Aircraft dolly
AssigneeDisabled Aircraft Tools, LLC
InventorMichael Wiskus
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dolly for placement beneath a landing gear of an aircraft that enables transport of the aircraft without rolling the tire of the aircraft. The dolly includes a platform for a tire to rest on and a channel for positioning the tire. The dolly includes a winch for translating the dolly and aircraft tire relative to each other such that the landing gear is brought to rest on the platform, and one or more stops for securing the aircraft landing gear with respect to the dolly. Once positioned, the dolly can be used while transporting the aircraft, either by hand pushing, a hand towbar, a motorized tug with a towbar, or other mode. The dolly is useful for moving aircraft in tight spaces and is also useful for transporting aircraft with damaged landing gear or flat tires.
Claims18
A dolly for positioning under a landing gear of an aircraft for transporting an aircraft, comprising:
- a frame including a pair of beams that are substantially parallel to each other, said pair of beams being separated by a platform, each of said pair of beams including a vertical wall that extends upward from said platform and a horizontal wall extending laterally outward from the respective vertical wall, said platform and pair of beams defining a channel for movement of an aircraft tire into the channel and onto the platform, wherein said platform comprises two horizontal support plates vertically separated from each other, each of the plates attached to the pair of beams, and wherein each of said pair of beams has a plurality of upright brackets below the respective horizontal wall, each of said plurality of brackets extending intermediate the two horizontal support plates;
- a plurality of casters attached to each of said pair of beams;
- and
- a winch attached to said frame, said winch including a strap, said strap being attachable to an aircraft or an aircraft tire for movement of said tire into the channel and onto the platform by actuation of said winch, such that the aircraft then can be transported by the dolly without rolling the aircraft tire;
- wherein the frame is adapted for selective attachment to a detachable towbar for towing the aircraft.
A dolly for positioning under a landing gear of an aircraft for transporting an aircraft, the dolly comprising:
- a frame including a pair of beams that are substantially parallel to each other, said pair of beams being separated by a platform, each of said pair of beams including a wall that extends upwardly from said platform to a wall that extends horizontally, the wall that extends horizontally extends to a downwardly extending outer portion, said platform and pair of beams defining a channel for movement of an aircraft tire into the channel and onto the platform;
- each of said pair of beams having a forward castor, a rearward castor, and a castor intermediate the forward castor and the rearward castor;
- and
- wherein said platform comprises two horizontal support plates vertically separated from each other, each of the plates attached to the pair of beams, and wherein each of said pair of beams has a plurality of upright brackets below the respective horizontal wall, each of said plurality of brackets extending intermediate the two horizontal support plates.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.