Claims
- 1. A mechanism for deploying an air foil, comprising:
- a frame;
- an elevation plate mounted to the frame for pivotal motion about a first axis;
- a T-joint mounted to the frame for pivotal motion about a second axis;
- a wing assembly mounted to the T-joint for pivotal motion about a third axis between a folded position and an elevated position, pivotal motion of the T-joint about the second axis causing pivotal motion of the elevation plate about the first axis and pivotal motion of the wing assembly about the third axis.
- 2. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the wing assembly includes a wing root and a wing mounted on the wing root.
- 3. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first and second axes are parallel and the third axis is perpendicular to the first and second axis.
- 4. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the elevation plate has gear teeth formed thereon and the wing assembly has gear teeth formed thereon, the gear teeth of the elevation plate and wing assembly in meshing engagement.
- 5. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the elevation plate, T-joint and wing assembly define a first wing deployment apparatus, a second wing deployment apparatus being mounted on the frame, each of the elevation plates in the first and second wing deployment apparatus having a series of beveled gear teeth about the periphery thereof, the mechanism further comprising a cross shaft mounted on the frame and having beveled teeth engaging the beveled teeth on the elevation plates to ensure joint motion of the elevation plates of the first and second wing deployment apparatus.
- 6. The mechanism of claim 5, further comprising a damper in operable engagement with the cross shaft to control the speed of movement of the elevation plates of the first and second wing deployment apparatus.
- 7. The mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a lock pin mounted in the frame, the lock pin engaging the elevation plate when the wing assembly is pivoted to the elevated position to secure the wing assembly in the elevated position.
- 8. The mechanism of claim 1, wherein the wing assembly is oriented on the frame so that air flow past the frame pivots the T-joint and the wing assembly to the elevated position.
- 9. The mechanism of claim 6, wherein the damper is a hydraulic damper.
- 10. The mechanism of claim 9, wherein the hydraulic damper is adjustable to provide variable speed deployment.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application in a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/634,931 filed Apr. 19, 1996, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0 013 096 |
Jul 1980 |
EPX |
1 597 098 |
Sep 1981 |
GBX |
2 140 136 |
Nov 1984 |
GBX |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
634931 |
Apr 1996 |
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