G-force trainer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. G-force trainer including an assembly for rotation about a vertical shaft, the assembly comprising:
- a tubular arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about an axis of the shaft;
a yoke secured to said arm;
a gondola mounted at said yoke so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll freely about a roll axis in proportion to speed of rotation of said arm about the shaft axis, the roll axis being, about twenty feet or more from the shaft axis; and
support means within the gondola for receiving a human passenger, the total rotational weight of the assembly being about 10,000 lbs. or less.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A robust, lightweight g force trainer having low moment of inertia is powered by a relatively low horsepower motor. The trainer has an onset rate of 6 g/sec. or more and idle speed of approximately 13 rpm. The natural frequency of the trainer arm is in excess of 6 hz. The trainer includes a computerized target tracking and missile avoidance system, including a heads up display field at the pilot gondola, and a computerized medical monitor.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. G-force trainer including an assembly for rotation about a vertical shaft, the assembly comprising:
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a tubular arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about an axis of the shaft; a yoke secured to said arm; a gondola mounted at said yoke so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll freely about a roll axis in proportion to speed of rotation of said arm about the shaft axis, the roll axis being, about twenty feet or more from the shaft axis; and support means within the gondola for receiving a human passenger, the total rotational weight of the assembly being about 10,000 lbs. or less. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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3. G-force trainer including an assembly for rotation about a vertical shaft, the assembly comprising:
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a tubular arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about an axis of the shaft; a yoke secured to said arm; a gondola mounted at said yoke so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll freely about a roll axis in proportion to speed of rotation of said arm about the shaft axis, the roll axis being about twenty feet or more from the shaft axis; and support means within the gondola for receiving a human passenger, the total moment of inertia of the assembly with respect to the shaft axis being about one million lb-ft2 or less. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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13. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving the shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a visual display and a pilot operable joystick, at said gondola, computer means programmed for producing said motion control signals in real time based on operation of said joystick, computer means programmed for operating said visual display to display thereon a target image and on index image based on stored date and to vary the relative positions of the target image and index image on the visual display according to said stored data and said joystick operation. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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14. Missile avoidance trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving the shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle predetermined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a visual display and a pilot operable joystick at said gondola, computer means programmed for producing motion control signals in real time based on operation of said joystick, computer means programmed for operating said visual display to display thereon an image representing the location of a missile based on stored data, a said first mentioned computer means being further programmed for determining whether said missile has been evaded based on said stored data and said joystick operation.
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16. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving said shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a visual display; means for producing a signal indicative of actual g force at said gondola, computer means programmed for producing motion control signals based on stored date representative of desired g force at the gondola, computer means programmed for operating said display to display thereon a fixed line image representing desired g force t said gondola as a function of time according to said stored data and an advancing line image representing actual g force at said gondola in real time based on said last-mentioned signal. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving said shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a visual display, a manually operable control device at a remote location with respect to the gondola, computer means programmed for producing said motion control signals in real time based on operation of said manually operable control device, means for producing a signal indicative of actual g force at the gondola, computer means programmed for operating said visual display to display thereon in real time an advancing line image representing actual force at said gondola based on said last-mentioned signal.
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19. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a longitudinal axis, means for driving said shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, a gondola mounted at said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and roll about a roll axis in proportion to the speed of rotation of the arm about the shaft axis, recorder means disposed at a remote location with respect to said gondola for recording data signals, sensor means located at said gondola for sensing physiologic characteristics of a pilot and for producing data signals based thereon, computer means mounted at the gondola for processing said last-mentioned data signals, computer means for causing said recorder means to record the processed data signals, means for generating signals representative of desired g force at the gondola, and computer means for producing said motion control signals based on said signals representative of said desired g force.
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20. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving said shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to said shaft for rotation therewith, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a pilot operable joystick at said gondola, a manually operable control device displayed at a remote location with respect to said gondola, computer means programmed to selectably operate in any of a profile mode, a manual mode and a pilot mode for producing said motion control signals in real time, said motion control signals being based on stored data representative of desired gz values in said profile mode or on operation of said manually operable control device in said manual mode or on operation of said joystick in said pilot mode, and keyboard means coupled with said computer means for selecting operation of said computer means in said profile mode, said manual mode or said pilot mode. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22)
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23. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a longitudinal axis, means for driving the shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis, a gondola mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and roll about a roll axis in proportion to the speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, a counterweight pivotably mounted on said arm so as to be displaceable form a rest position wherein the center of gravity of the counterweight lies near or on the axis of rotation of said shaft to a extended position wherein the center of gravity of the counterweight is spaced from the axis of rotation of the shaft. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a vertical longitudinal axis, means for driving the shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis, a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, means for positioning a pilot inside the gondola at least generally facing a direction of travel of the gondola along a tangent line with the pilot'"'"'s head intersected by said roll axis whereby pilot disorientation due to motion about said gondola roll axis is substantially reduced. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. Method of operating a g-force trainer having a shaft with a vertical longitudinal axis, an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis, and a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted on the arm to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angle determined by speed of rotation of the arm and the gondola about the shaft axis, comprising:
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positioning a pilot inside gondola generally facing a direction of travel of the gondola along a tangent line with the pilot'"'"'s head intersecting the roll axis, and driving the shaft about its axis such that the gondola rolls about the roll axis under centrifugal force whereby pilot disorientation due to motion about the gondola roll axis is substantially reduced.
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31. G-force trainer, comprising:
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a shaft having a longitudinal axis; means for driving the shaft about its axis in response to motion control signals, an arm, a gondola mounted on said arm so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and roll about a roll axis in proportion to the speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, safety means for securing said arm to said shaft for rotation therewith about the shaft axis and for de-coupling said arm and shaft if the stresses impressed on said safety means reach a predetermined level. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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35. G-force trainer including an assembly for rotation about a vertical shaft, the assembly comprising:
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an arm secured to the shaft for rotation therewith about an axis of the shaft; a yoke secured to said arm; a gondola having a center of gravity and mounted at said yoke so as to rotate therewith about the shaft axis and to roll the center of gravity about a roll axis under centrifugal force from the vertical to an angel determined by speed of rotation of said arm about said shaft axis, the roll axis being about twenty feet or more from the shaft axis; and means for positioning a pilot inside the gondola such that the pilot'"'"'s head is proximal the roll axis and the roll axis is closer to the pilot'"'"'s head than to the pilot'"'"'s torso. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification