46) axes. The coil located on the yaw axis is coaxial with the gyroscopically stabilized sensing coil in the rest position and is used for eliminating ambiguities.