No title available

• US 3,724,788 A
• Filed:
• Issued:
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1971
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: N/A
• Original Assignee: N/A
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 244/137.3
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/02 Dropping, ejecting, or releasing articles jettisonable fuel reservoirs B64D37/12
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 1/12 Releasing

Abstract

Rapid extraction means for extracting a series of interconnected cargo loads from the cargo space of a delivery aircraft, in which a force-transfer mechanism is utilized to initially apply the extraction force of an extraction parachute assembly directly to the leading cargo load, and thereafter automatically transfer the continued extraction force being exerted to a series of staticdeployment lines interconnected with a recovery parachute assembled to each cargo load.

Claims

1. In a rapid extraction system for extracting and parachuting airborne cargo from within the cargo compartment of a cargo-type delivery aircraft to a selected drop zone;

a main parachute pack containing at least one, combined extraction and deployment parachute incorporating a relatively elongated, combined extraction and deployment line and releasably suspended in independent relation from the top wall of the aircraft-cargo compartment;

cargo-load-carrying means having at least one cargo load and being positioned on the flooring of the aircraft-cargo compartment, and being further equipped with recovery parachute means incorporating static line-deployment means indirectly interconnected, with a built-in slack configuration, with the end of said combined extraction and deployment line; and

force transfer means including a first, open-end portion directly affixed to the end of said combined extraction and deployment line and further incorporating a second, integral, closed-end portion;

a first, relatively short, flexible link attached between said closed-end portion and said cargo-load-carrying means to thereby ensure the initial application of the entire drag force resulting from the release and inflation of the combined extraction and deployment parachute to extract said cargo-load-carrying means rearwardly from the aircraft-cargo compartment;

built-in severing means incorporated with said first, relatively short, flexible link and having a main, elongated static line slidably attached at one end to the aircraft and at its other end in operating relation with the severing means, and further dimensioned to automatically actuate the severing means to thereby separate said first, relatively short link and its connection to the cargo-load-carrying means after the latter has been extracted from the aircraft-cargo compartment by said extraction and deployment parachute;

a second, relatively elongated, flexible link interconnected between said closed-end portion and the end of said static linedeployment means for thereby receiving, directing and thus effecting the automatic transfer of the continued drag force bEing exerted by the inflated extraction and deployment parachute initially to take up the inherently formed, built-in slack in the end of said static line-deployment means and subsequently to cause the latter to deploy the recovery-parachute means for parachuting the cargo-load-carrying means to the selected drop zone; and

automatically separable means interconnected between said closed-end portion and said cargo-load-carrying means for temporarily applying a supplemental extraction force to, and thereby ensuring the complete extraction of said cargo-loadcarrying means from the aircraft-cargo compartment during the initial transfer of the extraction force from the cargo-loadcarrying means to take up the built-in slack formed in the end of the static line-deployment means immediately after the first, relatively short flexible link has been served.

2. In a rapid extraction system as in claim 1, wherein said cargo-load-carrying means comprises a plurality of cargo-load-supporting platforms each carrying its own separate load and being further interconnected with each other by a series of flexible connecting links, each of said connecting links incorporating a built-in severing means including a knife-like cutting device and a separate, relatively elongated, static-type line attached within the aircraft-cargo compartment and to the knife-like cutting device;

said static-type lines being of progressively longer lengths and thus automatically operative in successive order to actuate said cutting device and thereby separate each cargo-load-supporting platform immediately after the complete extraction thereof from the cargo compartment.

3. In a rapid extraction system as in claim 1, wherein said main parachute pack comprises a matching pair of combined extraction and deployment parachutes, each having a combined, extraction and deployment line;

and said cargo-load-supporting means comprises a plurality of separate cargo loads interconnected with each other by a series of flexible connecting links, each having separate, built-in and automatically operating severing means each controlled in its operation by a separate static line dimensioned in progressively-increasing lengths to thereby separate the respective link in timed sequence with the successive extraction of the cargo loads;

each of said cargo loads further incorporating recovery-parachute means having static-deployment lines interconnected in adjacently-oriented pairs with the separate recovery-parachute means corresponding thereto;

said force transfer means-open and closed-end portions being configured into a clevis element attached between each of said combined extraction and deployment lines and the said static-deployment lines of a corresponding pair of recovery parachutes;

the closed-end portion of said force transfer-clevis incorporating one end of the said first, relatively short, flexible link interconnected with the leading cargo load of said plurality of cargo loads, and further having knife-cutting means integrated with said first, relatively short, flexible link and actuated by the said main, elongated static line having one end portion thereof slidably positioned on a cable mounted to the top wall of the aircraft-cargo compartment to thereby sever said connecting link and thus disconnect the initial attachment of said combined extraction and deployment line to the leading cargo load.

4. In a rapid extraction system as in claim 1, wherein said automatically separable means interconnected with said closed-end portion and said cargo-load-carrying means comprises a third, relatively short, break-away flexible link initially resistant to a tendency to separate under the drag being exerted thereon by said deployment and extraction parachute until a significant supplemental extraction force has been applied to assure the full extraction of the said cargo-load-carrying means.