Seal plate for an aerodynamic surface
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorPaul BLADES
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seal plate (201) for maintaining a continuous aerodynamic surface between a fixed part (302) of an aerostructure such as an aerofoil (103) and a movable surface such as a spoiler (304) is provided. The seal plate (201) includes a resilient material such as fiberglass and has an aerodynamic surface (203). It is configured to be mounted to the fixed part (302) of the aerofoil along one edge (205) and to slidably seal with the control surface (304) at a second edge (207). The seal plate (201) is stepped and has a rigid lever (217) to engage behind the control surface (304) to bend the seal plate precisely according to movement of the control surface (304) and maintain the continuous aerodynamic surface.
Claims23
A seal plate for maintaining a continuous aerodynamic surface between a fixed part of an aerodynamic structure and a movable surface, the seal plate comprising:
- a first resilient material and defining said aerodynamic surface thereon and being configured to be mounted to the fixed part along a first edge thereof and slidably to engage the movable surface at a second distal edge,
- the distal edge defining a sealing surface configured to sealably contact the movable surface, and
- a rigid lever configured to transfer a bending moment from the movable surface to the seal plate whereby the bending moment bends the seal plate in correspondence with movement of the movable surface and maintains the continuous aerodynamic surface,
- wherein the seal plate includes a step which steps the rigid lever from the aerodynamic surface such that the rigid lever slidably engages a side of the movable surface opposite to an aerodynamic surface of the moveable surface.
An airfoil assembly comprising:
- a fixed wing having a first aerodynamic surface and a trailing edge;
- a seal plate having a leading edge region fixed to the trailing edge of the fixed wing, a resilient panel extending in a chordwise direction back from the leading edge region, and a rigid lever extending back in the chordwise direction from the resilient panel;
- and
- a moveable spoiler including a leading edge, a third aerodynamic surface extending from the leading edge of the spoiler in the chordwise direction and an underside surface opposite to the third aerodynamic surface;
- wherein the resilient panel includes a second aerodynamic surface aligned with the first and third aerodynamic surfaces along the chordwise direction;
- wherein the rigid lever is joined to a trailing edge of the second aerodynamic surface by a step in the resilient panel which offsets the rigid lever out of a plane of the second aerodynamic surface;
- and
- wherein the rigid lever slidably engages the underside surface of the spoiler such that the engagement bends the resilient panel.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.