Bi-axial supporting arrangement which can withstand high acceleration forces

• US 4,558,325 A
• Filed: 11/12/1982
• Issued: 12/10/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/1981
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Strom, Johan P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieberman, Eli
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wimer, Michael C.
• Application Number:
  US06/441,184
• Time in Patent Office: 1,124 Days
• Field of Search: 343/757-766, 343/705, 343/882, 244/3.14, 244/3.16, 244/3.19, 248/583, 248/602, 74/5 R, 74/5.22, 74/5.7, 74/5.6 B, 74/5.43, 74/1 R
• US Class Current: 343/765
• CPC Class Codes: F16C 11/06 Ball-joints; Other joints having more than one degree of angular freedom, i.e. universal joints universal joints in which flexibility is produced by means of pivots or sliding or rolling connecting parts F16D3/16
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/125 for tilting and rolling F16M11/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16M 11/18 with mechanism for moving the apparatus relatively to the stand
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 7/2213 maintaining the axis of an orientable seeking head pointed at the target, e.g. target seeking gyro
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 7/2286 using radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: F41G 7/2293 using electromagnetic waves other than radio waves
• CPC Class Codes: F42B 15/01 Arrangements thereon for guidance or control steering arrangements F42B10/60; aircraft flight control B64C; guidance systems other than those installed aboard F41G7/00, F41G9/00; locating by use of radio or other waves G01S; flight control in general G05D1/00; computer aspects G06]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/1282 with rotor drive

Abstract

The invention relates to a bi-axial support of a rotatable body in a projectile for supporting said body such that it can perform small tilting motions about two mutually perpendicular axes lying in a plane, which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the projectile. The support consists of a spherical or partly spherical bearing body introduced into a correspondingly spherical cup-shaped recess in a projectile-fixed part having the open end directed forwards in the motion direction of the projectile. The spherical bearing body is retained in the recess by means of two pairs of link arms defining two virtual tilting axes for the bearing body and connected to two output shafts such that a tilting motion of the body about the respective virtual axis results in a rotation of the respective output shaft and vice versa. When firing the projectile the spherical surface of the bearing body comes in metallic contact with the spherical surface of the recess, whereby the support can withstand very high acceleration forces in any direction.

Claims

1. An arrangement for bi-axial tiltable support of a load rotor in a projectile having a rotor housing, said arrangement upon firing of the projectile being exposed to large acceleration forces, said arrangement including means to allow said rotor to perform limited tilting or turning motions about two mutually perpendicular tilt axes lying in a plane, the tilt axes being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the projectile, the rotation axis of the rotor substantially coinciding with the longitudinal axis of the projectile, said rotor being supported by a bearing body having at least a spherical section contour, said bearing body being disposed in a correspondingly spherically cup-shaped recess in a stationary part, said recess having an open end, said rotor being mounted on the bearing body and disposed in the recess, said rotor facing toward the motion direction of the projectile and having the bottom thereof oppositely disposed, said arrangement including means that at firing establish contact momentarily between the spherical surfaces of the recess and the bearing body, and said bearing body being connected with the projectile housing via two pairs of link arms elongated in the longitudinal direction of the projectile, each pair of link arms including first and second link arms each having first and second ends, said first end of each link arm in each pair being rotatably joined to said bearing body at two diametrically spaced points of said bearing body for defining a turning axis for said bearing body between said points, said link arms in each pair having said second ends thereof joined by motion transmitting means to a respective output shaft in such manner that rotation of the shaft is transferred to said bearing body and vice versa by longitudinal displacement of said link arms, a drive motor and an angular transducer being mounted on each shaft, and said arrangement including means for delivering compressed air to the space between the spherical surface of the bearing body and the spherical surface of the recess in order to maintain, in operation, a small gap between the said surfaces for allowing said tilting motions of the bearing body.

2. An arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for delivering compressed air comprises a channel intersecting a face of said recess, said channel being connected to a compressed air source for maintaining an air gap between the spherical surfaces of the bearing body and the recess.

3. An arrangement as claimed in claim 2, in which said load rotor is fixedly connected to a drive rotor which is running in a corresponding recess in the spherical surface of the bearing body for cooperation with the air stream caused by said channel for maintaining rotation of the load rotor via the drive rotor, said drive rotor at the side thereof facing the spherical recess being provided with projections adapted to cooperate with an air stream in the air gap between the spherical surfaces of the bearing body and the recess caused by the compressed air for maintaining rotation of the load rotor via the drive rotor.

4. An arrangement as claimed in claim 3, wherein the projections on one side of the drive rotor are shaped as helical grooves, the air channel, where compressed air is supplied, being situated opposite substantially the center of the helical groove pattern on said drive rotor.

5. An arrangement as claimed in any of the claims 2, 3 or 4 in which the load rotor is journalled in the bearing body by means of a slide bearing consisting of a shaft running in a corresponding bore transversally through the bearing body, the shaft having an axially extending channel, said channel at one end thereof intersecting said air gap between the spherical surfaces of the bearing body and the recess, and the other end of said channel intersecting said bore for maintaining an air gap between the shaft and drive rotor and the bearing body.

6. An arrangement as claimed in any of the claims 1, 2, 3 or 4, further including means for preventing rotation of the bearing body about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the projectile.

7. Use of the arrangement as claimed in any of the claims 1, 2, 3, or 4 as an adjustable antenna for electromagnetic energy in a target tracking device.

8. Use of the arrangement as claimed in any of the claims 1, 2, 3 or 4 as an adjustable reflector for electromagnetic energy in a target tracking device.