INVENTOR’S BIG CLAIM

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10965, 29 July 1921, Page 5

INVENTOR’S BIG CLAIM

THE AEROPLANE “JOY-STICK” PATENT. EXPERTS TO ASSESS AMOUNT. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. PARIS,, July 26. The court, after reducing M. EsnaultPelterie’s “joy-stick” claim to £120,000, decided that the final amount to which the claimant is entitled shall he assessed by a committee of experts. The French, inventor of the “joystick, M. Enault-Pelterie, > made a claim for royalties—involving a huge sum-—for the use of his invention during the war. This came as a bombshell to the industry as it was made in re)spect of no fewer than 33,000 aeroplanes at the rate of £BO each. Messrs Vickers were ordered to pay 800,000 francs in respect to machines supplied to the French Government. The position of the British" industry seems to be in doubt. Esnault-Pelterie took out some patents in Britain, but whether he secured a “mwster-patent,” like that which seems to be the basis of the success, of his claims in France, remains "to he discovered. His original patents in France were taken out in 1905 and 1907; and liquidation to test their v aliditv was in progress from 1912 to 1914, -when tljo war put a stop to the proceedings. The “joy-stick” is the lever by "means of which the wing and tail steering controls of an aeroplane are operated. It directs the machine upward or downward, or to either side, and also controls its lateral or rolling movements. This complicated function is exercised by very simple means) The lever is held in a universal joint, which enables it to bo moved in any direction, and the control wires from rudder and elevators are attached to it.