Abstract A universal joint gyroscope flexure hinge assembly is provided to interconnect the inertial flywheel of a 2-axes free rotor gyroscope to the gyroscope spin shaft, and which allows two axes of angular freedom. The flexure hinge assembly comprises a symmetrical double universal joint which is constructed to eliminate sources of gyroscope errors. The assembly includes an inner tubular hinge member which is concentrically mounted within an outer tubular hinge member. Each of the two tubular hinge members contains four flexure bars in the embodiment to be described. In accordance with the invention, the flexure bars in each hinge member are alternately positioned for radial and axial flexure. The inner tubular hinge member is configured into a first section which receives the gyroscope spin shaft and into two additional sections which form first and second gimbals. The outer tubular hinge member is configured into a first section which receives the gyroscope inertial flywheel, and into two additional sections which are respectively concentric with the corresponding sections of the inner tubular hinge member and, which cooperate with the corresponding sections of the inner hinge member to form the first and second gimbals. The gimbal sections of the inner and outer hinge members are affixed to one another to form a symmetrical assembly.
A flexure hinge assembly comprising: a pair of concentric tubular hinge members attached to one another, each of said hinge members having at least two pairs of adjacent apertures extending through the walls thereof and each of said pairs of apertures forming a flexure bar, the inner tubular hinge member having such flexure bars alternately extending parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the assembly, and the outer tubular hinge member also having said flexure bars extending parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the assembly with said parallel and perpendicular flexure bars of said outer hinge member located a distance L/2 from the bottom surface of said outer member, and said parallel flexure bars of said inner member and said perpendicular flexure bars of said inner member located at different distances of the bottom surfaces of said inner members; said inner tubular member being slotted to form a first gimbal at one end thereof connected to the perpendicular flexure bars of said inner tubular members and a second gimbal at the other end thereof connected to the parallel flexure bar of said inner members; and said outer tubular member being slotted to form a gimbal at one end thereof concentric with the first gimbal and connected to the perpendicular flexure bar of said outer member, and a gimbal at the other end thereof concentric with said second gimbal and connected to the parallel flexure bars of said outer members.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
242 words
A flexure hinge assembly comprising: a pair of concentric tubular hinge members attached to one another, each of said hinge members having at least two pairs of adjacent apertures extending through the walls thereof and each of said pairs of apertures forming a flexure bar, the inner tubular hinge member having such flexure bars alternately extending parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the assembly, and the outer tubular hinge member also having said flexure bars extending parallel and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the assembly with said parallel and perpendicular flexure bars of said outer hinge member located a distance L/2 from the bottom surface of said outer member, and said parallel flexure bars of said inner member and said perpendicular flexure bars of said inner member located at different distances of the bottom surfaces of said inner members; said inner tubular member being slotted to form a first gimbal at one end thereof connected to the perpendicular flexure bars of said inner tubular members and a second gimbal at the other end thereof connected to the parallel flexure bar of said inner members; and said outer tubular member being slotted to form a gimbal at one end thereof concentric with the first gimbal and connected to the perpendicular flexure bar of said outer member, and a gimbal at the other end thereof concentric with said second gimbal and connected to the parallel flexure bars of said outer members.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The flexure hinge assembly defined in claim 1, in which the respective gimbals at the ends of said outer tubular member are respectively attached to the first and second gimbals at the ends of said inner tubular member.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
34 words
The flexure hinge assembly defined in claim 1, in which the first and second gimbals each have an outer diameter greater than the outer diameter of the remaining portion of said inner tubular member.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The flexure hinge assembly defined in claim 3, in which said first and second gimbals have apertures therein for receiving compensating weight members.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
87 words
The flexure hinge assembly defined in claim 1, in which said parallel flexure bars of said inner member are located a distance L/2 + epsilon from said bottom surface and said perpendicular flexure bars of said inner member are located a distance L/2 -epsilon from said bottom surface, where epsilon WG/WFW . LG, and WG is the weight of the second gimbal, WFW is the weight of the flywheel, and LG is the distance of the center of gravity of the second gimbal from the pivot point.