Flexing Clevis Arrangement Bolted Joint Attachment For Flexible Rotor Hub With High Offset And High Flapping
AssigneeBell Helicopter Textron Inc.
InventorsDrew Sutton, Frank B. Stamps, Patrick Ryan Tisdale, Paul Oldroyd
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Abstract
A flexible joint assembly for providing flexure to a rotor blade comprising an upper hub plate and a lower hub plate configured to secure a rotor blade yoke via a bolted joint located radially outward of a mast; and an upper flexure assembly connected to the upper hub plate and a lower flexure assembly connected to the lower hub plate, wherein the upper flexure assembly and lower flexure assembly are configured to promote flapping of the rotor blade yoke about a flapping hinge located radially outward of the bolted joint.
Claims20
A flexible joint assembly for providing flexure to a rotor blade comprising:
- an upper hub plate and a lower hub plate configured to secure a rotor blade yoke via a bolted joint located radially outward of a mast;
- and
- an upper flexure assembly connected to the upper hub plate and a lower flexure assembly connected to the lower hub plate,
- wherein the upper flexure assembly and lower flexure assembly are configured to promote flapping of the rotor blade yoke about a flapping hinge located radially outward of the bolted joint.
An apparatus comprising:
- a rotor blade yoke coupled to an upper hub plate and a lower hub plate via a bolted joint,
- a removable upper shoe comprising an upper arcuate surface and disposed between the rotor blade yoke and the upper hub plate, and
- a removable lower shoe comprising a lower arcuate surface and disposed between the rotor blade yoke and the lower hub plate,
- an upper relief located within the upper hub plate between the bolted joint and the upper arcuate portion, and
- a lower relief located within the lower hub plate between the bolted joint and the lower arcuate portion.
A method of manufacturing a plurality of rotor blade yokes comprising:
- horizontally stacking a pile of generally planar layers, wherein the layers do not comprise any vertically oriented composite belts;
- curing the layers to form a composite sheet;
- cutting a plurality of rotor blade yokes from the sheet;
- and
- punching at least one aperture through each rotor blade yoke.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.