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US 12,097,953 B2Granted
Trailing edge panel support
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorWilliam Tulloch
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An aircraft wing including a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, a forward spar and a rear spar. A leading edge of a trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox. A support structure is attached to the wingbox. A kinked link includes a first arm, a second arm, and a corner where the first and second arms meet. The first arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the trailing edge panel at a first pivot joint, and the second arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a second pivot joint.
Claims19
An aircraft wing comprising:
- a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, and a rear spar;
- one or more flap movable with respect to the wingbox between a low drag position and a high lift position;
- a trailing edge panel with a leading edge, wherein the leading edge of the trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox at a position in which the trailing edge panel fills a gap between the lower cover and the one or more flap when the one or more flap is in the low drag position;
- a support structure attached to the wingbox;
- and
- a kinked link comprising a first arm, a second arm, and a corner where the first and second arms meet, wherein the first arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the trailing edge panel at a first pivot joint, and the second arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a second pivot joint;
- wherein the trailing edge panel defines a plane, the first pivot joint is located on a first side of the plane of the trailing edge panel, and the second pivot joint is located on a second side of the plane of the trailing edge panel.
4 more elements
An aircraft wing comprising:
- a wingbox with an upper cover, a lower cover, and a rear spar;
- a trailing edge panel with a leading edge, wherein the leading edge of the trailing edge panel is attached to the wingbox;
- a support structure attached to the wingbox;
- and
- a kinked link comprising a first arm, a second arm, and a corner where the first and second arms meet, wherein the first arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the trailing edge panel at a first pivot joint, and the second arm of the kinked link is pivotally attached to the support structure at a second pivot joint;
- wherein the trailing edge panel further comprises a trailing edge, an inboard edge and an outboard edge, the support structure comprises an inboard face and an outboard face, and either:
- the support structure is positioned inboard of the inboard edge of the trailing edge panel, and the kinked link is pivotally attached to the inboard face of the support structure;
- or
- the support structure is positioned outboard of the outboard edge of the trailing edge panel, and the kinked link is pivotally attached to the outboard face of the support structure.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.