A New or Improved Apparatus for Determining the Position and in some Cases the Speed of an Object and for Indicating the Pointing of Guns and Timing of their Projectiles.

摘要

123,538. Clementz, C. O. Feb 9, 1917. Time-distance recorders; periodic counter and like speed indicators; speed indicators operating by sighting aerial objects.-Apparatus for determining the position of a distant aerial object D, Fig. 1, comprises a disk 4 rotatable about a vertical axis at a main sighting station, a eighting-device 10 rotatable in or parallel to the plane of the disk, an arm 5 rotating about a fixed point E in accordance with the azimuth of a sighting-device 1 at an auxiliary station, and means for indicating on the disk the point of intersection of the vertical plane containing the arm 5 and the line of sight of the device 10; means for indicating the speed of the object and other gunnery factors may be provided, and the apparatus at the main station may be duplicated at the auxiliary station. As shown in Fig. 1, the rotatable disk 4 is mounted on a stand A, and is graduated by vertical and horizontal lines. A graduated sighting-rule 10 having sighting-plates 7, the lower one of which is carried by a piece slidable in the line of sight, is pivoted on the disk at the bottom of the vertical edge about which it rotates. The arm 5 is rotatable above a graduated disk 6 mounted on the stand A or on a separate stand E, as shown, and is adjusted by hand or electrically from the auxiliary station. The apparatus at the auxiliary station comprises a sighting-instrument 1, mounted to turn vertically on a holder 16 rotatable about a vertical axis and carrying a pointer 2 turning over a graduated disk 3. As shown in Figs. 12 and 13, the apparatus at the main station comprises a vertical ruler 18 which is adjusted automatically by the arm 5, being connected by a frame 62 to a tube 24 which slides in a slot 23 in the arm 5 and in a slot beneath the disk 4. The tube 24 holds a pencil or pen 26 which traces a record of the horizontal movements of the object on a map table 27. The horizontal speed of the object may also be indicated by the provision of a clock 33 which rotates a wheel 69, Fig. 14, having projections 70 which engage one end of a lever 30 and cause its other end to lift the pencil 26 at known time intervals and momentarily interrupt the record. The clock is mounted on a frame 63 carrying a wheel 64 which causes it to trail behind the pencil, and the horizontal speed of the object, or the distance passed over in any number of seconds may also be indicated on a scale 67 by a pointer 65. The pointer 65 is carried by a plate 66 pressed into frictional engagement with the wheel 64 for the desired time, it being thus lifted from its lowest, i.e. zero, position to its reading position on the scale, and then being allowed to fall and to be again lifted for another indication. To enable these movements to be effected, the plate 66 is connected to a plate 75, Fig. 15, which is normally gripped between a lever 73 and a plate 76 pressed by a spring 68. A second lever 74 engages the plate 76, and the other ends of both levers are pressed by springs against the face of the wheel 69. The plate 66 and wheel 64 remain in frictional engagement until the wheel 69 rotates sufficiently to allow the levers to fall into a recess 71, the engagement then ceasing and the pointer remaining stationary until the lever 74 falls into a deeper recess.72 and presses back the plate 76 and allows the pointer to fall. Both levers are then restored to their normal position by the recesses and the pointer again moves over the scale. The pencil tube 24 carries a rule 57 which projects in the opposite direction to the frame 63, i.e. in the direction of travel of the object, and is situated above a plate 58 bearing angular graduations and arcs of equal horizontal range. A constructional form of the apparatus is described in which the trailing frame 63, the plate 58, and rule 57 are omitted, the rule 18 being then carried by a sleeve sliding on balls or rollers along a bar under the disk 4, and the clock for lifting the pencil 26 being provided on the sleeve. The disk 4 may bear a sheet of paper on which the movements of the object in the vertical plane of the sight may be recorded, and the record may be interrupted in the manner described above.