Ultra quiet split flow thrust reverser

Abstract

A thrust reverser system for jet aircraft comprising an exhaust tailpipe mounted to the turbine engine aft turbine flange and two clamshell doors, actuators and a locking system to prevent inadvertent deployment of the clamshell doors in-flight. Two improved design clamshell doors configurations, either one or a combination of both, mounted on either side of the top and bottom of the exhaust tailpipe, fitted with two patented design actuators mounted one on each side of the external sides of the tailpipe between the clamshell doors and the tailpipe, possibly in a depression in the tailpipe called blister, assuming them to be hydraulic actuators for discussion purposes. The actuators drive the clamshell doors using improved floating linkages loosely pivoted to the exterior of the exhaust tailpipe. The actuators are connected to the doors through mechanical linkages, to deploy the doors aft of the tailpipe exhaust area during deceleration after landing, diverting the exhaust gases forward to slow down the aircraft, and the actuators also drive two movable fairings during thrust reverser operation to enclose the reversed exhaust flow forward to prevent its impingement on the skin of the aircraft and provide a ram inlet area with the sides of the clamshell doors allowing ram air from the surrounding free stream to be scooped through the gap between the movable fairing and clamshell doors thereby provide cooling of the door surface in contact with the exhaust gases and mix with the engine exhaust gases in reverse thrust mode thereby augmenting reverse thrust mass flow and energy. The exhaust tailpipe can have a circular or any geometric exhaust section or in other configuration can be fitted in with a flow mixer with the surrounding ambient air to reduce shear noise resulting from the high velocity exhaust gases for noise attenuation. The flow mixer can also be perforated to allow for suction of ambient air by the lower static pressure engine exhaust gases to reduce shear noise and increase mixing and thrust. Two fixed fairings, above and below the tailpipe at the exit section can have perforations and also perforations on the movable fairings to educt surrounding air also to reduce shear noise between surrounding air and the engine exhaust flow during forward thrust based on SAE Aerospace Information Report AIR-1191 and method of calculation. Other configurations for the trailing edges of the fixed and movable fairings can have wavy contour lines to increase the contact area between the engine exhaust gases and the surrounding air to reduce shear noise as well. Fixed circular shape or rolling bodies, depicted as wheels for discussion purpose, but they can be of any shape, mounted on the top and bottom of the tailpipe at the forward end which get lodged in the upper and lower forward frames of the clamshell doors in the stow position to provide one of the mechanical locking systems. A second mechanical locking system is a high strength compression steel spring which is part of the linkages used to deploy and stow the clamshell doors, which at the end of the stow stroke is buckled to prevent the clamshell doors deploy mechanism from moving, thereby keeping the doors securely stowed. A third locking mechanism consisting of electrically actuated locks which engage the clamshell doors in the stow position and lock the movable fairings to prevent them from being entrained by the free stream during flight.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.