REMOTE CONTROLLED HELICOPTER TRANSPORT DEVICE AND METHOD

• US 3,761,040 A
• Filed: 03/08/1972
• Issued: 09/25/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Phil F. Cummins
• Original Assignee: Phil F. Cummins
• Inventors: Cummins, Phil F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Buchler, Milton
• Assistant Examiner(s): Butler, D. C.
• Application Number:
  US05/232,841
• Time in Patent Office: 566 Days
• Field of Search: 244/2,115,116,77R,77C,114 318/16,587 317/147 180/6.5,2,9.2 46/243AV,243LV,244A,244B,244C,244D 214/512 340/16C 343/225
• US Class Current: 244/2
• CPC Class Codes: B60F 5/02 convertible into aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B60P 3/11 for carrying aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 55/06 with tracks without ground wheels
• CPC Class Codes: B64C 37/00 Convertible aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/007 Helicopter portable landing pads
• CPC Class Codes: B64F 1/36 Other airport installations ground installations for de-icing aircraft B64F5/20

Abstract

The specification discloses a remote controlled vehicle for transporting a helicopter. The vehicle comprises a low profile chassis dimensioned to be received underneath the fuselage of a helicopter. Crawler tracks are mounted on opposite sides of the chassis, and motors are mounted within the chassis for advancing the crawler tracks. Arms are mounted on the chassis and are selectively movable to engage the undercarriage of the helicopter. A hydraulic system selectively moves the arms between lowered and raised positions. A radio receiver is mounted in the chassis for controlling the motors and the hydraulic system in order to control the movement of the vehicle and to control the arms of the vehicle. In order to remotely control the vehicle, a portable radio transmitter is operated to transmit radio control signals to the radio receiver. In the preferred embodiment, the transmitter generates a plurality of unique tone combinations each corresponding to a different desired operation of the vehicle.

Claims

1. Apparatus for transporting a helicopter comprising:

a low profile chassis dimensioned to be received underneath the fuselage of a helicopter, crawler tracks mounted on opposite sides of said chassis, motor means mounted within said chassis for advancing said crawler tracks, arm means mounted on said chassis and selectively movable to engage the undercarriage of the helicopter, hydraulic means for moving said arm means between lowered and raised positions, radio receiver means mounted in said chassis for controlling said motor means and said hydraulic means, and radio transmitter means remotely operable to transmit radio control signals to said radio receiver.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said radio transmitter means comprises:

a casing for being held by an operator, a plurality of buttons for being depressed by the operator, tone generator means within said casing and operable in response to depression of said buttons to generate a plurality of unique tone combinations, each of said tone combinations corresponding to different desired operations.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said radio receiver means comprises:

means for receiving said unique tone combinations, and means for controlling a different operation of said apparatus in response to each of said tone combinations.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein each of said unique tone combinations comprises eight sequential tones of various frequencies.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said arm means comprises:

an arm linkage pivotable between lowered and raised positions, clamp means on the end of said arm linkage for attachment to the undercarriage of a helicopter, and hydraulic cylinder means connected to pivot said arm linkage.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 and further comprising:

a plurality of electric switches connected to control the operation of said motor means and said hydraulic means, the output of said radio receiver means controlling the operation of said electric switches.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said motor means comprises:

a pair of electric motors each connected through a drive linkage to one of said crawler tracks, a plurality of battery means each having different output levels, and means responsive to the output of said radio receiver means for selectively connecting one of said battery means to said electric motors to control the speed thereof.

8. Crawler transport apparatus comprising:

a chassis having greater width than height and dimensioned to be received underneath the fuselage of a helicopter, crawler tracks mounted on opposite sides of said chassis and operable to move in either of two directions, separate electric motors for each of said crawler tracks, battery means for said motors, arm means depending from said chassis and movable between raised and lowered positions, clamps on said arm means for attachment to the undercarriage of said helicopter, a hydraulic system within said chassis and operable to raise and lower said arm means, switch means operable by electrical control signals to control the operation of said electric motors and said arm means, and means remotely operable to selectively generate said electrical control signals wherein said chassis may be moved underneath a helicopter, may raise said helicopter off the ground, and may transport said helicopter to a desired location.

9. The transport apparatus of claim 8 and further comprising:

a portable radio transmitter having a plurality of control buttons, means within said transmitter for generating a unique tone combination for each control button depressed, and radio receiver means in said chassis for controlling the operation of said electric motors and hydraulic system in response to reception of said tone coMbinations.

10. The transport apparatus of claim 9 wherein each said tone combination comprises a plurality of time slots, a portion of said time slots containing a sequence of tones representative of an address code, the remainder of said time slots containing unique tone combinations representative of the control button depressed.

11. The transport apparatus of claim 10 wherein a plurality of command functions for operation of said motors and hydraulic system may be simultaneously transmitted in a single unique tone combination.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said arm means comprises:

hydraulic cylinder means, mechanical linkage means movable between raised and lowered positions by said cylinder means, and clamps mounted on said linkage means for attachment to the undercarriage of the helicopter.

13. The method of transporting an aircraft comprising:

generating radio control signals at a remote location, receiving said control signals at a chassis having crawler tracks, advancing the crawler tracks in response to said control signals such that the chassis is moved underneath the aircraft, attaching arms extending from the chassis to the undercarriage of the aircraft, raising the arms in response to the control signals to thereby raise the aircraft off the ground, and advancing the crawler tracks in response to said control signals to transport the aircraft to a desired location.

14. The method of claim 13 and further comprising:

generating electrical control signals in response to reception of said radio control signals, operating switches in response to said electrical control signals, applying pressurized hydraulic fluid to hydraulic cylinders in response to operation of said switches, and moving said arms in response to said hydraulic fluid.

15. The method of claim 13 and further comprising:

generating electrical control signals in response to reception of said radio control signals, operating switches in response to said electrical control signals, applying the electrical output from a battery in response to operation of said switches, and operating an electrical motor with said electrical output to advance said crawler tracks.

16. The method of transporting a helicopter comprising:

moving a tracked vehicle beneath the fuselage of the helicopter, attaching movable arms extending from the vehicle to the undercarriage of the helicopter, raising the movable arms to lift the helicopter, and moving the tracked vehicle to the desired location while adjusting the position of the movable arms to maintain the helicopter in a generally horizontal position even while moving along uneven terrain.

17. The method of claim 16 and further comprising:

generating coded tone signals from a location remote from the tracked vehicle, controlling the movement of the tracked vehicle and the movabe arms in response to reception of the coded tone signals.