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US 2026/0084802 A1Published application
Folding wing mechanism
AssigneeAirbus Operations GmbH
InventorsPaul MORRELL, Cameron James RUSSELL, Matthew HAND, Richard HIPKISS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An aircraft wing tip that is movable by an actuator between a flight configuration, and a ground configuration which has a shorter wingspan for use in ground-based operations. Lugs that connect to arms of the actuator are integrally formed as part of the primary structure of either the fixed wing or outboard wing section, such as a folding tip section.
Claims19
An aircraft wing comprising:
- a fixed wing and an outboard wing section at a tip thereof, wherein the fixed wing comprises a primary structure and the outboard wing section comprises a primary structure, wherein the aircraft wing is configurable between a flight configuration for use during flight and a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations, wherein in the ground configuration the outboard wing section is rotated away from the flight configuration about a hinge axis of a hinge arrangement such that a span of the aircraft wing is reduced;
- at least one lug integrally formed as part of one of the primary structure of the fixed wing and the primary structure of the outboard wing section;
- and
- an actuator configured to directly act on the at least one lug to move the aircraft wing between the flight configuration and the ground configuration.
1 more element
A method of operating a folding wingtip of an aircraft wing of an aircraft comprising:
- directly driving, using an actuator, a rotation of a folding wingtip, relative to a rest of the wing, via a lug integrally formed as part of a primary structure of the aircraft wing;
- locking the folding wingtip in a flight configuration such that, in flight, loads are primarily transferred from the folding wingtip into the rest of the aircraft wing by the primary structure of the aircraft wing;
- and
- unlocking the folding wingtip, such that the actuator is configured to rotate the folding wingtip.
1 more element
An aircraft wing comprising:
- a folding wing tip configured for folding movement about a hinge axis,
- wherein the hinge axis is defined by a hinge having a first portion integrally formed with a primary structure of an inboard part of the aircraft wing and a second portion integrally formed with a primary structure of an outboard wing tip, the first portion and the second portion mounted for rotation relative to each other with a pin that passes through one or more holes of each of the first portion and the second portion,
- wherein one of the first portion and the second portion comprises a first integrally formed mounting fixture and the other of the first portion and the second portion comprises a second integrally formed mounting fixture;
- and
- an actuator for moving the folding wing tip about the hinge axis, the actuator having a first part which is directly attached to the first integrally formed mounting fixture, and the actuator having a rotating output formed by a second part of the actuator which is directly attached to the second integrally formed mounting fixture.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.