A three axis adjustable loading structure for testing the movable surfaces of aircraft by applying pressure, is described. The device has three electric drives where the wall angle, horizontal position, and vertical position of the test device can be rapidly and accurately positioned

Gray, D. T.

Lynch, E. J.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20546
REPLY TO
ATTN OF: DEC 2 7 1973
TOi KSI/Scientific & Technical Information Division
Attention: Miss Winnie M. Morgan
FROM: GP/Office of Assistant General Counsel for
Patent Matters
SUBJECT: Announcement of NASA-Owned U.S. Patents in STAR
In accordance with the procedures agreed upon by Code GP
and Code KSI, the attached NASA-owned U.S. Patent is being
forwarded for abstracting and announcement in NASA STAR.
The following information is provided:
U.S. patent No. ; 3/H ' *>/ O d~Q
Government or
Corporate Employee
Supplementary Corporate
Source (if applicable)
NASA patent Case No.
NOTE - If this patent covers an invention made by a corporate
employee of a NASA Contractor, the following is applicable:
Yes /7 No 25E7
Pursuant to Section 305(a) of the National Aeronautics and
Space Act, the name of the Administrator of NASA appears on
the first page, of the patent; however, the name of the actual
inventor (author) appears at the heading of column No. 1 of
the Specification, following the words
an invention of .
with respect to
Elizabeth A. Carter
Enclosure
Copy of patent cited above
NASA-HQ
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19740005016 2020-03-17T14:11:56+00:00Z
United States Patent
I i -•
Lynch et al.
[in 3,776,028
[45] Dec. 4, 1973
[54] THREE-AXIS, ADJUSTABLE LOADING
STRUCTURE
[75] Inventors: Edward J. Lynch, Lancaster;
Darwyn T. Gray, Paltndale, both of
Calif.
[73] Assignee: The United States of America as
represented by the Administrator of
the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration, Washington, D.C.
[22] Filed: May 16, 1972
[21] Appl. No.: 253,725
[52] U.S. Cl 73/88 R, 254/93 R
[51] Int. Cl. GOln 3/00
[58] Field of Search 73/88 R, 103;
. i 254/93 R
[56] References Cited
UNITED STATES PATENTS
2,096,964 10/1937 Frocht '. 73/88 R
FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS
137,695 10/1960 U.S.S.R 73/88 R
Primary Examiner—Jerry W. Myracle
Attorney—Darrell G. Brekke et aJ.
[57] ABSTRACT
A three-axis, adjustable loading structure is provided
for test equipment wherein it is desired to exert pres-
sure against the structure which is to be tested. The
device of the present invention is provided with three
electric drives whereby the wall angle, horizontal posi-
tion, and vertical position of the test device can be
rapidly and accurately positioned.
The invention described herein was made by
employees of the United States Government and may
be manufactured and used by or for the Government
for Governmental purposes without the payment of
any royalties thereon or therefor.
4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures
(NASA-Case-FBO10051-1) THHEE-AXIS
ADJUSTABLE LOADING STRUCTOBE Patent
(NASA) 7 p CSCL 14B
N74-13129
Unclas
00/14 24229
'ATENTEDOEC 41973 3.776,028
SHEET 1 OF 4 -
P A T E N T E D DEC -41973
S H E E T - 2 OF 4
3,776,028
Zl>
u
FIB-
97 \
49
FID- .3.
'ATENTEDDEC 41973 3.776,028
SHEET 3 OF 4
" 'PATENTED DEC 41973
S!![ET U OF
3.776,028
Lfl
' *
 r
 ' -
\
c
v._t
55
^
er
_ t
I L I
^ c
- x
Hi
JD
i)ny
a • —
TT?
00
; 00
10
di
00
ly
" "
3,776,028
1 2
THREE-AXIS, ADJUSTABLE LOADING section, generally designated 15, to elevate it to a suit-
STRUCTURE able height. The subframe may be mounted for rota-
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION ^
 hinge mernbers 17 ^  19 m mounted on the
1 . Field of the Invention 5 front rail 9 and the wall member generally designated
Three-axis, loading device for test fixtures. 21 is pivotally mounted on these hinge members. Wall
2. Description of the Prior Art member 21 includes a top rail 22, a bottom rail 23 and
In testing structures such as the moving surfaces of side rails 24.
aircraft, it was previously necessary to construct a fixed In order to support wall member 21 at a desired angle
structure for each attitude as the surface was moved 10 and to change the angle at will, the threaded struts 25
, through various increments of its travel. This method and 27 are employed. These are mounted on frame 7
was very cumbersome and time consuming and the test by means of the support member 29 and 31 on which
fixture was not always accurately positioned. are mounted the angle drive members 33 and 35 which,
«. ,„ . ^ », ~^ ~. , ^ _ through the use of bevel gears, as at 36, are adapted toSUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ,5 rotate^truts 25 ^  27. f^ 25 ^  27 pass t^rough
In testing structures, such as the movable surfaces of threaded collars 37 and 39 respectively which are at-
flight vehicles, it is necessary to impose loads on the tached by means of yolks 41 to the side members 24.
surface and it is important that the load be applied nor- Yolks 41 are free to pivot on the frame 21 and also piv-
mal to the surface. Since such tests are frequently con- otally mounted with respect to the threaded collars 37
ducted at various attitudes of the surface to be tested, 20 and 39. The angle drives 33 and 35 are also free to
it was previously necessary to provide a large number pivot on their respective mountings. Motor 43 is con-
of fixtures, or to modify existing fixtures, so that in ef- nected to gear box 45 and this drives shaft 47 which ac-
fect, one had to provide a separate fixture for each in- tuates angle drive 33 and angle drive 35. Thus, by run-
crement to be tested. This involved a number of drilling ning motor 43 in one direction or the other, the wall
and cutting operations, since the test instrument had to 25 angle can be changed at will through the rotation of the
be adjusted vertically and horizontally to maintain a threaded struts 25 and 27.
perpendicular attitude to the surface. This also in- The test fixture proper is mounted on a cross beam,
volved changing the angle of the vertical axis of the generally designated 49, which is later described in de-
base that supported the test instrument. tail. Beam 49 is mounted for vertical movement on the
In the past to make such cnanges in the test fixture, 30 threaded struts 51 and 53, each of which terminates in
it required hours or even days to go from one test posi- threaded collars 55 and 57 attached to the horizontal1
tion to another. The device of the present invention is beam 49. Struts 51 and 53 are connected by means of
a three-axis loading device wherein the wall angle, the angle drives 59 and 61 to the vertical traverse motor
horizontal position, and the vertical position are all ad- 63. Beam 49 slides up and down on the side members
justable by means of electric motors. Thus, instead of 35 24 and is centered and prevented from swinging out-
spending many hours or days in going from one test po- wardly by means of retaining clips 64 which are pro-
sition to another, one can achieve these changes in a vided with rollers 66. Motor 63 is connected by means
matter of minutes. Furthermore, the device of the pres- of a gear box 65 to the angle drive 59 and in turn is con-
ent invention permits more precise adjustment so that nected by means of shaft 67 to the angle drive 61. Thus,
the results of the tests are more accurate. The device motor 63 can be actuated in either direction for verti-
of the present invention has been estimated to save 80 cal traverse of the beam 49.
to 90 percent in the set up time of going from one test The horizontal beam 49 carries the jack pad support
position to another. The device of the present invention box 69 and this is mounted on an upper rail 71 and a
is simple to construct and is ruggedly built and little lower rail 73, both of which are made of square bar
maintenance is required. stock and which are mounted with their flat surfaces at
45
°
 tO the surfasxs of the ho
"^
n
^ ^am by means ofBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSBRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA INGS hangers 75. The jack pad is mounted (see FIG. 3) on
In the drawings forming part of this application: the lower rail 73 by means of paired roller bearings,
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying namely, front bearings 77 and rear bearings 79. How-
the present invention. ever, the top of the jack pad support box is mounted on
FIG. 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, on the line single roller bearings 81 which bear against only the
2 — 2 of FIG. 1. rear surface of upper'rail 71. The reason for this will be
FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view, partly in section, later explained.
showing the mounting of the jack pad and its support- To secure horizontal traverse of the jack pad support
ing structure. box, a threaded rod 83 passes through the box and is.
FIG. 4 is a front elevation generally on the line 4 — 4 rotated by means of a motor 85. A threaded collar 87
of FIG. 2. is pivotally mounted on the box 69 so that by rotating
FIG. 5 is a plan view on the line 5 — 5 of FIG. 2. the motor 85 in one direction or the other, the box 69
FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6 — 6 of FIG. 2. .... is cause to traverse horizontally.
DESCRIPTION OF THF PRFFFRRFD ThC 'Oad I"m 89 fa fastened directly to ** •*>* 69DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
 and ^ provided ^A suitabie hydraulic connections as
EMBODIMENTS
 at 91 and 93 The Joad ^  9g fe connected to Ae end
The device of the present invention includes a rect- of the ram and is provided with suitable electrical con-
angular frame member generally designated 7, having
 65 necn'ons as at 97.
front and back rails 9 and 11, and two side rails desig- It was previously mentioned that the jack pad support
naled 13. Frame 7 can be bolted to a floor or other sup- box 69 had only a single pair of bearings at the top and
porting structure or it can be fastened to a sub-frame that these bear against the rear surface of rail 71. The
3,776,028
3 ' - ' • 4 . ,. _v
reason for this can best be seen in FIG. 3. Before a test c. adjustment means whereby said wall member can
is made, the weight of the ram 89 and the test cell 95 be pivoted and held in a given position,
will cause the jack pad box to tend to rotate in a clock- d. a horizontal beam mounted for vertical movement
wise direction so that the box will rest on the bottom on said wall member,
bearings 77 and 79 and on the top bearing 81. How- 5
 e. means for moving said beam vertically to a desired
ever, when a load is applied to the device when it is in position,
position, the jack pad box 69 will be forced backwards f
 a jac^ pad support member mounted on said beam
into direct contact with the horizontal beam 49 which
 for horizontal movement and means for moving f
in turn will be forced into contact with the uprights 24. said-jack pad support member horizontally along
Thus, when the device is being used for a test, there is 10 ^4 beam and
no load on the bearings, since the bearing 81 will be
 a jacfc mounted on ^ jack pad support member. j
forced back from the rail 71, and the load will be ap-
 2 The structure of claim l wherein a flrst ^ of
plied directly against the support members 49 and 27.
 threaded struts fa ^  tQ ^ wa], member ^
An electnc control box 99 is employed for actuating . • . • . j • -_i u _i j . .
._ . . . ., „ , ,,, . , having motor means to drive said threaded struts.
motor 43 to control the wall angle, motor 63 to control 15 ., .5. „ *• i • « u • -ju
., . . , o' . . . . . . 3. The structure of claim 1 wherein said beam isthe vertical traverse and motor 85 to control the hon- • _ , „ i_ ,_ r . i _ j j
zontal t v mounted on said wall member by means of threaded
It is believed apparent from the foregoing that we rods md having motor means whereby said beam
have provided an improved test pad which provides an threaded rods are rotated to dnve said in an up and
adjustable loading structure which can be rapidly ad- 20 wn dlrectlon-
justed to accurately position the wall angle, the vertical 4- T"6 structure of claim 1 wherein the jack pad sup-
traverse and the horizontal traverse. Thus, when testing P°rt member is mounted between upper and lower rails
aircraft, a minimum of time and expense are necessary carried by said horizontal beam, said jack pad having
when going from one configuration to another. paire of lower bearings in contact with both front and
We claim: 25 back surfaces of said lower rail and single upper bear-
1. A three-axis adjustable loading structure compris^ 'ngs in contact with only the rear surface of the upper
ing in combination: rail whereby a force applied to the jack pad will not be
a. a base frame member, applied to said rails but said jack pad will be. forced di-
b. a wall member mounted for pivotal motion on one rectly against said horizontal beam,
edge of said frame member, • 30 * * * * *
35
40
45
50
55
60
65


Three-axis adjustable loading structure

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server