AUTOGYRO

Abstract

The invention relates to an autogyro having a rotor (12). According to the invention, a gas pressure spring (32) is provided and is arranged for trimming the rotor (12).

Claims

1. Autogyro, comprising (a) a rotor, and (b) a gas pressure spring configured for trimming the rotor.

2. Autogyro according the claim 1, further comprising a gas storage facility connected to the gas pressure spring.

3. Autogyro according to claim 1 wherein the gas pressure spring configured for trimming the rotor is configured to trim the rotor about its transverse axis.

4. Autogyro according to claim 2 wherein (a) the gas pressure spring comprises a cylinder; a piston that runs inside the cylinder and, wherein within the cylinder the piston separates an upper partial volume (46) and a lower partial volume; and a piston rod fixed to the piston, and that (b) the gas storage facility communicates with the upper partial volume, but not with the lower partial volume.

5. Autogyro according to claim 2 wherein the gas pressure spring has a spring volume, the gas storage facility has a storage volume, and the storage volume is greater than the spring volume.

6. Autogyro according to claim 5 wherein the gas storage facility comprises a gas container with a gas container volume, and the gas container volume is greater than the spring volume.

7. Autogyro according to claim 6 further comprising a casing, and wherein the gas container is arranged inside the casing.

8. Autogyro according to claim 2 further comprising a pressure adjustment device, wherein a spring pressure in the gas pressure spring is adjustable by the pressure adjustment device.

9. Autogyro according the claim 8, wherein the pressure adjustment device has a compressed gas source for generating compressed air, wherein the compressed gas source is connected with the gas pressure spring for adjusting the spring pressure in the gas pressure spring.

10. Autogyro according to claim 9 wherein the compressed gas source is a compressor.

11. Autogyro according to claim 6 wherein the spring volume is at least five times greater than the spring volume.

Description

[0030] In the following, the invention will be explained in more detail by way of the attached drawings. They show

[0031] FIG. 1 a schematic depiction, drawn to scale, of an autogyro according to the invention and

[0032] FIG. 2 a three-dimensional view of a rotor head of the autogyro according to FIG. 1.

[0033] FIG. 1 shows an autogyro 10 with a rotor 12 and a propeller 14. The rotor 12 has two rotor blades 16.1, 16.2 that are fixed to a teeter tower 18 about a rotor blade rotational axis D.sub.16. The autogyro 10 comprises a fuselage 20, landing gear 22 and a tail unit 24.

[0034] In FIG. 1, the rotor blades 16.1, 16.2 form an angle of inclination ν=0° with the horizontal H. In this case, a rotor rotational axis D.sub.12 runs strictly vertical. A longitudinal axis L of the autogyro is also marked.

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a rotor head 26 of the autogyro 10 (see FIG. 1). The rotor head 26 comprises a rotor head bridge 28 that is fixed to a rotor head base 30 such that it can be rotated about the rotor rotational axis D.sub.12. It should be noted that the rotor blades 16.1, 16.2, which together form the rotor, are fixed to a teeter tower 18. The teeter tower 18 is fixed to the rotor head bridge 28 such that it can be rotated about the rotor rotational axis D.sub.12.

[0036] The autogyro comprises a gas pressure spring 32 that is attached to the rotor head base 30 by an end on the fuselage side 34. The gas spring 32 is attached to the rotor head bridge 28 by an end on the rotor side 36, which is lies opposite the end on the fuselage side 34.

[0037] The gas pressure spring 32 has a compressed air supply on the rotor side 38 that leads to a cylinder 40 of the gas pressure spring 32. A piston 42, which is fixed to a piston rod 44, runs inside the cylinder 40. The piston 42 separates the cylinder 40 into an upper partial volume 46 and a lower volume 48. The compressed air supply on the rotor side 38 is linked with the upper partial volume 46.

[0038] A pressure pipe 50, which leads to a gas container 52, is connected to the compressed air supply on the rotor side 38. The pressure pipe 50 and the gas container 52 form a gas storage facility 53.

[0039] The gas container 52 has a gas container volume V.sub.52 which, when added together with a pipe volume V.sub.50 results in the storage volume V.sub.S of the gas storage facility 53. The gas pressure spring 32 has a spring volume V.sub.F which, in the present case, has a theoretical maximum value of 45 cubic centimetres. However, the stroke that occurs during operation with constant trimming is especially relevant. This spring volume has a value of 22.5 cubic centimetres, for example. The storage volume of the present autogyro is V.sub.S=250 ml. The storage volume in the present case is therefore more than ten times greater than the spring volume, which represents a preferred embodiment.

[0040] The gas pressure spring 32, the gas container 52 and the pressure pipe 50 are components of a gas spring system 54. In the present embodiment, the gas spring system 54 comprises a compressed gas source 56 in the form of a compressor 56, which is only schematically marked in FIG. 2 and is driven by an engine 58 (see FIG. 1). The engine 58 is connected to the propeller 14 in order to drive it.

[0041] A non-return valve 62 is arranged in a pipe 60 between the compressor 56 and the gas container 52, meaning that drive energy must only be applied to the compressor 56 if a gas pressure p in the gas container 52, and thereby in the upper partial volume 46 of the cylinder 40, must be changed. In other words, the gas pressure p in the gas container 52 corresponds to the spring pressure p in the gas pressure spring 32.

[0042] The gas spring system 54 also comprises a drain valve 64, by means of which air can be released from the gas container 52. This enables the spring pressure p to be reduced. The compressor 56 and the drain valve 54 can be activated via allocated operating elements 66, 68, which are arranged in a cockpit 70 (see FIG. 1) of the autogyro 10. The pilot can therefore increase and reduce the spring pressure p from the cockpit.

[0043] It is also possible for the gas spring system 54 to have a pressure indicator 72 that is connected to a pressure sensor 74 which measures the spring pressure p in the gas container 52. In the cockpit, the pilot can then monitor the dominant gas pressure p.

[0044] The gas pressure spring 32 comprises a compressed air supply on the fuselage side 76 that can be connected to the compressor 56 via a three-way valve 80 by means of a compressed air pipe 78. The three-way valve enables a counter-pressure in the lower partial volume 48 to be increased by connecting the compressed air supply on the fuselage side 76 to the compressor 56. The redistribution volume 48 can be vented by switching the three-way valve 80, rendering the redistribution volume 48 free of pressure.

[0045] Should compressed air be applied to the lower partial volume 48 and the upper partial volume 46 vented, the piston rod 44 pushes a brake pad 82 against a sprocket 84 of the teeter tower 18, allowing a rotational movement of the rotor 12 to be slowed down. The purpose of the sprocket 84 is to pre-rotate the rotor 12.

[0046] The compressor 56, the drain valve 64 and the operating elements 66 and 68 are components of a pressure adjustment device 86 by means of which the gas pressure p can be adjusted. The gas pressure p is identical to a spring pressure that is prevalent in the upper partial volume 46 of the cylinder 40.

[0047] FIG. 1 schematically shows that the gas container 52 is arranged inside a casing 88 of the autogyro 10, thereby protecting it from direct sunlight. However, the gas container 52 can also be arranged outside of the casing 88.

TABLE-US-00001 Reference list 10 autogyro 12 rotor 14 propeller 16 rotor blade 18 teeter tower 20 fuselage 22 landing gear 24 tail unit 26 rotor head 28 rotor head bridge 30 rotor head base 32 gas pressure spring 34 end on the fuselage side 36 end on the rotor side 38 compressed air supply on the rotor side 40 cylinder 42 piston 44 piston bar 46 upper partial volume 48 lower partial volume 50 compressed air pipe 52 gas container 53 gas storage facility 54 gas spring system 56 compressor 58 engine 60 pipe 62 non-return valve 64 drain valve 66 operating element 68 operating element 70 cockpit 72 pressure indicator 74 pressure sensor 76 compressed air supply on the fuselage side 78 compressed air pipe 80 three-way valve 82 brake pad 84 sprocket 86 pressure adjustment device 88 casing D.sub.10 rotor blade rotational axis D.sub.12 rotor rotational axis, transverse ads V.sub.52 gas container volume V.sub.50 pipe volume V.sub.P spring volume p spring pressure, gas pressure