Improvements relating to vehicle steering means

摘要

952,540. Detractive propulsive jets. UNITED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION. Feb. 28, 1962 [June 14, 1961], No. 7909/62. Heading B7G. [Also in Division G3] A vehicle steering means usable for directional control of rockets, comprises an inlet fluid passageway 44, first and second branch fluid passageways 36 and 38 communicating with the inlet 44, first and second opposed control nozzles 50 arid 52 arranged to selectively emit first and second switching fluid jets to the inlet 44, the switching jets serving respectively to direct a fluid stream from the inlet 44 to either the first or second branch passageways, and first and second exhaust nozzles 24 and 26 communicating respectively with the passageways 36 and 38 to selectively emit first and second steering jets under the control of the switching jets, the exhaust nozzles being arranged so that the steering jet from each nozzle crosses and blocks the mouth of the other nozzle so rendering the operation of the switching jets immune to atmospheric pressure change. During operation fluid flows in only one of the branch passageways, and to change the fluid's direction, say from passageway 36 to 38, a switching jet in the form of a pulse issues from nozzle 50, this creates a localized low-pressure region in the section 58 adjacent the inactive nozzle 52 so enabling fluid to flow through passageway 38 even when the pulse ceases to issue from nozzle 50. The exhaust nozzles 24 and 26 are convergent in form, and the longitudinal centre lines of these nozzles are acutely angularly related when viewed towards the mouths of the nozzles. In another embodiment, Fig. 2 (not shown), the exhaust nozzles are of the convergent-divergent type.