U.S. patent number 3,661,415 [Application Number 04/882,687] was granted by the patent office on 1972-05-09 for hoist system.
Invention is credited to Frank N. Piasecki.
United States Patent |
3,661,415 |
Piasecki |
May 9, 1972 |
HOIST SYSTEM
Abstract
A hoist system including elevated means having spaced contact
points, carrier means disposed below the elevated means, having
similarly arranged contact points, cable means operatively
interconnecting the contact points for carrying the carrier means
below the elevated means, means for varying the effective length of
the cable means disposed at a selected contact point, one end of
the cable means being fixedly secured to a selected contact point
and the opposite end thereof being operatively connected to the
cable length varying means whereby upon operation of the cable
length varying means the effective length of the cable means will
be varied correspondingly to vary the vertical displacement of the
carrier means relative to the elevated means.
Inventors: |
Piasecki; Frank N. (Haverford,
PA) |
Family
ID: |
25381123 |
Appl.
No.: |
04/882,687 |
Filed: |
December 5, 1969 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
294/67.1;
254/337; 244/137.1; 294/81.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B64D
1/22 (20130101); B66C 1/10 (20130101); B66C
1/16 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B66C
1/16 (20060101); B64D 1/22 (20060101); B64D
1/00 (20060101); B66C 1/10 (20060101); B66C
1/12 (20060101); B66c 001/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;294/67,67.4,81,81SF
;212/14,15,21,18,10,11,125,127 ;254/144 ;244/137 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Hornsby; Harvey C.
Claims
I claim:
1. A hoist system comprising elevated means having spaced contact
points disposed at the vertices of a rectangle, carrier means
disposed below said elevated means, having similarly spaced contact
points disposed at the vertices of a rectangle, each of the contact
points on said carrier means including a sheave, diagonally opposed
contact points on said elevated means being provided with sheaves,
cable means operatively interconnecting said contact points for
carrying said carrier means below said elevated means, a winch
secured to said elevated means at a contact point spaced from said
diagonally opposed sheaves, and said cable means having one end
thereof fixedly secured to said elevated means at a contact point
diagonally opposed to said winch, a first segment extending
downwardly and reeved under a first sheave disposed on said carrier
means, a second segment extending transversely and reeved under a
second sheave on said carrier means, a third segment extending
upwardly and reeved over one of said diagonally opposed sheaves
secured to said elevated means, a fourth segment extending
diagonally and reeved over the other of said diagonally opposed
sheaves, a fifth segment extending downwardly and reeved under a
third sheave secured to said carrier means, a sixth segment
extending transversely and reeved under a fourth sheave secured to
said carrier means and a seventh segment extending upwardly and
being operatively connected to said winch whereby upon operation of
said winch, the effective length of said cable means will be varied
to vary correspondingly the vertical disposition of said carrier
means relative to said elevated means.
2. A hoist system according to claim 1 wherein said carrier means
comprises a pallet to which a load to be hoisted may be
secured.
3. A hoist system according to claim 2 wherein the underside of
said pallet includes spaced means engageable by said load and means
centrally disposed on said pallet operatively connectable to said
load for retaining said load into engagement with said spaced
means.
Description
This invention relates to a hoist system and more particularly to a
hoist system adapted for use with helicopters.
With the development of larger helicopters for transporting cargo,
it has become desirable to devise a hoist system which is both
compatible with the helicopter in flight and effective in quickly
and reliably attaching, lifting and lowering, and detaching the
cargo. In the prior art, there are various types of hoist systems
which have been developed for use with helicopters. It has been
found, however, that most of such systems are not entirely
satisfactory in performance.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to
provide a novel hoist system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel hoist
system adapted for use with helicopters.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel
hoist system adapted for use with helicopters in flight.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel hoist
system for use with a helicopter in flight which is compatible with
the flight operations of the helicopter.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel
hoist system for a helicopter having a configuration compatible
with the helicopter in flight.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a
novel hoist system for a helicopter having a minimum weight.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved
hoist system for a helicopter which is reliable in performance, and
which requires minimum maintenance.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved
hoist system for a helicopter which provides maximum in flight
safety.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an
improved hoist system for a helicopter which permits the cargo to
swing freely in pitch and roll but resists yaw.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel hoist
system for a helicopter which is comparatively simple in
construction, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and simple to
operate.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become
more apparent to those persons having ordinary skill in the art to
which the invention pertains, from the following description taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention;
and
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the
invention.
Briefly described, the present invention relates to a hoist system
particularly adapted for helicopters, generally including an
elevated means having spaced contact points thereon, a pallet
disposed below the elevated means having similarly spaced arranged
contact points, a cable operatively interconnecting the contact
points for carrying the pallet below the elevated means, a winch
for the cable disposed at a selected contact point, one end of the
cable being fixedly secured to a selected contact point and the
opposite end thereof being operatively connected to the winch
whereby upon operation of the winch the effective length of the
cable will be varied correspondingly to vary the vertical
displacement of the pallet relative to the elevated means. The
spaced arrangements of the sets of contact points on the elevated
means and the pallet permit the pallet to swing freely in pitch and
roll but resists yaw which normally would transmit undesirable
forces to a helicopter in flight.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a first embodiment of the
invention. The embodiment generally includes a helicopter fuselage
10, a pallet 11 disposed below the fuselage, a cable 12 operatively
interconnecting the helicopter fuselage and the pallet, and a winch
13 mounted on the fuselage. The bottom section of the fuselage is
provided with four contact points disposed at the vertices of a
rectangle. Mounted at the contact points on the fuselage section
are a fixture 14, the winch 13 diagonally opposed relative to the
fixture 14, and diagonally opposed depending sheaves or pulleys 15
and 16.
The pallet 11 is provided with a pair of parallel side sections 17
and 18, interconnecting end sections 19 and 20, and an
interconnecting intermediate section 21. The underside of the
pallet 11 is provided with bumpers 22 through 25, which are adapted
to be seated on the upper surface 26 of a cargo unit 27 to be
hoisted. The cargo unit is adapted to be rigidly connected to the
pallet 11 with the bumpers 22 through 25 firmly engaging the upper
surface 26 thereof by means of a hook element 28 connected to a
strap portion 29 extending about the periphery of the cargo
unit.
The pallet further is provided with four contact points disposed at
the vertices of a rectangle. Mounted on such contact points are
sheaves or pulleys 30 through 33. Preferably, the rectangles
defined by the sets of contact points on the fuselage and the
pallet are of the same dimension, although the rectangle defined by
the contact points on the fuselage may be larger than the rectangle
defined by the contact points on the pallet.
As illustrated in the drawing, the cable 12 is provided with one
end thereof rigidly secured to the fixture 14, a segment 34
extending downwardly and reeved around the lower end of sheave 30,
a segment 35 extending transversely and reeved around the lower end
of sheave 31, a segment 36 extending upwardly and reeved around the
upper end of sheave 16, a section 37 extending diagonally and
reeved around the upper end of sheave 15, a segment 38 extending
downwardly and reeved around the sheave 33, a segment 39 extending
transversely and reeved around the lower end of sheave 32, and a
segment 40 extending upwardly and being operatively secured to a
winding drum 41 mounted on an output shaft 42 of the winch 13.
Preferably, the winch 13 is hydraulically operated, although it may
also be electrically or pneumatically operated. A suitable control
system is contemplated for the winch 13 to operate the hoist system
from a control console on board the helicopter. It will be
appreciated that by operating the winch 13, the effective lengths
of cable segments 34, 36, 38 and 40 can be varied correspondingly
to vary the vertical displacement of the pallet 18 relative to the
bottom section of the helicopter fuselage.
During normal flight operations, the cable 12 is taken in, so that
the pallet 18 is disposed either within a suitable opening in the
bottom section of the fuselage, or against the bottom section of
the fuselage. Whenever it is desired to hoist a cargo unit 27, the
helicopter is maneuvered into a hovering position directly above
the cargo unit. The winch 13 is then operated to lower the pallet
onto the upper surface 26 of the cargo unit provided with a
connecting strap 29. As the pallet is lowered onto the cargo unit,
ground personnel may easily guide the pallet onto position on the
upper surface 26 of the cargo unit so that the bumpers 22 through
25 are seated on the upper surface 26 and the hook element 28 is
properly aligned to hook onto the upper transverse portion of the
strap 29. As soon as the pallet is properly seated on the upper
surface of the cargo unit and the hook element 28 is connected to
the strap 29, the winch 13 is operated to take in the cable 12,
thus lifting the pallet and cargo unit together. The spaced
arrangements of the contact points on the helicopter fuselage and
the pallet, interconnected by the cable segments, permit the cargo
unit to swing in pitch and roll, but operate to resist yaw. Such
feature prevents undesirable forces produced by the movement of the
cargo unit 27 from being transmitted to the helicopter. The
helicopter can either remain in a hovering condition until the
cargo unit is hoisted to the helicopter fuselage, or may resume
forward or vertical flight propulsion as desired, without
experiencing any disturbing forces produced by the cargo unit.
Eventually, the cargo unit is hoisted either within a suitable
opening in the helicopter fuselage, or against the bottom section
of the fuselage, to provide a compatible configuration for flight.
The hook 28 is of the quick-releasable type, so that the cargo load
can be dropped quickly in the event of flight emergency. This type
of hook may be of any suitable conventional type.
Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, there is illustrated a second
embodiment of the invention. The hoisting system disclosed in FIG.
2 generally includes a helicopter fuselage 43,a pallet 44, a winch
45, a cable 46 operatively interconnecting the bottom section of
the fuselage and the pallet 44, and a second winch 47 provided with
a strap 48 which is secured to the pallet 44. Similar to the
arrangement as described in connection with the embodiment
illustrated in FIG. 1, the bottom section of the helicopter
fuselage is provided with four contact points disposed at the
vertices of a rectangle. Mounted on the bottom section of the
fuselage at the contact points are a connecting fixture 50, the
winch 45 diagonally opposed relative to the fixture 50, and a pair
of diagonally opposed sheaves or pulleys 51 and 52.
The pallet substantially has a rectangular configuration including
parallel side sections 53 and 54 interconnecting intermediate
section 54a and interconnecting end sections 55 and 56. The
underside of the pallet is provided with bumpers 57 through 60
which engage the upper surface 61 of the cargo unit when the pallet
is positioned on the cargo unit. The pallet also is provided with
four contact points disposed at the vertices of a rectangle.
Sheaves or pulleys 62 through 65 are mounted on the pallet at the
contact points thereof.
The cable 46 operatively interconnects the four contact points on
the helicopter fuselage and the four contact points on the pallet,
having one end thereof connected to the fixture 50, a segment 66
extending downwardly and reeved around the lower end of sheave 62,
a segment 67 extending transversely and reeved around the lower end
of sheave 63, a segment 68 extending upwardly and reeved about the
upper end of sheave 52, a segment 69 extending diagonally and
reeved around the upper end of sheave 51, a segment 70 extending
downwardly and reeved around the lower end of sheave 65, a segment
71 extending transversely and reeved around the lower end of sheave
64, and a segment 72 extending upwardly and being operatively
connected to a winding drum 73 mounted on the output shaft 74 of
the winch 45.
The interconnecting section 54a of the pallet is provided with a
quick-release hook 75 which is adapted to hook onto a strap 76 or
other suitable connecting device on the cargo unit, thus detachably
securing the cargo to the underside of the pallet.
The winch 47 also is mounted to the bottom section of the
helicopter fuselage, so that the strap 48 will be disposed
centrally relative to the contact points on the helicopter
fuselage. The lower end of the strap 48 is provided with a hook 77
or other suitable connector, which is adapted to be connected to a
fixture 78 rigidly mounted on the interconnecting section 54a of
the pallet. The upper end of the strap 48 is operatively connected
to a winding drum 79 mounted on the output shaft 80 of the winch
47. The output shaft 80 of the winch 47 is elongated and journaled
at its outer end in a depending bracket 81 secured to the
helicopter fuselage. The axes of the output shafts 74 and 80 are
substantially parallel and provided with sheaves 82 and 83 which
are interconnected with a drive belt 84 to provide synchronous
drive between the output shafts of the winches 45 and 47.
Upon operation of the winches 45 and 47, the lengths of the strap
48 and the cable segments 66, 68, 70 and 72 will vary to vertically
displace the pallet and the attached cargo unit, as an integral
unit, relative to the helicopter fuselage.
The unloaded pallet 44 normally is carried in a suitable opening in
the bottom section of the fuselage or against the bottom section of
the fuselage during conventional flight maneuvers. Whenever it is
desired to pick up a cargo unit 49, the helicopter is maneuvered
into a hovering position above the cargo unit. When helicopter is
properly aligned over the cargo unit as determined by ground crew
personnel, the winches 45 and 47 are operated to lower the pallet
44 with the releasable hook element 75 onto the upper surface 61 of
the cargo unit. As the pallet and hook are moved adjacent the cargo
unit, the ground crew personnel will manually connect the hook 75
to the strap 76, and thus secure the pallet on the upper surface 61
of the cargo unit so that the bumpers 57 through 60 engage the
upper surface 61.
When the pallet 44 has been firmly secured to the cargo unit, the
ground crew personnel may signal the helicopter pilot to actuate
the winches 45 and 47 to take in the cable 46 and strap 48. As the
winches 45 and 47 operate to lift the pallet and cargo unit as an
integral assembly, the drives of the output shafts 74 and 80 are
synchronized by the drive belt 84. Thus, the load being lifted is
distributed between the strap 48 and the cable sections 66, 68, 70
and 72.
The winches 45 and 47 continue to be operated until the cargo unit
is lifted either within an appropriate opening in the fuselage, or
against a bottom section of the fuselage, providing a compatible
configuration for flight maneuvering. As provided in the embodiment
of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1, the arrangement of contact
points and interconnecting cable segments permits the cargo unit 49
freedom of movement in pitch or roll but provides resistance in
yaw.
The winches 45 and 47 preferably are hydraulically operated from
the control console within the helicopter. It is possible, however,
that such winches also can be either electrically or pneumatically
operated.
To lower and deposit the cargo units in either of the
aforementioned embodiments of the invention, the procedure as
described for attaching and lifting the cargo essentially is
reversed. It thus will be seen that the hoisting system of the
present invention provides a simple construction which can easily
be attached to or detached from a cargo unit, can be readily lifted
or lowered without adversely affecting the flight characteristics
of the helicopter and may be positioned either within or against
the helicopter fuselage either in the loaded or unloaded condition
to provide a compatible configuration for the aircraft in
flight.
It further will be seen that the hook 75 can be quickly released to
detach the cargo unit from the pallet in the event of a flight
emergency. Both of the hooks 28 and 75 described in the
aforementioned embodiments of the invention can be released either
by personnel on board the helicopter, by suitable remote controls
or by ground personnel. Furthermore, the hook release mechanism can
be either power or manually operated.
From the foregoing detailed description it will be evident that
there are a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the
present invention which come within the province of those skilled
in the art. However, it is intended that all such variations not
departing from the spirit of the invention be considered as within
the scope thereof as limited solely by the appended claims.
* * * * *