Cloth Tow Target Sleeve (1992)

llllllilllllllillllllllllllliii US005078406A
United States Patent [191

Luttrell et a1.
[54] AERIAL GUNNERY TARGET
[11] Patent Number:

[45] Date of Patent:
5,078,406
Jan. 7, 1992
5,026,073
6/1991 Luttrell et a1. .................... .. 273/360
[75] Inventors: Clyde K. Luttrell, New Market;

Donald T. Moore, Huntsville, both of
Ala
7 ' z T 0
FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

523054 10/1953 Belgium
0124785
3005611
4/1984 European Pat. Off. .

8/1981 Fed. Rep. of Germany .
France .
[ 3] Asslgnee
A??? ggzlfsmes Inc Los

g
496230 7/1919 France .

783489 7/1935
[21] Appl. N0.: 536,112 [22] H} d J 8 1990

e : un. ,
7500687-4 9/1976 Sweden . 2034267 6/1980 United Kingdom .
Related US. Application Data
Primary Examiner-William H. Grieb Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Beveridge, DeGrandi &
[63]
v
[51]
fontirlguatign-irg-sgrt of Ser. No. 343,438, Apr. 26,

989, at. o. , 6,073, and acontinuation-in-part of
wellacher
[57] ABSTRACT
A" aerial gunnery target which is Wed behind *1 W
PCT/US90/O224l, Apr. 25, 1990.

1m. 01.5 ............................................... .. F41J 9/10
[52] [53] 56 [ 1
us. 01. ............. .. 273/360; 244/1 TD Field of Search .............................. .. 273/360, 361 R f Ci d t e erences te U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS 1,860,932 5/1932 Binnie . 2,216,776 10/1940 Hoffman _ 2,238,875 4/1941 Manson . 2,233,376 4/1941 Manson -
ing aircraft The gunnery target includes an extension device that Separates a forebody assembly from a visual augmenter. The target also includes a vented in?ator positioned at the forward end of the visual augmenter. The vented in?ator maintains the front end of the visual augmenter open during towing. The visual augmenter is generally cylindrical in shape with an open aft end and an adjustment device for varying the size of the aft opening. In addition, the visual body is comprised of a
1?;
grown '
- mesh netting which preferably includes a plurality of

interconnected strands joined together to form a plural~
2'27O884 V1942 M22282 a a ' '
2:342:651 2/1944 Dircksen'_

2,402,156 6/1946 Griesinger ,
ity of diamond shaped openings. The inter-connected

strands are each formed of a plurality of knitted threads
2,419,549 4/ 1947 Griesinger et a1. .

1307237 9/ 1957 Frey ~
and the strands are preferably joined together by knit

ting some or all of threads of one strand with some or all
lizlegm'an
4,205Z848 6/1980 Smith et a]. .
of the threads of an interconnecting strand.

_ _
4,624,648 11/1986 Waters .
9 Clams, 18 Dr?wmg Sheets
74 72
7O
46
64
56
5O 54
48
42
76
7O
66
68
62 58 6O
44
52
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 1 of 18
5,078,406
mFOE<m
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 2 of 18
5,078,406
mm
on v0 vw mm
1
mm ON ww
wv Oh NR \vw
Nv
wk
mw
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 4 of 18
5,078,406
Evy
NQK M
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 5 of 18
5,078,406
58
F/G. 5,4
@F/G. 55
M00000 0 6 > g>0 060WWW 0 00% 0 0 0 < > < > o < > >0%) <<> 0000% M W AMMXQOAO W3
< > 0000? W
T7 26V \/ \/
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 7 of 18
5,078,406
202 200
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 8 of 18
5,078,406
F/GB
EXTEND CURRENTAUGMENTER
HO
VENTED INFLATER
EXTENDED AUGMENTER~FT
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 9 of 18
5,078,406
Om 0mm 00 OE .
C mOounOtGh;N
452x0
Om
ON
PANE NORMAL FORCE 8 DRAG-Alb
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 10 of 18
5,078,406
t U0QD.F(E9U<
0m
00m DRAG ~ lb
Om
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 11 of 18
5,078,406
@<> 510
Ow
J M 5Q2ms0mm 18o:m
m9
1.
wOU
QURN\
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 12 of 18
5,078,406
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 13 of 18
5,078,406
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 14 of 18
5,078,406
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 15 of 18
5,078,406
F/G. /74
F76. /75
U.S. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 16of 18
5,078,406
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 17 of 18
5,078,406
P76. /9
305
IJ
30!
299 304
P76. 20
US. Patent
Jan. 7, 1992
Sheet 18 of 18
5,078,406
V m _ w //// //
\\\
vOm
m O n ///
5,078,406
1 I
AERIAL GUNNERY TARGET
ward end of the visual augmenter, portions of the visual augmenter tend to float upwardly towards the surface
of the water thereby causing even a greater hazard due
RELATED APPLICATION(S)
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. ap plication Ser. No. 07/343,438, ?led Apr. 26, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,073, granted June 25, 1991. The present application is also a continuation-in-part of In
to dif?culty in spotting the augmenters. In addition, the visual augmenters of the prior art
were prone to be dif?cult to visually detect due to a
lack of visual acuity. This problem in visual detection being especially true for the individual strand con?gu
ration of the prior art as often the individual strands
l0 bellow outwardly decreasing contrast between the aug
ternational Application PCT/US90/02241 ?led Apr.

25, 1990.
menter and the environmental background.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention, among other things, presents a 15 solution to the aforementioned problems associated of aerial targets that are towed behind an aircraft. with the prior art. In so doing, the present invention DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART provides for the visual augmenter to be spaced well away from the forebody assembly carrying the radar or To improve the shooting and pursuit skills of aircraft scoring device. To achieve this spacing, an extension pilots, various types of targets have been developed device is utilized which has a front end attached to the which are towed behind a towing aircraft. Some of the
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The ?eld of this invention lies within the target and gunnery art. In particular, it lies within the speci?c ?eld
earlier target constructions included elongated fabric

panels or banners such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat.
rear end of a forebody assembly and a rear end attached
Nos. 2,731,046 and 2,807,287. These targets included

woven panels attached to a bridle assembly which, in
turn, was attached to a long cable secured to a towing 25 extension device includes one or more riser lines ex aircraft. Alternate prior art forms of tow targets include tending either from a frame or swivel connection at
to the visual augmenter. Hence, the extension device places the forebody assembly in a position which is less likely to be subjected to hits by pursuing aircraft. The
those found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,342,651 and 3,000,634 which feature one or more cylindrical sleeves being dragged behind a tow aircraft. Such targets have proven to be susceptible to ?agging and oscillation
tached to the forebody assembly. A plurality of suspen sion lines extend from the end of each of the riser lines. The suspension lines extend outwardly away from the
riser lines and are attached to a vented in?ator which is attached to the forefront of the visual augmenter. In the prior art systems referred to, the visual aug~
menter was connected to a frame structure which gave
when dragged at high speeds.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,848 discloses a banner proposed
for use as an aerial gunnery target which includes a
plurality of single strands extending between forward the front, open end of the visual augmenter the desired and aft frame structures. This type of prior art target is 35 shape. This feature of using the frame structure attached described as avoiding the prior art problems of flagging to the forebody is not available when utilizing the pres and oscillating at high speeds clue to the elimination of ent inventions ?exible extension device which extends
transmitted forces between the individual strands ex
tending along the length of the target.

Nonetheless, single strands also tend to whip and ?ag
and snap in a manner similar to a whip cracking. This
far from the frame. In other words, without a frame

40 structure connected directly to the forward end of the
whipping action tends to break the ends of the strands
thus shortening the length of the augmenter. Also, the

use of individualized strands creates a problem of target
visual augmenter, there exists the possibility of the vi sual augmenter losing its shape at the forward end. The vented in?ator of the present invention avoids
this problem by creating the aerodynamic forces neces

45 sary to keep the forward end of a cylindrical type visual
survivability after repeated hits by the pursuing plane.

Once the individualized strands are hit they tend to
freely flow about thus degrading the visual acuity of the target and its performance. Moreover, the positioning
augmenter open and in an inflated condition. The vented in?ator includes a forward hoop and a rearward
hoop joined together by a plurality of ?exible panels
connected between the forward and rearward hoops. of the radar or scoring device close to the forward end of the target makes the device susceptible to destruction 50 The panels are spaced from one another along the pe riphery of each of the hoops so as to create air vents due to hits by the pursuing aircraft. between adjacent panels. The panels are also preferably The various visual augmenters such as the banners, connected to the hoops in a manner which prevents sleeves, and interconnected strands discussed above,
have also presented the problem of environmental im
slippage of the panels along the hoop. Also, the forward
pact. For those visual augmenters which are released 55 hoop is larger than the rearward hoop such that when the forward and rearward hoops are tensioned the pan before landing of the towing aircraft, there lies the els form a frusto conical rim at the forward end of the possibility of the visual augmenter dropping into a body visual augmenter. The vented in?ator thus acts to main of water. This is especially true for the lighter banners tain the forward end of the visual augmenter in an open which are more apt to be in?uenced by wind currents. position. The visual augmenters which fall into a body of water The visual augmenter is generally cylindrical with an and are formed of relatively buoyant material such as open front end and an open aft end which includes an polypropelene present a problem to ?shermen and the adjusting device that enables the size of the aft opening like in that the visual augmenters tend to tangle up in to be adjusted. This adjustment feature allows for ma the netting used by ?shermen and the propellers of both commercial and recreation boats. Prior art attempts to 65 nipulation of the drag created by the visual augmenter. For situations in which the visual augmenter is to be solve this problem have included the positioning of towed at high speeds, it is preferable that the adjusting weights on the forward end of the visual augmenter. device create a large opening at the aft end of the visual However, even with the weights attached to the for

Cloth Tow Target Sleeve (1992)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cloth Tow Target Sleeve (1992)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cloth Tow Target Sleeve (1992)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

llllllilllllllillllllllllllliii US005078406A

United States Patent [191

[11] Patent Number:

6/1991 Luttrell et a1. .................... .. 273/360

[75] Inventors: Clyde K. Luttrell, New Market;

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

4/1984 European Pat. Off. .

A??? ggzlfsmes Inc Los

496230 7/1919 France .

[21] Appl. N0.: 536,112 [22] H} d J 8 1990

7500687-4 9/1976 Sweden . 2034267 6/1980 United Kingdom .

Related US. Application Data

Primary Examiner-William H. Grieb Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Beveridge, DeGrandi &

fontirlguatign-irg-sgrt of Ser. No. 343,438, Apr. 26,

PCT/US90/O224l, Apr. 25, 1990.

- mesh netting which preferably includes a plurality of

2'27O884 V1942 M22282 a a ' '

2:342:651 2/1944 Dircksen'_

ity of diamond shaped openings. The inter-connected

2,419,549 4/ 1947 Griesinger et a1. .

and the strands are preferably joined together by knit

of the threads of an interconnecting strand.

4,624,648 11/1986 Waters .

9 Clams, 18 Dr?wmg Sheets

AERIAL GUNNERY TARGET

ternational Application PCT/US90/02241 ?led Apr.

menter and the environmental background.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

earlier target constructions included elongated fabric

rear end of a forebody assembly and a rear end attached

Nos. 2,731,046 and 2,807,287. These targets included

when dragged at high speeds.

tending along the length of the target.

far from the frame. In other words, without a frame

whipping action tends to break the ends of the strands

thus shortening the length of the augmenter. Also, the

this problem by creating the aerodynamic forces neces

survivability after repeated hits by the pursuing plane.

hoop joined together by a plurality of ?exible panels

have also presented the problem of environmental im

slippage of the panels along the hoop. Also, the forward

You might also like