Rotational inerter and method for damping an actuator
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsMichael T. Fox, Jeffrey M. Roach
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for damping an actuator includes an inerter. The inerter includes a first terminal and a second terminal movable relative to one another along an inerter axis and configured to be mutually exclusively coupled to a support structure and a movable device actuated by an actuator. The inerter further includes a rod coupled to and movable with the first terminal and a threaded shaft coupled to and movable with the second terminal. The inerter further includes a flywheel having a flywheel annulus coupled to one of the rod and the threaded shaft. The flywheel is configured to rotate in proportion to axial acceleration of the rod relative to the threaded shaft in correspondence with actuation of the movable device by the actuator.
Claims24
An apparatus for damping an actuator, comprising:
- an inerter, including:
- a first terminal and a second terminal movable relative to one another along an inerter axis mutually exclusively couplable to a support structure and a movable device actuated by the actuator;
- a rod coupled to and movable with the first terminal;
- a threaded shaft coupled to and movable with the second terminal;
- a flywheel having a flywheel annulus coupled to at least one of the rod and the threaded shaft;
- and the flywheel rotatable in proportion to axial acceleration of the rod relative to the threaded shaft in correspondence with actuation of the movable device by the actuator.
An aircraft, comprising:
- a flight control surface pivotably coupled to a support structure;
- a hydraulic actuator to actuate the flight control surface;
- an inerter, including:
- a first terminal and a second terminal mutually exclusively coupled to the support structure and the flight control surface;
- a rod movable with the first terminal;
- a threaded shaft movable with the second terminal;
- a flywheel coupled to at least one of the rod and the threaded shaft;
- and the flywheel rotatable in proportion to axial acceleration of the rod relative to the threaded shaft in correspondence with actuation of the flight control surface by the actuator.
A method of damping an actuator, comprising:
- actuating, using an actuator, a movable device;
- axially accelerating, using an inerter coupled to the movable device, a first terminal relative to a second terminal of the inerter simultaneous with and in proportion to actuation of the movable device;
- rotationally accelerating a flywheel of the inerter in proportion to and simultaneous with the axial acceleration of the first terminal relative to the second terminal;
- and
- reducing actuator load oscillatory amplitude of the movable device and actuator in response to rotationally accelerating the flywheel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.