US2611558A - Flapping wing flier for individual flying - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 23, 1952 M. MACKIEWICZ FLAPFING WING FLIER FOR INDIVIDUAL FLYING Filed June 10, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET l IN VEN TOR.

FLAPPING WING FLIER FOR INDIVIDUAL FLYING Filed June 10, 1950 M. MACKIEWICZ Sept. 23, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Sept. 23, 1952 FLAPPENG."VilING-FLIERFGRqNDIVIDtIAL' J FLYING:

Maria Macki'ewicz, Nevv-YoIlZ NLYiI.

ApplicationJune-lfl, 1950',' Seria; l N '0.- 167,353

Claims. 1.

Thisinvention relates to. an improved flying device or. machine, andiembraces the. combination or a-.bag. or. balloon. filled with. a. buoyant gas, such as helium,.andl manually operated wings supported by. the buoyant. gasv bag, which. can

be manipulatedito.controltlievertical position.

of the person using the deviceor machineufor aerial flight, and. to 1 produce horizontal. travel motion through theair.

One of the objects of. the. invention is the. provisionof'a safety flying. device, whichcanbe used for. transferringapassenger froman aeroplane"to the ground", or. for aerial. flight fr high. altitudesto. lower altitudes, by. the manual.

operation of wings strappedito. the body, and connected with. the wrists of thepassenger, so that flapping. motions may be generated, simulating. the natural 'fiight movements of a bird, whilethe'main loadfof the body ofthe passenger is supported by a buoyant bag filled. with non-.- explosive helium gas, so thatmaximum directional effect will be ob'tainedifr'om the manual operation of the flappingwings.

Another object of 'the invention isto. provide.

a' flying. device with wings which are buoyant, andfwhich" can be filled from a central valve control, but which are constructed to provide buoyant radial ribs.

With the aboveand. other objectsinlview thev invention'compri-ses certain new and useful constructions, combinations,- and arrangements of parts; clearly described'in the following specification, and fullyillustratedinthe drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view, showing-the manner of strapping a passenger to the wings and the buoyant'ga'sba'g.

Fig. 21s a front elevation thereof.

Fig. 3 is abottom plan view before the: passenger'is'strapped into flightpositien.

Fig. 4is a front 'end'elevationthereof.

Fig. 5 is'a fragmentary vertical sectional view through the buoyant gas bag and one of the buoyant. wings, showing the body holding straps thereof, taken on lined-5 of Fig.2 3, enlarged.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional-:view through one of the buoyant wings, taken on line:i5- 6; of

Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 7 is a plan view of a pattern used for the construction of the wing, before the pattern has been gathered to provide gas holding compart ments or chambers.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary edge view of one of the wings.

Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view, showing a (c1. zc i zs) 2v concealed strap; and: thereto:

Referrin to; the: accompanying drawings,

which; illustrate1the practical construction of. the;

invention, I01": designates a .gas bag for holding.

helium. gas; .which. has; an; envelope; constructed ofi-gastightzrubberized fabriconsimilan material, 7

and" which mayybezoff. any desiredishape orxform,

but of a capacity to carry theiloa'diof;.theLaaIerage" passenger, or. nearly. so, when; properly "inflated with helium gas.

The lower; end: oi this .gas;;.bag.- is closed, and gas; is supplied: to the bag, and; releasedfrom.

thdbag-through. one :orimore' control valves; l I,

one ors-more of. which may be; equippe'dczwith a:

release? pull cordi I 2, ..to;.permit 10f distant: opera;- tion, so. that.the-;buoyancyc of. the gas-bag; may be:'- regulated: by the passenger during: flight. orbeforeflight, or aftenfiight.

At one side of the bottompf:thebuoyanttgas bag. [0' aswing; l3- is-attached: tothe' lower edge ofv a-fiapv |3 and:-.the;upper edge of said: flap I3 istconnected. byazflexible hinge-joint M to.

saiclbag v l0. by; a; flexiblehinge joint It. Atzthe opposite side of the bottom of the gas bag. another? and similar-wing.- [:5 -is..attached by afiexible joint" l6:-a'fiap:. f5: and a;.fiexible. joint I5 Sincereach' wing-.is constructedliirr duplication of the other, one; only: neecitbe: describedin detail.

Each wing is formediso. that it: will. have a triangular. shape; whensviewed: edge wise from the front orrear: end: off the. device; .with the wider end of the triangular shaped" wing: lo? cated outermost Eachwing comprises anupper layer. of. rubberized sheet: material I7, and a lower: layer orsimilar. material It} each layerhaving the initial shape shoWninithepattern 20,-.of- Fig; 7. The :outer. edges of thetwo' layers I l and [9 are united. by; bondingortvulcanization tocthe edgestrip or wall piece; 21; so as to providera hollow-wingFstructure This. hollow wing structure is then subjectedto.pressureiand bond ing; operations alongradial lines 23: (Fig; 1) to divide. each; hollow wing. into hollow radial ribs 2 2-. connected at-their openiouterxen'ds to a commonchamber'Z'I-a (Fig. 5); and. attheir inner open ends to a common chamber 23a (Fig; 5-) provided with g a.- control valve 2 3', suitably mounted in the lower layer E9 of the wings. Through each valve 24 helium or other buoyant gas may be supplied to the interior of the corresp'mding wing, or may be discharged as desire I Each flap is provided at its lower hinge joint with a strap 25, which is attached thereto in any body straps connected suitable manner. To this strap the body holding straps are positively connected, as by vulcanization.

The body holding straps of each flap include a strap 26 for use through the arm pit over the shoulder, a strap section 21 for use to hold the chest of the passenger, strap 28 for the thigh, a strap 29 for the knee and strap 30 for the ankle. The strap section 2'! at the two flaps cooperate to hold the chest of the passenger in proper position.

Each wing is further provided with a plurality of operating cords 3!, of nylon, linen, cotton or other material, which are connected at their outer ends to grommets 32, secured in any suitable manner to the semi-circular tip of the wing, and which converge radially to a slip ring 33, through which all of the operating cords extend. This slip ring is provided with a single pull cord 34, formed into a, loop 35, and provided with a slip ring for regulating'the size of the loop. This loop is placed around the wrist of the arm and the slip ring is tightened, so that proper coupling between the arm and the pull cord 36 is established. The radial cords 3i perform the function of shroud lines of a parachute, and distribute the pulling efiort imposed manually by the single operating cord 3 equally over the tip of the wing.

The passenger is supported by said straps 25, 2'! and 28 between the inner edges of the two wings, below the bottom of the buoyant gas bag. The lifting force of the buoyant gas bag and of the two wings, which are also buoyant, may

be suficient to support the passenger Without the lifting effort generated by the manual flapping of the wings, or regulated so that the combined lifting effort of the wings when properly manipulated and the gas bag will be required to prevent gravitational descent.

The gas bag may be inflated so that it will produce a rising motion of the device and its passenger at the time of the take-off, or regulated so that a slow descent from a high elevation may be made.

It is possible for the passenger to control the direction of descent or of horizontal flight, by manipulating or flapping one wing, while holding the other wing motionless, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2. In this case the manipulated wing will function as the propeller and the stationary wing will act as the rudder of the flying device.

As the wings are buoyant they may be operated by the passenger to produce a bird-like flapping motion, up and down, with minimum of physical exertion.

My invention can be used in place of conventional escape parachutes, to transfer passengers from disabled aeroplanes to safe ground position, or from high mountain elevations to safety below, or for sport flying.

It is understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction, their combination and construction, arrangement of parts, set forth in the claims hereof, which deflne the invention.

Having described my invention I claim as new:

1. A flying device, comprising a gas bag having a passenger lifting effect, a pair of wings each having a straight inner edge and a curved outer edge, means for connecting said Wings, to the bottom of the gas bag including hinges at the inner edges of said wings, straps for securing the body of a passenger to the connection between the wings and the gas bag, radial operating cords connected with the outer edges ofthe wings, and means for connecting the arms of the passenger to the radial operating cords to enable the passenger to shift said wings.

2. A flying device, comprising a gas fllled bag having a passenger lifting effect, a pair of wings with curved outer edges and filled with buoyant gas, including hinges at the inner edges of said wings, means for strapping a passenger to the connection between the wings and the gas bag, and pull cords connected with the outer edge of each wing and having means connectable to a wrist of the passenger, to enable the passenger to produce a swinging movement of the Wings.

3. A flying device, comprising a gas filled bag having a passenger lifting eifect, a pair of buoyant-gas-fllled wings having flexible hinge connection with the lower end of the gas bag, including hinge means at the inner edges of said Wing's, each of said wings having radial hollow ribs and a connecting chamber at their inner ends, said chamber having a valve for use in inflating or deflating the wing, body straps attached to the connections between each wing and the gas bag, said body straps including an arm pit strap, a chest strap, a thigh strap, a knee strap and an ankle strap, a plurality of radial pull cords attached at their outer ends to the outer edges of said wings, and a single pull cord connected with all before mentioned cords on each Wing, whereby a passenger coupled by means of said body straps to the gas bag can produce motion of either or both wings.

4. A flying device according to claim 1 wherein said means for connecting said wings to the bottom of said bag includes flaps each connected at one edge to said hinge at the inner edge of the corresponding wing and at the opposite edge to said bag.

5. A flying device according to claim 2 wherein each wing comprises radial triangular chambers of greater thickness at their outer ends.

MARIA MACKIEWICZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 398,984 'Spalding Mar. 5, 1889 1,137,212 Jelalian Apr. 27, 1915 1,765,075 Johnson June 17, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 15,798 Great Britain of 1904 25,518 Great Britain of 1907 27,133 Austria of 1907

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