Landing gear stay
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsFrazer Wilson, Declan Franks
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A variable length stay for an aircraft landing gear is disclosed having first and second sets of struts lying on different longitudinal axes that enable the stay to extend and contract by movement of the struts parallel to their axes. The stay may be locked in its extended and retracted configurations thus providing downlock and uplock functions for the landing gear. The struts of the stay may have an open and easy to inspect structure, have low friction kinematics, and do not need to telescope within each other or lie on a single common axis.
Claims17
An aircraft landing gear comprising a main landing gear leg and a stay attached to the leg at one end and being configured for attachment to aircraft structure at an opposite end, wherein the stay comprises:
- a major strut which has a first axis extending in a first direction,
- two or more minor struts each having a respective axis, extending parallel to and spaced apart from the first axis,
- and wherein
- the stay is moveable between a contracted configuration and an extended configuration, the main strut and the minor struts moving parallel to the first axis as the stay moves between the contracted and extended configurations, and
- the main strut has an exterior surface that supports and guides the movement of each of the minor struts as the stay moves between the contracted and extended configurations.
A method of operating an aircraft including an aircraft landing gear leg comprising the steps of:
- moving the aircraft landing gear leg to or from a deployed position,
- assisting in supporting of the landing gear leg in the deployed position using a landing gear stay, the landing gear stay extending between the leg and a different part of the aircraft and providing a load path between the landing gear leg and the different part of the aircraft,
- a first strut of the landing gear stay moving parallel to a longitudinal axis of the first strut and parallel to and alongside two or more further struts of the landing gear stay so as to change the length of the landing gear stay as the aircraft landing gear leg moves to or from the deployed position,
- a locking mechanism of the stay locking the first strut relative to the further struts when the landing gear is in its deployed position so as to restrict a change in length of the stay and thus restrict the movement of the landing gear leg from its deployed position, and
- unlocking the locking mechanism of the stay so as to allow a change in length of the stay and thus allow the movement of the landing gear leg away from its deployed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.