Automatic sway brace device

Claim 1

A suspension apparatus for releasably suspending articles from an aircraft and securing suspended articles against movement relative to such aircraft until released therefrom, said apparatus comprising, in combination: a rack unit formed to be attached to the aircraft, said rack including two longitudinal sides adapted to be attached at their upper edges to the aircraft, each extending in a plane generally downward and parallel with the longitudinal axis of said aircraft; a releasable support hook for releasably suspending an article from said rack unit; a plurality of opposed paired bellcranks pivotally attached to said rack unit and formed to abut the suspended article symmetrically on either side thereof to prevent relative movement between a suspended article and said rack, said bellcranks having upper and lower arms of corresponding equal lengths and subtended angles pivotally attached in common across each other, each pair operatively connected by the pivot centrally between the sides of said rack and disposed in generally normal planes to the longitudinal axis thereof, lower arms of said bellcranks extending below said rack for abutting the article and upper arms thereof extending into said rack intermediate the sides; clamping means operatively connected to said bellcranks for simultaneously urging said bellcranks against the article with a predetermined force, said clamping means including a shaft extending across said rack proximate the upper arms of said bellcranks respectively journaled proximate the distal ends thereof with said sides, the distal ends of said shaft protruding beyond said rack, said shaft being externally threaded in opposite directions over respective halves of the shaft segment contained between said sides, a torque limited nut forming an integral part of said apparatus and operatively connected to said shaft at either end thereof, two clamps each threadably engaging respective sections of said shaft and engaging said upper arms therebetween, and a guide pin connected between said sides extending parallel with said shaft engaging said clamps, said shaft including detent sockets; each said torque limited nut including a cylindrical opening disposed on an axis normal to said shaft and containing a detent ball registering with said socket, a spring abutting said ball at one end, and an adjustable set screw compressing the spring at the other end for determining the predetermined force to be applied to the suspended article by the lower arms of the bellcranks, and said suspension apparatus further comprising; spring means operatively connected to said upper arms for urging said upper arms apart and said lower arms simultaneously into resilient opposing engagement with an article being moved into position for operative engagement with said support hook.