Directional gyro indicator system

Claim 2

A directional gyro indicator for aircraft comprising: a. a generally horizontal barrel having a heading card normal to the barrel axis and located at the front end of said barrel, b. a directional gyro supported behind said barrel and having an outer gimbal disposed on a vertical axis, c. a tracking disk rotatably mounted on said vertical outer gimbal axis of said gyro, d. pickoff means for detecting the angular displacement between said tracking disk and said outer gimbal and for producing an error signal indicative of such displacement, e. toothed belt transmission means coupling said tracking disk and said barrel for equal rotation of said disk and barrel without relative slippage therebetween, f. servo motor drive means for said transmission means responsive to the error signal from said pickoff means for slaving said tracking disk to said gyro, and g. friction clutch means in said barrel for decoupling said heading card from said tracking disk to facilitate setting said card relative to said tracking disk.

Claim 3

A directional gyro indicator for aircraft comprising: a. a generally horizontal barrel having a heading card normal to the barrel axis and located at the front end of said barrel, b. a directional gyro supported behind said barrel and having an outer gimbal disposed for rotation on a vertical axis, c. a tracking disk rotatably mounted on the vertical outer gimbal axis of said gyro and directly above said outer gimbal, d. pickoff means for detecting the angular displacement between said tracking disk and said outer gimbal and for producing an error signal indicative of such displacement, e. a toothed belt coupling said tracking disk and said barrel for concomitant equal rotation of said disk and barrel without relative slippage therebetween, f. servo motor drive means for said toothed belt responsive to the error signal from said pickoff means for slaving said tracking disk to said gyro, and clutch means in the barrel for selectively decoupling said heading card from said tracking disk to facilitate setting said card.

Claim 4

A directional gyro indicator for aircraft comprising: a. a generally horizontal barrel having a heading card normal to the barrel axis and located at the front end of said barrel, b. a directional gyro supported behind said barrel and having an outer gimbal disposed for rotation on a vertical axis, c. a tracking disk rotatably mounted on the vertical outer gimbal axis of said gyro and directly above said outer gimbal, d. pickoff means for detecting the angular displacement between said tracking disk and said outer gimbal and for producing an error signal indicative of such displacement, e. a toothed belt coupling said tracking disk and said barrel for concomitant equal rotation of said disk and barrel without relative slippage therebetween, f. servo motor drive means for said toothed belt responsive to the error signal from said pickoff means for slaving said tracking disk to said gyro, and clutch means in the barrel for selectively decoupling said heading card from said tracking disk to facilitate setting said card.

Claim 5

The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein a synchro component is mounted with its axis intersecting the axis of said barrel, and means including a belt couples said barrel to said synchro component for equal rotation of said barrel and said synchro component to produce an output signal indicative of the position of said card.

Claim 6

The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein said barrel rotatably and concentrically supports a second cylinder and a heading marker is mounted on said second cylinder and positioned for rotation with said second cylinder around the periphery of said heading card.

Claim 7

The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein said second cylinder is provided with a pickoff for developing an azimuth error signal proportional to rotation of said second cylinder relative to said barrel.

Claim 8

The combination set forth in claim 4 wherein two clutches are positiOned between said belt and said second cylinder with said barrel having structure forming elements common to both clutches whereby said heading marker may be moved both with said heading card independent of said belt and independent of said heading card and said belt.

Claim 9

The combination set forth in claim 2 wherein the contact surfaces of said clutch are confronting surfaces of radial flanges on each of said barrel and said first cylinder.

Claim 10

The combination set forth in claim 7 wherein resilient means normally bias said flanges together and wherein a manually operable linkage is provided to oppose said bias to decouple said flanges.

Claim 11

A directional gyro indicator for aircraft comprising: a. a generally horizontal barrel having a radial flange intermediate its length and a heading card on the front end of said barrel, b. a directional gyro supported behind said barrel and having an outer gimbal disposed on a vertical axis, c. a tracking disk rotatably mounted on said vertical outer gimbal axis of said gyro, d. pickoff means for detecting the annular displacement between said tracking disc and said outer gimbal and for producing an error signal indicative of such displacement, e. a first flanged cylinder mounted on said barrel with and having a flange surface facing one surface of said radial flange on said barrel, f. compression means normally biasing said surfaces together to frictionally couple said cylinder to said barrel, g. a toothed belt coupling said tracking disk and said first flanged cylinder for equal rotations of said disk and cylinder without relative slippage therebetween, h. a servo motor drive for said toothed belt responsive to the error signal from said pickoff means for slaving the tracking disk to said gyro, and i. a rotatable slidable shaft mounted parallel to the axis of said barrel coupled to said compression means to declutch the flanges upon sliding movement of said shaft and coupled to said barrel to rotate said barrel upon rotation of said shaft thereby to effect setting of the heading card.

Claim 12

A directional gyro indicator for aircraft comprising: a. a generally horizontal barrel having a radial flange intermediate its length and a heading card on the front end of said barrel, b. a directional gyro supported behind said barrel and having an outer gimbal disposed on a vertical axis, c. a tracking disk rotatably mounted on said vertical outer gimbal axis of said gyro, d. pickoff means for detecting the annular displacement between said tracking disc and said outer gimbal and for producing an error signal indicative of such displacement, e. a first flanged cylinder mounted on said barrel with and having a flange surface facing one surface of said radial flange on said barrel, f. compression means normally biasing said surfaces together to frictionally couple said cylinder to said barrel, g. a toothed belt coupling said tracking disk and said first flanged cylinder for equal rotations of said disk and cylinder without relative slippage therebetween, h. a servo motor drive for said toothed belt responsive to the error signal from said pickoff means for slaving the tracking disk to said gyro, and i. a rotatable slidable shaft mounted parallel to the axis of said barrel coupled to said compression means to declutch the flanges upon sliding movement of said shaft and coupled to said barrel to rotate said barrel upon rotation of said shaft thereby to effect setting of the heading card.

Claim 13

The combination set forth in claim 9 in which a second flanged cylinder is coaxially mounted on said barrel and is friction coupled thereto for rotation with said barrel, and wherein a belt couples said shaft to said second cylinder for rotation of said second cylinder relative to said barrel when said shaft is not axially moved to declutch said barrel from said first cylinder and to rotate said barrel with said second cylinder when said shaft is rotated following axial movement to declutch said barrel from said first cylinder.

Claim 14

The combination set forth in claim 10 wherein said compression means comprises a bell crank having a roller thereon resiliently biased into engagement with a face of the flange on said first cylinder to move said flange into contact with the flange on said barrel.

Claim 15

The combination set forth in claim 10 wherein a fixed roller engages the periphery of the flange on said barrel to oppose clutching forces applied by said biased roller on said crank.

Claim 16

The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein a single bearing supports said barrel at the rear end thereof and three angularly dispersed rollers support and position said barrel by surface contact therewith substantially forward of said rear end.

Claim 17

A directional gyro aircraft instrument which comprises: a. a heading card unit having a coaxial drive surface and having an axis displaced substantially from vertical, b. means for supporting said heading card unit for rotation about the heading card axis, c. a gyro having an output axis intersecting the axis of said card unit, d. a tracking disk of the same diameter as said drive surface of the heading card unit with a gyro pickoff for sensing the position of said disk relative to said gyro and for producing an error signal indicative of said relative position, e. a servo motor actuated in direction and magnitude in accordance with the sense and maGnitude of the error signal from said pickoff, f. a belt driven by said servo motor and passing around said tracking disk and said drive surface of the heading card unit to slave said disk to said gyro, and g. manual control means for selectively rotating said heading card unit both independently of said tracking disk and in conjunction with said tracking disk.

Claim 18

A directional gyro aircraft instrument which comprises: a. a heading card unit having a coaxial drive surface and having an axis displaced substantially from vertical, b. means for supporting said heading card unit for rotation about the heading card axis, c. a gyro having an output axis intersecting the axis of said card unit, d. a tracking disk of the same diameter as said drive surface of the heading card unit with a gyro pickoff for sensing the position of said disk relative to said gyro and for producing an error signal indicative of said relative position, e. a servo motor actuated in direction and magnitude in accordance with the sense and maGnitude of the error signal from said pickoff, f. a belt driven by said servo motor and passing around said tracking disk and said drive surface of the heading card unit to slave said disk to said gyro, and g. manual control means for selectively rotating said heading card unit both independently of said tracking disk and in conjunction with said tracking disk.

Claim 19

The combination set forth in claim 14 wherein said manual control means is belted to said heading card unit and is adapted to rotate said barrel.

Claim 20

A direct readout directional gyro for aircraft which comprises: a. a housing adapted to be mounted in an aircraft instrument panel and having an exposed heading card structure which is rotatable about a predetermined nonvertical axis, b. a gyroscope in said housing and having a vertical output shaft, c. a tracking disk mounted for rotation about the axis of said vertical shaft and carrying sensing means to sense the position of said disk relative to said gyroscope, d. a belt coupling said tracking disk to said heading card structure, e. a motor drive means connected to said belt and responsive to variations in said position of the tracking disk relative to the gyroscope for slaving said tracking disk to said gyroscope and for rotating said card proportional to the displacement of said heading card structure relative to said gyroscope, f. clutch means for decoupling said belt from said heading card structure, and g. means for rotating said heading card relative to said tracking disk.

Claim 21

A direct readout directional gyro for aircraft which comprises: a. a housing adapted to be mounted in an aircraft instrument panel and having an exposed heading card structure which is rotatable about a predetermined nonvertical axis, b. a gyroscope in said housing and having a vertical output shaft, c. a tracking disk mounted for rotation about the axis of said vertical shaft and carrying sensing means to sense the position of said disk relative to said gyroscope, d. a belt coupling said tracking disk to said heading card structure, e. a motor drive means connected to said belt and responsive to variations in said position of the tracking disk relative to the gyroscope for slaving said tracking disk to said gyroscope and for rotating said card proportional to the displacement of said heading card structure relative to said gyroscope, f. clutch means for decoupling said belt from said heading card structure, and g. means for rotating said heading card relative to said tracking disk.