Control force generator

Claim 1

A control force generator for furnishing a control force for an aircraft having wings and at least one engine, the generator comprising: (a) a source of compressed fluid; (b) a pair of substantially symmetrical, spaced, aerodynamic surfaces forming a vane having a given chord length and span as well as leading and trailing edges, said vane being affixed beneath the wing of the aircraft substantially perpendicular thereto and being positioned so that the forward 25% vane chord passes approximately through the forward 35% chord of the wing; (c) a fluid discharge slot for discharging the compressed fluid from the trailing edge of the vane; (d) a plenum adjacent to the discharge slot for connecting the fluid discharge slot to the source of cmpressed fluid; (e) a fluid control surface, positioned adjacent the fluid discharge slot, for forming first and second Coanda effect circulation control ports, each having a given width h, the control surface extending beyond the trailing edge of the vane and having a substantially rounded trailing edge forming a single Coanda surface with a given radius r; and (f) control port selection means for selectively discharging the compressed fluid from the plenum to one of control ports, the control port selection means comprising: (1) support means for rotatably supporting the fluid control surface for rotation about its longitudinal axis; (2) a wedge-shaped sealing means for sealing a control port, the sealing means being affixed to the fluid control surface and positioned within the undivided plenum; and (3) means for moving the fluid control surface about its rotational axis, so that when the control surface is rotated the wedge-shaped sealing means abuts one side of the plenum, and the sealing means forms a fluid seal with respect to the control port next to the side of the plenum abutted to permit discharge of the compressed fluid from the other port; whereby the fluid discharged from a selected control port becomes attached to a portion of the Coanda surface adjacent the selected port and is deflected substantially tangentially to the Coanda surface resulting in a downstream deflection of the fluid flow through which the vane is traveling so that lift is produced by the aerodynamic surface adjacent the attached control port to provide a control force.