Aeronautics and astronautics – Aircraft power plants – Mounting
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-21
2001-05-08
Eldred, J. Woodrow (Department: 3644)
Aeronautics and astronautics
Aircraft power plants
Mounting
C244S05300R, C060S039300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227485
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
This invention relates to a common opening device for two adjacent aircraft engine nacelle covers.
Aircraft engines are enclosed in nacelles, some parts of which are movable covers which can open so that access can be gained to the engine.
Conventionally, these covers have transverse sections in the form of an arc of a circle, are articulated on a mast secured to the wing or to a fixed element of the nacelle by their top edge and are provided with locking means at their bottom edge so as to keep them normally closed. The method of opening the covers consists of undoing the locking means before lifting the covers and holding them in the open position by disposing spacing rods, often telescopic, between the covers and the engine enclosed by the nacelle.
The covers are lifted by hand if they are sufficiently light or by operating actuators articulated between them and a fixed point on the mast in the contrary case. In the first case, an operator must at least hold the cover raised whilst another installs the rod holding them in this open state; a single operator is necessary if the cover is lifted by an actuator, since he puts the safety rod in place after having controlled the deployment of the actuator.
Certain aircraft engines have the particular situation of two adjacent covers, one being sufficiently light to be lifted by hand but the other requiring the use of a lifting actuator. Several operators are used for lifting the first cover and installing the rod as above and then for controlling the actuator for the second cover and installing its rod.
This design combines the drawbacks of the two simple designs since use is made of several operators for opening the covers and an actuator for opening one of them. An attempt could be made to provide each of the covers with an actuator so as to have to need only one operator, but the design of the nacelle will be complicated and made more expensive by the addition of a second actuator.
The invention represents a better solution to this problem of using several operators successively to open two covers on an aircraft engine nacelle. To summarise, it consists of a novel construction of the nacelle in which the same actuator is successively connected to the two covers in order to lift them.
The aircraft engine nacelle comprises two adjacent covers each having a top edge articulated on the mast and an actuator for opening a first of the covers, articulated at a fixed point on the engine and connected to the first cover by a first hinge (which can, like the following one, take various appearances such as that of a fork), and this nacelle is original in that the first hinge is separable and comprises a hinge element belonging to the actuator, and the second of the covers comprises a hinge element which can form a separable hinge with the hinge element belonging to the actuator, the second hinge being able to be formed in a state of retraction of the actuator and of closure of the second cover and in a state of extension of the actuator and opening of the second cover. Thus the invention can be defined in its most general form as an aircraft engine nacelle comprising two adjacent covers, which are special in that a first one of the covers partially overlaps one of the second covers, imposing an order of opening and closing, the covers each having an edge articulated on a suspension mast on the nacelle or on a fixed element secured to the mast and engine, and an opening actuator connected to the first cover in a position where the first cover is closed by a first hinge and articulated by a second hinge on the engine, characterised in that, by rotation about the second hinge, the actuator can be successively connected to the first cover or to the second cover without being disconnected from the other hinge and without disconnecting its supply or control system, and in that bringing into service is controlled by a control element concealed by the cover and close to an opening edge opposite to the articulated edge of the first cover, when this cover is in the locked position.
If the actuator is hydraulic, the nacelle can comprise an actuator control system composed essentially of a pump, a liquid reservoir and a valve allowing passage of liquid from the reservoir to the actuator through the pump and a passage of liquid direct from the actuator to the reservoir.
If the actuator is electrically controlled, it can be controlled by a switch situated behind the opening edge of the first cover.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4037809 (1977-07-01), Legrand
patent: 4043522 (1977-08-01), Vetter
patent: 4399966 (1983-08-01), Crudden et al.
patent: 4440068 (1984-04-01), Tootle
patent: 5251435 (1993-10-01), Pauley
patent: 5372338 (1994-12-01), Carlin et al.
patent: 0 393 259 (1990-10-01), None
Aerospatiale - Societe Nationale Industrielle
Burns Doane , Swecker, Mathis LLP
Eldred J. Woodrow
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