Aircraft shock strut and improved bearings therefor
OwnerWilliam Luceinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft shock strut includes a cylinder and a piston telescopically movable within the cylinder. A first bearing is mounted to one of the cylinder and the piston. The first bearing includes a support structure and a first bearing surface formed by a lead-free PTFE material layer for providing sliding engagement with the other of the cylinder and the piston.
Claims26
An aircraft shock strut comprising:
- a cylinder;
- a piston telescopically movable within the cylinder;
- and
- a first bearing on one of the cylinder and the piston, the first bearing having a first bearing surface providing sliding engagement with the other of the cylinder and the piston;
- wherein the first bearing comprises a support structure and a porous layer on the support structure, the first bearing surface being formed by an extruded bearing material layer impregnated into the porous layer, wherein the bearing material layer is a continuous consolidated structure comprising a continuous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) matrix and discrete particles of an additive material, and wherein the bearing material layer has a portion above the porous layer.
An aircraft shock strut comprising:
- a cylinder;
- a piston telescopically movable within the cylinder;
- and
- a first bearing on one of the cylinder and the piston, the first bearing having a first bearing surface providing sliding engagement with the other of the cylinder and the piston;
- wherein the first bearing surface is formed by a lead-free polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) material layer, the lead-free PTFE material layer having a coefficient of static friction and a coefficient of dynamic friction that differ by less than 0.045 while providing sliding engagement with the other of the cylinder and the piston.
A method of preventing stick-slip in an aircraft landing gear including at least one shock strut, the at least one shock strut including a cylinder and a piston telescopically movable within the cylinder, the method comprising mounting a first bearing to one of the cylinder and the piston, the first bearing having a first bearing surface formed by a lead-free polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) layer providing sliding engagement with the other of the cylinder and the piston.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.