WO2021112719A1 - Folding-wing aircraft and wing folding device - Google Patents

Abstract

An aircraft with foldable half wings comprises a fuselage, folding half wings, a tail assembly, a half wing folding device capable of rotating the half wings relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft and subsequently folding said half wings along the fuselage of the aircraft in the direction of the tail assembly, wheeled landing gear comprising a front landing gear and a main landing gear, and a mechanism for shifting the wheels of the main landing gear. The main landing gear is provided with a vertical strut mounted for rotation about its own axis, one end of said strut being connected to the half wing folding device, and the other end being connected to the mechanism for shifting the wheels of the main landing gear. The half wing folding device is connected to the mechanism for shifting the main landing gear by an actuator comprising a control rod and two levers, and includes structural elements in the form of assemblies that connect the half wings to a fixed portion of the wing. The folding device allows the half wings to be placed in a folded position, in which the chord plane of a half wing is vertical, and the wingtip is oriented toward the tail of the aircraft. The invention is intended to increase the rigidity and strength of the fastening of the half wings in flight configuration and in a folded state.

Description

FOLDING WING AIRCRAFT AND FOLDING WING

Technology area

The invention relates to aircraft construction, namely to aircraft with a folding wing, and can be used in the design of aircraft that move through the air and on the ground.

The main objective of the invention is the creation of a flying vehicle (aircraft) with a folding wing, providing a reduction in the transverse size of the aircraft during its transportation on public roads and the occupied area during storage of the aircraft, in order to ensure transport mobility during its use.

It also provides for the possibility of independent movement of an aircraft with a folded wing on the ground when equipped with gears on the wheels of the landing gear or by means of the propeller thrust.

State of the art

Known convertible aircraft, comprising: a fuselage with a cockpit; engine; three support spring chassis with bow and main supports; tail unit; a wing, the consoles of which are connected to the fuselage by hinged nodes, with each wing being rotatable in its hinge unit and folding upwards perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (US 2017/0113797 A1, https://ru.espacenet.com). The main landing gear is pivotally connected to the fuselage and can move longitudinally depending on the desired location of the aircraft's center of mass.

The disadvantage of this design is the complexity of the design of the connection of the wing consoles to the fuselage.

The closest to the proposed device is an aircraft, the design of which provides the ability to fold the wing consoles along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft (US J4b2674422, https://www.uspto.gov). The aircraft contains a fuselage with a cockpit and a tail boom, vertical and horizontal empennage mounted on a boom, a tricycle landing gear with a nose wheel and main support, an engine with a pushing propeller mounted behind the cockpit, a center section with wing consoles hinged to it with locks fixing consoles in flight configuration. When folded, the wings are turned up and back relative to the center section and are installed along the fuselage with the toe up. When folded, the ends of the consoles rest on special units mounted on the horizontal tail. To ensure the stability and maneuverability of the vehicle when driving on the road, compensation for the shift of the center of gravity back is provided by rotating the main chassis support around the axis of its attachment. The aircraft can move on the ground with the wing folded due to the thrust of the propeller, while the wing consoles cover the rotating propeller, ensuring safety for people and vehicles.

The disadvantages of this design are:

- the complexity of ensuring the strength and rigidity of the connection of the consoles with the center section, associated with the location of this unit on the main spar with a small spacing of the elements of the pivot lugs, limited by the thickness of the wing profile;

- turning the consoles up - back for a high wing makes it difficult to carry out this operation manually by one person;

- the choice of the horizontal tail as a support for the folded wing consoles causes additional loads acting on the structure of the horizontal tail when the aircraft moves along the ground;

- the disadvantage of the mechanism for displacing the main landing gear according to this technical solution is that the rotation of the main landing gear around the axis of its attachment is impossible without the application of significant efforts to lift the aircraft fuselage and carry out this operation manually by one person.

Known "Wing folding device" (RU G "2403177, http://wwwl.fips.ru/), containing: fixed and rotary wing parts with frame elements in the form of spars and end ribs, a hinge assembly and a locking lock; the elements of the hinge assembly are fixed on the spars of the wing parts, and the fixing lock is spaced from the front hinge assembly in the direction of the trailing edge of the wing, the elements of this lock are fixed at the junction of the spars of the wing parts with their end ribs.

The disadvantage of this wing folding device is that in the folded position, the wing panels fall into the plane of rotation of the propeller. This practically makes it impossible to move with folded wing consoles due to the thrust of the propeller or is associated with a significant increase the transverse dimension of the vehicle with incomplete folding of the consoles. When the consoles are turned up and back relative to the fuselage, their center of gravity moves with a significant change in height, which is associated with the application of great efforts when folding the consoles manually and is a technically difficult task when using a mechanical drive, and this drive must have significant power.

Closest to the claimed device is the "Manual mechanism for folding the wing" (RU 2674387, http://wwwl.fips.ru/), including: a device for folding the wing, connecting the fixed wing section with the rotary section, made with the possibility of extending the rotary section wing from the center section and rotation of the rotary section around the transverse axis of the aircraft, as well as rotation of this section around the vertical axis perpendicular to the transverse axis, with the location of the rotary section along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft perpendicular to the fixed section; wing consoles fastening elements.

The disadvantage of this wing folding mechanism is that when extending the wing console from the center section, it is necessary to hold it in this position to rotate relative to the transverse and then vertical axes, which requires great physical effort and can lead to wing breakage if the wing is folded carelessly.

The technical problem to be solved by the claimed group of inventions is to provide the possibility of folding the wing of the aircraft by one person, to reduce the transverse size of the aircraft and to ensure its transportation on public roads, to ensure the rigidity and strength of the attachment of the consoles while reducing the loads in the nodes in the flight configuration and in the folded condition. In addition, it is possible to move the aircraft on the ground by means of a wheel drive or by means of the thrust of the propeller, taking into account safety when moving on public roads and a good view from the pilot's seat. Disclosure of the essence of the invention

The technical result achieved when using the claimed vehicle is to compensate for the backward displacement of the center of mass when the wing is folded, to prevent the aircraft from overturning, as well as to ensure the possibility of its stable movement with the wing folded, including independently on the thrust of the propeller and to reduce it transverse size in order to ensure the safety of road users.

The essence of the technical solution of the proposed aircraft with a folding wing lies in the fact that the wing consoles are pivotally connected to the center section, thus ensuring the rotation of the wing consoles relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft and their folding in the direction from the front of the aircraft to the tail, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Due to the fact that the device for folding the wing consoles by a system of rods and levers is connected to the displacement mechanism of the main landing gear, an even distribution of the weight load on both landing gears of the aircraft and its stable movement on the thrust of the propeller with the wing folded while maintaining reliable controllability is ensured.

At the same time, the main landing gear displacement mechanism and its drive are made in such a way that the vertical strut of the main landing gear has the ability to rotate about its own axis and is connected by means of a thrust and levers to the wing folding device, and the main landing gear displacement mechanism is made in the form of a link mechanism including a two-link a folding horizontal strut, a link connected to the vertical strut of the main chassis, and a steering knuckle interacting with the wheel of the main chassis. The link is equipped with a segmental groove, in which a finger is installed, which makes a translational movement in the groove of the link. At the same time, at the extreme points, the pin secures the main landing gear supports in the flight and transport positions.

The technical result of the wing folding device is to reduce the transverse dimension of the aircraft in the folded wing position and to ensure the transfer of the load from the wing console to the center section, both in flight position and during folding.

The essence of the technical solution of the claimed wing folding device is that it is made with the ability to rotate the wing console relative to the transverse axis and rotate it around the vertical axis and the location of the wing console along the longitudinal axis of the aircraft perpendicular to the transverse axis. Used in the design of the wing folding mechanism The original combination of connection of the wing console and the center section by means of a vertical "ear-fork" hinge and two horizontal cylindrical hinges allows the transfer of the load from the wing console to the center section, both in flight position and in the process of folding.

Brief Description of Drawings

The essence of the invention is illustrated by the following description and the accompanying illustrations, which show: FIG. 1 - general view of the aircraft in flight position; fig. 2 is a general view of the aircraft in the position with the wing consoles turned; fig. 3 - General view of the aircraft in the position with folded wing consoles; fig. 4 is a fragment of the aircraft structure, rear view of the wing folding device and the landing gear shift mechanism of FIG. 5 - a fragment of the aircraft structure, rear view of the wing folding device; fig. 6 - a fragment of the aircraft structure, view of the wing console fixing lock in the rotated position; fig. 7 - a fragment of the aircraft structure, a view of the lock for fixing the wing console to the spar of the center section; fig. 8 - position of the main landing gear displacement linkage in the flight position of the wing console; fig. 9 - position of the landing gear shift linkage when the wing console is folded; fig. 10 - a fragment of an aircraft, a view of the wing console fixing lock in the folded position;

Where:

1 - fuselage;

2 - center section;

3 - wing console;

4 - front chassis support;

5 - main chassis;

6 - spring of the main chassis;

7 - vertical brace;

8 - wheel of the main landing gear;

9 - thrust of the drive of the displacement mechanism of the main chassis;

10 - drive lever for the displacement mechanism of the main chassis;

11 - lock for fixing the wing console in flight position; 12 - rear wall of the wing console;

13 - fuselage frame;

14 - wing console mounting bracket;

15 - wing console spar;

16 - internal horizontal hinge;

17 - outer horizontal hinge;

18 - upper vertical hinge;

19 - lower vertical hinge;

20 - center section spar;

21 - latch of the lock for fixing the wing console in the rotated position;

22 - root rib of the wing console;

23 - latch of the lock for fastening the wing console to the spar of the center section;

24 - drive lever of the displacement mechanism of the main chassis;

25 - cable for driving the latch of the lock for fastening the wing console to the spar of the center section;

26 - spring of the lock for fastening the wing console to the spar of the center section;

27 - the leading link of the horizontal strut;

28 - driven link of the horizontal strut;

29 - curtain;

30 - segment groove of the wings;

31 - finger;

32 - thrust of the displacement mechanism of the main chassis;

33 - swing arm of the main chassis;

34 - axis;

35 - latch lock for fixing the wing console in the folded position;

36 - lock of the lock for fixing the wing console in the folded position;

37 - lock bracket for fixing the wing console in flight position.

FIG. 1 - 3 show the general views of the aircraft containing the fuselage 1, center section 2, pivotally connected to the center section of the wing console 3, device folding of the wing consoles, a wheeled landing gear consisting of a front support 4 and a main landing gear 5, a mechanism for displacing the main landing gear, a lock for fixing the flight position of the wing console (not shown).

FIG. 4 shows a fragment of the aircraft structure - a rear view of the wing folding device and the main landing gear displacement mechanism.

The main chassis 5 contains a spring 6 pivotally connected to the fuselage, a strut 7 pivotally connected to the spring and the fuselage, a wheel 8 fixed to the spring.

The wing consoles folding device is connected to the main landing gear displacement mechanism by means of a rod 9 and a lever 10 attached to the upper end of the vertical strut 7.

The lock 11 for fixing the wing console in the flight position is made in the form of a latch fixed on the rear wall 12 of the wing console, connecting it with the fuselage frame 13.

The wing folding device shown in FIG. 5, contains:

- an arm 14 for fastening the wing console, which is connected to the spar 15 of the wing console 3 by means of two horizontal hinge assemblies 16 and 17, the axis of which is directed along the spar of the wing console and is located near the lower belt of the spar;

- two vertical hinge assemblies 18 and 19 connecting the wing console 3 with the spar 20 of the center section 2 with the possibility of folding the rotated wing console into the transport position, in which the plane of the chords of the wing console is vertical, and the end of the console is directed to the tail of the aircraft;

- lock fixing the wing console in the turned position (shown in Fig. 6);

- lock fastening the wing console to the spar center section (shown in Fig. 7).

The lock for fixing the wing console in the rotated position is made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 21, fixed on the root rib 22 of the wing console and interacting with the wing console attachment bracket 14 when the wing console is rotated.

The lock for fastening the wing console to the spar includes a spring-loaded latch 23 attached to the lever 24 connected to the wing console fastening bracket 14. The latch is driven by a cable 25, the shell of which is fixed on the spar 15 of the wing console.

The displacement mechanism of the main chassis (Fig. 8.9) includes: - a linkage mechanism consisting of a two-link horizontal strut, link 27 of which is pivotally connected to the vertical strut (see Fig. 7), and link 28 with the fuselage;

- the link 29, with a segment groove 30 made in it, in which the pin 31 is located connecting the horizontal strut links 27 and 28;

- rod 32, pivotally connected at one end to the link 29, and the other to the steering knuckle 33 of the wheel 8.

The steering knuckle 33 is pivotally connected to the spring 6 of the main chassis 5, and the axle 34 is rigidly connected to the wheel 8.

FIG. 8 shows a variant of the configuration of the main landing gear lever mechanism in the flight position of the wing console.

FIG. 9 shows a variant of the configuration of the main landing gear linkage mechanism in the folded position of the wing console.

FIG. 10 shows a fragment of the aircraft structure - a view of the wing console fixing lock in the folded position.

The lock for fixing the wing console attachment in the folded position is made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 35, fixed on the toe of the wing console, and a lock 36 located on the horizontal stabilizer.

Implementation of the invention.

The claimed technical solution is a group of inventions, including an aircraft with a folding wing and a mechanism for displacing the main landing gear and a wing folding device, connected by a single task of creating a universal vehicle capable of moving through the air and on the ground, reliable and easy to operate.

The technical result of the claimed group of inventions is achieved due to the fact that the device for folding the wing consoles is connected to the displacement mechanism of the main chassis by a drive, which includes a rod 9 and a lever 10, one end of which interacts with the rod 9, and the other with the vertical strut 7 of the main chassis. The displacement mechanism of the main landing gear is made in the form of a linkage mechanism comprising: a two-link horizontal strut, link 27 of which is pivotally connected to the spring 6, and link 28 to the fuselage; a link 29, with a segment groove 30 made in it, in which a pin 31 is located, connecting the horizontal strut links 27 and 28; thrust 32, pivotally connected at one end with the link 29, and the other with the steering knuckle 33 of the wheel 8. In this case, the vertical strut 7 of the main chassis 5 has the ability to rotate around its axis.

The wing consoles folding device contains:

- an arm 14 for fastening the wing console, which is connected to the spar 15 of the wing console 3 by means of two horizontal hinge assemblies 16 and 17, the axis of which is directed along the spar of the wing console and is located near the lower belt of the spar;

- two vertical hinge assemblies 18 and 19 connecting the wing console 3 with the spar 20 of the center section 2 with the possibility of folding the rotated wing console into the transport position, in which the plane of the chords of the wing console is vertical, and the end of the console is directed to the tail of the aircraft;

- a lock for fixing the wing console in a rotated position, made in the form of a spring-loaded latch 21, fixed on the root rib 22 of the wing console and interacting with the wing console attachment bracket 14 when the wing console is rotated;

- a lock for fixing the wing console to the spar of the center section, including a spring-loaded latch 23, fixed on the lever 24, connected to the bracket 14 for fastening the wing console, while the latch is driven by a cable 25, the shell of which is fixed on the spar 15 of the wing console. In addition, the device for folding the wing consoles is configured to transfer flight loads from the cantilever spar to the center section spar.

The claimed technical solution works as follows. In the flight position (Fig. 1), the wing console is connected to the frame 13 of the center section 2 by a lock 11 located on the rear wall 12 of the wing console. In this case, all loads from the wing console 3 are transmitted to the center section 2 through the wing console attachment bracket 14 and the hinge assemblies 16, 17, 18 and 19.

After the flight and landing at the airfield, the wing consoles are folded. To do this, the center section and wing consoles are undocked by removing the latch of the lock 11 from the hole of the bracket 37, fixed on the frame 13 of the fuselage. Then, the wing console is rotated toe down relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft, while the curved profile of the root rib 22 of the wing console makes it possible to create space for accommodating the wing console attachment bracket 14. At the end point of the wing console pivot point, the spring-loaded latch 21 of the lock fixes the wing console, engaging with the bracket 14. Then, using the cable 25, the latch 23, pressed by the spring 26, is disengaged from the center section spar 20, freeing the wing console to rotate it about the vertical axis. When the wing console is rotated and folded along the fuselage, the wing console attachment bracket 14 by means of the lever 24 acts on the thrust 9 and the lever 10 of the drive of the displacement mechanism of the main landing gear, which leads to the rotation of the strut 7 and the leading link 27 of the horizontal strut connected to it. The rotation of the link 27 sets in motion a linkage mechanism that includes a rocker 29, a rod 32 and a steering knuckle 33 interacting with the spring 6 and the wheel 8 of the main chassis. Thus, there is a shift of the main landing gear back relative to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft, compensating for the displacement of the center of mass when the wing console is turned and the pilot and passenger leave the aircraft cockpit. This operation is performed sequentially from one and the other side of the aircraft. In addition, shifting the landing gear back makes it possible to reload the front landing gear support 4, which improves the controllability of the aircraft when moving on the ground.

This technical solution can be used as a personal vehicle for business and sports purposes, as well as for performing patrol and search tasks by the Ministry of Emergency Situations and other structures with the possibility of delivering it in the cargo compartment of a transport aircraft.

Claims

FOLDING WING AIRCRAFT AND FOLDING WING Claim

- fuselage, including the fixed part of the wing (center section); - foldable wing consoles connected to the center section, including a spar and other frame elements; - tail unit, including vertical unit and horizontal unit; - a device for folding the wing consoles, made with the possibility of turning the wing consoles relative to the transverse axis of the aircraft from the flight configuration to an angle close to 90 °, and then folding them towards the tail unit along the aircraft fuselage; - locks for fixing the flight and folded position of the wing consoles; - wheeled chassis, including the front and main chassis; - the mechanism of displacement of the wheels of the main chassis; characterized in that: - the main landing gear is equipped with a vertical strut ^ installed with the possibility of turning about its own axis, one end of which is connected to the wing consoles folding device and the other to the main landing gear displacement mechanism; - the wing consoles folding device is connected to the main landing gear displacement mechanism by a drive containing a thrust and two levers, one of which is connected to the wing console folding device, and the second - with a vertical strut; - the root rib of the wing console has a profile curved in the vertical plane; - the mechanism of displacement of the wheels of the main chassis includes: two-link folding horizontal strut; a link with a groove in which a pin is installed connecting the horizontal strut links and making a translational movement in the link groove, as well as fixing the main landing gear supports in such a way that in the folded position of the wing consoles, the main landing gear wheels are in the rear position; the steering knuckle of the main chassis wheel. 2. An aircraft with folding wing consoles according to claim 1, characterized in that the wing consoles are connected directly to the power frames of the fuselage. eleven SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) 3. An aircraft with folding wing consoles according to claim 1, characterized in that the main landing gear displacement mechanism is equipped with a drive of any known type, for example, hydraulic or electric. 4. An airplane with a folding wing according to claim 1, characterized in that the groove made in the link of the main landing gear displacement mechanism has a "C" -shaped profile. 5. A wing folding device comprising: - structural elements in the form of nodes connecting the wing consoles with the fixed part of the wing (center section), made with the possibility of transferring aerodynamic loads acting on the wing console in flight configuration, as well as moving the wing console to a folded position, in which the plane of the chords of the wing console is vertical , and the end of the console is directed towards the tail of the aircraft; - locks for fixing the wing folding device, characterized in that the connection of the wing console with the center section is made in the form of a bracket connected by a wing console spar by means of two horizontal hinges, the axis of which is directed along the spar and located near its lower belt, with the possibility of rotating the wing console relative to the transverse axis aircraft at an angle close to 90 °; and with the center section - with the help of two vertical hinge nodes with the possibility of turning the wing console relative to the vertical axis to the folded position. 6. Wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that the vertical hinges of the wing console mounting bracket with the center section spar are spaced apart within the thickness of the wing profile. 7. Wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that the horizontal hinges of the wing console attachment bracket with the wing spar are spaced apart from each other at a distance of 2 to 3 times greater than the wing profile thickness in the zone of the wing console and center section junction. 8. The wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that it is equipped with a mechanism for fixing the wing console in a position rotated relative to the horizontal axis. 9. The wing folding device according to claim 7, characterized in that it is equipped with a mechanism for fixing the wing console to the center section in the rotated position of the wing console. 12 SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)