Locking isolator and method of isolating a system
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJared R. Pothier, Nicholas Samuel Lee Smith, Cary D. Munger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A locking isolator includes one or more joints. The one or more joints are configured to transition between a clearance fit state and an interference fit state in response to a change in temperature. The locking isolator includes a dampener. The dampener is configured to attenuate transmission of vibration through the one or more joints when the one or more joints are in the clearance fit state.
Claims20
A locking isolator, comprising:
- one or more joints, configured to transition from a clearance fit state to an interference fit state in response to a first change in temperature and to transition from the interference fit state to the clearance fit state in response to a second change in temperature;
- a dampener, configured to attenuate transmission of vibration through the one or more joints when the one or more joints are in the clearance fit state;
- a heating element, configured to cause at least one of the first change in temperature and the second change in temperature;
- and
- a piezoelectric cantilever, configured to deflect in response to the vibration and to generate electrical energy to energize the heating element.
A locking isolator, comprising:
- a base;
- a linkage, coupled to the base;
- a cap, coupled to the linkage, opposite the base;
- a dampener, coupled to the base and to the cap;
- a heating element, configured to heat the linkage;
- and
- a piezoelectric cantilever, configured to deflect in response to vibration and to generate electric power to energize the heating element,
- wherein:
- the linkage is configured to transition from an unlocked state, in which the cap is movable relative to the base, to a locked state, in which the cap is fixed relative to the base, in response to a first change in temperature and to transition from the locked state to the unlocked state in response to a second change in temperature;
- and
- the dampener is configured to attenuate transmission of the vibration between the base and the cap when the linkage is in the unlocked state.
A method of isolating a first structure of a structural system from a second structure of the structural system, the method comprising:
- coupling the first structure and the second structure together using a locking isolator;
- in response to a change in temperature, transitioning one or more joints of the locking isolator between a clearance fit state, in which the first structure and the second structure are movable relative to each other, and an interference fit state, in which the first structure and the second structure are fixed relative to each other;
- and
- attenuating transmission of vibration between the first structure and the second structure using a dampener of the locking isolator with the one or more joints in the clearance fit state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.