FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to equipment for the dropping of life rafts and other objects from aircraft.

BACKGROUND ART

The invention is of particular application to the Precision Air Delivery System (PADS) described in Australian patent No. 602,749, to which the reader is referred and the content of which is intended to be read as a single disclosure herewith.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein an improvement in the PADS system providing increased control over the tension in the trail line, by controlling the rate at which the trail line is dispensed from the canister.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a delivery system of the kind which is the subject of the above-mentioned patent;

Fig. 2 shows an outer bag for use in a delivery system according to the invention, and Fig. 3 shows in cross-section a delivery system embodying the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing illustrates by way of example only, an embodiment of the invention, in

which the static line 10 of a PADS delivery system is shown extended from an aircraft 11 and connected with a canister 12 in which a raft 13 was housed prior to deployment, and to which the raft is connected by means of the drop or trail line 14. In accordance with the PADS system described in the above-mentioned patent, the canister is released as the aircraft 11 flies downwind at low altitude on a path which takes the trail line 14 across the distressed vessel 15.

The trail line 14 is attached at 16 to the hard point of the raft, and a drogue 17, in the form of a small parachute, is attached by a line 21 to the life raft at a fixing point 18 at the top of the raft canopy, and also, by means of a line 19, to a point 20 on the raft opposite the attachment point 16. The attachment at 18 includes a weak link, strong enough to withstand the tension in the drogue line during descent, but which releases when the drogue falls into the water when the raft enters the sea.

The purpose of the drogue is principally to keep the raft in an upright position during its descent, rather than for the purpose of slowing its descent.

Since the tension in the trail line exerts an upward force on the point 16, while the drogue 17 exerts a rearward and upward force on the point 18, the raft will descend in an attitude similar to that of a landing aircraft, with its nose slightly raised. This further ensures that the raft lands the right way up, particularly in heavy seas. For such a manner of descent to be ensured, the arrangement must provide sufficient tension in the trail line.

The tension in the trail line 14 during the descent of the raft will be affected by the ease with which it

^* , ^' ?

-3-

can escape from the canister 12. Particularly where it is used in conjunction with the raft dropping system described above, but also in other applications, we have found that the manner of 5 dispensing the rope described in the above-mentioned patent can with advantage be modified to increase the tension in the trail line.

As described in the above-mentioned patent, the trail line is packed in hanks secured to the wall of the

10 canister 12 by rubber bands. We have found that the tension in the trail line 14 can conveniently be controlled by means of an elastic restraint about -the end of a static line container surrounding the canister and the packed line, which restricts the rate

15 of release of the line. An increase in the tension in this restraint will reduce the rate of release of the line and therefore increase the line tension, while a decrease in the tension in the restraint will correspondingly reduce the tension in the trail line.

20 Such a restraint may be provided by modifying the embodiments described in the above-mentioned patent in the manner described below.

Figs. 1 and 2 show how the embodiment described in relation to Figs. 6 and 7 the above-mentioned patent

25 may be modified according to the present invention.

In that embodiment, the canister 35 was enclosed in an outer case 31 and an inner case 32 the end of which was closed by a cap 37. When the static line became fully extended from the aircraft, the inertia of the

30 canister was such that it forced off the cap 37 allowing the line to pay out freely.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. 2 hereof, the outer case 31 is replaced by a bag 40 ithe

open end of which in this embodiment is provided with belt loops 41 through which is passed an elastic belt 42. The belt 42 is so located that when the end cap 37 and the canister 35 are ejected from the case 32, the end of the bag 40 is drawn against the end of the case 32, restricting the passage of the static line between the bag and the case. By increasing the tension in the belt 42 by reducing its length, the tension in the static line as it is payed out will be increased.

The tension in the belt 42 may be adjusted by adjusting its length, for example by means of a ladder-type clasp 43, buckle or the like.

Other arrangements are of course possible. For example the embodiment described in relation to Figs. 1 to 4 of the earlier patent may be modified by the provision of an elastic belt around the end of the bag 10 in a manner like that of the belt 42 in Figs. 1 and 2 hereof, so that upon the ejection of the canister and the opening of the bag end, the bag returns to a partly closed condition to restrict the paying out of the static line 22. The elastic belt 42 may be replaced by other elastic means such as a shock cord or sewed-in elastic material.

Naturally the invention can be put into practice in ways other than those described, and the above embodiments represent examples only of the practice of the invention.