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US 2015/0102163 A1Published application
Shrink strut landing gear system, method, and apparatus
AssigneeGoodrich Corporation
InventorWILLIAM E. LUCE
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The landing gear systems, methods and apparatuses disclosed herein may comprise a shrink pump and a shrink valve that are capable of shrinking a landing gear by up to 40% of its available stroke, or more depending on the air spring configuration. The shrink pump may be configured to pump fluid (e.g., a hydraulic fluid) between an oil chamber, where hydraulic fluid is likely present and a shrink chamber to shrink the landing gear. Moreover, the shrink pump and shrink valve may be part of a strut shrink system.
Claims15
A strut shrink system comprising:
- a shrink pump in fluid a communication with an oil chamber and a shrink chamber of a shock strut, wherein the shrink pump is configured to transfer fluid between the oil chamber of the shock strut the shrink chamber;
- and
- a unshrink valve capable of being commanded to an open position, wherein the unshrink valve is capable of being at least one of commanded closed and biased closed, and wherein in response to being commanded to the open position, the fluid is capable of flowing from the shrink chamber to the oil chamber of the shock strut.
An aircraft landing gear comprising:
- a strut cylinder;
- a strut piston partially housed within the strut cylinder and defining an oil chamber;
- a shrink chamber defined between the strut cylinder and the strut piston;
- a shrink pump configured to conduct a fluid from the oil chamber to the shrink chamber;
- and
- an unshrink valve configured to allow a fluid to transfer from the shrink chamber to the oil chamber, in response to the unshrink valve being in an open position.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.