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US 10,053,215 B2Granted
Electro-hydraulic on-blade actuation system
AssigneeBell Helicopter Textron Inc.
InventorTroy Schank
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electro-hydraulic on-blade actuation system includes a pair of linear motors, a pair of flexible bladders and a pair of hydraulic units. Each linear motor outputs linear force in response to input. The pair of flexible bladders attach to opposite sides of a rotorcraft blade. Each hydraulic unit connects a linear motor to a flexible bladder to hydraulically transmit the linear force of the linear motor to the flexible bladder to actuate the rotorcraft blade.
Claims14
A rotorcraft blade actuation system comprising:
- a pair of linear motors, each linear motor to output linear force in response to input;
- a pair of flexible bladders to attach to opposite sides of a rotorcraft blade;
- and
- a pair of hydraulic units, each hydraulic unit comprising a fluid chamber connecting one of the linear motors to one of the flexible bladders, a slider in the fluid chamber to displace a hydraulic fluid in the fluid chamber to hydraulically transmit the linear force of the linear motor to the flexible bladder to actuate the rotorcraft blade, and a metal bellows surrounding at least a portion of the slider to seal the hydraulic fluid in the fluid chamber.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- generating a first linear force and an opposite second linear force along a chord length of a rotorcraft blade using a first linear motor and a second linear motor, respectively;
- hydraulically transmitting the first linear force and the second linear force to a first flexible bladder and a second flexible bladder using a first hydraulic unit and a second hydraulic unit, respectively, each of the first flexible bladder and the second flexible bladder attached to a surface of the rotorcraft blade, wherein the first hydraulic unit comprises a first fluid chamber, a first slider in the first fluid chamber that displaces a first hydraulic fluid in response to the first linear force and a first metal bellows surrounding at least a portion of the first slider to seal the first hydraulic fluid in the first fluid chamber, and the second hydraulic unit comprises a second fluid chamber, a second slider in the first fluid chamber that displaces a second hydraulic fluid in response to the second linear force and a second metal bellows surrounding at least a portion of the second slider to seal the second hydraulic fluid in the second fluid chamber;
- and
- expanding and contracting the first flexible bladder and the second flexible bladder, respectively, in response to the first linear force and the second linear force, respectively, to actuate the rotorcraft blade.
1 more element
A rotorcraft blade actuation system comprising:
- a first linear motor to output linear force in a first direction in response to input;
- a second linear motor to output linear force in a second direction opposite the first direction in response to input;
- a first flexible bladder to attach to a first side of a rotorcraft blade;
- a second flexible bladder to attach to a second side of the rotorcraft blade, the second side opposite the first side;
- a first hydraulic unit comprising a first fluid chamber connecting the first linear motor to the first flexible bladder, a first slider in the first fluid chamber to displace a first hydraulic fluid in response to receiving the linear force from the first linear motor, a first metal bellows surrounding at least a portion of the first slider to seal a first hydraulic fluid in the first fluid chamber and to hydraulically transmit the linear force of the first linear motor to the first flexible bladder to actuate the rotorcraft blade;
- and
- a second hydraulic unit comprising a second fluid chamber connecting the second linear motor to the second flexible bladder, a second slider in the second fluid chamber to displace a second hydraulic fluid in response to receiving the linear force from the second linear motor, a second metal bellows surrounding at least a portion of the second slider to seal the second hydraulic fluid in the second fluid chamber and to hydraulically transmit the linear force of the second linear motor to the second flexible bladder to actuate the rotorcraft blade.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.