Helicopter rotor having lead-lag damper operable with pitch and flap decoupling

Claim 1

A helicopter rotor including: 1. a hub mounted for rotation about an axis of rotation, 2. at least one helicopter blade projecting from said hub and having an inboard end adjacent the hub and an outboard end away from the hub, 3. means supporting said blade inboard end from said hub so that said blade will rotate with said hub about said axis of rotation and so that said blade is capable of universal motion with respect to said hub about intersecting lead-lag and flapping axes, and for pitch change motion with respect to said hub about a pitch change axis intersecting said lead-lag and flapping axes, 4. a lead-lag damper supported from said hub so as to be movable in pivot motion in a trajectory lying substantially in a selected plane with respect to said hub, 5. link means extending between said lead-lag damper and said blade, 6. a universal connection connecting said link means to said lead-lag damper, and 7. means pivotally connecting said link means to said blades for pivot motion therebetween about a pivot axis offset from at least one of said pitch change and flapping axes.